The Melt Crowd From Flamingo Candles | July

A couple of weeks ago I was having the busiest few weeks I've had in a long time, which also explains the extreme lack of blogging for a while! During this busy time, I was having a quick scroll through Twitter and I saw the new Melt Crowd box from Flamingo Candles. Candles are a huge weakness of mine and I'm actually over run with them, but does that stop me buying them? Hell no!

The Melt Crowd box features eight wax tarts, and your first subscription comes with an adorable little tart burner which is great for those who might not already have this. I try and use wax tarts for as long as possible, to get the most out of their scents. My brand of choice was Yankee Candle tarts but I found that I could only use these 4 times at the most before their was no scent left. With the Flamingo Candles ones I have been burning them all day every day and they still as strong as they did when I first opened the package. 

Each box comes with a menu card with an image of the tarts and their respective scents, along with use and safety instructions. The eight scents featured are Raspberry and Salted Caramel, Cucumber and Melon, Mojito, Lemon Curd, Oriental Lotus and Rose, Pink Lemonade, along with two box exclusives, Green Tomato Leaf and Island Breeze. They are all stunning scents and there isn't one that I dislike. I've been using Island Breeze during this lovely warm weather we've been having and it fills my apartment with the perfect fresh air that you get when on holiday somewhere tropical. 

At £10 a month including postage, this is one subscription box that I think everyone will love! It would make a lovely gift for a candle fanatic or would be great for building up a candle collection. You can find out more and subscribe here.

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Adventures In Madrid

A couple of weeks ago, we spent the most amazing couple of days in Madrid. I have always had a love for everything Spanish and have always wanted to travel the country. My fiance and I decided that we would do city breaks at least once a year and this year decided that we would finally travel to Madrid. 

We had so many things planned but as we were only there for three days we had to try and fit all of this in. Now that we have done it I thought that it might be nice to share all of the things that we did incase any of you are thinking of travelling there yourself, or are wanting a bit of inspiration for a new destination to try.

We flew from Manchester to Madrid with Ryanair - link as the flights were insanely cheap, which made our little break away much friendlier on our pockets.

Top 5 Places to visit:

Royal Palace of Madrid

This is so easy to get to and is such a beautiful building it is well worth a visit. We went both through the day and at sunset, and it was beautiful at both times. If you are an EU Citizen, then make sure to take your passport along with you as after 6PM you can enter the palace for free.

Almudena Cathedral

Right next door to the Palace is the stunning Almudena Cathedral. This isn't something we would normally do but we walked round and it was stunning. There are quite a lot of stairs but the views from the panoramic platforms at the top were just breathaking.

Estadio Santiago Bernabeu - link

As someone who is regularly a football widow, I knew there was no way that I was going to go Madrid and get away with not going. Well I eat my words now as it really was a great experience. The behind the scenes is really interesting and they have quite a lot of interactive areas for the young ones and big kids. My Fiance loved it, and the best part was that it was self guided so you could go at your own pace. 

Retiro Park

If you want to relax in the sun and watch the world go by then this is the place to do it. Imagine Hyde Park in the sunshine and there you have it. We sat by the lake, where you can hire little rowing boats. We sat here and planned our next moves and just had a few moments to relax our feet and catch a few rays. They have quite a few little cafes and monuments in the park too which all just adds to the laid back atmosphere.

Gran Via

Our hotel, Best Western Hotel Los Condes was based just off this street and was ideally located. Gran Via is the Madrid verion of Oxford Street with plenty of hotels, shops and restaurants on it. We could not have asked for a better location and I would definitely recommend having a little roam around on here.

To get around the city we walked mostly but did use their underground system which was incredibly easy and cheap. I would definitely suggest planning your journeys before hand as we found that walking was just as quick and easy, Definitely pack comfortable shoes as they are definitely an essential as we found out. 

There are a million and one places to eat in Madrid and they are all pretty cheap. Our favourites were Tommy Mels Diner on Gran Via and Choclateria San Gines for the best churros and chocolate I have ever had!

Out of all of the city breaks we have been on, Madrid is by far my favourite! We absolutely loved it and I know that we will definitely be returning!

Where is your favourite city break destination?

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*The Post Adventures in Madrid first appeared on RetroLove Blog*