Top Albums of 2017 (So Far!): Part 4

We made it to the end of another year! Whilst 2017 sure as heck hasn’t been an easy one for a lot of people, at least we’ve been blessed with some amazing music from our favourite artists. If you’ve not seen Parts 1, 2, and 3 of this series for 2017, be sure to scroll through my blog to check them out. Now on to the round up of some of my favourite albums from the last part of the year. Hope you enjoy!

Kelsea Ballerini – Unapologetically

Why it made the list: Kelsea is such a joy to listen to, with lyrics that speak to the millennial generation (and I’m sure others), in the same way that early Taylor Swift did in her country era, and continues to do now. In Unapologetically, Kelsea again toys the line between country and pop with plenty of drum beat, and yet differentiates herself from mainstream pop with lyrics that actually mean something. High School details the story of a boy still stuck in his glorious past; Roses of a fast paced but beautiful romance, and the sultry Music of someone speaking to you just like a song does. My favourite track, however, has to be I Hate Love Songs, a satirical track with brilliant lyrics – definitely give it a listen. Sophomore albums are always a challenge, and Kelsea had a lot to live up to with the fantastic The First Time, but she’s certainly done herself proud with this one.  I have no doubt she’ll be giving the likes of Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert a run for their money in a few years time. Check out my review of Kelsea’s concert here.

Top Tracks: I Hate Love Songs, Roses, Miss Me More 

Kesha – Rainbow

Why it made the list: I know, I know, a bit different from the usual types of albums I talk about, but I’ve really enjoyed listening to Rainbow over the past few months and I’m sure you will too, regardless of what genre of music usually floats your boat. And yes, for my country fans out there, there’s even a duet with Dolly Parton on here too! I’ve long been a fan of Kesha from back in her electro-beat party pop era, but this album is truly something else. After years of hardship and legal battles with her producer, Kesha has used both the pain from the fight, and the relief on getting out the other side to create a truly stunning album. There are still some great party songs, but even these have evolved. Take Woman for example, which can easily be screamed out loud on the dancefloor, but take a closer listen and you’ll find an empowering anthem. The real stars are where you can feel raw emotion, three of which follow each other almost chronologically. First up is Hymn, both about losing faith and finding it again (and covered by Maren Morris which encouraged me to check out this album); followed by Praying about wishing not pain on those who have hurt you, but hoping they find redemption within themselves. Finally we have the liberating Learn To Let Go, whose title speaks for itself. Kesha is undoubtedly a phoenix, rising from the ashes as something even brighter than before.

Top Tracks: Boots, Learn to Let Go, Hymn

Walker Hayes – boom.

Why it made the list: Dan & Shay first told me about Walker Hayes as one to watch, and I’m glad they did because boom. certainly suggests we should keep our eyes open for him. The album is full of refreshing songs which deserve a call out only because of their interesting titles – Shut Up Kenny, Halloween (listenable at any time of the year) and the simply titled Craig. This isn’t easily recognisable as country music, with plenty of similarities with the likes of Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz as Hayes almost sing-talks and raps more than sings as we know it but if you’re looking for something that’s certainly very different to your usual, you might just find in this.

Top Tracks: Beckett, Beautiful, Mind Candy

Chase Rice – Lambs & Lions

Why it made the list: Chase Rice’s gravelly voice and anthem type songs certainly lend themselves to raising a glass or lighter, and this is clearly evident on Rice’s latest album. The album begins with Lions and On Tonight which set the tone for hard rocking hands up tracks before shifting year into some actually quite sweet songs like Unforgettable and Eyes On You. There is of course the obligatory drinking song (Jack Daniel’s Showed Up) but also very personal songs like Amen. For this reason, this is an album hard to define that, as aforementioned, would easily work in a stadium as well as in an intimate venue, which is where I first heard most of these songs (read my review here). If you like Sam Hunt, you might just like Chase Rice too.

Top Tracks: Eyes On You, Unforgettable, Three Cords & The Truth.

Did you agree with my list, and my top picks for 2017 (don’t forget to read the other parts elsewhere on my blog!) I’d love to know what albums you enjoyed listening to this year, so drop me a comment below or on Twitter @CiarasCountry. No doubt there’s plenty of great music I missed out on this year so be sure to let me know what you loved, and what you’d like to see in future blog posts. Thanks for reading!

TRAVEL: Crete, Greece - swim, eat, relax, repeat

I'm typing up this blog from my private balcony overlooking the calm and inviting waters of the Sea of Crete. Honestly, there's no better place from which to blog. My location: the Radisson Blu Beach Resort in Milatos, Crete, an all-inclusive resort with more pools than I can count, but more on that later.


An easyJet flight from Luton (officially named the UK's worst airport) brought us to Heraklion, the main airport on the island. After wandering around the airport for a while, we finally found our transfer driver who seemed not to have realised he was taking us to the hotel in spite of holding a sign with our name on it in one of his hands... An hour later and we arrived at the coastal town of Milatos. By this point, it was dark outside meaning there were no views to be admired but that left something to look forward to in the morning.


