Budapest

Posted on by youremymedicine

Budapest, you are beautiful

I’ve been lucky enough to have visited some absolutely gorgeous cities around the world. When I turned 21 in June myself and some of my favourite people spent four nights in my new favourite city to celebrate. I’d heard some great things about Budapest but it’s safe to say that I didn’t think I would love it so much. The city is incredible!

We were very budget conscious travelers and so ended up staying in an Air Bnb (Real apartments Budapest) which was absolutely lovely! We were completely surprised at how spacious the apartment was for the 8 of us, our host couldn’t do enough to make us feel more welcome and it was conveniently located in a gorgeous building in the Jewish quarter of Budapest.

13720650_10209993276888205_345503163_o The courtyard in our building

Day ONE

We arrived late into Budapest the night before, and managed to make it out for a few drinks (less than £1 for a vodka mixer!) before crashing into bed for the night.

After a failed early start the following morning, we began our love affair for this city by wandering into the city. After finding one of the prettiest squares full of restaurants, bar and little stalls we headed towards the river. Here we were persuaded to catch a slightly dodgy looking boat to Margaret island. Armed with swimming costumes, the clouds ruined our plans of a swim and sunbathe in the baths there so instead we simply wandered around the parkland (while people watching obviously) and had a surprisingly nice lunch at a sports bar on the island.

13533028_10153699032872514_3665878901294900500_nMargaret Island -A great number of Insta worthy snaps were taken here

We ended day one at Szimpla – Budapest’s most popular ruin bar. Such a cool place! Again drinks were cheap and we had a fab time meeting some slightly weird but lovely people. Having happy birthday sang to me by both a group of Americans and in French by another group was a highlight.

13694979_10209993276848204_1855261308_nSzimpla – Budapest’s best known ruin bar

Day TWO

I just want to spend every sunny day in the Szechenyi thermal baths, is that too much to ask?

We started our day by overcoming the challenge of a foreign Metro, however we made it! On the way to the baths we wandered through Hero square and city park, both of which are absolutely gorgeous!

13695151_10209993276968207_1420533992_nVajdahunyad Castle in city park

We bought our tickets in advance (wasn’t 100% necessary) and absolutely loved our day here. As we arrived late we ended up sat on the floor but it was still amazing. The thermal baths inside were a highlight, however I wasn’t as much of a fan of the 50 degree steam room.

13692253_10209993277168212_662476115_oSneaky end of the day shot

We ended our looooong day of doing nothing in the sun watching the Euros in a pub by our apartment, not a bad day at all.

Day THREE

Day three was fab. We explored everything else on our list and ended up in Szimpla again.

After another failed early morning, we set off to see St Stephen’s basilica. After far too many pictures outside we began the ascent to the top. The views were well worth the tiny amount of money we paid to go up. We did get the lift down halfway though.From here, we went for lunch at a cat cafe which I was actually quite disappointed in.

We then crossed the river to the old side of the city, climbed the hill to Fisherman’s Bastion and explored while making the most of the amazing views of Budapest.

13652313_10209993277968232_240812108_nViews of parliament

I love this city!

S

x

Chorizo and Bean Chilli

Posted on by youremymedicine

Like every other student out there, I’m a massive fan of meals which are cheap, easy and filling. This one hits the spot completely. I found this recipe online, tweaked it slightly and managed to get three huge portions out of it. I did set the smoke alarm off while frying the chorizo but was actually really easy to make – no prep needed!

Ingredients

  • Chorizo – sliced (currently only £2.00 in tesco)
  • Jar of chilli con carne sauce – could also just use chopped tomatoes + chilli
  • Can of chickpeas
  • Can of other beans**

** I used tescos taco beans which are in a spicy tomato sauce, you could also just use kidney beans or whatever is in your cupboard

Method

  1. Fry the chorizo in a frying pan for a few minutes
  2. Add the beans and sauce. You could also add a bit of water (I didn’t).
  3. Bring to the boil then lower the heat and simmer for around 10 minutes (I just kept checking the chickpeas were soft enough)
  4. Enjoy!

I ate this with rice, a bit of grated cheese and sour cream and it’s fab 🙂

 

New year, New me

Posted on by youremymedicine

I think it’s safe to say new years resolutions are not my thing. For as long as I can remember, I’ve set my self resolutions which should be perfectly achievable and they’ve all been pretty common in their themes of trying new things, getting fit etc. I never stick to them.

