Hi Everyone,
Caroline Oldham
So the weather is finally heating up in the UK can't deny those showers, though! So last weekend I took my fiancee's sister for a spa weekend in Centre Parcs in Woburn Forest. I have actually never been to Centre Parcs before and I know lots of people rave about it so I was very intrigued to go check it out. We stayed in the Spa Suites, they only have 6 of these on the whole complex and I have to say I was blown away by the standard of it. The room had a large living area and small kitchen area to prepare morning tea, a really large balcony with chill out zones in it. The bedroom was really luxurious and well set out, with a large hot tub next to it which you could open the curtains to watch nature all around.
The bathroom area is also large with his and hers sinks! Centre Parcs is vast so you will never get bored, for us the Spa was the main highlight, the Spa is the largest I have ever seen and I have been to many around the world, it has all different areas with roughly 25 different saunas, steams and themed rooms you can relax in, along with a heated pool outside with different jets and water beds dotted around in calm areas to relax.
If you have children, Centre Parcs is also great, it is really active there is bikes you can rent, lots of walking, trips to the lake to see the ducks, tennis courts, climbing walls you name it they have it here so really entertaining for children. They also have a sub-tropical paradise area with wild rapids, which were awesome fun, and other slides for children to enjoy.
In terms of restaurants, you have a large choice, there is a lot of chains but for me, that suited as most had gluten free menus so it was easy for me to choose, I was running around all day that I just enjoyed a large bowl of pasta with bolognese sauce. Breakfast was really delicious I have avocado on gluten free toast with some roasted tomatoes, you can pre-order breakfast the night before in the Spa suites so when you go down in the morning it is pretty much ready for the time you chose.
Keeping with the theme of pasta, I am going to share with you one of my favourite pasta dishes, my gluten free brown rice pasta with homemade sundried tomato pesto and I do like to sprinkle some lactose-free cheese on top or vegan whatever I tend to have in the fridge at the time. http://blog.biteappy.com/blog/vegan-gluten-free-sundried-tomato-pesto-pasta/
http://blog.biteappy.com/blog/vegan-gluten-free-sundried-tomato-pesto-pasta/
Restaurant Hangout of the Week
My hangout of the week is a local one in Sussex, The Cock Inn, a pub located in Ringer near Uckfield out in the countryside in East Sussex, it is just off the main road, down a small road and is one of the busiest pubs we have been to in a while, so make sure you book. It is really lovely, with a bar and restaurant area along with a small garden for the summer time. When I booked, I asked about gluten free options which they said wasn't a problem, and it really wasn't.
When we sat down to eat, the menu was labelled with gluten free and vegan options and then I was also given a full allergen menu to double check the items which was fantastic. It makes it so much easier for restaurants and for customers if there is an allergen menu so you don't have to go back and forth with questions to the kitchen, I can usually spot the gluten in most dishes when I see it broken down so I can ask them to adapt it if possible. I really found it hard to choose as there were a few things that I liked the look of, but I decided to go with the sweet potato and spinach curry which was gluten free and vegan.
The portion sizes here are not small which is great for my boyfriend but for me, it was a bit too much so although it was absolutely delicious I really couldn't finish it. There were some vegan and gluten free options for pudding which was really great to see although I really couldn't manage one, I struggled enough with the main, so will have to take another trip back and have a starter and pudding.
Tagged in Caroline Oldham