The rooms at the resort vary from standard hotel rooms, to those with a beach-view balcony like mine, and some with their own private mini pools (I told you there were a lot of pools here). It's a very expansive space too, and I was pleased they'd given us a map or else we would have undoubtedly gotten lost walking around in the hot Grecian sun. And yes, in spite of it being late in the year it's still over 30'C here with glorious blue skies and sunshine. A nice break from the Autumn rain back home. Plus, since the kiddies have now gone back to school, the only sounds I can hear is the water lapping at the sides of a nearby pool and the tapping of my keyboard. Pretty nice.
 

Day one started with breakfast in the Mosaic restaurant in the main lobby building. With the 'Ultra All Inclusive' package we're on (your other options are Bed & Breakfast or Half board), breakfast, lunch and dinner are included, as are snacks, ice cream, drinks and a small selection of drinks available in your mini bar. With this much on offer, it's easy to take advantage of it all but I'm trying to pace myself to ensure I still fit into my swimsuit by the end of the week!


We made our way around the resort for a while (with map, of course) before heading over to the 'Adults Only' pool on one of the upper levels. One benefit of sun-seeker resorts like this is that guests seemed to be more interested in soaking up the rays rather than swimming, which meant that while there were only a few loungers left, the pool was completely abandoned. And yes, blissfully cold and refreshing for a mid-morning dip.


I headed down to one of the many pool bars down by the beach to grab some nachos and (free!) ice cream before settling down with a good book for a few hours. At 3pm, we bee-lined for one of the resorts organised activities - Greek cooking. Well, I say cooking but it was really more assemblage of a snack called Dakos, literally hard bread, tomatoes mixed with olive oil, and feta. Nice and all, but absolutely no cooking involved and took literally 30 seconds to assemble.


The afternoon continued with more swimming, eating, and relaxing, as well as a quick trip into one of the nearby towns, Milatos to check out life outside the resort. In the evening, I headed to my second activity of the day - crystal healing. I hadn't a clue what this involved but thought it sounded exciting! It turned out to be an introductory session to what crystal healing is, and how natural stones can be used to activate our different chakras like heart and intuition. As the sun began to set over the island, we headed for a buffet dinner at Mosaic which offered a variety of Italian, Greek, Asian and American cuisines. Somehow a busy un-busy day trying to get into the swing of resort life!

The following day started earlier for yoga with Dmitry at 8:30 down by one of the pools - quite a gruelling session but I was glad to get a bit of exercise in! We raced for breakfast before it finished at the Pool Front Restaurant which had slightly less of a selection than Mosaic but a nicer and quieter atmosphere.


Our first swimming location of the day was the gorgeous Cretean Sea which changed from lovely clear water close to the shore to a deeper blue further out. It was surprisingly pretty freezing but a pleasant change from pacing up and down in pools. Plus, there was a small selection of fish circling below the surface which you (hopefully) wouldn't see in any of the resort pools!


After lunch and a Nutella filled crepe at the Olivia snack bar, we decided to leave the safety of the resort (shock horror) and walk along the road to the closest village, Sissi, about 5km away. The heat was at times pretty uncomfortable but the hillside route offered some lovely views and the town seemed to have some good options for coffee and Greek restaurants - one of the downsides of being all-inclusive!

Once back, I couldn't wait to try out the water park where splashing straight into a deep pool at the end offered a huge relief from the heat. I don't think I'd ever visited a water park before either, so it was great to experience some good old childhood fun.

Dinner was at On The Rocks, a BBQ Grill overlooking the sea. We decided to head down slightly earlier than our 7:30pm booking to catch the sunset, and I was glad we had as I got a wonderful timelapse as the sun set right in front of us with stunning colours filling the sky. I'm a sucker for sunsets. Dinner was pretty good too, with a large selection of salads and hot foods as well as having whatever meat or fish you fancied grilled up on barbecues right in front of you.

I decided to forgo yoga the following morning to save my energy for a later session of TRX which is an exercise class based around those large elastic bands - I thought it sounded interesting. However, after a rushed breakfast to make sure we were there on time and waiting a further twenty minutes, it became clear that no instructors were going to turn up. It transpired that the activities sheet we had been given was incorrect and TRX was not occurring on that particular day which I found mildly annoying - what else was wrong, or what had we missed if it wasn't printed on our sheet?


After plenty more swimming and relaxing, we headed down to the pool bar close to the shore for an activity we hoped would be on - Greek language lessons. I love foreign languages, so this was something that I really enjoyed and thankfully picked up very quickly. Whilst being based in a resort meant that I couldn't see myself using my new skills in the near future, I guess it gives me reason to come back and practice!

