MY FLORIDA DIARIES: PUNTA GORDA FISHING VILLAGE

Hello lovelies!

I recently came back from my two week summer holiday to Engelwood, Sarasota in Florida. We did so much there that I want to blog about but thought to make it easier I’d break it down into mini blog posts.

Punta Gorda Fishermans Village is located on the Port Charlotte Harbour and consists of a variety of shops and restaurants overlooking the pier. 

At the end of the parade of shops is Harpoon Harry’s  a gorgeous little restaurant bar overlooking the water. The food is freshly cooked to order and naturally being positioned on a pier the menu is heavily laden with fish.

After eating (the food was absolutely delicious every time) and watching the boats go out to sea for an hour or so we hit the shops. My two favourite shops were The Naples Soap Company and Dana Tyler Jewellery. Now if any of you have visited America before I don’t need to mention the impeccable customer service (if you haven’t it is unlike any customer service you will ever experience) however I felt the service in these two particular shops was above and beyond. 

I mentioned the Naples Soap Company in my previous post about Skin Care as I bought an incredible, natural face cream for $16. Along with the face cream I bought one of their supposedly famous Loofa Soaps  in key west lime. This product is fantastic to have, it smells incredible and is so handy to use on the feet or anywhere on the body you wish to exfoliate. They do wonderful loofa soap bags that you can mix and match the colours that would do perfectly as gifts. While in the shop we also tried their sea salt scrubs - I know there are a lot of these out there but honestly my hands felt like silk once I had dried them!                        I am always on the hunt for a new company that uses all natural products and doesn’t cost the earth I just wish they were here in the UK too! 

Dana Tyler jewellery was a shop that caught my eye straight away - mainly the shiny, glistening necklaces in the window! 

“We specialize in quality costume jewelry featuring high-end cubic zirconia, rhodium and 14kt gold plated collections.  We find great pleasure in sourcing the latest trends in fashion jewelry and we invite you to experience for yourself, our enthusiasm for exciting new styles by visiting one of our three boutiques located in Southwest Florida.” (http://danatyler.com/about-danatyler) 

After learning all about the company from the charming sales assistant I set about choosing my jewellery and I came away with two beautiful pieces.

The quality of these jewellery pieces is stunning, they look beautiful on and wear really well, I have worn the ring every day since I bought it and although I remove it to moisturise any other daily job it has come through unharmed!

I really would recommend this beautiful quaint fishermans village for the stunning views, delicious food (restaurants, frozen yoghurt, fresh icecream, fudge and sweets) and variety of gorgeous shops.

Have you been to Florida? Where are your unlikely finds?

Nicola x

HOLIDAY DIARIES: CORNWALL

Recently I returned to Newquay in Cornwall for a holiday with my boyfriend and his parents, I have to be honest after visiting Newquay at the age of 17 and 18 with a group of friends on a ‘clubbing holiday’ I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to go there for a relaxing holiday (as you will read my opinion changed very quickly! At the age of 17/18 you don’t appreciate the beauty around you but I more than made up for it this time, I think I am slightly in love with Cornwall).

After the 7 and a half hour train journey I pulled into Newquay station in the pouring rain and was driven to our gorgeous apartment over looking Fistral beach. The apartment had three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchen diner all great sized, very clean, minimalistic and modern (we booked our apartment here: http://fistrallife.co.uk/). We were very comfortable in the apartment and it was in a fantastic location but above all the best part of it was the view (picture below) - absolutely stunning, even on a cloudy day to look out over the sea, see the beach and the cliffs was wonderful and immediately calming - immediately I understand the call of Cornwall. 

We were so lucky with the weather, the rain fell for a little on our second day but every other day was bright, warm and sunny. We spent the whole holiday walking along the various beaches, sitting in pubs, eating some fantastic meals and walking along the cliffs looking at the views. There is something about the air around the coast and being by the beach that is so relaxing and comforting, I haven’t felt that relaxed and happy in a long time.

