TRIP TO the UK, part III: Bedford and Twinwood Festival

Hello sweethearts!


Earlier this year when I was talking with my dear friend Eniko about the possibility of visiting her in the UK first thing that we had to do was to decide when is the right time for a trip. Eniko suggested August so that we could go to Twinwood Festival. And so it became the highlight of my trip!

Eniko got tickets for Saturday 27th in May and since the Festival is 3 hours away from Eastourne (Eniko's home) we decided to take a train on Friday and enjoy Bedford.We stayed at Castle Inn, charming 19th-century redbrick inn near the town centre:

After a long but cozy trip (yes I sad cozy, you should see trains in Croatia hahaha) we took an evening walk trough Bedford and it left us breathless! Beautiful houses, peaceful neighborhoods and gorgeous park where we made friends with animals (or so we thought hahaha) are amazing.

Bedford really is enchanting...I like that it has that romance in the air... lights, flowers and benches by the river are mesmerising!

After a walk trough the town and encounter with a young but brave (at some point) black boy, we got back to Castle Inn.  Subway dinner and a good night of sleep were highly required. Next morning after delicious English breakfast we took some relaxing time to get ready for Twinwood. The weather was not promising and drizzle began while we were waiting for a cab.

Twinwood OOTD:
ME: dress by Mistress of Vintage                          ENIKO: dress by Collectif
         purse is true vintage                                                     purse by Woody Ellen
         earrings by Daisy Jean

After a 15 min ride we came!! We were there!!! Twinwood!!!! Queue for tickets was long but moved quickly so in no time we got our festival bracelets and entered the Twinwood shuttle (I found that super cool hahahha shuttle)

The first thing we saw was a camper area (it is HUGE!). I believe that this is the best way to experience Twinwood. View of the main arena is the first thing you see when you enter the festival area and it seemed to me that there's not much to see further. I was wrong. Again.

As soon as you enter you get a splash of excellent energy! It was not at all what I imagined, because I couldn't imagine that vibe. It was like I'm home! Music, fashion, dance, smiling faces everywhere!!! I am very happy that I was able to meet some wonderful people (I saw a lot of gals I follow on Instagram in that crowd) ♥
Huge thanks to everyome that came and said Hi! ♥♥♥

After a quick look on the first stalls we entered into traders area- OMG!! It has no end!!! We toured the stalls for hours! Thanks to Collectif sale at Brighton and Camden my budget for Twinwood was hilarious hahahha so I wanted to take a good look on everything before I open my wallet.

My wish was to buy lingerie set, seamed stockings and true vintage glasses, maybe a suit. But the fact is that there was not enough time to dig a little deeper and find something affordable and good in my size. There was a lot of vintage reproduction clothes and accessories that were (in my humble opinion) a little more expensive that usual.

True vintage is to die for but if you're not ready to rob a bank don't look at it. I'm sure there was cheaper things but time was running out and we wanted to get to Main arena for a show. We took just a small break in the tiki bar, mojito was delicious!

I found a great lingerie, seamed stockings, colorful bangles and gorgeous cascade hair flowers. Vintage glasses that I found were soooo tiny, I don't know how adult women wore them! We also got a chance to try on a true vintage Dior 50's hat, that was amazing! There really was not enought time to look trough everything slowly. There is a reason why Twinwood runs for days hahaha

After I looked every booth I have made a decision! It was not an easy one hahaha but I decided to buy only one thing instead of a couple of cheaper ones. So I ran back to La Vintage and put all of my money on outstanding 40's jacket. Je ne regrette rien! (insert face with tears of joy emoji here)

I do regret that I didn't try on Rocket Originals shoes to know my size if I ever order from them, those shoes are outstanding! You know, when I got there I couldn't care less about shopping..I was happy and blessed just to be there.

Oh and I wish I could go to a dance class! I was watching so many people rocking that dance floor! There was not much old cars but some of them were very memorable!

Rain was just waiting for us because the minute we decided to go eat something and sit to watch the music program it started to pouring. And no one bothered! Everyone remained sitting in their seats, pulled out umbrellas and enjoyed. Some continued to dance in the rain! Pardon my excitement, it is not common in the place where I come from hahaha

Unfortunately, after the rain and the wind it got quite cold so my new La Vintage jacket came in hand. We took shelter in the bar and enjoyed the rest of the day dancing on The Puppini Sisters, Elvis and Bootleg Beatles. Evening ended with impressive fireworks that accompanied us while we were leaving Twinwood.
Before and after the rain:

I brought so many happy memories from Twinwood, I sincerely had the time of my life!
This photo with my dear Eniko is my favorite, none of this would be possible without her and Andras. ♥♥♥

Next blog post will be the last one from my series of posts about my adventure in the United Kingdom. Stick around to hear my final thoughts about UK...



Love, Eleanor
                            xoxo

TRIP TO the UK, part II: London and Camden Town

Hello sweethearts!

Although I have many obligations at this time of the year, I can not resist to go back in the UK one more time at least in my mind, and write the second part of posts about my adventure in the United Kingdom. This time I am taking you to London!
We started the day with a good breakfast, my first traditional full English breakfast in a pub. I must say I quite enjoyed it :)

 

Then we hopped on the train to London, I did expected a loud and crowded, a little chaotic city. But I did not expect so many construction sites...London is full of scaffolds and builders, that a bit undermines the original impression.

...and what did I do when I saw a first red telephone box?! Strike a pose!

 

 

First I had to go to the gift shop for some souvenirs, then we went toward Buckingham Palace. Again, so many people/tourists that it is impossible not to be photobombed hahaha

 

 

And when we are not posing seriously...

