I am sad to now be back in the UK but however it does mean that I now have enough wifi to write a blog post, as all of last week I have been struggling with the almost non existent wifi in La Manga. I was so excited to have our family holiday in La Manga this year because it is perfect for my whole family, I can go off and do sports all day long and also have some chill time to sunbath. Normally my holidays are just sunbathing, which I do find a little dull as I am a very active person and like to be doing something most of the time. On the first full day in La Manga, I was quick to persuade my sister and her boyfriend to come on a mountain bike ride with me and to my delight they said yes. This also gave be the perfect opportunity to test out my new Garmin 735xt, which I have had my eye on for ages and I finally gave in and bought it. We went to the bike hire shop and quickly found ourselves some bikes and the man took us through our route. We weren't anticipating the route to be quite so complicated so me and my sister gave Kurt the job of directing us. After starting off our cycle on the roads around La Manga Club we quickly found ourselves on the dirt track in the National Park and although we didn't expect it to be quite so rocky in some places, we all quickly got used to it and soon enough the path turned into a wide dirt track. Our planned route was to take us to the beach and back which would be 20km, 10km there and 10km back, but as you can guess the way back was significantly harder because we had to ride back up from the beach. After 3 water breaks and 10km of cycling we made it to the beach and some of the views were amazing. We cycled down the little wooded path to the beach and when we got to the beach we had a water break, and had a few minutes to top up our tan up and take in the lovely surroundings. I was very keen to go and jump in the sea to cool off, but I knew that the way back would then be very uncomfortable because there would inevitably end up being sand in my trainers, which is one of my worst nightmares. I was pretty happy to have reached the beach and a quick protein bar gave me the energy I needed for my journey back. The journey back was really not that bad and the seriously steep hill went quite quickly. We then followed the same route back through the national park and the sections which before felt really rocky and impossible to cycle over, felt considerably easier. I think is was the fact that we had got used to the rocky track by then. I had a very busy week of sports whilst I was away and I will be posting some running and swimming blog posts soon. Tonight I have my first aquathlon, which I am a bit nervous for, because it will also be my first open water swim. I will write a blog post on it and I am doing a parkrun this week so there will also be a blog post on that, so the blog will be pretty busy this week and next week as I have lots going on, so make sure you keep up to date with it. Love G x
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We started our day walking up to Central Park for what will be the last time on our little trip away. We walked to the west side of it to find a 'Whole Foods Market,' yes I know, I'm obsessed... My dad has started to joke that he maps his way around New York by Whole Foods Markets because we have probably been to everyone on Manhattan Island. My look is a little casual I know, but its because I was getting on a plane later that day and soft jeans, sweatshirt and trainers are the way to go... especially if its a night flight :/ Brace yourselves for some very colourful hats... On Easter Sunday in New York on fifth avenue they have a easter bonnet parade, I'm not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't this. As soon as we turned down fifth avenue from central park the bright colours sticking out over the top of the crowd immediately drew our attention. We had been told about this parade by the hotel but we weren't expecting it to be so busy and popular, apparently its quite famous in New York. Yes, that is a woman dressed as a dandelion. I struggled to get good photos of lots of the hats as everyone was trying to take photos of the most crazy outfits and hats. I am glad I got a snap of this lovely lady because her outfit was by far my favorite! Lots of people went for the whole outfit and some just went for the hat. You can see from the photos how the bright hats stuck out from the crowds. I thought my sweatshirt was quite appropriate as I was in New York! This is outside the New York public library, which is a pretty fancy building and it was huge, there must be a lot of books in there... unfortunately it was shut though so I couldn't see inside. A few last snaps of New York before we ventured back to the airport. I got on my flight in the evening and it went relatively quickly but to my joy we landed in London in the middle of storm Katie, thanks a lot British weather! I was pretty happy to have my two feet back on the ground after that. So this was my last New York blog post, I hope you have enjoyed my updates throughout the week! I guess now I better go and do some revision but don't worry I'll be posting again shortly. G x Shop the look...
