Oh I Do Like to Be Beside The Seaside...

As a girl that is absolutely MAD about the UK seaside, imagine my excitement when I found that my grandparents had invested in a caravan in North Wales! I was so excited to get my family away on a stay-cation that just a week after I arrived back from my USA adventure we loaded up the car and headed away for the weekend.

The caravan itself is located in Towyn. Towyn is only about a 15 minute drive from the nearest beach and there are a handful of small seaside towns within a 30 minute drive also, so every day can be different! On our first night, we headed to Rhyl.

Rhyl isn't the NICEST seaside town in Wales by a long stretch. The town is in desperate need of some TLC and a finance injection. However, the beach itself is beautiful. The sand is clean and the water is surprisingly clear for the UK. Naturally, the water was icy cold, but that didn't stop me from paddling in it for ages :)

It was really a lovely evening as the skies were blue and it wasn't too cold or windy. Having said that, I needed to clutch tight onto my hat to keep it from falling into the water and being lost for ever...

The following day we headed into one of my favourite seaside towns in North Wales, Llandudno. Although the town offers a nice retail park complete with Outfit (Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge etc), River Island and New Look, this town is also full of independent stores which I just love having a rummage around. There are gift and book shops galore and I managed to grab some incredible literature bargains which I'm sure to blog about soon. 

I love all of these pastel coloured hotels with sea views. We headed onto the pier to grab some fish and chips and look out over the vast blue sea. It actually made me think about the tsunami really and about how terrifying it must be to see one rushing towards you...

As we headed home on our third day we stopped off in Chester, one of my favorite UK cities for shopping in. Most stores are outdoors in Chester and they are all down little alleys and hidden in corners and up stairs. Again there are many chain stores, but quite as many independents and the city is full of cute little delicatessens. My favorite is a cheese shop which you smell from a mile off! Chester is also home to one of my number one vintage stores named, Lily's Vintage. I love it here because the owner is always around to tell you stories about the clothes you are looking at and the prices are often very fair.

My family and I decided to grab some lunch in Carluccio's. I chose a spicy prawn pasta which was absolutely delicious. For once I was satisfied enough by my main to not even need dessert and the atmosphere in the restaurant was so friendly that we stayed sitting, finishing our drinks for half an hour after eating.

Have you ever been on a stay-cation in North Wales? Do you still go on holidays with your parents since your childhood? What are your favorite UK cities?

Love and kisses

GabriellaSofia

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