 We continued our Greek day with dinner at the resort's Greek restaurant, Ariadni. They certainly don't let you go hungry here, and dinner consisted of a variety of starters brought to our table including dolmides, Greek salad (mmm, fresh feta...) rabbit, lamb and squid; followed by a main course of skewered meats and grilled vegetables; and finally a selection of Cretan desserts. Mid-dinner entertainment was also provided in the form of a kids disco occurring in the mini amphitheatre below the balcony we were eating on. Who doesn't love a bit of limbo to accompany dinner?


We had big plans for the following day, and after breakfast, began a 5km walk to Milatos Caves. I'm sure anyone who passed thought we were mad to be walking in the heat (and to be honest, we were but hey, you have to make sacrifices when you don't have a hire car). However, the (sweaty) walk did provide an opportunity to walk alongside pretty olive groves, typical Greek houses and little statues of churches that lined the route.


After an uphill struggle we arrived at the cave (my mind had convinced me that we'd be going DOWN to get to a cave, but no, it turned out it was at the top of a hill). The generator didn't seem to be working on this particular day, so I was glad for my mobile phone light to guide the way through the cave. Inside, I was surprised to find a small chapel which looked out through a large hole in the rock to provide pretty panoramic views. What a place to hold mass! The cave was pretty much free to be explored as much as you wanted, and I wiggled my way along some of the cavities to marvel at the way the rocks had broken and joined together. A much more pleasurable experience than my last time caving, where I squeezed through holes no human should fit through in the Yorkshire Dales.

The return journey seemed quicker, probably because we knew how far we had to go, and that it was mostly downhill. We decided to make things even quicker by taking a shortcut around the village.


THIS IS WHERE IT ALL WENT WRONG.


As we walked along the rough surface on the shortcut, I lost my footing, cutting my hands and legs. Although only about a kilometre from the resort, it was a painful one at that. Eventually we arrived at reception and I was given first aid by a guest passing by who so happened to be a doctor, including having a stone extracted from under my skin (ouch!) and getting everything bandaged up. Worse than the pain though was the knowledge that I wouldn't be able to go swimming for the rest of my time at the resort. Now that hurt.


However, the Radisson staff, and in particular Customer Relations Manager Danai, made sure that I was well looked after, and we were offered lunch in the resort's Italian restaurant as opposed to one of the snack bars, which I thought was very kind of them. I spent the rest of the day moping by the pools and wishing I was in them, before we headed back to the Italian for dinner. Again, no one was going hungry as we were served a selection of antipasti followed by a second starter of risotto; followed by meat, fish and pasta; and then brownies for dessert. Calories don't count on holiday, right?


We took our final breakfast of the holiday back down at the pool bar which felt a bit less chaotic than Mosaic. I headed back to reception to get my bandages changed and be told I still had stone fragments in my hand (why?!) but would be allowed to paddle in the sea as the saline water had the potential to help healing (yay!). Before that however, I wanted to try out a new activity - Greek dancing. Unfortunately however, no other guests showed up to the activity, and my injuries meant that I couldn't join in so the activity was cancelled. A shame, as I think that would have been good fun.



After lunch at the Italian again, complete with the freshest fresh pizza this side of Italy, we took our second Greek lesson of the week. Some newbies meant we had to go through the basics again, but a bit of reinforcement was no problem at all, and we then moved onto some more advanced vocabulary. I'll be doing my Greek GCSE in no time I'm sure.


My favourite activity of the week occurred afterwards - Mandala stone painting. This involved painting lotus flower designs onto rocks. Extremely relaxing, and a lovely souvenir to take back home with us (along with my standard snow globe that I collect from every destination). In fact, it almost made me forget about my injuries - that is until I went to see the doctor who told me my hand had become infected (noooooo) and would require antibiotics which we could only get with a hefty medical bill in order for her to prescribe it. I felt awful! Not the way I'd wanted the holiday to end, but hey, these things happen.

After a final yummy dinner at Mosaic (try the Asian station - they know how to cook up a mean stir fry) we got into the transfer bus to take us back to the airport (via the pharmacy) to head back to the colder shores of England. Barring the post-accident days, this was a pleasant and relaxing holiday. I'm not sure how much longer I could have spent chilling by the pool, but I can't say I don't feel refreshed after it. The Radisson had all we needed, and most importantly, friendly staff who dealt well with mishaps and know how to make their guests feel special. Thank you, Radisson staff - I'm sure we'll be back.


My tips for Greece (well, more for resort life): If the resort you're staying at offers activities, take advantage of them. It'll provide you with an opportunity to do something different from relaxing, and you might learn something in the process, be that a new form of exercise or cultural skills. If, like me, relaxing isn't your forte, I'd recommend considering a hire car, or looking into public transfer to take you away from the safety of your resort. For instance, the ancient ruins of Knossos were in our vicinity but out of walking distance, but I would feel like I could more say I'd 'done' Crete if we'd gotten out of the resort more. Finally, although this is easier said than done, relax. That's what you're here to do and you deserve a break. Enjoy yourself!

