A few days in Bath and virtual cocktail making fun with Jet2holidays and Mixology

A few weeks ago, my daughter and I headed up to Bath to move her into her third year student house.  Time certainly does fly by, although we clearly weren't expecting the complication of a worldwide pandemic when she started at Norland College in September 2019.  She was one of the luckier ones with in-person lectures able to continue for large parts of her second year but there was still a lot of disruption and time at home studying online.  But back to the fun of moving in ... she is sharing with two friends and lucky for me they didn't mind me staying for a few days so we were able to spend some time sorting the house, adding a few homely touches, shopping, lunching and having fun.  While we were there I was invited to join a virtual 'Greek' themed cocktail making evening with Jet2holidays and Mixology.

Well obviously that got me super excited and dreaming of sunny holidays, unrestricted travel, blue skies, turquoise waters, a sun lounger with a view and lots of books for two weeks!

Blog post in collaboration with Jet2Holidays.

Fun in Bath with my daughter when we moved her into her final year house!

Travelling with Jet2holidays

It's time to get excited about travel again!  I stayed in the UK this year but I am determined to brave the testing and 'new normal' to get away in 2022.

I love travelling to the Greek Islands or my other favourite location, Kalkan in Turkey.  I'd also love to visit the Balearic Islands again and I am quite keen on Italy, the lakes or one of the islands too.  I've been to Corfu, Kefalonia and Zante in Greece and I am dreaming of exploring Santorini one day.  I also hear lots of fantastic reports about Croatia so that needs to go on my wish list.  Can you tell I am missing my holidays!!?  
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I thought I'd take a look at the Jet2holidays magazine, JetAway and get some inspiration ... here are a few travel snippets I found out about Jet2 ...

Jet2 now fly from 10 UK airports having recently added Bristol.
Sicily and Sardinia are two new Italian destinations added for Summer 2022.
As well as package holidays, they also offer villa's with Jet2villas and cheap flights from Jet2 and they have some fantastic city break offers with Jet2CityBreaks.

There is certainly some inspiration on the glossy pages of their travel magazine!

I then had to explore the Jet2holidays website, I selected my holiday search by 'vibe' which I loved - you can choose from iconic, party, pure or chilled.  Well I went for chilled of course and was offered lots of ideas that I could select by location.  I also had a look around Jet2Villas for winter sun - now I wonder if I can fit a week in before Christmas!!??  My ideal way to choose and book a holiday though is to call the experts and chat about what I want, then I can have a look through a shortlist of recommendations.

My dream holiday

For me it is all about being lazy and being looked after! 

A view is an absolute essential, preferably a sea view!

I don't mind a shared pool as I love to see other people about.

But a private pool too or a hot tub works!

I love swimming in the warm waters and getting water taxi's to wonderful restaurants (like in Corfu) and in Turkey I love a day on a Gulet - for my next trip I'd like to do an overnight cruise and sleep on deck under the stars.

​A comfortable sun lounger, a convenient parasol, a pool bar and that view are all priorities!

As well as plenty of books to read, chick lit all the way, I can't do too heavy on holiday.

I am not bothered about sitting on a beach when abroad, although an hour or two late afternoon might be okay!!  But I do love the beach clubs in Kalkan.

In Turkey I definitely have to get another Turkish bath (hammam) and I loved the Ayurvedic massage I had in Sri Lanka, I think both rate as the best ever!

I don't cook on holiday so good quality restaurants nearby with that all important view are necessary.

I spend my days on a sun lounger, an early evening walk to the town, a little shopping maybe and dinner in a harbour restaurant, on the beach or a rooftop bar, watching the sun go down.

For my summer holiday,  two centres are not appealing, once I arrive I want to unpack and stay put - in Sri Lanka though we did a lot of travelling about, but it was a different type of holiday and I loved every minute of exploring.

BUT ... my biggest hate on holiday - loud music!!  I do not want a beach bar blaring out at me and even worse, others on a beach that think it is acceptable to bring a radio!  Put your headphones in and leave me to enjoy the lapping of the sea and be surrounded by peace and quiet.

Boutique 5 Hotel & Spa, Rhodes from Jet2holidays

Cocktail (or mocktail) making fun with Mixology Events

Forced to rethink their events during lockdown, Mixology now offer interactive cocktail making classes online via zoom.  I was invited to join one of these events as a guest of Jet2holidays and the day of the class, a box arrived with all the quality equipment and raw ingredients I needed to join in!  And I get to keep it to use at home after too.

Get together with girlfriends, friends, family or work colleagues for a 2 hour zoom class where you learn to make 5 cocktails as well as chat, drink and be merry!  It's interactive,  informative and fun.  

My daughter joined in and was very efficient at keeping my cocktail making area tidy and clean!  We tasted and shared the cocktails we made and her only complaint was I had chosen 'mocktails' instead of her preferred alcoholic cocktails!  Well I had a moment of angelic 'I must reduce my alcohol consumption' but the non-alcoholic mocktails were delicious too and she agreed being hangover free for our drive home was a benefit.

At the end of the class there was a cocktail making competition to win a holiday with Jet2holidays.  Suffice to say, we didn't win but I was very impressed by the creative cocktails produced by the others and the wonderful names they came up with!  Me and Emily had a good go though and we enjoyed drinking our 'Sunset in Bath' mocktail.
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Top tip - make sure you have lots of ice ready!  Ours looked a bit sad as we only had one ice cube tray so we ran out pretty quickly, cocktails look and taste much better with copious amounts of ice!

And here is the recipe for my favourite cocktail of the evening - the ingredients evoke the feeling of outdoors - Rose & Pine Martini - it contains London Dry Gin, Elderflower Cordial, Pineapple Juice, Dry Vermouth and Rosemary.

What to do in Bath

While we were in Bath, we also managed to fit in a short visit to the Fashion Museum as well as dinner at the newly opened The Moorfields pub.  We had lunch at Sweet Little Things which is an instagrammers dream, although on the day we went there was a party and a wedding in the small downstairs room and we couldn't get near the swing to take the required insta pic!  Apparently they are planning an expansion as it has become very popular so maybe I will get to go back.

We made a list of things we must do in Bath before June 2022 when her uni course ends!  Including a Bridgerton walking tour, an afternoon at Thermae Bath Spa to enjoy the rooftop pool, shopping in the bohemian quarter around Walcot Street.  I love Bath, everything is really accessible for walking, most of the town is pedestrianised and there are lots of independent shops and restaurants and great outdoor dining.

All in all a fabulous few days away, her student house is now looking cosy and homely and we had fun making cocktails ... now when can I book my next trip away away with some guaranteed sun and long lazy days? Maybe a Jet2holidays last minute holiday is in order!

Love from
Michelle xx


Disclaimer: Jet2holidays invited me to join in this virtual event and share the details on my blog afterwards.  I was gifted the cocktail kit and ingredients.

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Other blogs I link up with:

Is This Mutton
#WowOnWednesday 

​Mummabstylish
#Chic&Stylish

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