My Sedona

(It was so hard not to sing the old The Knack song whenever we talked about Sedona)
After the intensity of Vegas, Sedona, Arizona couldn't have been more different.  To begin with, its beauty is natural, thanks to the gorgeous red sandstone rocks.  We also found that there is a serious emphasis on all things New Age, because some think that Sedona is a spiritual hotspot for vortexes and gateways to other dimensions... Er, yeah, we tried to avoid that aspect, but you couldn't help but notice the psychics, spiritual counsellors, clairvoyants, and various things to do with auras and reiki and other things we'd never heard of.

Stripey rocks

There are sights like the one above all over Sedona, and needless to say it was a popular location for cowboy films.  I still can't get over the idea of cacti just growing in the wild, like the desert version of dandelions.

My friend: Did you see that big hole thing in the ground while you were there? 

It should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway - the Grand Canyon is big.  I'm not entirely sure what I expected; everyone's heard of the Canyon but I realised I didn't have much of an idea what it actually looked like.  The scale is impossible to describe, because it really is just that big.  You look out over it and you can't see anything else.
Unfortunately, I had grown accustomed to boiling hot sunshine, Vegas-style, so I showed up in a sleeveless top, printed trousers and sandals, with a skinny cardigan for 'warmth'.  I may as well have worn a jumper made of paper for all the good it did me, and meanwhile I was surrounded by sensible types in sensible hiking clothes and sturdy boots, feeling like a typical townie tourist teenage girl.  Luckily my dad took pity on me, and I spent the rest of the day wrapped in his (several sizes larger) glamorous black fleece.

Betatakin

This is part of the Navajo National Monument in the Navajo Nation territory in Arizona.  Betatakin in particular is an ancient cliff dwelling where some of the ancient Pueblo people lived during the 1200s.  Going somewhere like this really made me realise just how ignorant I am about Native American culture and history - I don't know if it's different in the States but when I was in school I can only remember one mention of Native Americans in six years of history lessons.

High-five

This is a 'butte' in Monument Valley which is on the Arizona-Utah stateline, and again part of the Navajo Nation reservation.  It's hard to believe that places like this actually exist on Earth, because to me it honestly looks like Mars.  Monument Valley has been the location for oodles of films and so it's basically the stereotypical image of the American West.
Although almost all of our Arizona stay was in Sedona, we spent the night at The View Hotel, which is the only hotel overlooking the valley.  Our balcony meant that we were able to get up early to catch the sunrise over the valley, which was amazing (but cold).

I walk a lonely road...

I took this photo from the back of a bright pink jeep.  This particular jeep belonged to the (self-explanatory) Pink Jeep Tours, which was taking us on the Diamondback Gulch tour.  With a name like that, how could we turn it down?  It may have been one of the bumpiest, most gravity-defying car journeys I've ever been on, but it gave us a good opportunity to see some of the Sedona sights that we wouldn't have seen otherwise, and on the way back we saw the most stunning sunset.
Still to come - my favourite part, the food.

Viva Las Vegas

Hmm, original title there...
OK, I have to admit - normally Las Vegas would not be top of my list of Must-Go places.  Firstly, I'm not actually old enough to do either of the two main attractions: drinking or gambling (you would not believe how annoying it is to go from legally drinking for three years to suddenly being a child again).  Secondly, as lame as it sounds, I like my holiday destinations to have at least a little bit of history, some beautiful views or gorgeous houses.  Las Vegas is all about being NEW NEW NEW.  More is more in Vegas.
So when my family and I were invited to a wedding in Las Vegas (yes, the bride and groom were already together, rather than an impromptu drunken trip to the Little White Wedding Chapel), I really didn't know what to expect.

First impression...

It turns out that Las Vegas is a bit like a theme park, complete with rollercoasters.  The hotels alone are like tourist attractions in themselves, like the pyramid-shaped Luxor, or the (frankly ridiculous) Excalibur, which looks like a castle from Shrek 2 thanks to its brightly coloured turrets.