Have you visited Crete or Greece? I'd love to hear all about it - let me know what you got up to on Twitter @CiarasCountry! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this blog too, so feel free to leave a comment below and I'll get back to you as soon as possible!

Concert Review: CHASE RICE, The Borderline, London

I’d always thought that handmade signs were made for stadium shows, but they were out in force for Chase Rice’s intimate gig at London’s Borderline venue, with Sharpied ‘London Loves You’ and ‘It’s My Birthday (Follow Me On Twitter)’ carefully sketched onto cardboard. Whilst never having toured the UK before, Chase clearly has many a loyal fan this side of the pond.

The crowd last night was lovely – strangers took selfies with each other, and we all joined in for a collective chorus of Maren Morris’ My Church. I stand by my opinion that country music has the best fans so it was good to be surrounded by kindred spirits for a night of good music.

At 8pm, opening act Twinnie took to the stage. She’s very much an artist for the millennials with plenty of fun songs like It Won’t Stop and Better When I’m Drunk. Nowhere was this more clear than during self-penned track Social Babies, probably the only song out there to use ‘iOS’ (as in Apple) as a lyric. I preferred the more heartfelt songs like Looking Out For You, interestingly written from the point of view of her grandfather, and Superhero, written with the brilliant Lucie Silvas. Whilst some of the crowd chatted away at the bar, it was nice to see others easily picking up the words to her songs and singing along.

Chase’s set started in a way reminiscent of the man himself – with no fanfare as he walked silently on stage and took a seat in front of the mic. No ‘how you doing London?!’ or ‘you ready to party?’ that other artists would be tempted to do, but the ideal entrance for a no holds barred artists like Chase. He began with Do It Like This, occasionally pulling his head back from the mic whilst singing to create a sense of depth, difficult to do in such an acoustic setting.

As he began How She Rolls, I found myself thinking that whilst his style worked well in such an intimate gig, I could see easily how he could play the same songs to arenas full of screaming fans as the opener for the likes of Kenny Chesney. No doubt the songs would sound very different, so I would be interested to see how he would perform in situations like this. We were told last night that he’ll be returning next year with a full band, so I guess we’ll see then!

A lot of his songs are what I would call ‘Saturday night songs’, party anthems like I Like Drinking, Cause It’s Fun and Jack Daniels Showed Up, which even if you’ve never heard before, you can guess what they might be like. Nevertheless, if you wanted an artist to get the party started on a Tuesday night, you’d be hard pressed to find one better than Chase, with glasses raised all round.

As well as his drinking songs, Chase is far from a PG-13 artist, as evidenced by songs like 50 Shades of Crazy and Ride. However, whilst the crowd may otherwise feel awkward singing some of those lyrics in a room full of people, Chase helped to diffuse the atmosphere, inviting a girl from the front row up for the latter song and jokingly instructing her boyfriend to sing it to her at some point.

I must admit, my favourite songs from the night were the less usual ones that showed what he termed his ‘sweeter side’ and I think as well, his vocals. On softer tracks like Three Cords and the Truth, Carolina Can, his favourite song that he’s released, and the romantic Eyes On You, about missing all the sights the world has to offer because you can’t take your eyes off the one you love, his raspy voice took on a different tone to the ‘new country party sound’ of many of his other tracks.

He finished his set with some of his successful hits, including Gonna Wanna Tonight (easy to sing along to!), Ready Set Roll, and one of the most successful country hits of our time, which I was unaware that he had written, Florida Georgia Line’s Cruise. Whilst certainly not an artist I imagine is to everyone’s taste, Chase has very loyal fans and some great party tracks. For a Tuesday night, he sure put on a good show.

Interested in more reviews like this? Make sure to follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry and let me know of any upcoming concerts you'd love to see a review of!

Gallery

TRAVEL: Dublin, Ireland - tourism, tigers and Temple Bar

Welcome to my Dublin blog! I chose to truly immerse myself in the city this time, with no phone to take photos (and hopefully encourage you to see it for yourself) but I've interspersed today's blog with some pictures from the zoo - hope you enjoy!


Being somewhere I visit every year to see family, I'd never really 'done' Dublin as a tourist. But this year, in the name of journalistic integrity, I decided to check it out. My journey began on a bus from the airport into the city. Being friendly with the locals can help you out, as a quick chat with the bus driver meant that I was dropped off right outside the Spire, a tall pin-like sculpture in the middle of O'Connell Street.


My first destination was the tourist office to pick up the map. If you're an avid reader of Ciara's Country, you'll know of my love of free walking tours but had arrived into the city too late to catch that day's, so decided to invent my own. From the Spire, I crossed the River Liffey, admiring the famous Hapenny Bridge on my right, and headed into Temple Bar. This street is famous for its busy Irish pubs and bars so is the perfect place to stop for your inaugural Guinness or Irish whiskey. If that type of activity floats your boat, you'll find whiskey shops offering tastings all over the city, and the Guinness Storehouse further up the river, which is Dublin's number one paid attraction.


