Patty and Bun/All Star Lanes

The other week I went on a date, scary prospect for all. Unfortunately the guy wasn't quite right for me, lovely but not right, however the date I planned was. I'd wanted a relaxed date compared to the scary pressured sit down and talk situations a dinner or drink creates.  

We first went to Patty and Bun, a burger place I'd been wanting to try for forever. I'd seen on Twitter that they had a special that week called 'Piggie Smalls' and I had to find out what it was.  Patty and Bun is a very small little diner style place on James Street just behind Selfridges, we were lucky with a glorious sunny day where the road is littered with people eating outside enjoying a sangria and a drop of sun. It's a popular place so you may have to queue, thankfully a Sunday afternoon isn't its busiest time so we go in straight away.  The restaurant has a really relaxed feel to it with a banging soundtrack, the menu isn't extensive which is exactly how I like it. 

All pics sourced from the Patty and Bun website (you can't do food photos on a date right?)

I went for the Piggie Smalls and he went for the Smokey Robinson along with skin on fries to share. The burger comes wrapped in paper and the sauces in classic plastic bottles of an American diner.  Now I know I talk a lot about burgers so I hope you realise what a game changer my next statement is going to be, I think it may be the best burger I've ever had. The special wasn't even on the menu so I didn't know what to expect but what was brought to me was a delicious beef burger patty with iceberg lettuce, reems of cheese, the lot, but with a sort of pork belly affair on top. Seriously good, I think my date had major food envy but he didn't let on, the Smokey Robinson did look pretty damn good to be fair.  

Filled with this new burger found knowledge we trotted off to the second part of the date, old school bowling.  We went to All Star Lanes in Holborn, a retro bowling alley with a 50s soundtrack and diner style food to compliment. There are only 4 lanes at this branch (they have lots of other branches, Holborn being the original and Stratford being its largest) so you might have to wait especially on a busy day if you haven't pre booked. The info for prices etc are here.  

It was seriously good, I went in expecting the ramps to be put up but I was told 'that's only for children', that put me in my place then. And apparently brought out my hidden bowling talents.  With some advice from a 6 year old boy playing on the lane next to us I managed to fluke the ball down without too many gutter balls ('go for the heavy and large ones!' My small companion Raf told me) so that I did and won not only the first round but the rematch too, loser bought drinks and the bowling tab of course, what more motivation does someone need?! 

The bar area is full of plush sofas and tables with tasseled lamps, on a Friday or Saturday night I'm told this area turns into a disco (I'm going on Friday so I'll be able to tell you then!) they serve an extensive array of tiki inspired cocktails but on a Sunday afternoon I could only go for the milkshakes. Think delicious shakes.  

It is indeed a shame the date never worked out but at least I got to try two places if wanted to for ages. I'd definitely recommend either or both places to anyone planning a relatively inexpensive first date or any couple who fancied a day out. I can't wait to see what All Star Lanes is like when I go for my bessie's birthday night out, I may have forced him to choose this place with the promise that I'll organise it for him!

Where my ring at?

A few months ago, myself and Elliza spent a couple of frantic mornings sitting in a waiting room to get tickets to what promised to be one of the most amazing things I'll ever set my eyes on, The Mrs Carter Show.  Elliza managed to get us the tickets and all we had to do was countdown and continually listen to her whole repertoire, something I definitely didn't mind doing.  

We got a little over excited in the car over!

We had tickets to her last London date so the week of seeing friends photos and hearing gossiping at work was excruciating. I was promised it was the best stage performance they had ever seen, and yep they were right.  

She was beautiful, incredible, entertaining, everything good you could say about someone. Her voice never faltered, she looked amazing in every outfit and I've genuinely never danced so much for 2 hours non stop (bar a few slow ones).  

The second stage in the middle of the crowd

We weren't exactly the closest to the stage, we're not made of money!

Vegas theme for 'Party', complete with feather fans

The most amount of glitter I have ever seen in my life

Every song had a different theme, with a different outfit and a different set of graphics for the moving screen behind her.  I'm sure you've all heard about the second stage where she gets people to sing, she zip wires over there like a disco ball and belts out Love on Top and Irreplaceable.  

Quick zip across the crowd

She actually did my favourite song which is a bonus track called 'Why Don't You Love Me' which is pretty much my main jam for an after party, sad I know. She reversioned the music video and it was just amazing and so unexpected. 

We left the concert mind boggled and off to be independent women. It was pretty much just women at the concert and a few boyfriends dragged along only to have their girlfriends hand put in front of their faces while told where my ring at? As instructed by Beyonce. 
The tour is understandably sold out but you can still get tickets to Chime for Change where she's headlining at Twickenham or if you're going to V Festival you're in for a treat!

Vienna Part 2 - Museums & Concerts

The Vienna art scene is, apparently, a pretty eclectic mix of radical modern art and classic, guilded, gold leaf architecture and paintings.

I have very little art knowledge but we visited two really beautiful galleries and museums during our visit, first the Secessionist Building which was originally built to showcase the artists within a radical art movement in the early 1900s. The building has incredible columns and a huge globe on the top of the building made up of gold leaves, it is a truly stunning building.

It was a small building with 4 different exhibitions, including a famous Gustav Klimt wall with the 'most famous kiss in the world' according to the posters, it seems to be their most favourite art! If I'm honest two of the exhibitions were a little too self indulgent and surreal for me but we stepped into a pitch black room which lights up with a screening of a gorgeous recording of a couple performing an old song in a 1920s style room, it was a really interesting trip.

Apparently the most famous kiss

The second visit was the Belvedere Museum which is an old Palace where their Kaiser used to live. It now holds 3 buildings worth of art. The Museum is split into 3 buildings which you have to buy a ticket for, you can get combinations of tickets depending on what you fancy seeing.