 

 

...we giggle all the time :) It was a nice experience to see and get the feel of royal. I really liked the Victoria Memorial!

 

 

 

Further we went through a beautiful park toward the Westminster Abbey. Only a step away from the urban bustle of the city, The Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk takes you to a whole other world. Beautiful park and a home for pigeons, ducks and gorgeous swans. It really thrilled us!

 

 

Very soon I saw the  Gothic abbey church:

 

 

The surrounding is beautiful, so many young people just casually sitting on green grass and soaking up the sun... Even though the showers were announced for that day, it was beautiful and sunny so we could not resist and sit a little too.

 

 

Westminster Abbey truly is mesmerizing:

 

 

 I was so fascinated by the church that I did not even notice the Big Ben right in front of me hahaha I gasped when I turned my head :O

Oh and look at my gorgeous and hot blonde friend Eniko (Vintage Memories blog)

 

 

Through yet another wonderful park I ran to the famous red telephone box with a Big Ben in the background to photograph oooh only about 3GB of videos and photos of me :P

 

 

We stopped a little at Big Ben to soak up the atmosphere of the city... Bagpiper across the street defiantly played despite the noise of cars, what a guy! I also had a nice view of the London Eye.

 

 

 

... and we also had to fool around a bit ... because that's what we do when we are happy :)

 

 

We spent the afternoon in Camden Town! It was my great wish to go there and see the statue of the British singer Amy Winehouse that I am a huge fan of.

 

 

 Camden Town is amazing! I think the photos speak for themselves:

 

 

 

 

Camden is a perfect collision of different worlds that makes wonderful diverse culture and a charming place.

 

 

On the street you can buy everything, from handicrafts, souvenirs, clothing and footwear, to the freshly squeezed juice.

 

 

 

Especially emotional for me was to see the statue of Amy, that was something that I never thought I'll do...

 

 

Also we had to take a sneak peek into Camden's Collectif store :)

 

 

It seems that me and my hot blonde friend in whatever Collectif store we go in somehow we always get warned about something hahahha #sorrynotsorry ;)

I got Collectif swimsuit on sale for 11 GBP, Splendette bracelet and Collectif necklace:

 

 

Camden's Irregular Choice store, cuz we cant resist those pretty shoes!

 

 

I saw a little bit of London and a little more Camden. Wasn't expecting a lot of London but Camden swept me off my feet! Fusion of everything fed my senses.

 

 

Sorry about a long post but next one is going to be even longer...coming up- Twinwood Festival!

 

 

Love, Eleanor

                       xoxo

TRIP TO the UK, part I: arrival and Brighton

Hello sweethearts!

I am writing this post still under a great impression of everything that I saw and experienced in the UK. This will be my first out of four posts about my adventure in the United Kingdom. Buckle up and enjoy the ride!

 

I booked my ticket in May so my summer was long and filled with anticipation.

It was my first time flying so I was quite nervous. Flight from Budapest to Gatwick London was terrible but I forgot everything when I saw my friend Eniko waiting for me with bouquet of sunflowers and a beautiful wide smile.

I arrived to London on Aug 23rd. I planned to go back home on Aug 30th so I carried only a small cabin bag with basics and one dress for each day. I was counting that I will return home with a lot more stuff than I came. I traveled in my Voodoo Vixen Kitty dress, it is so comfortable and has pockets so my most valuable things were with me all the time. After a delicious dinner we planned my first day in the UK.

Next day we took a double-deck bus from Eastbourne to Brighton. The weather was hot and sunny. I was mesmerized by the wonderful natural playgrounds of countryside and coastline!

My hosts Eniko and Andras planned a great day! We started our tour by visiting one of our favorite shops, the Collectif Clothing:

Their summer sale is amazing, so much bargains! I got myself a Monica Gingham Pencil dress in mint for only 17 GBP!

We took a peek into Irregular Choice store too:

I liked Brighton a lot! It is so colorful and alive! We explored the most beautiful little streets with magnificent houses. I loved the flowers, colorful flags and old facades.

 

Of yes, most of the time I had my phone in my hands, trying to catch every corner of the city with my camera, how vintage right? ;)

 

Exploring the numerous small shops I got two more bargains

- green Voodoo Vixen Katniss dress (that I wanted since like forever) for only 15 GBP, it had a broken zip that I fixed as soon as I got home and now it is perfect:

- Mistress of Vintage Potty Lotty yellow dress for only 25 GBP (75 GBP online!). I wasn't sure about it until I put it on and it was oh so perfect that I decided to wear it at Twinwood Festival 3 days later:

 

I feel in love with every shop, every house, every street musician and little coffee shop. It was exciting to see all of those smiling faces and various cultures on the street...

 

 

Indispensable part of our Brighton one day excursion was the JB's American diner:

 

 

We were delighted by the interior, it is really impressive! A dream for every lover of 50's American culture. After delicious milkshake I was ready to put on some saddle shoes and go to the drive-in!

 

 

For the end of the day, after a lot of walking, we decided to relax on Brighton Pier:

 

 

And when I'm happy I act childishly hahaha

 

 

It was the perfect way to end the day! I loved the amusement park and relaxedness of colorful crowd around me.

 

 

It is difficult in another language to describe the feelings that I have been inundated that day.

 

 

When I was planning this trip, honestly I expected six days of bad weather and bad mood uncultured people...boy was I wrong!

 

 

Second part of my UK trip- London coming up next!

 

Visit my friend's Eniko blog here: http://enifabian.wixsite.com/vintage-memories/single-post/2016/08/30/A-Day-at-Twinwood

 

 

Love, Eleanor

                          xoxo