Highfields Park

Today I'm going to write a quick post about Highfields Park in Nottingham. This is a park next to the university campus, which has a big lake surrounded by trees. It's a great place to walk around, and I used to go there a lot when I was studying in Nottingham, as it always made me feel relaxed. It never occurred to me to blog about it back then, but now that I'm getting more into this blogging thing, I think it's a place that's definitely worth writing a little bit about!

There's more to do there than just walking. It's possible to canoe and kayak on the lake, and there's also a crazy golf course! If you're interested in art, the Lakeside Art Centre has regular exhibitions as well as a very nice café. Across the road, you can find another art gallery which also has a café that doesn't get so busy.

At the weekends, the park can get very crowded, especially in the summer. So I always preferred to go during the week or when the weather was bad, because that was when it was most peaceful.

Here are some of my pictures from my walks around the lake...

As you can see, it's a beautiful place with lots of amazing wildlife!

I'll be blogging again very soon, as I've got a trip planned for this week. I'll be going abroad... well, sort of! Actually, I'll be spending a day in Cardiff, Wales. It so happens that I'm going to be pretty much confined to my village for the next month, so this trip is a chance to escape for a little bit. My plan is to visit the castle and as many other attractions as I can pack in. It's been a while since I last travelled anywhere, so I'm quite excited!

Travel Tips: My Ten Favourite Places to Visit in Santiago

I lived in Santiago de Chile for several months in 2018 and have been back a couple of times since to see my boyfriend, so it's a city I know pretty well. And the great news is I'll be moving back there when I start my new job in March!

It's a brilliant city that I would definitely recommend visiting, whether you like hiking, going to museums, or seeing cultural sites. There are too many great places to visit to list them all, but I will write a bit about my ten personal favourites, in no particular order!

Parque Metropolitano

Parque Metropolitano is the biggest park in Santiago and is best known for Cerro San Cristóbal, a large hill with a statue of the Virgin Mary. It's possible to get to the top by funicular railway, cable car or by hiking. However, there are many other places to see in the park. I really like the Japanese garden and Piscina Antilén, a huge swimming pool with views over the city.

Read more here, here and here!

Cerro Santa Lucía

One of the other most famous places in Santiago is Cerro Santa Lucía. This hill is the remnant of a volcano, and is now a park with lots of monuments and two forts at the top. It's a really beautiful place, and the views from the top are amazing.

Read more here!

Plaza de Armas

La Plaza de Armas is the historic centre of Santiago, where you can find lots of old buildings, including the main cathedral of the city. A short distance away, you can find plenty of shops, as well as el Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, a really interesting museum about the native culture of Chile.

La Plaza de Armas feels like the heart of the city, and is always filled with activity. I remember going there not long after I arrived in Chile for the first time and seeing a group of people doing amazing salsa dancing on the bandstand in the middle of the square. Moments like those are one of the things I love about being in Latin America, because they just don't really happen in the UK or other European countries, in my experience!

Read more here!

The Costanera

Standing at 300 metres tall, the Costanera, also known as Gran Torre Santiago, is the tallest tower in Latin America and the second tallest in the southern hemisphere. It's possible to take a lift up to the very top of the tower and look out over the whole city - an experience I would definitely recommend. At the bottom of the tower, there's a huge shopping mall with a big food court and a cinema, so it's a great place for a day out!

Read more here!

Plaza de la Aviación

My boyfriend took me to la Plaza de la Aviación when I returned to Chile over the New Year last year. This square was designed as a monument to Chilean aviation and features a large display of dancing fountains. At night, the fountains are especially beautiful, as they are lit up in different colours.

Read more here!

Templo Bahá'í

The Bahá'í temple in Santiago is one of only two temples of the Bahá'í faith in the whole of South America. It is situated at the top of a large hill and is a beautiful place with views over the city. We went there on a wintry evening in July 2018, and the atmosphere was really spiritual and tranquil.

Read more here!

Parque O'Higgins

Parque O'Higgins is the second largest park in Santiago. It contains many attractions, including the Movistar Arena. Places I've visited within the park include the theme park Fantasilandia, the Olympic-length swimming pool, and the artificial lake pictured above. One really nice activity to do there is to take a little boat out on the lake, where you can see several different types of birds.

In fact there are lots of beautiful parks throughout the city. Two of the others I like are Parque Araucano, which is known as the Chilean version of New York's Central Park, and Parque Bicentenario, where you can see flamingos and swans.

