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... 

August Favourites

Where on earth did August go- my gosh, I had so many blog ambitions for this month and it has literally just slipped away! 

So there have been a few really lovely things I have been enjoying this month! Some new, but I also went back to a few old products that i fell in love with again... So I wanted to share those, and some other bits and pieces I've been loving, with you. 

Okay so let me start with make-up: 

The first thing I have been loving is 

The Body Shop: Honey Bronzer (shade 04)

I will start by saying that I did unfortunately get one or two shades too dark, but luckily, with bronzer, you can sort of get away with that cause you can just use less. This is slightly more on the pricey side for bronzer and I finally decided to splurge and buy one cause I have been eyeing them forever! This is fantastic bronzer, in fact, I think maybe I even like it more than the Bourjois Chocolate Bronzer, which has been my staple for years. This just has so much pigment, makes perfect contours, lasts long and is just beautifully packaged, which always makes a difference!

Rimmel: Wake Me Up Concealer (Shade 01)

For some reason Rimmel in SA doesn't stock this concealer, and it is one I have heard people rave about for ages, so I actually ended up ordering it online, and it was definitely worth the wait. This just really does the job at covering up any spots, and is also good for like overall redness or puffy eyes and all that... I like concealers like this that are quite liquid and almost like a more pigmented base opposed to concealer crayon sticks... This lasts well and just feels nice and light on your face, so even if you put a lot on, your skin doesn't feel cakey or anything. 

Maybelline: 24hr Colour Tattoo Shadow (Shade: Permanent Taupe)

I had to order another shade of this cream eye shadow because the stay power is actually ridiculous! Like I've never found a piece of make-up that will honestly not budge from when you put it on in the morning to when you take it off- it's crazy. That aside, this is the prettiest matte brown colour, that I generally just wear plain over my eyelids with some mascara and that's it. It is very natural but just so pretty, this is currently my go-to thing to do with my eyes on an everyday basis. 

Rimmel: Match Perfection Foundation (Shade 100)

This is an oldy but a goody- I have been religiously using this base for years now, and every time I try out a new base, I always come back to this. The reason I'm putting it in my favourites is because recently I've had so many people asking what base I'm wearing, and it is always this. It doesn't ever feel cakey or sticky on your face and when I put it on, I can see an instant change in terms of overall eveness and colour of my skin, and yeah, it's super affordable, I love the pump bottle and is just a really solid, good-quality product. 

Now for beauty, I just have one thing, which is the

The Body Shop: Shower Gel- Fuji Green Tea

This is a pretty new scent that The Body Shop have released and I absolute love it! It's not as sweet as some of the other, more fruity, scents they do and so I find myself using it pretty much everyday because it's a very natural and suuper fresh scent, which is perfect for everyday. I also find that it doesn't clash with perfume or deodorant that I wear, which is sometimes a problem I have with a few of the other Body Shop scents. So yeah, it just smells really good! 

Now onto some random favs:

The first is a book

Paper Towns- John Green

I am not a big reader, mainly because I really don't have much time. So I finally finished this while I was overseas in June/July, because there's nothing better than reading a good book while lying in the sun on a boat- so that's pretty much what I did a lot of the time! This book is really good, I love John Green, he's just a super cool guy and always manages to create very real characters. The story is completely unique and yeah, I just thoroughly enjoyed it! It's an easy read as well, so nothing too heavy. 

Shameless: TV Series

I am pretty addicted to all the TV series' I watch but this one is kind of on a new level and honestly, I didn't actually watch too much else besides Shameless last month because I was just enjoying it so much! I think this show is kinda an acquired taste and is a bit brash in ways, so isn't for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoy it! I can't pin point what exactly about it either, but it's just really good and worth checking out, I was hooked within the first few episodes! I am only only season 2, cause I started pretty late, but it's already great! 

Is There Anybody Out There?- A Great Big World: album

I have been listening to this CD all the time recently. I only knew a few songs by A Great Big World before, but really liked them, and then I decided to listen to the whole album and all the songs were just super good. I love the main singer's voice and the use of piano in their music, and I also just think that the stuff they sing about it different and positive, and always puts me in a good mood. My favourites have to be Land Of Opportunity and Already Home. 

So yeah, that's it for what I was loving throughout August, check in with you soon :)

Love