With little time and even less money, I continued on to check out some of Dublin's stunning cathedrals - Christ Church and St Patrick's, the latter of which has a lovely garden in front which was filled with happy tourists and locals alike. Dublin is well signposted, so it wasn't hard to make my way to St Stephen's Green, which turned out to be a lot larger than the map would have had me believe. This is the city's answer to Central Park, and has lakes and green spaces galore to spend a few hours wandering around. For the culture fiends among you, the Green also has a vast number of sculptures dedicated to historic events, poets and more which you can check out too.

The north-most corner of the Green leads you straight onto Grafton Street, perhaps Dublin's busiest street. This is where you come to shop and you'll find all your high-street favourites along here. I'd also heartily recommend heading into Butler's Chocolate Cafe if you fancy for coffee and cake or lunch. Butler's is a true Irish institution, and their chocolates should be tried at least once in your life - the same applies to Lily O'Briens which you can buy in most Irish supermarkets. Yum!


At the top of Grafton, I took a quick detour to see the statue of Molly Malone, based on a famous song set in Dublin. Heading back the other way, I wandered past Trinity College, one of Ireland's top universities and home to the Book of Kells, a beautiful illuminated manuscript Gospel book which you can get a close look at if you can bear the queues. Trinity College library is also worth a look at as it looks like something straight out of Harry Potter.


I found myself outside Pearse Station, nearby to my second recommendation for something to eat - Kilkenny Design. As well as having decent food and always being packed to the brim, the downstairs of Kilkenny Design is also a haven of Irish craftsmanship and you can pick up just about anything you want there, from jewellery and clothes to paintings and gifts, all produced in Ireland. Something a bit different from 'Made in China', eh?

Here I crossed over the delightfully named Butt Bridge to admire the impressive Custom House before catching a train to continue on my journey. All in all, my route took a little over two hours, but stopping for something to eat or spending more time in any of the destinations I've mentioned will of course add to that. Nonetheless, a great way to pass the time!




My second day in Dublin brought me to another great part of the city - Phoenix Park (not to be confused with the city's main sports stadium Croke Park where you can catch a thrilling hurling game in season). Unlike many of the London parks I'm used to, you can drive right into Phoenix Park, which is fairly handy given it's size. Here, there's plenty of places to walk around, and if you're lucky, spot some deer.


However, my destination for the day was Dublin Zoo which despite being very expansive itself somehow manages to stay contained within the parks boundaries - as is the Irish President's House, for that matter. I'm lucky enough to have a cousin who volunteers at the zoo, and she was an excellent tour guide of the day, especially when telling me which animals had new babies which you might not notice if you weren't told e.g tiny baby monkeys that blend into their mothers fur. N'aww.

Dublin Zoo has a great range of animals too, including elephants (and babies when I visited) which is more than those of us in London have. We also saw meerkats, sloths (which is more than I can say about my experiences in Costa Rica, which you can read about here), chameleons, crocodiles, sealions, penguins, rhinos, gorillas, lions, lemurs and tigers. Phew, that's a lot of animals. A fab way to spend the day and catch up with my cousin. Say hi to her from me if you visit, and I'd highly recommend you do!


Ciara's tips for Dublin: the city is small and very walkable, meaning that you can take your time to walk around and explore. By all means, take an organised tour but I'd also encourage you to do some wandering of your own - you never know what you might stumble across (and I'd love to here what you do!). If you feel like leaving the centre, I heartily recommend catching the Dart out along the coast (in the direction of Bray or Greystones) - get off at any of the coastal stops along here for a pleasant walk along the beach, or just gaze from the train window at the shoreline. Who'd have thought that Dublin of all places would have a beautiful sea just 20 minutes from the centre? If you're taking a family trip, I can't recommend Dublin Zoo enough - I could have easily whiled away many more hours there and you'll get to see animals you can't see anywhere else this side of the Serengeti.

I hope you enjoyed touring Dublin with me! If you did, be sure to follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry as there'll be plenty more where this came from... big travel plans coming up...  I'd love to hear your thoughts too, so feel free to leave a comment below and I'll get back to you as soon as possible!

TRAVEL: Budapest, Hungary - bridges, Basilicas and (Air)bnbs

Eastern Europe is vastly underestimated as a tourist destination from Western travellers. Sure, France and Spain may be closer but not by much, and I can assure you heading to Hungary is absolutely worth that extra hour on the plane. Perhaps the worst part about visiting Budapest was having to fly from Luton airport, but hey, everyone has to make sacrifices.

Hopping off of the plane in Budapest, it was an easy bus ride on the 100E to downtown, where a 30 minute walk brought us to our Airbnb on Also Erdosor Utca. This was my first experience staying in an Airbnb, and I can’t recommend it enough. For £70 per person for the 5 nights we were there, this was a far cheaper option than any hotel. Plus, the apartment we stayed at was wonderful – a reasonable sized kitchen, a downstairs living room whose couch transformed into a double bed, and an upstairs mezzanine with two more single beds. Our host, Peter, was also lovely, giving us recommendations on where to go and stocking the fridge with basics like juice and bread.

