Glastonbury 2016

I’m muddier than I ever thought was possible, my whole body is sore, I have no money to my name… and I literally had the best weekend ever!!

Glastonbury, you have my heart. You were everything I expected and so much more.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, this weekend was my first ever visit to Glastonbury music festival. Now I have heard a lot about Glastonbury and how amazing it is, but no one could have prepared me for the sheer size and scale of the festival. We literally walked for hours and hours every day and were lucky if we saw maybe half of what was going on. It is an experience that you truly need to see to believe, no words I could write would do it any justice.

The site was muddier than I ever thought was possible and even though I hate mud and rain it honestly didn’t ruin my experience at all, in fact in some cases it even made it better. Watching people losing wellies to a mud mountain, trying to manoeuvre through knee deep mud in the dark with a drink in each hand and jumping around to Two Door Cinema Club during a torrential downpour are memories that will stay with me forever!

Something which again is not possible for me to do any justice in this blog is the atmosphere at Glastonbury. Everyone, from staff to bands to the campers, are genuinely having the time of their life and everyone, from all over the world, is welcomed and accepted. I can honestly say I didn’t witness a single fight or disturbance and I was actually taken aback by how friendly and open everyone was (the cynic in me was very confused!). You can wear what you want, be who you want to be, dance as weirdly and wildly as you can and will still be accepted. It’s an experience I will never forget and am so happy I got to be a part of something that is so special and brought so many different types of people together. 

Without being too cliché the highlights of the festival were definitely the headliners Adele and Coldplay who are world class in very sense of the word. Other standouts for me included Jess Glynne and Catfish and the Bottlemen. There was never going to be enough time for me to see everyone I wanted but every act I did see put their heart and soul into their performance and as I said it was the best festival I have ever been to in my life.

I could honestly go on about my experience at Glastonbury for hours and still not say everything I want to so I’ll try to end it here. This weekend will stay with me for a long time and I don’t think I’ll ever go to a festival quite as memorable as this one every again.  There’s a reason why it’s described as the best festival in the world and I 100% agree. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to go and I certainly hope it’s not my last time!

Coming back from the festival to the bleak and torn UK was a definite wake up call and I can only hope one day we will all live in a world everyone is happy and accepting of each other. It is possible, just look at Glastonbury – peace, love and rock and roll prevail year in year out. It may only be for a few days each year but it proves that it is possible for everyone to get along and that acceptance, love and friendship always wins!

So Glastonbury, thank you for everything. See you next year!

Festival Season 2016!

FESTIVAL SEASON IS BACK! This is one of my favourite times of the year! Sun (hopefully), music, friends and alcohol – what more could you possibly want!?

Now I am by no means the camping sort of person, but invite me to a festival and I am there in a heartbeat. The only festival I have camped the full 4 days at is T in The Park in Scotland, which credit where it’s due is a fantastic event and every year I've had the best time. Getting lost at 3am in a sea of tents is a skill which, well I never really use any other time but it's still a skill, OK!? I didn’t go last year but am hoping to return even if just for a day this year – I mean Red Hot Chilli Peppers, come on!

Yes you get roughly 0 hours sleep, you switch between freezing and roasting about 6 times a night and the toilets are quite frankly disgusting, but for some reason you keep going back! Living on burger vans and cheap alcohol for 3 days and either getting completely sunburnt or ending up like a drowned rat is all part of the fun.

I’m not really interested in festival fashion, I mean is there really a way to make wellies glamorous!? Stick on a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, sunglasses and you're good to go, trust me a few hours in no one even cares what you are wearing! I am more interested in having a great time with my friends, in a field, listening to some amazing tunes instead of worrying about which dress to wear or my shoes getting dirty.

This year I am lucky enough to be braving the big one, Glastonbury, which if recent weather reports are anything to go by will be a muddy delight. I’ve got my tent ready, my poncho packed and my liver .. well my liver doesn’t know what’s about to hit it but I genuinely can’t wait. It’s a shame that there a lot of stage clashes for the bands I want to see but I’m sure I will have the best time. Be sure to check back to see if I survived! 

One day I’ll be lucky enough to hit up sunny Coachella, Benicassim or even just rent a camper van for a UK festival but until I make my millions and that happens it’s tent life for me and I can't wait! 

I'll be updating my adventures on Snapchat so make sure to add me - juliesimpson22

Anyone going to Glastonbury, T in the Park or any other festivals this year, let me know in the comments!

The Champions League Final in Milan

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to go out to Milan for a couple of weeks to work on the Champions League Final, working for one of their major sponsors.

While I didn’t actually get to see much of the city itself, the few bits I did get to see were beautiful! Mainly the Grand Centrale Station which was round the corner from where I was staying, plus San Siro Stadium of course!

Being my first time in Italy I expected the food to be good… I didn’t expect it to be as good as it was! I genuinely managed to put on around a stone (or 14 lbs) due to the volume of pizza, pasta and nutella I consumed. I mean, when in Rome, right!? (or Milan, I’m sure it counts!). I’m not even sorry.

I am very lucky to get to travel all over the World with my job and even though the work can be tough, and this time it was very tough, I wouldn’t change it for anything. The people, the places and the memories all make it worthwhile.

This will probably be my last contract away for a while as I am returning to Glasgow for a few months, however that won’t stop me planning my next adventure and I am always open to suggestions for places to visit or events to attend. If you have any ideas let me know!

Dream Team.. a very jet lagged dream team. 

Lost my blog :( & Magnum Pop up store!

So, I am not sure what has happened and I am working through it... but I seem to have lost all my blog posts since February overnight :( Hopefully I can get them back, fingers crossed!! In the mean time I will keep blogging as usual and hope nothing else disappears.

On the plus side... I went to the Magnum Pop up store in London this week and what a delightful, if not slightly naughty, trip that was!

Located on Molton street, the 'Design Your Own Magnum' store is a treat from start to finish. You choose the ice cream for your magnum, either white or chocolate, choose the sauce for the coating, either milk, dark or white chocolate (plus the option to double dip into peanut butter!!) then you choose 3 from a crazy amount of toppings. It was a little pricey at £4.50 per magnum but the experience in the store was totally worth it and I have to say it was AMAZING!

Get yourself down there if you are in London this summer (also shoutout to Kendall Jenner who features on all the advertising in the store but clearly does not eat double dipped peanut butter magnums on a daily basis!).

I went for chocolate on chocolate on chocolate...naturally. 

I've decided that pop up stores and restaurants are my new favourite thing. Does anyone have any recommendations either in London or Glasgow to visit this summer!?