For Orlando. Stand proud, Keep Dancing.

We didn't plan to write a blog post on the atrocity that took place in Orlando. Social media is filled with better written passages than we could ever create and stronger images than we could envisage. However over the course of today the united in love messages are giving way to something awful and we didn't want to stand by and not say anything. For taking no action is still taking an action - for letting the hate and support for the shooting take over and doing nothing is allowing negativity to win. Therefore we hope this post goes some way to pushing a negative post out of the way.

Before work today scrolling through comments on a number of Instagram posts we were horrified to see things like this on posts sending love to Orlando:

There were so many more but I don't want to give them any further publicity

It was only weeks ago that we wrote a post asking are gay rights still relevant - not because we don't think they are, but because so much of the battle seemed to have been won - at least in the Western world. These very comments we see posted on social media prove in fact that gay rights are still very relevant. While this one awful act does nothing to undo the work already done, what it shows it that changing hearts and minds is still very far from over. 

It is clear that people STILL do not understand that being gay is NOT a choice. 

Gay people are not perverted.

We are not an abomination.

Two people of the same sex holding hand is not a reason for disgust.

Two people of the same sex kissing is not a reason for anger.
 

Did you know in France in the 16th century there was no word for homosexuality or being gay?! That is because it was described as just a man loving a man - it was not judged or talked about in disgust, it just was. Love is just that - love. It shouldn't need a term to describe who the love is between, it should just be called love. 

Our marriage is just called marriage.

Our love is just love. 

'It matters not who you love, where you love, why you love, when you love or how you love, it matters only that you love' - John Lennon

To us this sums it up.

So while there are many in this world who are so ready to hate something they don't understand, those of us evolved enough to realise that love is a chemical reaction that can take many forms, we must be the bigger people. While awful, senseless individuals will find any excuse to hate we must do the opposite. While race, gender, religion and sexuality can all be reason to divide us surely love, peace and happiness are bigger reasons that could unite us?

Our hearts, thoughts and sympathies go out to everyone in Orlando and to anyone effected, while we may not have lost anyone we know, we know people who have. That is one thing we will take away from this - the world is really, truly, a small place, so the kindness you show to someone really can change the world. 

To anyone who is heading to a Pride this year, stay safe, stay proud, keep dancing, and never ever forget that by standing strong, by being 'out', we being brave. We are helping make things better for the next generation of LGBT people. Just as those who came before us risked their lives so we can attend these amazing Pride events, we must stand up in unity against the hatred and show that one individual cannot destroy the great work of many.

   

We are heading to a candlelight vigil at the Gay Village in Birmingham, tonight at 10pm. There are many similar events happening today around the world - if you can spare some time, head to one, remember the heroes that we've lost, and let's support one another.

Cereal Killer Cafe - London

I don't know how or why we never got around to publishing this post when we visited the Cereal Killer Cafe in Brick Lane, London back in December 2014 - so here it is 18 months later!

The good thing is the Cereal Killer Cafe is still going strong, so this is as relevant today as it was back then!

The concept is simple. Stock a fairly small cafe space with walls of cereal and not just your regular supermarket cereal - your international brand cereals! 120 varieties in total! Including Lucky Charms and Fruit Loops - the cereals you always 'treat' yourself to when visiting somewhere in the States (well if you are Laura and I).

Here's what you can choose from:

Started by Irish twin brothers, the cafe opened amidst protest and massive queues. The queues were for the food, the protests were about the gentrification of the area and capitalism - it just happens that the cafe opened blocks away from some of London's poorest areas and they weren't impressed at the prices being charged for a bowl of cereal!

Thankfully the drama subsided, but when we visited the queue was just as long as expected. On the gloomy December day the warm glow of the cafe was welcoming and after the 20 minute wait we were ready with our order - having changed our mind a dozen times.

The fact that have 30 different types of milk and 20 'additional toppings' really meant you had too much choice. it's why we ended up with one of the cocktails. We opted for the double rainbow and miss american pie.....it was a hard choice though.

