A Festive Miscellany

Lacking the time to put together any new Christmas-themed posts, I thought that instead I'd round-up a few from past years.

I adore the festive season with a love that endures despite the commercialisation, the endless sound of Noddy Holder screaming, "It's Christmas", the crowded and frantic supermarket aisles, and that creepy Elf On A Shelf popping up on my Instagram feed. To combat all of that, over the past few years I've tried to concentrate my energies into homemade decorations and gifts, a few of which feature here, as well as low-key traditions that are meaningful to me and my loved ones.

Last November I wrote about how to have a conscious Christmas: "When I talk about a 'conscious Christmas', I mean one which is conscious of social justice and the environment, conscious of the things that matter in our lives - family, friends, simple living - rather than getting into debt," and there's also a how-to about making your own evergreen wreath.

In December of 2014, I shared some simple festive home updates: from embroidery to utilising Christmas carol sheet music. As I said in the post, "If there's a flat surface, I will cover it with fairy lights and greenery. Stand still for too long in December and I might just hang a bauble on you."

Looking for some quick Christmas makes? Teacup candles are a doddle to make and look fantastic. Or for an edible treat, spiced gingerbread cookies are just the thing (and they're vegan, too).

Finally, it might be a bit late in the season (honestly, how is it already a week into December?), but in 2012 I shared my tips for getting organised at Christmas.

Our Summer Travels: Toronto

After a six hour bus journey from Montreal, we rocked up at our hostel in downtown Toronto feeling hungry, tired, and even more hungry. A short exploratory walk north along Spadina led us to the awesome Sneaky Dee's on College, where cold cider and beer, and heaps of vegan Tex-Mex, could be had for very few dollars. Dim, dark, with tattooed bartenders and graffiti-covered loos, this place was heaven to us and we felt right at home: for me, the scuzzier somewhere is, the more comfortable I generally feel! A legacy of my misspent youth frequenting the dodgier rock clubs and bars of Bradford and Leicester.

And speaking of feeling right at home... Not for us pounding the pavements of the generic, sky-scraper-ed downtown area, with its obvious desire to be the Manhattan of the north. Rather, we spent the majority of our two days in Toronto hanging out in the dive bars, vegan food eateries*, secondhand bookstores and vintage clothes shops of the funky Kensington Market district. Imagine crossing The Lanes in Brighton with a less tourist-clogged Camden Market, throw in a dash of Manchester's Northern Quarter, and that's Kensington Market. Obviously, we loved it.

* Vegan pizza! Vegan soulfood! Vegan cake! Vegan burritos! Thomas was in actual vegan heaven.

Even amid the hustle and bustle of downtown, you know you're in Toronto, rather than A.N.Other generic North American city, by the streetcar lines that crisscross the sky. There are also some beautiful historic buildings tucked away amongst the skyscrapers, such as you might stumble upon in London. We were particularly taken with the fact that you could just walk right into the Canadian Supreme Court building, a neo-classical beauty of a building surrounded by an intricate cast-iron fence. Even more strange was the fact that the security guards keenly pointed us in the direction of the exhibition down the hall, which we assumed would be about the history of the Canadian courts system or some such and which turned out, instead, to be about said fence. Yep, an entire exhibition about a fence (it's how I'm able to confidently tell you that it's cast-iron not wrought, because thanks to the exhibition I now know the difference). We also loved the Gallery of Inuit Art, bizarrely located in the reception and mezzanine area of the TD Bank building but very much worth a visit.

All-in-all, we found ourselves utterly charmed by Canada's biggest city: it may not have the beauty of Montreal, but it's definitely worth a visit.

Our Summer Travels: Montreal

And so, from Iceland we travelled on to Canada. A surprise upgrade on the flight from Reykjavik was a bonus, a nightmare experience with Air Canada on our connecting flight to Ottawa less so. We spent a short time in the city before travelling to my family reunion in the Ontario countryside: I'll write more about that soon (at the moment I'm still processing the whole experience!). And from there we went to Montreal, at the heart of French-speaking Quebec.

Montreal was amazing: totally and utterly our kind of place. Awesome vegan food, good local cider (thank you French influence!), amazing street art, cosy bookshops, and a very winning combination of European and North American sensibilities, which seem to result in a completely unique city.

