September Playlist

Hey guys

I somehow always find myself doing new posts like a few nights before exams, which is exactly what I'm doing right now, but let me just admit this is procrastination and get on with it haha. Okay, so I've just had a whole bunch of great songs on my playlist for this month (and actually most of August too), and whilst I am sure you'll probably know most of them, just in case you don't, here they are- hope you enjoy! As usual with me, there is a pretty bizarre mix of everything but I love them all! 

SWEET PEA- AMOS LEE

I don't know any other songs by this guy, but love this one, it's very cute!

MARVIN GAYE- CHARLIE PUTH FT. MEGHAN TRAINER

This song just makes me happy and want to sing along- super pop-py but in a good way.

DRAG ME DOWN- ONE DIRECTION

Gotta love me a new OneD song, always! And I was so impressed with how good this one is despite losing Zayn, I love this!

JEALOUS- NICK JONAS

I know a lot of musicians might criticise how cliched and pop-py this is, but I gotta admit I love it a lot- again, I just have to sing along. 

LEOPOLD STREET- THE PAPER KITES

Very different to the songs I've done so far, but I love the Paper Kites' chilled and relaxed indie folk sort of vibe, and this is one of my favs.

GERONIMO- SHEPPARD

This song makes me happy, I'm keen to see what's still to come from Sheppard. 

SEE YOU AGAIN- WIZ KHALIFA FT. CHARLIE PUTH

Oh my goodness, I can't even explain how obsessed with this song I have been. I don't know what exactly it is about it, but I love Charlie Puth's voice, I am not usually the biggest of rap fan but this is pretty cool, and the overall message of the song is a really lovely one. 

SEE YOU AGAIN/LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO/SUGAR MASHUP- MEGAN DAVIES AND FRIENDS

I also loove this mash up! Megan Davies' YouTube channel is amazing to start with, but this is definitely one of my all time favourites of hers! Check it out, it's pretty cool and all three voices are incredible! Also, the actual arrangement of the mash-up is really amazing. 

TAKE ME TO THE PILOT- ELTON JOHN

Now onto a completely different genre, some good ol' Elton John. I know quite a bit of Elton John, but had never heard this before, and then someone covered it on The Voice, and I immediately downloaded it and was obsessed. It's not for everyone I suppose, but I have a part of me inside that loves American gospel music, and this sort of has that kinda feel and yeah, it's just pretty cool and I like it a lot. 

THE WHISKET AIN'T WORKING- TRAVIS TRITT

If you know me, you'll probably know my deep love of country music, particularly the good old stuff like this before it became a bit more pop-py and commercialised. I love Travis Tritt but hadn't heard this song before, and it's one of those that just makes me want to dance around. 

LAND OF OPPORTUNITY- A GREAT BIG WORLD

I mentioned in my last monthly favourites that I have been loving A Great Big World's album, and this is one of my favs off it- it's very upbeat and happy. 

DITMAS- MUMFORD AND SONS

Firstly, can we acknowledge that Mumford and Sons are coming to SA :D I know a lot of hard-core fans are criticising the sort of slight genre change and shift away from classic folk in the new album, but I must say that I really do like this song. I do think that it's a pity they are moving away from their roots of good old harmonies and banjos, but at the same time, this is still a lovely song. A friend of mine said she thought their new album sounds kind of like a Coldplay album, and I think that's probably the best description I've heard so far, it's not necessarily bad, but just super different from their older stuff. But yeah, I still really like this song. 

GOOD TO BE ALIVE- ANDY GRAMMER

Ah, I am a die-hard, long time Andy Grammar fan, and again, he's sort of had a change in sound recently since he has become a lot more popular and commercialised, but I still love what he's doing. When I first heard this song, it was a very weird experience because it's really unlike any song I've heard. The beat is kinda off and a bit odd, but in a really cool way, and yeah it took me a second to understand what was going on, but now I absolutely LOVE it!

BREAKING MY OWN HEART- SWEET TALK RADIO

My dad actually introduced me to this couple's music, and they just do some really cool folk stuff. They have such lovely harmonies and write really different interesting songs, this is one of my favourites. 

COLLIDE (COVER)- SAWYER HENDRICKS (The Voice Season 8)

Sawyer was actually the winner of Season 8, and he completely deserved it! He has by far the most amazing, interesting and soft yet powerful voice I've ever heard, and yeah, he really can sing anything. His cover of 'Collide' was just so so pretty!

So that's it for the music I have been loving recently, hope you enjoy!

Love

Travel Adventures: Korcula & Mljet, Croatia

I've put these two towns together because both are super small and cute and we pretty much just chilled, ate good food and explored a bit while there because there wasn't too much else to do, so I didn't end up taking that many pictures unfortunately.