The food as I mentioned was fantastic - I am a vegetarian and a very fussy one at that, not one that often raves about food but wow I think I was made for Newquay food! I could not fault one meal we had, and for me that is a BIG deal! On our first evening we picked up a takeaway pizza from Rossi’s Pizzeria (http://www.pizzanewquay.com/) - oh my gosh delicious pizza! The base was thick and crispy but not too heavy, the toppings were very generous as was the helping of cheese and the seasoning they used! If you are visiting Newquay at any point I would definitely recommend a trip here, they also have a restaurant at the back of the takeaway.

 On our second day for lunch we visited The Central (http://www.thecentralnewquay.co.uk/) mainly for nostalgic reasons for me, the two years I visited Newquay in the past we spent most of our time here! I ordered a simple jacket potato with beans and cheese and it came with a fresh salad. The salad dressing was insanely good - sweet onion and poppy seed, YUM! Not only is the food good but they have a large amount of various sized televisions inside with comfy seats which we made the most of one afternoon while watching the cricket. That evening we went to a medieval themed restaurant which despite the dark lighting had very good food. 

Now I forget the order of the restaurants visited in the following days but two really stand out to me - Smuggler’s Den (http://www.thesmugglersden.co.uk/) and Lewinnick Bar and restaurant ( http://www.hospitalitycornwall.com/lewinnicklodge/).

Smuggler’s Den first of all - situated just outside of Newquay in a beautiful 16th century thatched pub. The ambiance was superb, exactly what you would expect from a cosy little country pub with loads of history and fantastic food thrown in. I had spinach and ricotta gnocchi with Chantilly carrots, asparagus and rocket salad followed by hazelnut and muscovado torte with vanilla ice cream. There are literally no words to describe how good this food was! My boyfriend (boreddrummer) and his family had the homemade char-grilled burger, the marinated lamb leg steak and the fillet steak again was all delicious.

Now for Lewinnick Bar and restaurant - a short drive or relaxed walk through the coastal paths to one of the most incredible views in the whole of Newquay (photo below of the sunset). The meal was delicious I had the best vegetarian burger I have ever had in my whole 25 years and a scrummy sticky toffee pudding for dessert with clotted cream, but the view was just breathtaking. 

Now I don’t believe you can visit the coast and not experience some cornish ice cream and a cream tea, so here is the one I tried (photos below). I chose cornish clotted cream fudge ice cream while Mr. Predictable chose strawberry although to give him credit it was exceptionally good!

The tea room we chose was a gorgeous little blue and white shabby chic miniature cafe slightly set back from the high street closer to Fistral beach. The homemade scones were huge in size and baked to perfection, slightly squigey in the middle but crisp on the outside and slices like butter - served warm with delicious clotted cream and strawberry jam on a gorgeous, dainty vintage tea set - wonderful. 

Shopping wise Newquay was naturally littered with surfing shops and outdoor, sporty style fashion. The little gems we found were the shabby chic-esq shops between the surf stores - some really cute pieces in there - plaques, models, photo frames and all the touristy tokens you would expect at any holiday destination. 

Although none of us were brave enough the try our hand at surfing the love of the sport is obvious from the minute you enter Newquay, people rushing home from work to surf on a good tide, the shops I mentioned before, the flocks of people walking through the town barefoot clutching their boards was lovely to be a part of for the week. We even wondered down to the beach for the night surfing and watched the fabulous firework display (photo below). 

Like I said before we spent most of the time walking the beaches and standing in awe at the sights so I will leave you with more photos of the spectacular views of my happy and relaxing trip to Newquay. I completely understand why Newquay and all of Cornwall are busy holiday desitinations and I will definitely be visiting more of Cornwall in the future, hopefully with the same people, Debbie, Steven and James Coxon who I would like to thank for making my holiday truly special and completely unforgettable.