Sweatshirt- Brandy Melville (similar here) Trainers- Adidas Coat- Topshop Sunglasses- RayBans Bag- Michael Kors (although it is for my birthday but we decided it better not go in my suitcase incase it gets squished) Of course once again I found myself in Whole Foods Market for breakfast, which I now have a total obsession with and definitely need to find them in London! After a long walk from Whole Foods market, we made it to the meat packing district, which was a really cool regenerated area, a bit like the London Docklands. After a walk around the area, where there were lots of quirky restaurants and shops, we decided to go up on to the high line. The high line is an old train track which you can see from the photos as they have kept lots of the old track. They have also made lots of the path into green space, which looks really cool and makes a difference from just having concrete everywhere. It is fair to say the views were great from on the high line and I just kept on snapping more photos, which is why there are rather a lot on this post, I just couldn't pick out my favourites. There was no need for my faux fur hood on my coat, as it was a lovely sunny day. There is lots of art work and quotes on the side of building which I love, because they are normally colourful and draw your attention, on my post New York: Day 2, there was a couple more street art photos. After a very long day of walking down to the meat packing district and back up the high line my feet once again are very tired, I feel like this week of walking has been like DofE just without the huge backpack. I hope you have enjoyed my Day 5 and you all had a lovely easter! Remember to check my blog tomorrow for my final day in New York! G x It's fair to say on my fourth day of being in New York, my feet are starting to ache from the 20km we have walked each day. I also just wanted to say I'm sorry that this post wasn't posted yesterday but I have been having some difficulty with the wifi, but everything is working now! I am very jealous of my dads ray ban sunglasses and I also found the round style with the blue shiny lens in a shop and they are definitely going on my wish list (which is at the bottom of my home page). I am still completely obsessed with my dungarees and multi-coloured jumper top, this was the perfect outfit for this day because it was really quite warm... too warm for a coat. So, the jumper top worked perfectly at keeping me a good temperature...(sometimes if it is cold, I wear my three quarter length running leggings under my dungarees, and it works perfectly because it keeps me warm but no one can tell ). We went into Trump Tower and there was a big waterfall at the back! The whole interior design on the inside was all very dark as you can see from my photo above, but there was a Starbucks so of course we couldn't resist to have a quick coffee (or a juice for me, as I don't like coffee). We then had a lovely warm walk up to Grand Central Terminal, and when we entered I was not expecting such a huge building. Downstairs was like a maze of food stalls and there was a market alley, which had rows and rows of fish and flowers! In the station there was lots of tracks and the entrance to each one had a really grand gate, like the one above. We also got stuck in torrential rain but luckily it only lasted 5 mins, which was fortunate because other than the rain it was a really warm day! I hope you have all liked my Day 4 blog post and remember to check the blog tomorrow for Day 5. Also all my fellow instagramers remember that Instagram is changing and you now have to turn on notifications on specific people's pages. Please go over to my Instagram @race.with.grace and turn on notifications. G x So my day started with a 'Whole Foods' breakfast, which consisted of a very tasty cinnamon and raison bagel with peanut butter and lots of fruit... What more could I want! I thought I had to have a bagel because they are everywhere in New York, in about a hundred different flavours. The Empire State Building We visited Ground Zero which was the most breath taking experience. The new station and the waterfall are so powerful! Dylan's candy bar was an experience, its fair to say. The strong smell of candy could be smelt from 100m away! When I was in the store I was blown away by all the chocolate and sweets and seeing all of this while on lent was one of the most painful things. NikeTown was pretty impressive too, it covered 5 floors. The shops in the US just seem to be ten times bigger then in England and I'm not complaining, I love it! And of course a quick trip to PINK was in need as I couldn't resist the great deals because in England it is so much more expensive.