KORCULA
We first visited Korcula and spent one day there. Korcula is famous for being the home to Marco-Polo, so whilst there it is quite cool to check out his childhood home, which they have kind of made into a little museum/historical tour- it's crazy seeing how small and different the houses were back then! Close by there is also a bell tower, which you can go up and get a full view of the town and all the pretty red rooves clustered together. Korcula is kind of like an oval shape (if that makes sense), so you can wander along the promenade at the water's edge all around the "oval" and just take in the beautiful views and clear waters. There is also a cocktail bar there that is up a few stories but right on the water's edge, and they are famous for lifting your drinks up to the top with a cable car type mechanism, which is pretty cool, but unfortunately it was closed when we went as it was a bit early. This was just a really cute little town that we had a lot of fun exploring and wandering between the little cobbled streets and into the local shops and museums. 

MLJET
Mljet is a separate island (so not actually on Croatian mainland), that is actually quite small and private, as the vast majority of the island is the Mljet national park. A cool thing to do there is either to hire bikes and cycle around the big lake near the middle of the island, or to take a hike through the really pretty wilderness of the national park and catch a little ferry boat across the lake to a small island. There is some cool Croatian name to describe that this is an island on an island (cause it's within the lake on the island of Mljet). We chose the hiking option cause it's a cool way to get some exercise but also to take your time to get there and enjoy the fresh air and beautiful views of the forest and the lake. In the evening we went back to the main road of the town, which is by the water's edge where we were docked, and found a little place with some deck chairs to sit and watch the sunset. We then had delicious pizza for dinner and a really nice, more laid-back relaxing night. 

Travel Adventures: Hvar, Croatia

Oh my gosh, I just absolutely and completely loved Hvar and of everywhere I went over the whole trip, this is the first place I would go back to. Hvar is just stunning, it's got the clearest waters I have ever seen in my life and was sunny and cheerful and just a lot of fun! I will say that my good experience here was definitely created by being with great people, having lovely weather and a lot of factors like that that made me just really have such a great time there, but even so, you can't deny the absolute beauty of this little city. It is apparently the country's greatest "party place" and we did have a really great night out there, but in general, its just a place with a lot of young students, travellers and not to mention the very rich and illite. Along the main promenade, if you walk for about 15 minutes along it out of the central town, you become immersed in extravagant hotels and pool side bars and 5-star everything, so it definitely has that aspect to it, which was exciting to fantasise about maybe for one day, but even as students on a budget, we had so much fun there!

One thing you really must do is walk up through the town and then up the hill (not too strenuous of a walk) to the palace. You can then go in and have a look out at the whole town below and the beautiful little islands close by, that kind of look like scattered rain drops. We didn't go into the castle, but still the view was amazing! We ate absolutely delicious pizza there and really enjoyed just wandering around the streets and then as I said, the night life is a lot of fun as well. 

So yeah, overall I just loved Hvar, I can't quite put my finger on it, but there was something really appealing and special to it, and I would absolutely love to go back!

A Fresh Start: Boundless and Infinite

If this is your first time back in a while you may have noticed a few changes. I have been playing with the idea of changing the name of my blog for a long time now, because I felt that I sort of out-grew the old name a bit, and wanted something that more closely represents what this blog is about for me. Unfortunately, it is not possible to change the url, I don't think, but the actual name could change- so that's exactly what I did.  

Boundless and Infinite just sort of summed up a feeling of hope, excitement and freedom, which is exactly what I want this blog to represent: a place where I can express excitement for cool things I'm doing, relish in plans of adventures to come and reflect on anything really that is something important to me, or I am passionate about, or simply just makes me happy, and may make you guys happy to. I think the title Boundless and Infinite just gives off a feeling of youth, positivity and hope that I really liked. 

I actually came up with the title after reading a really stunning quote I found that just very adequately sums up exactly how I hope to lead my life:

Travel Adventures: Split, Croatia

So after Greece, we moved off to Croatia, which I have absolutely and completely fallen in love with! While there, we did a student 'party-boat' type thing, called Sail Croatia, which was an absolute blast and such an amazing week. It was so fun to see so many amazing cities all the while living on a little boat and meeting lots of new people. I highly recommend  Sail Croatia to anyone even vaguely keen, it is just so much fun and Croatia is stunning- I did the Split to Debrovnik navigator cruise. We were in Croatia for a total of 8 nights, and saw quite a few different cities, the first of which was Split. 