To me, this is the ultimate Montreal image: beautiful old architecture mixed with anarchist graffiti. The Catholic churches in the Old Town and surrounding areas are just stunning, and I loved the juxtaposition of Parisian-style buildings, towering spires, and huge skyscrapers.

As lovely as the Old Town was, though, my favourite neighbourhoods were the hip Plateau Mount Royal and the slightly grungier Mile End, both to the north of the city. The vegan food here was so good: Thomas was in raptures over the vegan crispy duck at Chu Chai. I adored both the cider and the huge veggie nachos at Lola Rosa, while I think T would quite happily marry their vegan poutine. Honestly, we barely scratched the surface of vegan Montreal and are already planning our next visit.

Also in the area, we came out of Drawn & Quarterly a good few dollars lighter. Specialising in graphic novels but with a superb fiction and non-fiction selection too, this English-language bookshop was a real highlight.

On Sunday we stumbled upon Under Pressure, an international festival of street art taking place in the Centreville. With sound systems booming, skate ramps set up in the street, entire buildings being used as canvases, and artists working everywhere, it was quite a sight. A couple of pints in a nearby rock bar (I'm happy anywhere painted black and covered in graffiti) made for a happy afternoon.

It honestly broke my heart a little to leave Montreal, as I feel that our four days there barely scratched the surface of what the city has to offer. If you get the chance, go go go!

Our Summer Travels: Iceland

We're back! After an epic 20 hour journey on Thursday and Friday, we've spent the weekend recuperating and doing all the boring stuff (shopping, gardening, endless loads of washing) that needs to be done when you've been away for a few weeks.

We had an amazing time and I have tons of photographs to share with you from Canada, but I thought I'd start at the beginning: in Iceland.

Because we flew with Icelandair, we were able to incorporate a three day stopover into our travels. I'd arranged an Airbnb apartment in the centre of Reykjavik, which enabled us to spend much of our time wandering the streets of the city in which the majority of Iceland's tiny 300,000 population live (to give some context, that's fewer people than live in Leicester, my home town).

Reykjavik is a beautiful place full of brightly coloured houses, influenced by the long-time Danish occupation of the country. The main street, Laugavegur, was busy at all hours due to the constant daylight (this close to the Arctic Circle, the sun barely sets even into August) and we found amazing vegan food at Glo (who also, randomly, serve chicken on their otherwise all-vegan menu) which was so good, we ate there two nights in a row.

Cheap alcohol isn't easily found in Iceland, but I'd read about the rooftop bar at Loft Hostel and it turned out to be a Scandi chic space full of locals as well as travellers, and most importantly, a source of cheap beer and cider. And with Mount Esja looming over the city from across the bay, and the incredible mid-century concrete architecture of Hallgrímskirkja on the hill inland, Reykjavik is not short on breathtaking views to admire from the roof terrace.

However, no one goes to Iceland for a city break and getting out of Reykjavik into the countryside is a must. I visited Iceland in October 2011 but Thomas had never been before, so we took a Golden Circle tour with Iceland Horizon, as it's the best way to see the key sights in one day. From rushing waterfalls to gleaming glaciers; sulfurous springs and geysirs to mile upon mile of black volcanic lava fields, Iceland is like nowhere else on earth. Having previously been there at the start of winter, I found it interesting to see the country in warmer weather, when the grass and moss covers the lava and flowers bloom (although be warned - 'warm' in Iceland is always a relative term, with a biting wind that cut through any heat the sun could provide).

My favourite site, as on my previous trip, was the awe-inspiring landscape of Þingvellir National Park, in which you can see the edges of two tectonic plates - the North American and the Eurasian - exposed to the air as they move away from each other at a rate of about an inch a year. The cliff to the left of the photograph below is the edge of the North American ridge: pretty incredible, right?

Þingvellir is also where Icelanders established one of the earliest democratic parliaments in 930, and it's amazing to think of the Viking inhabitants travelling on foot and horseback to this seemingly desolate and empty landscape to meet together.

Iceland has dramatically increased in popularity as a tourist destination since I was there last, and although very little could ruin its spectacular beauty I would recommend that, if you've wanted to go, now is the time to do so before it becomes even more overrun with visitors.