Category Archives: London

Win London Retro frames from Glasses Direct

LondonRetro-6

Have you ever bought prescription glasses online or do you usually go to the optician to select your new frames?  Up till now I have always tried on my glasses in person.  I am that lovely near-sighted girl who continues to put on and take off different frames in comparison inches away from the mirror.  Which do I like better?  One or Two? This brand or that brand over there? Do I stick with the tried and true Buddy Holiday inspired frames or opt for colour? Continue reading

London Bloggers Tea, Nov 2013

I mentioned that the London Bloggers Tea was a success and today I share with you the photographs to prove it! I have met other bloggers before with the Bristol Fashion Week and have been on a couple of ‘blates’, but this was my first time meeting a group of bloggers of which I had already been following along online.  To say I was a little excited would be quite an understatement as I had been talking and tweeting about it online in the days that led up to our London Blogger Tea.  Before I even say another word I have to say a big thank you to Selena for putting this all together and organizing this event.  Without her hard work none of this would have been possible.  
I took the National Express coach from Bath Spa that morning getting me to London Victoria station that afternoon.  The underground was quite crowded that day with various events going on in London, but I ended up making it to Covenant Garden with ten minutes to spare. It was in the Mercer Hotel lobby where I ran into Melanie (my lovely sponsor this month) and had my first ‘omg I know you’ moment. The rest all happened rather quickly when I entered the room and heard Selena say, ‘Bonnie’s here!’
It was such an unreal moment for the first twenty minutes as I looked around the table and was able to put faces to names and blogs that I follow. Someone said it best when they stated how surreal it was to know so much about someone from their blog and finally meet them for the first time in person. To finally beat the distance, meet your ‘friends’, and give them a hug was quite a blessing for me.  It only made me feel a bit bittersweet that I do not live in London like most of the ladies so this could happen more often.
The whole event went by quite quickly. A third of the bloggers I have had the opportunity to get to know in the blogging world and through social media and had a blast getting to connect face to face.  Another third were bloggers I had only just heard about through the organization of the blogging meet up and enjoyed getting to know them and their journey with blogging.  Sadly with the time allowances and all the in depth conversations going on there was another third I did not get to talk to very much at all. It left me wanting another blogger event to look forward to so we could all talk even more. 
I did not think I was that nervous but I must have been because the first bite I had to eat all day was one of the scones when I got to the blogger tea.  I ate a little bit but my appetite was still missing when I finally made it home that night.  It was just a lot happening at once and so much excitement.  Then some of us went out for drinks at a pub afterwards and the conversations continued.  If you have read My Night in An Italian Jail, you know I had my phone stolen. I still have not gotten that replaced and so I was a bit anxious about getting home safely to Bath that night. I really want to also thank Selena and Sarah for helping make sure I got back to the coach station safely. 
It was an awesome meet up with talks about it happening quarterly.  I also look forward to any future trips to London to reconnect and invite anyone down to Bath to come visit when you have the time.  I think my next Blate will be with Kate next month, and I cannot wait! Again thank you to everyone who came, you all made my day. I understand the importance of friendships in your current city with ‘locals’ but as a TCK, I really appreciate all my expat friends. Thank you also to all of you who read my blog and those who talk with me over social media. Though we have not met, I appreciate each and every one of you. 

The London Tea Attendees
Gina from Sweet Serenity
Mandy from Emm in London
Bonnie from A Compass Rose
Jacintha from Urban Pixxels
Anna from Eat, See, Do 
Shobha from NYLon Living
Annie at Sew Graceful
Melanie from Melanie Fontaine
Samantha from To the Days Like This
A Big Thank You Goes Out To:
* Photography belongs to Bonnie Rose Photography © 2007 – 2013 All Rights Reserved | http://www.bonnie-rose.co.uk 



Horrible Histories Spies – Imperial War Museum, London

It is Tuesday and so you know what that means: Travel Tuesday! I have really enjoyed looking through all the links up this past week.  I was homesick by by Louisa with her P is for the Perfect Pacentro, learning about how Kate’s Dad Lives in Kenya, and having my wanderlust fueled further by Lindsey’s travels to Thailand.  I cannot wait to see where you are all sharing travels and stories of wanderlust from this week!  You all make this link up so much fun and inspiring! 
For Travel Tuesday I take you to the Imperial War Museum in London, England.  We had the opportunity to visit this summer with my family.  The reason for our going was to visit the limited time Horrible Histories Spies exhibit that was going on at the museum.  My boys love the Horrible Histories television programme and so we left it as a surprise until we arrived at the IWM. 

