Girl In The Pretty Dress

Hampton Court Palace is a little off the beaten track - as London goes. You can't reach it on the tube so I never really ventured out that way before. It's very easily reached by car though if you're staying west of the city. It was a favourite palace of the Tudors and the Georgians and as such it's teeming with history. Though it's perhaps most famous for hosting the romance of Henry Tudor and Anne Boleyn. The decor is a visual picnic - there's a little bit of everything as so many royals have put their stamp on the place over the centuries.

I've been meaning to do this post for the past 3 months - but every time I sat down to write it I struggled to do justice to this amazing city. St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican City (as seen from the top of Castel Sant'Angelo) Two years ago I decided I wanted to go to Rome. I bought a guidebook and everything... then I bought my house. All plans for adventure had to be put on hold whilst I spent my time traipsing to solicitors, banks and building merchants. So this year, as a birthday present to myself, I decided to make it happen. I flew out on my birthday (word to the wise: if you book a flight on your birthday, make sure it isn't at the crack of dawn - no one remembers it's your birthday when it's that early in the morning!) and I got my birthday wish to stand in the Colosseum. Though I quickly learned that I've been calling it by the wrong name all my life - it's proper name is the Flavian Ampi...