The main Palace (the Upper Belvedere)

The Upper Belvedere is the main building which holds the usual old paintings, I call them Jesus paintings, and some gorgeous historical art and collections. It pretty much just shows you the main artistic influences throughout history, which, if I'm honest, almost every other big museum I've been to has done.

The Lower Belvedere is at the other end of the garden and holds temporary exhibtions. We went to a Baroque themed exhibition which was truly stunning, the curating of the rooms was impeccably done with silver embossed titles on each wall for the room's theme. There was also a Japanese inspired Avant Garde collection which was also really beautiful set up.

The 21 Haus is the conteporary fine art uilding across the road from the Belvedere Palace. They had a photography exhibtion downstairs and fine art installations upstairs. I honestly canot understand modern art but we did see some really interesting pieces and even a couple of Damien Hirst pieces including 13 sausages carefully pinned to a canvas and named '13 Sausages', simple and sweet!

One night, after we'd massaged our poor feet from all of the walking we put on our gladrags to attend a classical concert in the Orangery of the main Palace where the Hapsburg dynasty lived. It is a truly stunning area but the Palace looks almost fake with how well it is kept!

The concert was in two parts, firstly of Mozart and then the Strauss family. They change their bill every night and they have classical singers and balle dancers to compliment the music. Lucy and I were by far the youngest people there by approximately 50 years so the people watching of heads bopping and eyes closed conducting with their arms.

The orchestra was fairly small but it was really entertaining, at the end they play a 'rousing' piece to get everyone clapping along, if I'm honest it was one of the more cringey experiences I've had in my life, but who doesn't love a good bit of audience participation?! (I don't).

They are constantly advertising this concert around Vienna and cloaked men will approach you every time you walk past them offering you tickets. We bought ours on LastMinute I think and must have saved an absolute fortune.

I couldn't recommend Vienna more for a chilled short city break, I wouldn't say there was enough to fill more than about 3 days in but if you don't mind spending your ays wandering and drinking coffee while people watching whilst on holiday then Vienna is perfect for you!

Vienna Part 1 - Sightseeing

I've been terrible at finding time to do my holiday posts but finally I've found time, lucky you!

A couple of weeks ago I travelled to Vienna with my Mum, sister and grandparents on our yearly Easter break city trip. I'd never been to Vienna before but had heard it was a great city for music and art lovers.

{Clearly I was pretty happy to be in Vienna}

As soon as we stepped off the plane you got a fresh intake of cold, crisp air, the kind of air you only get when you're on the top of a mountain it's such a heavenly feeling. Our taxi took us into the centre of Vienna but you can easily get a train straight from the airport into the tube system of the city (we did this on our way back as it's SO much cheaper!). However as you travel along the roads, the pavements are lined with trees in the shape of bulbs, on closer looking and our taxi driver explaining to us, they were all huge balls of mistletoe. Obviously during the wintery months most of the trees are bare but you can still see bulbs in full bloom, it was a really beautiful sight.

We stayed in the Hotel Royal and it was right next to the main square with their incredibly beautiful cathedral, it couldn't have been better placed, and whats better? There was a late night McDonalds opposite! Oh and also the whole of Vienna on your doorstep, but mainly McDonalds…

{I'm not going to say what all of these buildings are as I will inevitably get it all wrong!}

We had a couple of days where we did a lot of sightseeing, as we were with our grandparents we used their sightseeing tours and to be honest we probably saw more of Vienna in the 4 days than we ever would have on foot.

Vienna is a truly stunning place for architecture, so many buildings take you by surprise with it's incredibly delicate work and it was interesting to see the different artistic styles which have influenced the city throughout history. During the war many buildings were bombed so a lot of the beautiful buildings are sandwiched by odd grey buildings which almost create more attention for the historical buildings in contrast.

{They love a good bit of gold leaf in Vienna, who can blame them?}

The city is buzzing full of city people shopping in the square but I would also say that it is primarily a city to sit and watch the world go by with a coffee and an apfel strudel, a perfect relaxing holiday for all ages. We did some lovely arty and musical things on the trip but you'll have to wait until Part 2 for that!

Joules Big Sale in Suffolk

This weekend I'm doing another one of those Joules Big Sales where we sell a lot of our old season clothes for some great prices, come along this weekend if you're in the area to grab a bargain!

This is the address and the Big Sale details:

Trinity Park Conference & Events Centre, Felixstowe Road, Ipswich IP3 8UH

Check out the Joules blog to keep up to date with when their events are near you! 

Oh and Joules are doing a competition to win a flowery Mini, who wouldn't want that?! Head over to their competition page to enter, it'll be parked outside the show this weekend for anyone wanting a peek! Have a lovely weekend everyone!

The Piccadilly Institute

I realise I often only post about the lovely days I've had, hence why the blog is called Favourite Days, however I never write a bad review, until today.

We planned a night out with very little plan, we just went into Leicester Square hoping to find something that took our fancy, unfortunately we ended up in Piccadilly Institute in the middle of Piccadilly Square.

I'll be honest with you, this just isn't my kind of club. It has SO MANY rooms and it's CRAMMED full of people playing awful chart club dance music that's been played millions of times before. Just not my cup of chai.

However, not one to let a good night go to waste, I found my salvation, the Cheese Room! Full of my favourite songs from the 90s where I could pretend to be Beyonce and not be judged for it. 

Odd hanging men in the 'Medicine Room'

Things invariably got messy and blurry

The night was salvaged but I honestly wouldn't recommend going to this club if you have ANY fore-sight. In the end we all had a fun night but probably not because of the venue!