Horrible Histories is a British children’s television series based on the Terry Deary book series of the same name. It aims to provide entertainment while also informing its audience about history, thereby making a stereotypically boring topic fun – Wikipedia 

The exhibit was very hands on and geared towards kids and the child in all of us.  In fact I am not sure who had more fun: my sons or all of the adults.  The boys got a special new Horrible Histories book and a special stamp sheet that they could use through out their experience at the museum.  In different stations they could get an embossed stamp to signify they had completed that part of the journey. 
In typical Horrible Histories fashion they were able to provide the truth of spies with real artifacts coupled with gruesome tales and sometimes disgusting things you as an adult would not really want to know.  They had pictures and videos and many interactive areas where they could engage with computers to learn more about spies through out history. 
Of course at the gifts shop they had every gag spy item imaginable as well as their book series for purchase.  They even had quite a bit of books and films for the adults in the fiction and non fiction genres of war and spies.  
One of the most fun activities we enjoyed was becoming spies and making our own faux passports to fit our secret cover identity.  We then had to memorize our cover story and get questioned by the passport control to see if we could stay in the country.  It was all quite fun and the whole family was entertained. 
The Imperial War Museum is a great museum to visit when you are in London, England.  After we visited the Horrible Histories Spies exhibit (and had a break for tea, of course) we went to see other areas of the museum.  They have a pretty impressive area about war and spies geared more for adults though my children had almost as much fun as before.  Even if you have young children like mine I would recommend taking them because we found it to be a great home education resource.  It opened up dialog for more conversations about history, war, and spies.  My boys were most impressed with all the artifacts they had that spies really used in this part of the museum.
Here were some favourite captures taken from the day:
More on Horrible Histories
Want to know a little more about what Horrible Histories is all about? I definitely recommend checking out their website below and you can find plenty skits and songs on youtube as well. My family’s favourite is the RAF song as we have history with the USAF and the RAF. It definitely brings in a lot of memories of my dad and I think he would have thought this song was so hilarious. I think you will too so I have shared it below. 

horriblehistories.co.uk/
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Share your Travel stories and wanderlust addictions.
HERE IS HOW IT WORKS:
1. Share a post about travel! From road trips to trips abroad and from past travels to dream vacations. You can write about travel tips and tricks, favorite places to stay, or anything in between! Just make it about traveling somewhere!
2. Grab the lovely button. If you run into trouble, just make sure to mention Bonnie in a link! 😉 
3. Linkup goes live every Tuesday at 9 am GMT.
4. Hop around and meet new travel loving bloggers! Link up will be open for a few days, make sure to check back to visit some of the newer travel posts!
5. Please only one linked up post per blogger. Save other posts for future linkups!
6. The First Tuesday of every month will be a themed prompt if you want to join in!

London Blogger Tea a Success

Today I had the amazing opportunity to go to London for an awesome London Blogger Tea arranged by the beautiful Selena.  It was so great to meet so many of my blogger friends in person after following their blogs online.  I met and made new friends and the event flew by so fast.  I want to post on it properly in a few days once I get my photos online and share more about the event. Until then make sure to check out all the wonderful bloggers who attended and send them some encouraging shout outs. I know my life was made better having met each and every single person tonight.  Thank you for a perfect night out in London. 

Melanie from Melanie Fontaine
Gina from Sweet Serenity
Mandy from Emm in London
Sarah from The Wanderblogger
Tina from Girl Meets Globe
Jacintha from Urban Pixxels
Anna from Eat, See, Do 
Janelle from The Halfpenny Diaries
Shobha from NYLon Living
Annie at Sew Graceful
Samantha from To the Days Like This

*photo belongs to Bonnie Rose Photography © 2007 – 2013 All Rights Reserved | http://www.bonnie-rose.co.uk 


Portobello Road Market & Notting Hill

Travel Tuesday is here and since it is our first Tuesday of the month it means our themed post! November’s prompt is ‘relationships’.  I love solo travel but I just as much appreciate the relationships I have when I travel with family and friends.  On a recent trip to London with my visiting family we made the rush from where we were in Wales to get to the Portobello Road market.  We were not sure we would make it in time and I am so glad that we did because we had a great time!  While we were out I spotted with my camera this couple enjoying their relationship with a passionate kiss in the middle of Notting Hill.  I had to recreate this romantic gesture with my husband and have shared the pair of kissing photos below.  
I hope you will love the rest of these…there were just so many things to photograph and my eyes were on sensory overload.  I loved all the silver and found the antiques and old cameras my favourite things to look at in the market. My sister, a level II sommelier enjoyed all the smells of the food stalls like the lush varieties of mushrooms.  Even my sons found some interesting things to purchase while they were out exploring.  If you have seen Notting Hill, the travel bookshop was in the blue ‘Notting Hill’ store front you see in the photographs.  I definitely recommend making the point to go to this market when you are next in London and venture into Notting Hill.  Much thanks again to my friend Lauren for letting us stay at your place while we were in town. 

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Share your Travel stories and wanderlust addictions.
HERE IS HOW IT WORKS:
1. Share a post about travel! From road trips to trips abroad and from past travels to dream vacations. You can write about travel tips and tricks, favorite places to stay, or anything in between! Just make it about traveling somewhere!
2. Grab the lovely button. If you run into trouble, just make sure to mention Bonnie in a link! 😉 
3. Linkup goes live every Tuesday at 9 am GMT.
4. Hop around and meet new travel loving bloggers! Link up will be open for a few days, make sure to check back to visit some of the newer travel posts!
5. Please only one linked up post per blogger. Save other posts for future linkups!
6. The First Tuesday of every month will be a themed prompt if you want to join in!