Heather Townsend

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DH Lounge, Riyadh

I love food. It’s no secret, I am a real foodie. I’d much rather go out for a good meal then get sloshed in a local pub. Which was one of the reasons both Mark and I were excited about moving to Riyadh, was the abundance of restaurants. And good restaurants at that. When I was last in Riyadh, Mark took me to the DH Lounge, which one of his friends/work colleagues took him to a few weeks previous. Mark really enjoyed it and said to me we have to go when you’re back in Riyadh. So we did and oh my days I’m still buzzing from the tasty flavorsome food we indulged in while we were there. DH Lounge ~ Location ~ Prince Turki Ibn Abdulaziz Al Awwal Rd Hittin, Riyadh 13512 ~ Opening hours ~ Everyday 1pm - 1am We had... Appetizer Maple Buffalo Shrimp ~ they were amazing, so tasty, definitely be having them again! Taco Shawarma ~ nice, but probably wouldn’t have again, Mark said he had the BBQ ones last time & they were a lot tastier Shawarma Fries ~ delicious, big portion for a start

PCR Test from Quirón Hospital, Torrevieja

Travel has changed a bit over the past year with Covid and everything. The days have gone when you can book a quick flight and the next day you’re off. It takes a little bit more planning these days and one of the things I’m sure we’re all facing is that for many destinations we need some sort of PCR test. My recent trip to Saudi fell on a Tuesday afternoon meaning I had to get a PCR on the Sunday before for everything to fall into the required time frame. Where I am in Spain, the Costa Blanca South there are many private clinics that are offering the Antigen and PCR tests, but they are only open Monday to Friday, some on a Saturday morning, but definitely not on a Sunday. My flight required that I needed the test done 72 hours before departure. That meant the earliest I could have my PCR test was on the Saturday evening, but again none of the private clinics are open in the evenings on a Saturday, also ideally I didn’t want it to be that close to the wire, as let’s be honest we have

Alternative selfcare

After what has been quite a stressful morning between multiple cat fights, yes Lily is on the rampage not just with Mumma Bear now, but Dusty too. She seems to have it in for her fluffy sisters from a different mister! Literally she went for Dusty and they were in a ball behind the settee, Dusty screaming and I couldn't get them apart. Dusty managed to get away leaving behind a wee and a little poop too. My little baby was soo scared, she hid in the en-suite for hours. I had to keep shutting doors to keep them all separated as well as keeping a close eye on Lily until she settled down. She eventually took herself off to a the playroom and fell asleep in a pod bed. With all that happening and websites majorly playing up as I was trying to book some flights to go back to Riyadh , as well as trying to book a PCR test, my brain was truly frazzled and I needed to de-stress. Which got me to thinking about self care and needing to take a bit of time out. I'm sure you all can relate

My Spanish Vida goes to Riyadh KSA

~ Riyadh Park Mall ~ ~ this post contains affiliate links, if you click on the link & purchase through the link the product won't cost you anymore, but it means I will receive a tiny percentage in return - see my disclaimer/contact page for more info ~ ~ Welcome to a whole new chapter ~ My Spanish Vida goes to Riyadh! This isn't just a one off trip either. It is for, well, the foreseeable future, for as long as they'll have us anyway. If you follow my social media, Instagram and Twitter you've probably picked up on the fact that we have relocated to Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The gist of the reason is that my husband was offered a fantastic position out there and to be honest after trying out semi-retirement and with the whole pandemic thing where we've (all) been extremely restricted we were itching for another adventure. We also never realised how much we missed the Middle East. Previously we had five years out in the UAE, living in Abu D

Finding my exercise

My previous post Getting motivated to exercise I was chatting about finding my exercise, an exercise I would stick to and do on a regular basis. Something that not only I would stick to, but something I would enjoy too. And I think I've finally found my exercise. Swimming! After writing my last post - which I can't believe was way back in March - Mark and I have finally started doing regular exercise, we've been watching what we eat and having quite a bit of a lifestyle overhaul. It's something we've done slowly and haven't made huge drastic changes overnight, but we have been gradually making subtle changes including finding an exercise we enjoy and things have started to change. I mentioned in my previous post about keeping track of the number of steps we do in a day. Our phone tracks them and are set at 6K. Now I know that may not seem many to some, but it is quite surprising how some days the steps tick by in a flash and others you look at the counter la

Getting motivated to exercise

Getting motivated to exercise for me is probably one of the hardest things. I don't know why, as in my head I'd love to be one of these fitness girls you see all over Instagram all happy, bouncy and always raring to go. I always feel good after I've exercised so I really don't know why it takes me ages to get myself motivated. I'm 39 now and I know I need to lose weight. I'm not drastically overweight it's more of a personal thing. The usual story that my clothes are getting snugger, I'm out of breath a lot quicker after just doing the simplest tasks and I'm snoring a lot more at night, which my doctor did say could be because I've put on a few extra pounds. Over the last 9 years I've actually put on 20 lbs! That's crazy isn't it. The weight has literally been sneaking up on me and the fat has gradually been moving in a pound at a time. Crafty little thing really. It has got to the stage where enough is enough and I need, probably fo