Split is one of the biggest cities on this coast and is very touristy and commercial, but really stunning. It has a massive, beautiful promenade along the whole length for a couple of kilometres and has pretty little benches and flower beds and trees all around. The promenade also is lined with loads of restaurants serving delicious seafood and cocktails to sip on by the water's front. Another must-see in Split is the Diocletian's Palace. Split is composed of the old town, which revolves around the ruins of this palace, and then the surrounding newer town, which is quite built up and residential. Old town is build almost entirely of white stone and is filled with local markets, authentic shops and delicious gelato stands on every corner. The actual palace ruins are definitely worth seeing, and you go underground into what was the basement level and can wander around and read up on the history. My favourite part of split was just wandering around through all the narrow alleyways in the old town, going up to the ball tower and learning all about the history. 

Split was really so so lovely and I would love to go back someday!

Travel Adventures: Milos, Greece

Okay, so after Santorini, we caught a ferry to Milos, a less touristy, but just as beautiful island relatively close by. Myself and all the friends I was travelling just instantly fell in love with Milos. It's actually hard to explain, because literally from the second we stepped off the ferry, I immediately felt calmed and relaxed and just really happy to be there. The island is relatively big, but not quite like Santorini, and even though it's large, a lot of it is uninhabited, so where we were staying, near the port, seemed to be where most people hang out and live. By the port there is an absolutely beautiful long promenade all along the water front with lots of boats moored all along it. And then there are just loads of restaurants, ice cream shops and quirky little stores along there as well that stay open really late and are always cheerful and festive. 

This was the view of the main road and promenade- how pretty?!

On our first day there, we decided to do an excursion out to some of the other parts of the island. We had so much fun doing this, and I recommend if you do do it, to find out the prices of a bunch of different companies, because they all offer very similar places to go, but some seriously over price, so yeah, just suss out the scene and get a couple of prices before choosing one. Basically, a small ish boat takes you out to sea and then around the islands to a whole bunch of cool beaches that you can't really access by land. It also took us to a stunning place called Kleftiko, which is by far the clearest water I have ever seen, and surrounded by loads of little caves, which you can go through in a separate little speed boat they tow along. We had so much fun on this day out, and it was a really cool way to see a lot of places and sights quickly, as we were only there for two days. 

At the end of the boat excursion, we ended up at a private little restaurant completely isolated and so stunning, right on the water's edge, a pretty cool way to end the day. Not to mention that Grecian food is really delicious, whether you're having seafood or breads and dips, it's all so good!

The place we stayed at was called Lagada Beach Hotel, and it was really a very calm, pretty place to be. It had its own private little beach and so on our last day we spent most of the time just laying in the sun and swimming in the warm waters. 

We all absolutely loved Milos, and at the end of our trip all of us said it was probably the first place we'd go back to again. I can't really explain what it is about it except that it has a charm that makes it such a lovely place to be. I had so much delicious gelato there and the best baklava literally ever, sooo good. Yeah, really a stunning little town to visit!

Travel Adventures: Santorini, Greece

So as I've mentioned before, i went on a trip to several countries in Europe in June/July vac, and am finally getting round to sharing some of my pictures and accounts from my time there. 

I thought I'd start with Santorini, Greece, as it was the first place we went and I really loved it!

 Santorini is actually a fairly big island, and there is lots to see, and in our case, not much time. So if you're ever there and want to try see as much as possible, I thoroughly recommend hiring a quad bike for the day, they are super reasonably priced and besides the fact that you can get everywhere without relying on the bus system, they are also so much fun! These shots above were all taken on our way to Black beach, looking back at the town of Fira. If you find yourself in Santorini, another thing you must do is go down to the old port, walking down the hundreds (and I mean hundreds) of stairs among loads of donkeys lifting people up and down or resting in the shade.

  

Another thing really worth doing is going to see the volcano. It is on a separate island, still technically part of Santorini and is a 20 minute boat ride from the port. It is relatively expensive, but did include a tour of the volcano island and also a dip in hot baths, warmed by the volcanic activity below the waters. 

These pictures were taken at Oia, a little town right at the top of Santorini. This is honestly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life, and whilst it was super touristy, it's beauty makes that understandable, and you definitely can't go to Santorini and miss this. It was about a 25 minute quad bike ride from the central town, Fira. Beautiful white buildings with blue grooves, and churches and the most stunning views over the sea and other Greek islands in the distance, it was really quite something. 

The first picture shows Black beach, which as you could probably guess, get's its name from the black sand. Swimming here was so fantastic, we could have spent the whole day tanning on the beach (although be sure to bring a towel because lying on black rocks on a hot day is most likely a painful experience) and intermittently dipping into the cool calm sea. 

Red beach is the other beach really worth seeing just because where else do you get to see something like this, a beautiful beach with a bright red rock outcrop background, it's also pretty close to Black beach, so worth doing them both. 

We had an absolutely amazing time! I tried the best Frozen yogurt I have ever eaten, loved catching a cable-car up from the port to the main city, strolling the cobbled streets and eating loads of Gyros at Lucky's (literally one of the most delicious things ever). 

Next up was Milos, Greece...