Work Trips, Tasty Eats & Bottomless Brunch

Happy Tuesday! I can’t lie and say Tuesday is my favourite day of the week. I literally live for the weekends can’t wait to get to Friday home time 😊 This week was no different and couldn’t wait to catch up with friends in London.  To get to Friday I had to get through one hell of a busssssssyyyy week!

Friday this week one of my teams had to group report to the US which meant we had to get the Europe audit finished. As part of this I had to go to Italy to meet with the local team and have a few meetings. Luckily I had a hotel booked Monday evening so after work I jumped on the road and down to Heathrow. 
I stayed in Hyatt Place and ordered room service while I worked… very rock n roll! The last time I had room service I was away with the hubby in Chester and it was such a disappointment! We ordered 2 loads of nachos and they came cold and weren’t very nice 😔 This time the room service was much better (and hot)! I had a green thai curry which was just what I needed.
The next morning was an early start and after a Pret I was ready for the day. I was able to get cracking with Becoming by Michelle Obama on the flight. I didn’t take many photos while in Italy as I was with my client for most of the time. The local team took me to a place called Eataly which was great! Its a massive place with lots of different restaurants, shops and you can also see pastries and pasta being made. We went to this meat restaurant and the food was delish!
Bologna itself was very pretty but I didn’t get to see much of it unfortunately because of work. I had a walk up to the main square Tuesday evening and it was very pretty. All the pavements were covered by gothic arches and so cute. I could just imagine in the summer all the cafes/ restaurants sprawling out onto these pavements. Its definitely a place on the list to go and visit properly! I love my history and this place defo has it! Apparently it has the oldest University in Europe which I’d love to see.
I stayed in a hotel called I Portici which was in central Bologna. The room was nice and spacious and perfect for the night. One of the nicer work hotels I’ve stayed in over the years. The decor fitted the place and had lots of clean lines. I’d definitely stay there again if I were to go back.

One thing I miss in Italy is my tea! Being the typical Brit I love a cuppa. On the flight over I’d held onto a few extra sachets of milk so I could have a few cups of tea – glad I did!

Nothing else happened until Friday because I was very busy with work. Had a lot of late nights and early starts! To finish off the week I had a half day and started off a great weekend with a cocktail lunch at Las Iguanas with a work friend. We’ve both been super busy these past 7 weeks so a chill lunch was called for. Its been so long since I’ve been to Las Iguanas and had forgotten how great the cocktails are! We had the lunch menu and also 2 for 1 cocktails. It had to be Porn Star Martinis 😍 Do you shot your prosecco or add it into the cocktail? I hadn’t even considered the latter was an option and have always shot mine before moving onto the cocktail.
To start I had the Dadinhos which were little cheesy crunchy cubes with chilli jam… soooooo good! For the main I had the chicken enchiladas which was alright but I think the burritos are better 🙊 Which do you prefer? Enchiladas or burritos? 
The rest of Friday I spent getting my nails done followed by chilling and watching trashy tv. This is the first time I’ve seen Shipwrecked. You know what you’re gonna get… it ain’t no Love Island though 😛
Now the weekend was great and something to look forward to! We met up with some friends who now live in Bromley and stayed at theirs. They’d organised a great day of fun which started in Victoria at Aster for bottomless brunch. I have to say this was the best bottomless brunch I have ever had! The food was amazing and the bubbles really tasty. We literally spent our 2 hour slot catching up and making our way through our food and bubbles.

So what did I have… luckily I took pics this time 🙌

To start I had Egg Aster which was a poached egg on leeks. I wanted to try something different to Eggs Benedict as I always have that but Tim had it and it also looked amazing. The way the food was plated was great and definitely got the taste buds going.

I then had squash tortellini which again was very tasty! I’ve been trying to have more veggie meals and glad I went for this rather than the burger or steak (both of which looked yum!). I left the meal feeling content rather than bursting at the seams.

To finish with I had the chou with hazelnut praline and apple compote. OMG it was the best and everyone else had pudding envy! It tasted like a massive Ferrero Rocher and was heavenly…

We then popped over to Flight Club. I’d never heard about it but it was great fun! Its the most amazing bar in a great space where you place social darts. I’m defo not the best at darts but it was great! We literally played for a good few hours and lost track of time.

Sunday morning started with my friends amazing pancakes before we got on the road back to Brum. We then chilled and watched the six nations. I then rounded it off with some painting – so glad I got back into it! Finally we had antipasto for dinner and it was perfect. Anyone else love antipasto? I could literally live off it!

So that’s my week! Defo a busy one whereas this week is very chill and not much planned.

As Tim is away this week for work we’re pushing Valentine’s back to Saturday and I’m cooking a 3 course meal. I’m doing a super easy starter of camembert (loooooove it!) but still unsure on the rest!
Any suggestions on main course and pudding?

Until next time,

Cathers xx

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