I hope you have enjoyed my Day 3 in New York and remember to check my blog for a blog post tomorrow! G x I very quickly found myself in Starbucks after leaving the hotel, which I soon realised will be becoming a frequent occasion this week because it feels like I cannot go 100m without one popping up. I picked these kale chips up (because I am a huge kale lover) and they were surprisingly nice, but I didn't really know what to expect. This drink grabbed my attention, so I quickly swept it off the shelf and gave it to the lady behind the till. When I first had a sip, I wasn't sure what to think but now I can't get enough of it... every Starbucks coffee break, I just head straight to it. First glimpse of the Empire State building. I think I have found my new obsession... Whole Foods Market! It is the best shop ever because they have healthy food everywhere, and the way it is all presented is perfect, even the apples have been placed on top of each other with precision. I would happily go here for my breakfast, lunch and dinner because they have the best self server area where I can get anything from pancakes to porridge or falafels (one of my latest addictions) to broccoli. China town in NY is very similar to in London with all the Chinese restaurants and shops which make you feel like you have just stepped into China. We went into a chopstick shop and I was surprised at how many different styles you could get, some with cats on and some which look like colouring pencils. After a long walk down to the bottom of Manhattan Island we made it to Brooklyn bridge, which we walked along. We soon realised that cycling along it was the way to go because it seemed to be taking us forever just to reach halfway. The Statue of Liberty... small but mighty. Okay, so I might not have got the boat over to see her, but I was pretty happy just to get a glimpse of her, even if I didn't get to appreciate her size ;) After a very long day of walking and sightseeing, my feet needed a well deserved rest and my Fitbit told me that I have walked 27.653 steps and 20.22km. I hope you have all enjoyed my Day 2 in New York, and remember to check my blog tomorrow, for my next post. G x When my alarm bell started to ring at 4 am in the morning, I was very excited it is fair to say but also a little frustrated that our flight had to be quite so early in the morning. After dragging myself out of bed, the next thing I knew I was tucking into my breakfast at Pret in the airport. The flight came and went pretty quickly, even though my fear of flying didn't make the 7 hours the most relaxing but don't worry I had my revision on hand to calm me down... not. I am just starting to freak out about my exams because they start on the 3rd of May and right now I am in New York and will be having the busiest next week with very little revision involved... I guess it will have to wait until I am back in England. We spent the rest of the afternoon having a walk to get a feel for the place as we came here 5 years ago so we can't really remember where lots is. After having a quick walk around a few blocks, we stopped for a drink in a park... I was not very happy when I realised my lemonade was all ice and very little lemonade. We enjoyed a quick stroll around central park and dad caught me being a proper tourist, with my camera around my neck, taking photos at every corner. I soon realised that walking around with a camera around my neck was a magnet to all tour bus companies, so it quickly went in my bag... We even came across an ice rink in central park and it looked like half of it was slush and I'm not surprised because it's pretty warm here! Of course we payed a quick visit to Times Square but the jet lag very quickly jumped on us and at about 6pm NY time, which is 10pm London time, and having woken up at 4am that morning we were very tired and couldn't do any more walking. I hope you have enjoyed my first day in NY as much as I have, be ready for a post tomorrow! G x I hope you have all had a good week, I have had a very busy one, full of sport and I am definitely ready for the weekend! In the summer I went to Iceland with school and I will say that it was the most amazing experience of my life, I would do anything to go back. From climbing up volcanoes to swimming in the blue lagoon, every aspect of it was brilliant. I wanted to share some of my photos with you, to show you how amazing the place is. This photo above of the waterfall was possibly the most tiring photo, because we had to climb all the way from the bottom of it. We must have climbed a good 500 steps, I was knackered by the time I made it to the top, but the views and the photos I took away were so worth it. We went super jeeping through pretty inaccessible land to any other vehicle, we drove through rivers which were more than a metre deep and up banks which seemed way to steep to even attempt. It was bumpy but it was just so awesome being in such large vehicle. I think this photo makes you appreciate just how big they are. Snorkelling between the Eurasian and North American plate was amazing! The water was so clear and could see so far below you, which was a bit scary but I think this photo sums up just how wicked it was. Oh... it was 3 degrees celsius in the water, because it was glacier melt, no kidding, it was FREEZING! We were in dry suits but your face wasn't covered at all and my lips were blue when I got out from being in the water for about 30 mins. Glacier walking was also so cool, we had to put on funny clip on shoes, so that we had grip on the glacier. When we were on the glacier, we got to see just how large it was, because when you're just looking at it from next to it, it seems so much smaller. Iceland is famous for The Blue Lagoon and rightly so! It was so amazing going from the cold fresh Icelandic air into the warm misty water. The blue colour and warmth is all natural because of Iceland's geothermal energy, which I think makes the experience even better. The Lagoon is meant to be really good for your skin too, because of all the natural minerals, there is even mud which you put on your face and it helps cleanse your skin, that was great fun but I think I must have looked scary. I hope you enjoy all my photos from my experience in Iceland. Does it make you want to go, because looking back on the photos sure makes me want to go back even more.
G x |
HelloI'm Grace, a 18 year old runner, and fitness fanatic. Join me on my crazy journey through life, squeezing in an adventure in every second of spare time I have. Archives
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