As we’d taken a horrifically early flight from Luton, we still had much of the day to explore. I called up a helpful Hungarian friend of mine, and we agreed to meet at St Stephen’s Basilica, about 30-40 minutes walk away. I can’t say I minded the walk at all – Budapest’s architecture is stunning and even the shopfronts along one of the main streets, Andrassy Utca, are covered in magnificent stone statues. It’s far from a boring stroll.

And then you reach St Stephen’s – wow. An incredibly imposing and yet beautiful structure that is stunning both inside and out. To give us an overview of the city, we decided to climb to the top. Students, it’s worth bringing your student card with you as you get a significant discount – I forgot mine and was kicking myself for the rest of the day! The climb isn’t for the faint-hearted and I was wheezing by the time we got to the top but boy, was it worth it. Panoramic views stretching for miles across the city and offering brilliant views of Budapest’s incredible buildings including Buda Castle and Fisherman’s Bastion. I was thrilled to have my friend as a local tour guide too – Hungarian history is ingrained throughout school so it was like bringing along a walking textbook. Definitely find yourself a local if you can!

Our walk continued through Liberty Square with its controversial monuments commemorating the horrors inflicted during the German invasion and Communist eras; and over to Parliament. It is legitimately hard to think of my favourite building in Budapest (trust me, they’re all stunning) but I think this one takes the cake. Impressive, impressive, impressive.

Parliament backs onto the Danube so we had the opportunity to stroll along its banks, watching the river cruises which make their way up the entire river come in to dock. I think if I’d had more time in this part of the world, that would have been a great way to see more of Eastern Europe.

We crossed over the lovely Chain Bridge, which connects Pest and Buda and stopped at Makos Guba for dinner – a recommendation from my Hungarian friend. If it’s recommended by a local, it’s going to be good. Having him around had added benefits of knowing what’s good to eat, and we ended up with a feast including catfish, beef stew, Turos Csusza (incredible pasta topped with cheese and sour cream) and a poppy seed and jam bread pudding. Delicious food and without breaking the bank.

To avoid the smoggy tunnel back to the bridge, we walked up to the Royal Palace and back down the other side, offering wonderful views of the city’s twinkling lights. What a way to end the day.

Day two started with an early morning as there’s so much to see. We began by heading straight up to the Danube and walking along it as the city started to wake up, before heading to Deak Ferenc Square to begin a free walking tour which departed from the square at 10:30am. Luckily for us, the tour was reasonably different to where we’d been taken yesterday, and included more of the Buda side of the city, including the amazing white-marbled Fisherman’s Bastion (complete with picturesque windows which make for the best photos) and the mosaic-topped Matthias Church. I realise I’m overdosing on positive adjectives here, but you would be too if you’d seen these buildings!

Two and a half hours later and we finished our walk at the back of the Castle District. Given free reign of the rest of the day, we first stopped for strudel (when in Hungary…) and then walked around the Royal Palace before heading back down to street level. Our next destination was Gellert Hill, where a few hundred steps will take you up to the Liberty Statue and Citadel. Again, great views and well worth the hike up to.

We headed back into Pest for dinner where a bit of looking around and the saviour that is TripAdvisor brought us to Taverna Dionysos. It was like stepping right into Santorini with the blue and white walls inside. And the food… I had an astounding cheese filled tub of calories and deliciousness, but I don’t think you could go wrong with anything on that menu. Hungary, you know how to do good food.

Feeling adventurous, we decided to head back up Gellert Hill once again as the morning’s tour guide had told us about a Hungarian folk party occurring between 8pm and midnight that night. I’m pretty sure we were led astray, finding no such party but it helped us to rack up 43,000 steps for the day (and work off that dinner) as well as spend some time watching the city at night.

There was more to discover the next day and we headed in the opposite direction up to Margaret Island, a long expanse of land sitting in the middle of the river. On the island, you’ll find a variety of pretty gardens, rentable buggies to drive around in, and most importantly, the all important ‘Budapest’ sign you can take photos in front of. But be warned, the island is longer than you think and we were pretty tired out once we reached the end – it might be worth investing in one of the buggies if you want to see the whole island quicker!

Budapest is famous for its baths, so that was our plan for the afternoon. Unfortunately, yours truly had neglected to bring any swimming gear, but I’ve been assured by my friends that the Szechenyi baths are well worth a visit. Even if you’re not into swimming, the park the bath is located in is massive and an easy way to waste some time.

