Marlow & The Thames Valley

In true blogger style, I just want to start out with an apology for not having been posting for quite a while. Everything has been absolutely hectic over these last few weeks. About a week and a half ago, I moved up to Cardiff from Devon to return for uni and there were issues with the shared house I was meant to be moving into. I couldn’t delay coming up any later as there were induction lectures I needed to attend so I ended up staying in a B&B for 5 days with only mice for company (*shudders*).

Thankfully, I have now been in my shared house for the past week and, thankfully, all of my flatmates are so nice. I was a bit worried as I hadn’t met any of them before moving in but everyone seems really friendly and I think we’re going to have a lot of fun over this next year. Other than that, I have been reading. Well, I say reading but I really mean having the book open in my lap whilst I scroll through Twitter.

Second year is certainly a step up though! I am doing 3 modules this term – Modernism and the City, Modernist Fictions, and Fiction of the Indian Subcontinent. On a Tuesday, I have 2 seminars back to back so that is 4 hours altogether looking at modernism. And a 2 hour lecture that morning as well. So, that is certainly keeping me busy and stopping me from blogging as much as I would like to. But I’m trying to get back into blogging more and I have a couple of posts lined up – as well as hopefully a room tour once I get my room looking how I would like it.

Before I left for uni, I went on a little coach trip around the Thames Valley. If you have been reading my blog for a bit, you’ll know how I love a good coach trip.
I have such a thing for small, pretty towns and there were definitely a lot of them to visit. My auntie and I spent the majority of our time in said towns looking at the gorgeous buildings and visiting every antique shop and antique centre we could find. I managed to pick up some really nice items to sell on from one particular antique centre which I can’t now remember the name of. In terms of selling antiques, I have moved from my Etsy shop over to eBay as I found that I could sell things a lot quicker there but I still hope that I will be able to reopen my Etsy shop someday. Also if you would like to see a kind of haul post consisting of these antique items, be sure to let me know.

One of the main things to look at in Marlow was the bridge which, according to the coach driver, was built in the 1800s replacing the wooden bridge which was there since the 1200s.

There is something so beautiful about timber fronted houses and old doors. I am such a sucker for old buildings and I love when an old building is just situated right in the middle of a bustling, modern town full of new buildings as I love that symbol of the progression of time.

Whilst in Henley, we went to Brasserie Blanc which is Raymond Blanc’s chain of restaurants. I got a sourdough bread with pesto, goats cheese, and tomato on it. It came with vegetable crisps, and olives, and chilli peppers – as well as a side salad. It was absolutely delicious – I would definitely advise visiting one of his restaurants if you ever get the chance.

One of my favourite things has to be staying in hotels. I love diving into the huge beds and snacking on the complementary biscuits and tea whilst watching Come Dine With Me. So, I thought I would just share a few pictures of the hotel we stayed at. It was a Hilton hotel and, as is the case with most coach trips, the breakfast and evening meal was provided. They had it in a buffet format for both which was excellent and they do amazing spicy chicken and a lovely lemon tart. So, I was pretty content. As well as that, we got cocktails and I had a Pina Colada one night and it was huge but super delicious.

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