This year I want to do something different.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the kind of person I am and about the kind of person I want to be. If I can forget modesty for a minute, my friends would probably describe as a pretty alright person – I’m quite outgoing, I tend to know how to make people smile and I love a decent conversation. However, I think on a more personal level there’s a few adjustments I’d like to make. 

Or at least try to…

  1. I want to stop running from my problems. I do this a lot. If I don’t know how to handle a situation I tend to “ignore it until it goes away”. I’m starting to think it’s one of the worst ways to manage my issues. Mainly because it just means I don’t manage them. Ignoring any problem I have doesn’t make it go away, I just forget about it for awhile and let it brew. Maybe not running from my problems won’t mean I deal with everything head on, I’m not expecting that in the slightest. But I find the feeling of dealing, and then beating, a problem is a pretty great one. I want to learn from them and become a stronger, more determined woman.
  2. I want to stop overthinking all the time. I’ve written it now and I’m not going to think too much about this one. Pretty self-explanatory really. More spontaneity, less fear of making mistakes. If it’s a mistake, I’ll learn (see no.4). Simple really.
  3. I want to let more people in. I don’t tend to trust people often and when I do I often worry about it. While I am perfectly happy to be single, it’s really affected the way I perceive possible relationships. The minute I start to get closer to someone in a non-friendship kind of way I panic. I think this will be a difficult one for me. But I’m going to try. I’ve got some amazing friends who I trust with my deepest, darkest secrets. I just need to expand my bubble of trust and stop believing that people are going to break my trust and hurt me. I’m pretty sure it’ll be worth it 🙂
  4. I want to stop past events affecting my current decisions. This one is also pretty simple, I don’t want to let bad experiences define what I do now. My mum always says that life’s a learning curve. I want to learn from my mistakes and experiences and apply it all to my future. If no one fucked up every now and again, we’d never learn. I’m constantly taught in uni that things have only been found out through others’ mistakes. While mine are obviously on a much smaller scale, surely it’s the same principle? 
  5. I want to blog more. If I’m brave enough to post this it will only be my third blog post. I write posts, but then get distracted and forget to share them with the world (you poor unfortunate souls) or I get too nervous and they soon get deleted. I love the feeling when you’ve improved at something, so the more I write, no matter how poor the quality the better I’ll get. Or so I hope…

 

So there we have it. My ideas for the new and improved Steph aren’t elaborate. They won’t cost money. They may not greatly impact my life, but we’ll see.

Wishing you all the best for 2016,

Steph

x 

 

Twenty

Posted on by youremymedicine

In less than a month, I’ll be turning twenty.

I can still remember my tenth birthday, being the teachers pet that I was I ran into school to announce to Mrs Chambers that I was ‘double figures!!’Now I’m almost double-double figures and to be honest, the thought scares me.

I can’t pull the ‘I’m only a teenager’ card anymore and I’m still at a stage in my life where myself and my friends tend to prioritize wine over most other things.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the kind of person that is normally petrified of change. It’s just that one step further to becoming a proper grown up. At the moment, I completely love my life. I’m currently a second year university student and with another two years until the dreaded graduation I am rather content. I live with a group of amazing people and despite the challenges of university, we have fun. However, I know that if I need to, I can come home to my parents for a bit of TLC. I’m not tied down to much. I do have two term time jobs, but they’re so flexible meaning I can really base my life around me and university, not around work.

I don’t really want to give it up. At least I don’t right now. I’m just a bit worried about how much life will have to change. In two weeks time, I’ll be going back home for the summer. Back at home, I will enjoy all the home comforts available and knowing that I will wake up and get a lift to work, my clothes washed and my meals cooked for me sounds pretty great right now.

I think for now I’ll just have to leave it and enjoy what I’m lucky enough to have right now. YOLO and all that.

 

 

 

First

Posted on by youremymedicine

I should definitely be revising

I am a pharmacy undergraduate, however not a great one. Instead of doing the endless revision that I really should be, I have once again gotten extremely distracted, made myself a hot chocolate and started a blog.

I know, productive.

But why not?

As of yet, I’m unsure what I am going to fill this wordpress with. I’m not much of a planner. I think I’m just going to go with it and try to not stress too much.

This will just be a blog filled with tidbits of my life. I hope you like it

x