October 2016 – Monthly Round Up

As we move into winter from autumn, here in England the weather is becoming less and less bearable for me and I am craving the sunshine again. Unfortunately, we have no sunshine trips on our itinerary until next June – boooo!!! We hope you have had a great October? We have had quite a relaxed one – which was just what the Doctor ordered after manic September we had. So here’s what has been going on in the world of Eat Sleep Love Travel and what we have to look forward to in November and the coming months…..

Travels

Malta

Chasing the sun, Mr ESLT and I hopped on a plane and over to the southern mediterranean island of Malta. We were hosted by the gorgeous Hotel Valentina in St Julian’s for the duration of a 5 night stay – it was a perfect base for us to explore the island. There is so much history and culture on the island combine that with the crystal clear waters and 27 degree weather (when it’s 8 degrees back in the UK) and I think we made a great choice. Our three favourite towns/attractions were:

• Valletta
• Mdina
• Mosta Rotunda

London

We spent the last weekend of the month in London. We headed down to the Big Smoke for the Cincinnati Bengals v Washington Redskins NFL game at Wembley. This was actually the second NFL game I have watched having also visited Wembley last year to watch the Detroit Lions v Kansas City Chiefs – although we had severe jet lag after just steeping off a plane from Hong Kong and I’ll be honest I can’t really remember much of it. After that game I vowed to learn the rules ready for this year – I didn’t! But I enjoyed it regardless.

Food

We were invited to the soft launch of the new Banyan Bar & Kitchen in Roundhay – the very popular suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire. Unfortunately, Mr ESLT couldn’t come with me so my friend K came along for the ride. It was lovely to visit and experience such great customer service, yummy food and delicious cocktails! If you live nearby or are ever in the area, you should check it out.

Upcoming Travels

This month starts with a visit to Fishmore Hall this upcoming weekend where my friend R and I will enjoy a relaxing spa day and overnight stay. I’ve booked in for a facial which will hopefully sort out some of my wrinkles – I am certainly feeling my age at the moment!

The middle of the month will see us packing up the car and heading on a weekend of fun. Our first stop will be the Highfield Hotel located in Keswick in the gorgeous Lake District before heading up into Scotland. We will spend one night in Trigony House Hotel & Garden Spa in Dumfries and Galloway followed by a night at The Horseshoe Inn in Peebles with a quick pit stop in Edinburgh.

The last week of November sees us jumping on a plane and heading over to Iceland for a week (YES!). Big thanks to Lagoon Car Rental who will be providing us with a car in order for us to explore the island to our hearts content. We are spending 3 nights out in the middle of nowhere and 3 nights in central Reykjavik – although I have already warned Mr ESLT that I will not be coming back to the UK until we have seen the Northern Lights! I am in the process of eying up thermals ready to pack….it’s going to be cold!

Destination Weddings

I love weddings! And as you may remember we were lucky enough to be invited to one last month on the beautiful island of Rhodes. Well it got me thinking – where else in the world have people got married and would they recommend it to others. I had some great responses from some awesome bloggers; you can read more about their big day in our Destination Weddings: For the Romantic Traveller post. Thank you for taking part:

• Hayley from Hayley’s Little Things
• Michaela from This FP Planet
• Leona from Wandermust Family
• Amy from Footprints & Memories

Blog Editing and SEO!

I’ll be honest SEO still baffles me, nearly two years into this blogging malarkey. So when Sarah Evelyn got in touch and explained that she offered blog editing – we jumped at the opportunity to work with her and a valuable member of her team Janet. Janet worked through a number of our posts and made excellent suggestions, spell checked (which it turns out I never do!) and ensured SEO was spot on. We have noticed views having risen on the posts that Janet worked on and it really highlighted our need for and the importance of a blog editor!

European City Break Collab – We Need YOU!

We love collaboration posts! And here’s our latest – have you taken a European City Break recently? Would you like to write a little bit about it for a post we are in the process of putting together? If so, please drop us an email – eatsleeplovetravel@gmail.com and we will send you further information.

Travel Blogger Interviews

This month we featured interviews from the following fantastic travel bloggers:-

• My Ordinary Legend
• Travel Your Dreams
• Right Up My Street
• Girls’ Guide To Paris
• Girl Goes To

Hometown Tour Guides

This month’s Hometown Tour Guides were Alice and Grace from The Tale of Two Sisters who wrote about their hometown – Birmingham, The Midlands, England

Until next month……..safe travels 🙂