Working Weekends.

I have been in full time employment for 6 years. For 5 of those, I've worked Monday to Friday (albeit not 9-5, that would be a total dream. More like 7-4 or 6-3 or overnight or....... The glamorous life of a Visual Merchandiser). I love my weekends. I love being able to wake up of my own accord on Saturdays and Sundays and think, should I spend my day at a museum/gallery/park/market? If so, which one?! Or, should I just stay in bed watching Netflix and drinking tea. I like to be able to make that choice.

The only time I enjoy working weekends is when I get a call much like the following..."Elouise, what's your availability for next weekend? You're needed in our *insert new city here* store."

This is exactly what happened a couple of weeks ago when I got to work in our Nuremberg store. I've been to Germany a fair few times, I love Berlin and have friends there which always makes visiting fun, I've gone on day trips to the Christmas market in Aachen a few times which just adds to the magical feeling of my favourite season and I did a store opening in Munich which wasn't my favourite place I've visited (read: I didn't enjoy it there at all!) but a pal who moved there is very determined to change my mind with a return visit.

However, back to Nuremberg. I totally loved it there! This was largely due to fantastic weather and working late shifts which meant we were able to have a wonder round the city during the day. I rarity while working away.

There were churches everywhere. And they were huge! You literally couldn't walk down a street without a vast, Gothic piece of architecture looming. The city is also all within castle walls which gave the city an almost toy town feel. The castle itself is at the top of the hill and you can wonder round the grounds. The castle isn't like English castles, ruins amid plush greenery. Think Game of Thrones. I was in my element. The proportions of the castle were crazy, huge doors, tiny windows. This all added to the feeling that you weren't in a real place, more like walking round a film set.

All in all, a wonderful weekend spent exploring a new city. Definitely somewhere I want to return to.

By Elouise Wolf

Long Weekends.

I was mega happy to see the back of last year. It was, quite frankly, shit. 2015 was going to be my year, it was going to be excellent. And then February came with the news of possible redundancy and the fact that my house was being knocked down. Both these pieces of news came in the same week, thanks for that world!

Anyway, happy to say that things have turned out for the better. I kept my job which was a huge weight off my shoulders and my housemates and I found the most beautiful flat that I never want to leave. So while everything turned out ok, it was a very testing couple of months. Luckily, everything was sorted before my long weekend in Copenhagen over the Easter weekend, I used this as an excuse to celebrate.

I absolutely love Copenhagen. I nearly moved there a few years ago for work but it fell through due to not being able to find anywhere to live. It's been 2 years since I've been! Time flies. 

It was a total perfect weekend of just walking, drinking coffee, drinking a lot of beer (a whole lot!), catching up with some very dear friends, lying on the harbour, photographs, dancing in Jolene  in the meat packing district until the small hours of the morning and eating the most delicious pizza. I gave it up for Lent, words can't describe how happy I was.

In Copenhagen, like a lot of similar cities, nothing opens on a Sunday and I mean nothing! So don't go thinking you'll have a full weekend of shopping or anything like that. Be prepared for a lot of walking. The city is pretty much flat though and so beautiful that you'll soon forget that everything is closed due to the amount of photography opportunities you'll have.

Have you been on any good trips recently?