My 21st Birthday | 2018 | Charlotte Sophie

Hey everyone,

I'm dedicating a blog post to show my appreciation for my birthday because it was the big one, 21. I honestly feel the same as I did when I was 20 but now it officially feels like I'm a proper adult. Bye bye baby years. I had an amazing birthday - it was one to remember for sure. I celebrated at home on the actual day (16th May, yes I do share my birthday with some cool people e.g. Joseph Morgan xD) and went to Menton in France and then to the Cinque Terre in Italy for the weekend. It doesn't stop there though, part of my presents are tickets to attend the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Le Castellet at the end of June.

On the day of my birthday, I went to the hairdressers and got a cut and some blonde highlights. Then I had a delicious dinner with my family. We ate seafood, mashed potato and asparagus. I tried shandy for the first time but I didn't really like it. I am definitely not an alcohol person, so I'll be sticking to soft drinks. I had a typical French cake for dessert with some fruit tarts to accompany it. Then on Friday we drove to Menton to kickstart my birthday trip.

I absolutely loved the trip away, I got to see Menton and the Cinque Terre for the first time ever. Menton has Italian vibes as it (and some of the French Riviera) used to pertain to Italy a long long time ago. The cobbled streets are so lovely and the colours of buildings reminds me a little of Cinque Terre in Italy. Before exploring the town, my family surprised me with gifts. I didn't see it coming. I thought I was only getting my hair done and the trip. I was blown away. To name a few things, I was gifted some clothes (which I absolutely adore), a book on yoga, jewellery, gadgets for being a nail technician, and some other bits and bobs. After sightseeing, we had some pizza for dinner at Vesuvio's brasserie/pizzeria.

Presents & Breakfast

Dinner

The next morning we drove to Italy. By midday we arrived at Levanto. The town we were staying at was was up in the mountains so we drove down to Levanto and took the train to see all the coastal villages in the Cinque Terre on Saturday. The coastal villages consist of: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. It's also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I advise people to visit all of them, to be able to visit them at least once. You can buy a day pass or a two day pass for the train as it's easier that way, and cheaper. That's what we did. With the use of the tickets you can use the train station toilets free of charge - otherwise you have to pay a small fee, probably 0,50 cents.

Sunday we visited the last village that we didn't get time to visit the day before, Monterosso al Mare. It was by far my favourite. The beaches were absolutely spectacular, nothing like the French Riviera (don't get me wrong I am still loyal to home). I already wish I was still over there! Don't worry, I will go back someday :) For breakfast we had chocolate filled croissants, fresh pressed orange juice, a hot chocolate (of course) and a chocolate milkshake, the food there is definitely delicious.

Breakfast in paradise

I recommend going to the Cinque Terre because it's stunning. The best time to go is during spring because the weather is perfect as it's lovely and warm. Luckily it didn't rain throughout the two days. It was difficult to communicate with the locals because of the language barrier, and in fact after coming back home I've felt drawn to start learning Italian as it's actually a really beautiful language, very melodic. It may not be the most useful language to learn but why not learn another language even if it's just for the beauty of it.

Finally, I just want to say that I am entirely grateful to my family for what they've done for me. I love creating memories with them. I will certainly remember my 21st!

Thank you so much for reading my blog post,

Charlotte x

Here are some extra photos....

Monterosso al Mare, Italy