Dinner didn’t disappoint again and we ended up at the newly re-opened Comme Chez Soi in Pest’s shopping district. Despite its French name, it was a wonderful Italian restaurant with all of the character in the world and the most charming chef, Ricardo. The food was delectable, reasonably priced, and followed by complimentary sorbet and chocolates. How did we get so lucky with food here? If you ever visit (and I would encourage you to) you might find a little note we left the staff still stuck in the bottom-right hand corner of the mirror. Feeling full and happy, we roamed the streets before arriving at some of Budapest’s famous ruin bars, so called as they are located in old city ruins. Tired after our busy day, we weren’t too disheartened to find the queue for the Szimpla Kert bar, the ‘original’ ruin bar where bathtubs serve as some of the seats, stretching around the corner, but if you want to check it out, get there early!

Our final day in Budapest was more leisurely and we made our way over to Parliament again, first heading into the underground museum which holds some of the stonework, and then into the visitors centre. If we’d known, we would have arrived even earlier as entry is only allowed on a tour which sell out very quickly, so in spite of arriving before 11am, the next available English tour wasn’t until 2:30pm. Nevertheless, your ticket grants you access into a small museum which details 100 years of Hungarian history where we easily spent our 2 hours waiting.

I’ve already told you about how beautiful Parliament is, and that wasn’t even talking about the inside. Our 45 minute tour brought us through a small fraction of the building, but a wonderful one nonetheless. Everything was covered in gold! I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen such an opulent building. Plus, you’ll also find the crown jewels inside and we arrived just on time to see the changing of the guards. Well worth a visit.

Lucky for us, our time in Budapest coincided with a Hungarian folk festival taking place in the Royal Palace grounds. Whilst not too cheap to get into, it offered an excellent way of passing the afternoon, as we passed by hundreds of stalls selling beautiful Hungarian crafts, listened to some traditional music on the stages, and ate ‘langos’ – effectively a huge savoury doughnut covered in sour cream and cheese. Yum.

As the sun began to set, we raced along to Margaret’s Island (stopping briefly to admire the sun’s golden rays glinting off of Parliament’s windows) and arrived with moments to spare before the 8pm fountain show where the water lit up and danced along to music (similar to my experiences in Kuala Lumpur which you can read about here). As it turns out, 8pm wasn’t the main show, as they have 15minute shows every hour on the hour, so we stuck around until 9pm, dipping our feet in the warm water and watching the water twirl languidly. Then, the excitement began and we were treated to almost an hour and a half of the fountain’s entire repertoire, ranging from classical music to Ed Sheeran and Justin Timberlake. It was brilliant. These mega shows run at 6pm and 9pm every night so make sure you check one out!

As they were on the way home, we wandered into a few more ruin bars – UdvarROM and Fuge Udvar, both of which were bustling, before returning back to our lovely Airbnb, catching a few Z’s and preparing for our return home the next morning. I had a fantastic time in Budapest and can’t recommend the city enough. If you can’t decide where to visit next, this is my number one pick. And, if my review isn’t convincing enough, EVERYTHING on this trip, including flights, accommodation, food and activities ended up costing less than £300. You can’t argue with that.

Ciara’s tips for Budapest: Firstly, go. Seriously, it’s a wonderful city and you need to visit it. There, that’s my marketing done. Secondly, BRING. A. SWIMSUIT. Biggest regret of the trip, but another reason to visit Budapest again. As always, Ciara’s Country and TripAdvisor are your best friends when travelling. Sure, you can risk walking into any restaurant for dinner, but the food we had was utterly superb so please consider trying them! Finally, give yourself time to explore the city. We’d initially considered visiting Budapest briefly as part of an interrailing trip, but making it our main destination was definitely a better decision. Enjoy!

If you enjoyed today’s travel blog, feel free to follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry as I’ll be posting new travel blogs all the time! I’d also love to hear your comments – whether that’s about my writing style, recommendations, or places you think I should check out next. Let me know!

Concert Review: MAREN MORRIS, O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

I honestly feel like I had been waiting for this concert forever. Perhaps it was due to the exhilaration of finding out months and months ago that one of my favourite artists was coming to do a string of UK dates, making sure to be online as soon as tickets were released to secure my spot, and then the big day finally arriving. I couldn’t wait.

Arriving at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, I couldn’t help but think how crazy it was that a Grammy Award winning artist was playing a reasonably medium-sized venue as opposed to sell-out shows at the O2 Arena or somewhere of a similar capacity. Add to this the fact that this was probably the biggest venue of the entire UK leg of the tour, and it seems all the more strange. As doors opened, I headed inside (thank you to Hannah for her help at the venue!) to take my place on the first seating level, watching as the standing section filled up quickly below me.

As the clock struck eight, the room darkened and Ryan Hurd strolled onto stage, looking very chilled out in a plaid shirt and jeans. He began the way I always like to hear artists – solo on the soft sounding Chasing After You, allowing us to get a real feel for his vocal style. However, he wasted no time in getting the party started, jumping straight into We Do Us, a Saturday night party anthem. I suppose as the opening act for Maren, I had expected his style to be somewhat similar but in fact he verged more on ‘country rock’, providing an interesting juxtaposition to what was to come.