Blue and gold

It's safe to say then that Las Vegas takes a little bit of getting used to.  We went out along the strip on the evening we arrived, while I was feeling really jetlagged and desperately in need of sleep.  It was slightly overwhelming - what I hadn't realised was that almost everyone walking along the strip in Las Vegas are tourists, and if they're not tourists, they're trying to hand you cards advertising strip clubs or call girls.  Presumably that's exactly what someone wants on a family holiday...

The Bellagio

My brother looked at me in horror when I admitted that for a while I'd thought this Vegas landmark hotel was called the Villagio rather than the Bellagio - it turns out that Villagio is the name of our local pizzeria.  My photo is not really doing the fountain display justice, because those jets of water went up ridiculously high and there was some impressive choreography.

Something old, something new

We passed this place almost without noticing it when we were on our way to the famous Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign.  After a bit of research, it turns out that the Little Church of the West is the oldest building on the strip - all of 72 years old!  It's also the location of Angelina Jolie's wedding to Billy Bob Thornton, which I still find slightly weird...
Next posts include my Arizona trip and an entire post dedicated to food in America.  What a surprise...

Summertime

Criss-cross! Everybody clap your hands...

Ughhh, look at that disgusting blue sky.  Honestly, I hate the fact that I always end up complaining about hot weather when we get it so infrequently here in the UK, but it really does take me a while to adjust.  I'm pale-skinned and don't tan easily at all, so my skin ends up burning and breaking out in a rash in the first few days of sun, and I still get nervous when leaving the house without a coat. #britishproblems

Rainbow food

One big bonus to warm weather is how much easier I find being healthy.  I often stick to stodgy, carb-filled meals during cold winter months but salads are so much more appealing when you can sit out in the garden to eat and soak up rays. Of course, these things are always nicer in theory - it's only once you've committed to being outside that you remember that the next-door-neighbour is having very loud work done on the house and that every buzzy insecty thing in the country is suddenly in your face.

I just can't get over how good these cherries look.  Sorry.

Before and after

Of course after extolling the virtues of healthy eating I had to go and bake a few trays of cookies, just to balance things out.  These are stem ginger cookies, the recipe for which I found online after developing an out-of-the-blue craving for ginger cookies.  While I was making these I was taken aback by how solid the mixture was, as I'd been expecting something much runnier, like cake mix.  Luckily, I cottoned on and things turned out OK.

Beach and Baking

It’s finally sunny!  My family and I decided to take advantage of that fact and went for a relatively early morning walk on the beach, along with seemingly every other dog owner in the area.

Believe it or not, the beach was actually pretty busy.  *tumbleweed*

I’ve just realised that my oh-so-artistic shadow portrait makes me look like I have the world’s smallest head.  I never said I was a photographer.

I had a moment of extreme intelligence when I looked down and remarked that there seemed to be twice the number of paw prints compared to footprints.  Er…

I was feeling brave this weekend and decided to bake an actual cake as opposed to my usual cupcakes.  I’ve become a devotee of GBBO alumna Ruby’s recipes as featured in the Guardian’s Cook section and fell completely in love with the idea of a treacle ginger chocolate cake.  

Amazingly, it worked out surprisingly well.  Whenever I bake proper size cakes I’m always terrified that it won’t cook all the way through, but it all worked out.  A confession – there is a stage where you melt treacle and butter together over a low heat and add eggs, and I unfortunately ignored the ‘low heat’ instruction, which led to the eggs almost starting to cook where they collected around the sides of the pan.  Scrambled egg cake – delicious.  Luckily it was not the case.

The cake itself is very rich and quite dense, but the ginger icing stops it from getting too much.  I also had doubts about the icing, as 50g of butter looked like it would stretch to maybe a quarter of the cake at most.  But I carried on and of course the quantity was perfect.  This is one recipe I am definitely making again.  

