Wonderful friends, sunshine, relaxation and amazing food. This is how I could sum up the holidays I spent in Tampa, Florida, a few weeks ago.
I actually only planned this trip a couple of weeks before I left. It was the third time I was receiving promotional emails from an airline with direct flights to Orlando from Dublin. I needed a holiday and I wanted to catch up with my best friend: the decision was made!
On our last trip to Florida, we had mostly been traveling outside of Tampa with our friends so this time, I was happy taking it easy and discovering more of this city itself (with the occasional little trips elsewhere). In no particular order, here are some of the highlights of this trip:

We were in France over the Christmas holidays and as usual we packed up a few things to bring back while there: from Nantes, Paris and delicious gifts from our family. Let's see what was in our suitcase this time!

I have been to Paris many times, mostly visiting family members or quickly passing through to catch a train and get to my region. I have also visited many Paris museums and seen a lot of sights while on a school trip when I was 14, or on my own 16 years ago while staying for a little holiday at my aunt and uncle's in a nearby suburb. But staying in a hotel right in the heart of the city, exploring by foot and finding a lot of delicious food to try, this was a first for me.

We arrived there the day after Christmas and spent three wonderful days in the City of Light. It feels short but  we managed to fit a lot of things in without having to run everywhere (and we barely took the Metro).

Christmas time in Nantes. Two days spent in this beautiful city before heading to my hometown.
As a present to each others for the holidays, we decided to have a mini stay in Nantes at the start of our trip and Paris at the end. And what a lovely present, we had such a great time walking around these cities cheerfully decorated for the festivities!
Our time in Nantes was divided between visiting different areas of the city centre, eating in lovely places, shopping, catching up with my family members who live there and feeling a bit nostalgic (that last bit was just me as this is my favourite city in France, it holds many memories as it was home to me for five years when I was a student).

Oh I love a good Christmas market! A couple of weeks ago, I suggested we head to Belfast for a day and spend time checking out the one there. We were there two years ago and from the good memory we had of it, train tickets were immediately booked so we could go visit it again.
This time, we took our Catalan friends with us for the day. The train trip from Dublin to Belfast is quite nice and relaxing. Shortly after leaving Dublin, we started seeing snow covered landscapes which really put us in the mood for everything Christmas related.
After arriving in Belfast, we took a detour via St George's Market and then headed for the Christmas Market.

From our holidays in the beautiful Languedoc region in France, I brought back some lovely things in my suitcase. Some were specific to where we were, some were things I had wanted to try and some are things I always bring back from a trip to France. So, let's see what was in there!