Throughout the set, he ranged from other rock-inspired tracks like Half Hoping and City Girl to groovy tunes like Hold You Back. From watching, he certainly seemed to be ‘in the music’, as he sang most of the songs with his eyes closed. I particularly enjoyed Michigan For The Winter, a song about being proud of where you’re from, with lyrics that evoked sweet images of spending the holidays with the ones you love.

Ryan was not only taking part in the Hero tour simply as Maren’s opening act, but also as her fiancé, and songs like Last Turn Home and Love In A Bar offered beautiful snapshots into their relationship, detailing how they fell in love whilst making their mark on the music industry, and how it had brought them to where they are now. I suppose touring with your significant other solves the issue of being away from them for so long, something which I know creates contention for many artists who are not so lucky.

As well as being an enjoyable entertainer, Ryan is also a talented songwriter including of Lady Antebellum’s summer smash You Look Good which he played for us, highlighting his ability to write hugely commercially successful tracks, a feat which many Nashville artists strive to achieve. Doing a bit of Googling later, I was thrilled to see he’d also written Blake Shelton’s Lonely Tonight, a song I very much enjoy listening to now and then.

As the lights went up, I took the opportunity to glance around the venue, spotting UK Country Music royalty in the form of Ben Earle from The Shires as well as Liv Austen sitting up in the stands – always nice to see country artists supporting one another, and good to know they have great taste in music too!

Before long, the lights dimmed again and Maren took to the stage looking effortlessly classy in a leather jumpsuit and beige coat, as well as rocking British fashion in the form of a pair of Harrods blue knee-highs. The show started the same way as the album with the always fun Sugar before moving into Just Another Thing. Rather than staying in one place, she worked the stage, feeding off the crowds energy and vice versa.

The set was simple, with only a small LED ‘hero’ sign at the back of the stage and occasionally using the lighting to influence the mood, such as in the sultry How It’s Done, my favourite track off of her debut album which yes, did sound amazing live. In fact, I found her voice truly unreal, thinking at times that you could be fooled into thinking that she was lip-syncing (which she wasn’t) because it was truly just so good.

I thoroughly enjoyed the poppy tracks throughout her set, including new number Flavour (or Flavor, I guess) complete with brilliant lyrics like “Shut up and sing / Well, hell no I won’t” and Company You Keep, a song which didn’t make the final cut of the Hero album but can be found on the EP – give it a listen.

As well as playing most of the tracks from Hero, we also got to see Maren’s take on a variety of other artists, including Bonnie Raitt’s 70s anthem Angel From Montgomery and the almost rap / RnB sounding Hymn which I would have had no idea was by none other than Kesha. These moments were nowhere more appreciated than when she deftly mashed up her own and other songs, as in the case of Second Wind and Beyonce’s Halo which allowed her to go mad with incredible vocal runs.

The real highlights for me came when she sang ballads, such as I Could Use A Love Song which she told us had made it to radio in spite of nay-sayers suggesting that no one wanted to listen to slow songs - thank God she didn’t listen; and I Wish I Was, for which she brought Ryan back out to duet with. Without a doubt my favourite moment of the night was when she sang Once which for me exemplified exactly why she won a Grammy. Never before have I heard a song sang so incredibly. Seriously, YouTube it.

There were a lot of fan favourites included in the set too including 80s Mercedes and Rich, which she encouraged the crowd to take over on with everyone in the crowd coming together to shout-sing the words to the super-fun chorus. Of course, My Church was used to close the main set and I’ll be damned if not everyone in the house was singing ‘Hallelujah’ at the top of their lungs along with her.

As much as the fantastic vocals, what I also really appreciated was the amount that Maren made sure to connect with the audience. Between songs, she would chat to us for a good few minutes, commenting on how cool it was to have a sold out show in the middle of the week (like we would ever have missed it, even if it was at 6am on a Monday morning!), talking about the lack of women in country music and how thrilled she was that we were out here supporting female artists like her. It was nice to see that she not only cared about putting on a good show, but also that her fans felt like they had got to connect with her on a more personal level too.

Nowhere was this more clear than in her last song, which she preceded with a heartfelt statement about writing in response to tragedy, performing at the Route 91 festival earlier this year, and deciding there was no better time to release the final song of her set than after the Las Vegas shootings. Dear Hate was a beautiful song filled with raw emotion, and a perfect way to point out that in times of hate, music and love really do conquer all. No wonder she finished to rapturous applause and probably a few tears from audience members.

If I had to sum up Maren’s gig in one word, it would be a simple ‘wow’. I’ve never been more impressed with an artist’s vocals and I can’t wait for more singles, albums, and concerts to come. This is an artist I’ll be listening to and attending gigs for as long as I can.

I hope you enjoyed this review of one of my favourite artists, and I'd love to find out all about yours! Drop me a message on Twitter @CiarasCountry and be sure to follow for more reviews and interviews from fantastic country (and non-country) artists coming soon!

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