A weekend away!

A weekend in Longbridge Cottage with the boyf! <3

From September 2012 to February 2013, I lived in Parma, Italy as part of my Year Abroad. It was a massive change for me; I've never lived away from home before! It took a long time for me to settle down but eventually I got used to being away from my friends and family and I made a new life for myself out there. I didn't realise the effect the YA would have on my loved ones though. Joel found it really hard without me and I felt selfish for not realising this! So when I came home for a month between Italy and Germany, we decided we'd spend some time together, just the two of us, and we rented a cottage in Shepton Mallet for the weekend.

The bedroom

It took us about an hour and a half to drive to the cottage and it was definitely worth it! The cottage had it's own cobbled drive-way and a little pond outside. Inside, it was idyllic and quaint! Downstairs, there was one main room; the kitchen and the living room together with the bathroom through a little doorway on the side. The living room was lovely and cosy with a faux fireplace on the wall and a big, comfy, purple couch in the middle. In the corner, there was a spiral staircase leading to the upstairs level which consisted solely of the bedroom. The whole cottage was open-plan so we could see/hear each other no matter where we were.  

Us settled down in front of the fire

When we first got there, we spent time unpacking and making ourselves at home. We had a classy first dinner; chucking a pizza in the oven with rocky roads for afters and then settled down to watch The Hangover on the couch under the duvet. The pizza was pretty nice considering I've lived in Italy for 6 months and anything else in life will be inferior! The rocky roads, however, were an experience. We didn't realise you were meant to cook them in the microwave first so they were pretty interesting! A nice cuddle before bed, and then the best sleep I've had in a long time! A massive double bed with the most comfortable duvet in the world - it was heaven! 

The staircase and the birds!

 The next day, we both had a lie in before taking the duvet back to the couch to spend the rest of the morning watching stand-up comedy such as Sarah Millican and Jeff Dunham (including his various puppets!). We decided that since we'd driven all that way, we'd better take a wander around the village and see what was there. It was a really tiny place with small cafes and little shops and everybody seemed to know each other - we must've stuck out like sore thumbs! We found a giant Tesco and Boots and I decided to pick up some hair dye - so I'm now back to brunette. We went back home, cwtched on the couch and watched 50 First Dates with tea and biscuits! Champion! For dinner, we went out to a local pub called The Dust Hole AKA The Kings Arms. Joel being Joel decided to have a curry - surprise surprise! I went for the lamb and mint pie with mash and veg - I'm too British really. Once our food had settled, we went back home for some more comedy and Jam Roly-Poly in bed! Perfect! 

The amazing fireplace!

Sunday, unfortunately, we had to leave. We got up nice and early to get ready, to pack and to make everything nice and tidy before we left. It was very depressing to leave the cottage; neither of us wanted to! It was a beautiful weekend and we'd thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope we go back there again soon. It was a nice way for us to get away from our lives and responsibilities just for a few days and spend some proper time together! I know I won't be forgetting this weekend in a hurry!

Joel in the kitchen, cooking us some omelette!

Best weekend away so far! It was nice to spend quality time together and even though I'm coming back from Germany for our 4 Year Anniversary, we're treating this weekend as our 4 Years so that we don't have to travel and waste time when I'm back in May. I felt so special this weekend; it's only been 4 years so I hope I still feel this special after 40 years!

Something tells me that I will <3