The Barcelona Food Hotspot: Brunch & Cake by the Sea

Before I booked my trip to Barcelona I had already planned out exactly where I wanted to eat. I know that sounds a bit strange, but whenever I see tasty looking food on Instagram I save the café where it's at in a map. That way I know where the cool local brunch spots are at. New York, Stockholm, Bali; I haven't been to any of these places -yet- but when I go, at least I will be eating all the snazzy foods. 

Anyways, when it came to Barcelona I had a few spots where I would love to go and eat. You may have seen my blogpost about the smoothie bowls at Lulu -which were amazing- but one café that was even higher on the list was Brunch & Cake, a cute little chain of cafés in Barcelona. They are known for their insane food presentation, quirky use of decoration and healthy brunch foods. My friend and I ended up eating at their location by the sea, hence the name Brunch & Cake by the Sea, and it was the best location. Brunching in the sunshine while overlooking the harbour made the trip extra special.

We arrived at the café around 1PM and there was a little queue outside. Not as big as I expected it to be and it went surprisingly fast. I think we waited for 10 minutes or so when a table outside became available (you do pay extra when sitting outside). We browsed the menu for a long time -they just have so many tasty things on there- and ended up going for banana pancakes and the vegan burger in combination with juice and coffee. I had a beetroot latte which was very interesting I must say.

The food arrived insanely fast and the girl that took our order was so sweet. My banana pancakes were more like two slices of banana cake, but hey I'm not complaining about that. They looked and tasted wonderful and it was everything I could have hoped for my first Brunch & Cake experience. The price was cheap if you compare it to a healthy brunch in London or Copenhagen, so that made me like the place even more. 

I could not rave enough about Brunch & Cake. Next time in Barcelona I will 100% go back to this place. Maybe a different café of theirs to spice things up. There are just so many nice things on the menu that I have to try. Maybe I should move there so I can have brunch there every week haha.

Have you ever been to Brunch & Cake in Barcelona? What did you think?

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The London Trip November 2017

London around Christmas is the best place on earth. The entire city is covered in lights, decorations and Christmas joy and even if you hate Christmas it's hard not to fall in love with that particular holiday.

I have visited London quite a few times this year, so it's no surprise that I had to pay a visit around the festive season. I was with family so I didn't go as Instagram crazy as I normally do, but I still managed to take a few pics.

We started off our short trip at Daisy Green. A quirky cafe behind Oxford Street where your brunch dreams come true. I love the interior with the flowers on the ceiling and the hippy vibe. I went for the coconut bread, which I had last time, and it was as good as I remembered. They also have charcoal bread, which can be very interesting, but overall I love this hidden gem. 

When our tummies were full we headed off to do some shopping, and I have to say it wasn't as successful. Normally I find the cutest things and this time I just couldn’t find anything I fancied. Considering it was Black Friday as well it was a bit of a let-down, but on the positive side: it saved me a lot of money!

After the not so successful shopping trip it was time for a bit of chill time at the hotel, which was a few blocks away from Marble Arch station. We headed out in the evening to get food, but that's when Oxford Street was closed off due to the attack that was going on at Oxford Street station. At that point we had no idea that there wasn't really an attack, so we quickly went to Paperchase and shopped there for a bit. It was a scary experience though, mainly because out of nowhere so many people came running in our direction. It makes you think there is this crazy person out there with a gun that is following them. We ended up buying a few bits at the local supermarket and headed back to our hotel to watch the news. I was happy to find out that nothing had actually happened, but it also made me think, because I was there an hour before it happened. What if I took a bit longer with my shopping? Then I would’ve been there. So scary when I think about it.

The next day we visited Notting Hill and Kensington for some shopping and soaking up the London vibes. Again I didn't buy anything, which came as a shock to everyone. Not even at Camden Market where we went to the Poppie Jasper stand to buy jewellery. I already have half of their ring collection, so I wasn't in need of any rings. After visiting Camden we went to Covent Garden, which is one of my favourite places around Christmas time. I love the big Christmas tree and decorations around there. Of course we also had to go to Winter Wonderland, so that's what we did in the evening. If I lived in London I would probably be there every week, sipping hot chocolate and enjoying all the rides and snacks. We ended the night in a Dutch bar in Soho. We stumbled upon it and randomly decided to go in. It wasn't as cringe as normal Dutch bars go, it was actually quite classy. We had a few drinks and then headed back to the hotel for a good night sleep.

On our last day we had breakfast at Patisserie Valerie -I had the pancakes- and I met up with a friend of mine. We drank glitter pastel lattes at Fiorucci by Palm Vaults. They definitely look better than how they taste, but I always wondered what they would be like and now I know. After we both went our own ways I went to M&S to stock up on British food. I think I ended up buying more mince pies, ginger snaps and salt & vinegar crisps than make-up and clothes haha.

Sadly, it was time to say goodbye to the magical, festive city and head back to Amsterdam. I ate my last Pret a Manger sandwich and stocked up on my favourite Toblerone chocolate at Gatwick airport -I'm nibbling on a piece as we speak-.

I am happy to have seen London around this time of the year and it has definitely put me in a more festive mood. Also, I'm doing #blogmas in December. I know I have been a bit crap at posting regularly, but if the last month of the year isn't the right time to get my shit together than I don't know what is. Strap yourself in for lots of content each day!

What is your favourite city around Christmas time?

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The Light Blue Denim Love Affair

For many years I was the kind of girl that would always be seen in her skinny black jeans. I just adored my Topshop Jamie's and basically lived in them 24/7. This all changed at the beginning of this year when I slowly started to fall in love with blue denim. And not just any blue denim but loose fitted denim as well. I never thought I would ever say goodbye to skinny jeans, but the time has come that I can say that I'm not a big fan of those tight pants anymore.

It all started with a pair of mom jeans and now all I wear is kick flares, straight jeans and cropped wide denim. I love the flare trend and I own a pair of kick flares form H&M and Topshop that haven't left my sight since I got them. My Florence straight jeans from ASOS have also made quite the appearance on my Instagram, so I think I need to repurchase them in different colours, since I can't live without. They are just so comfy!

The reason why I never opted for any light coloured blue bottoms was that I thought black made my thighs look skinnier. And in ways it does. Black looks really flattering, goes with everything and doesn't draw as much attention to the area as blue denim does. I guess I was tired of my black ensemble and wanted to spice it up. Not that I hate black jeans now, because I have been eyeing up a pair of black Topshop Dree jeans that I 100% have to get. 

My style has been changing a lot for the last couple of years and I think I'm finally happy with the ''style'' that I tend to go for. A rocky 70's, 90's vibe with lots of different prints, colours and textures. What's not to love about that? Maybe one day I will go back to my beloved black Jamie jeans, but for now it's time to say goodbye.

What is your favourite kind of denim?

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