The cafe is themed with memorabilia from the 80's and 90's so as you take seat at the bar area, on one of the bench sets or in the brightly coloured seating area downstairs you are taken back to your childhood. I probably spent as much time checking out the old cereal box designs on the walls as I did eating.

Also if your serving finishes a box then you get to keep it! I don't know why but this made us happy.

Here's the owners' explanation of why they think you should try it.......

So if you are in London and fancy a breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack that you can't get anywhere else head over and find this place.

There are more details here: http://www.cerealkillercafe.co.uk/

Cocktails (and Cheeky Thursday Evening Shots) at Island Bar

This Tuesday we are reminiscing about the Rum Runner.

It's one of the many delicious cocktails they make at Island Bar, which is located by the Mailbox in Birmingham.

We were invited for some revelry as part of 'Pride' - the sixth 'Sin' event in a series of seven .

We had seen Island Bar many times, but hadn't ventured in yet, so were very excited! We were greeted upon arrival by a Banana Colada (yum!!) and a chat with the bar's manager. The bar is very tropical-themed, with parrot wallpaper and tiki themed bars!

We mingled with plenty of lovely people, until it was time to make cocktails! I grabbed the girl I was chatting with at the time, and we set about becoming mixologists. Let me tell you, there's lots to remember!

I was successful (enough) in making the Rum Runner, but next time I'll leave it to the professionals.

Sarah thought she'd give a layered shot a go. She made the bar's special - Flaming Moe's. #tikiasfuck

 

And it was en flambé!

She thankfully remembered to blow it out before downing it!

She said it was so good that I had to try, so I made one too, and sipped it through a straw. Not a good idea, as I liked the bottom alcohol, which was cotton candy, best - but the straw had me end on a particularly harsh flavour!

It was lots of fun watching everyone else make cocktails and layered shots - almost setting the table on fire a few times! (I'm sure not, it just seemed that way!)

Island Bar has an extensive list of cocktails, and a great atmosphere. We will be back, with guests!

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Travel: A week in Paris

When we heard that Laura's Mum had wanted to spend a week in Paris for her birthday we were disappointed. Paris, for a week! I know poor us!

How spoiled we are that in our 7 years together we have already done Paris 3 times, separately we have done Paris even more. As it is a quick and fairly cheap trip from London to Paris on the EuroStar it was an easy trip to make when we were first dating and to enjoy the Christmas markets. That does leave it rather far down our to-do list when looking for places to go though. And it never on our top choice for a holiday.

However we had always had 'mini breaks' or long weekends - a maximum of 4 day at any one time. Like London it is a big, busy city and in our opinion not the place for a relaxing getaway, we thought a week would exhaust us.

We were wrong.

Actually it was quite the opposite. A week in the city of love was an entirely different experience to a long weekend. In this and a couple of subsequent posts we will break down exactly why we fell back in love with Paris. Let's just say it involves a lot of cheese and beautiful places!

Here's the highlights:
Day 1: Revisiting the must-do's: Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysees, Sacré-Cœur, the Louvre
Day 2: Checking out Galleria LaFayette
Day 3: Inside the Opera house
Day 4: Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, Pont Nerf and adding our padlock to the bridge, Moulin Rouge
Day 5: Bastille market, graveyards under the city
Day 6: Versailles palace and gardens

The best bits for us were:

• The area we stayed - right by the Sacré-Cœur so plenty going on and easy access to the Metro
• Versailles - we could have stayed longer but didn't realise the area itself was a beautiful town, we thought it was just the palace.
• The amount of delicious food we ate - including racellette, cheese fondue and snails (well Laura did)
• Being lucky enough to get sunny days or sunny parts of the day! April is not guaranteed to be nice weather and we certainly experienced a mixed bag, i'm just glad our mix had plenty of blue skies :)

We'll be back with more details shortly!