Normandy, France - Part 3

I think I must enjoy torturing myself because I am currently a) starving, b) living off a student budget and c) in dire need of a food shop as I only have creme eggs and spaghetti in my cupboards.

I'm going to be honest - this wasn't my food.  Despite salad being the obvious choice for a boiling hot day in Rouen, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I'm on a seafood diet... I see food and I eat it. Badoom-tsh.

This wasn't mine either.  No, I went a little bit mad.

Big enough?

This is what I'm talking about, and it was all mine (needless to say, I didn't quite manage to finish it).  I know it seems silly going to France and having pizza, that well-known traditional French dish, but I like to think by ordering one with several French cheeses splodged on top, I was sampling their cuisine with a twist.

Unfortunately this photo doesn't really do these enormous meringues justice.  They were about the size of my hand, and we bought them in a bakery in Lyons-la-Forêt.  I have a major sweet tooth and also a weakness for huge meringues.  (Incidentally, the best ones I've had in the UK are from the cafe in the V&A Museum.)

This was just simple steak frites, which I happen to love. Weirdly this was fairly well-done, which I didn't expect in France!

Number one...

I worked out that I had four crème brûlées while I was in France.  As I said, I have a sweet tooth. 

Normandy, France - Part 2

We were staying relatively close to Rouen, so a few of us drove into the city for the day.  It's a really lovely place, with some gorgeous old buildings and a lot of history.

Place du Vieux Marché

This is the main market square in the centre of Rouen (where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake). There are streets leading off the square with lots of shops and restaurants, and they're all very picturesque.

Tick tock

This is the Gros Horloge astronomical clock which dates back to the 16th century.  It's situated over a shopping street and so there are always crowds of people wandering backwards trying to take a picture of it, which is a little bit awkward when you're trying to get past.  I was unfortunately one of those irritating photographers.

This is another of the narrow little streets in the city centre, with the cathedral in the background.  At the other end of this street I had an amazing ice-cream (which was much-needed thanks to the ridiculously hot weather).  I also couldn't help but get four giant macarons from one of the many sweet shops in Rouen.  Seriously, if you want macarons, Rouen is the place to go.

Rouen cathedral

Here is as full a picture as I could get of Rouen Cathedral - these pesky 13th century architects don't make things easy.  We had a look inside, which was a welcome shadowy relief from the sun, and the interior is just as stunning.

My next and final France post is dedicated solely to food, my one and only true love.

Normandy, France - Part 1

Right now I'm sitting in a freezing cold room in a student house listening to the rain and the wind battering the windows.  Understandably, I'm reminiscing about last summer, which I spent in Normandy in France.

Chateau Gaillard

Unfortunately, this was the weather on our first day there.  I had managed to convince myself that I would be leaving rainy Britain for gorgeous, sun-soaked France, and had packed accordingly.  That is how I found myself venturing out under the dark clouds in a vest top.

The view from Chateau Gaillard

The 'chateau' in question is actually a ruined mediaeval castle up on a hill, so it's not somewhere to ogle luxurious interiors and gorgeous ballrooms.  However the chateau looks down over the Seine, so it's worth going just for the view - just about, anyway.  We attempted to push a wheelchair up an immensely narrow, rocky path to get to the chateau.  Needless to say, it didn't work.

Blue sky!

Luckily the weather improved pretty soon, so we visited Lyons-la-Forêt, which is really pretty.  The photo above is of the main square which has lots of lovely half-timbered buildings and a market hall.  For such a picturesque place it wasn't at all busy or touristy either time we went there. 

Just the little cottage where we stayed... Er, no.

This is Parc de Clères, a zoo based around a 14th-century chateau, which itself was pretty stunning. The zoo part is nice because it's fairly open, with peacocks and wallabies wandering around on the grass.  Here I finally saw a peacock doing the proper tail-displaying thing, although as usual it was too late to take a picture. 

My France posts are fairly photo-heavy, so I'll spread them over several posts. Next up is Rouen!