Read more here!

Pueblito Los Domínicos

Pueblito Los Domínicos is a charming little market which I visited for the first time on my latest trip to Chile. You can buy traditional Chilean artisan goods there, and it's also a really nice place just to stroll around. I liked the fact that there were lots of cats hanging about there!

Read more here!

Cerro Manquehue

At 1638 metres above sea level, Cerro Manquehue is the highest peak in Santiago. When I was studying at the UDD, a group of us from the university climbed this mountain. It was certainly an experience I'll never forget, for many reasons! Although the hike was a challenge, I felt really proud and happy when we finally completed it. And the views from the top were absolutely incredible.

Read more here!

Parque Quinta Normal

Parque Quinta Normal is another place that I visited for the first time on my most recent trip to Chile. As you can see in the picture, there's a lake you can ride around on a boat. But this park is best known for its museums. My boyfriend and I visited the train museum and the science and technology museum. The science and technology museum in particular was really entertaining, with lots of fun, interactive exhibits.

Read more here!

To sum up, Santiago is a great city with many things to see and do. In addition, there are also other touristic highlights nearby. Cajón del Maipo is a short distance to the east, and Valparaíso is a short distance to the west. Both are amazing places to visit, and because Santiago is in the centre of the country, it also makes a good base for exploring the whole of Chile. I'm really looking forward to living there again and travelling to new places!

Check out the rest of my Travel Tips here! 

The Cotswold Water Park

In this post, I'm going to write about The Cotswold Water Park, a place very close to where I live. Of course I have all these dreams of travelling the world, which I recently wrote about here. But I also love taking trips to destinations that are closer to home, in order to escape from the routines of daily life for a little bit.

The Cotswolds area is famous for its quaint little villages and towns, whereas the Water Park is a lesser-known part of the area. The name makes it sound like an amusement park with lots of swimming pools and flumes, but it is actually a system of lakes which extend across several villages. However, there are lots of places there to watch nature, go walking and practice all kinds of watersports. There are also plenty of cafés and restaurants. 

I'll tell you a bit about a few of my favourite places!

I really like visiting the Hoburne Cotswold holiday park. You can stay in a lakeside lodge or a trailer there, but its facilities are also open to the general public most of the year. A day pass costs £10 and gives you access to the gym, swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna and steam room, so it's great if you like sports. Last time I went, I visited the café after my workout and was pleased to see that there were plenty of vegan and allergy-friendly options there. The complex also has a restaurant, a children's play area, tennis courts and crazy golf!

When I was last at Hoburne Cotswold, I went for a walk around the lakeside area, which is something I hadn't done before, despite the fact that I've been going there for about twenty years! It's a really beautiful setting. The scenery of the lake and the lodges seems more like Canada and the United States than England, so for me, it's kind of feels like being abroad while being 10 minutes from home!

A café in the area that I like going to with my family is Jennie's Kitchen. The food and coffee there is really good and it has a pretty garden with lots of flowers. However, what I like best is the fact that there is a field of alpacas right next to the café! They bring a little touch of South America to the local area, which is nice for me, as I often miss being in Chile.

Another place I would recommend is the Cotswold Country Park, a park with two lakes where you can swim or do watersports. It even has a beach! There are also plenty of children's play areas and a high ropes course. In the summer, it's always really busy. However, in the winter, it's very quiet and is free to enter.

Last week, I went there with my dad and took some photos. I really liked all the wooden sculptures of animals around the park. We also saw interesting things like wicker parasols and a beach shack restaurant, which seemed like they belonged more in a hot country rather than England in the middle of winter!

A really nice place for a walk and for seeing wildlife like ducks and swans is Neigh Bridge lake. I have been going there with my family for many years.

The final place I will mention is South Cerney Outdoor, a great place for watersports. After the Rio Olympics in 2016, there was a programme throughout the UK where people could try new sports for free. I had the opportunity to try windsurfing at South Cerney Outdoor, which I loved. I would really like to do it again sometime in the future!

In conclusion, the Cotswold Water Park is definitely worth a visit, especially if you like nature. What I like about the area is that some of the places there are reminiscent of other parts of the world, so going there is kind of like going travelling, but close to home!

Edited on 12/01/2020 to add some alpaca photos taken on 10/01/2020!