Diva's Diaries

Last summer, I decided to take my first solo trip to Stockholm🇸🇪. While there’s definitely some mixed opinions on this, I think a city trip is a perfect location for such a trip. With loads of museums to walk through🚶🏻‍♀️, endless sites to explore & experience, Stockholm is a perfect choice (and also guarantees you won’t get bored🤪). Not to mention, it’s safety! 🫡

Given that I was travelling alone, I chose to live right in the city centre at Scandic No 53 Hotel🏙️. So upon arriving in Stockholm, I was only a quick train ride & a short walk from the Grand Central station 🚉. The hotel is also centrally located to their main shopping district 🛍️ & only short walking distances to a lot of Stockholm’s monuments 👑.

I planned a short but sweet weekend trip, and here were my highlights:

- Old Town: not only is this place absolutely stunning, it’s also got the classic old town vibe on a Friday & Saturday evening! 💃🏽Loads of bars 🥂, good music 🎶& good food🍟!

- Stockholm Palace: full of history, the most beautiful architecture & artefacts to walk through & learn about ✨

- Exploring Kungsholmen 🍃: I walked by this area enroute to the river & it was stunning!

- Taking a walk by the river: I promise this will explain why it’s a consensus that Scandinavian People are so happy🍦. By the river bank, there’s a park 🌺 that was genuinely one of the nicest, most relaxing 🧘🏽‍♀️ spots in the city centre. It’s got a ton of benches, some you can even lay down on! 📚

Given I’m a vegetarian 🥬, I’m not the biggest fan of the traditional swede dishes 🫢, so here are some of the restaurants I explored:
- Farang - It’s Asian themed & incredibly delicious! 🥟

- Blanch & Hierta - for some good continental food 🍲

- Cafe Ragazzi - for a classic Italian meal 🍝

Overall, I think a short weekend trip is the perfect amount of time to explore Stockholm!

This is your sign to take yourself out on a solo date 😍. Not to romanticise solo dates, but this is probably one of the nicest spaces I’ve taken myself out to 🥹 & let me tell you, it’s worth the romanticising!

It all started just about 3 years ago, with an impromptu meet up with a friend & in London’s typical fashion, it decided to pour🙃. But, that led us to stumbling upon the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel😍.

Over time, this has become my go-to spot for solo dates (ofc), study sessions👩🏽‍💻 & the perfect place to meet up for a cocktail🍸 or two🤪.

Located just outside Kings Cross Station, I guarantee you is hard to miss & likely a spot you don’t want to miss 😉

Over the last year and a half, I’ve had the chance to discover some of my favourite brunch spots around London. Lucky for me, the has several branches around London! (Up to 14, if I counted correctly 😉)

Offering a wide & tasty variety of options for vegetarians there is something for everyone. My personal favourite is their Sweet Corn 🌽 Fritter dish, which is served with poached eggs 🍳, avocado 🥑, habanero 🌶️and feta - its oh-so-good! I’ve also had the chance to try their Shakshuka🍅, which is just about as good as their corn fritters😝.

If you lean on the sweet side for Brunch options, they have a banana bread that will leave you speechless😍. Their Coconut 🥥 & Peach 🍑 french toast and pancakes 🥞 are also solid options.

And… you didn’t think I’d forget about their option for bottomless brunch did you?🥂 I did start off by saying ‘they have something for everyone’ including those of us who enjoy some mimosas on our weekend brunch! 🤪

PS: This isn’t a sponsored post, I’m just hyping this place up because I really do love their brunch!

For as long as I can remember, has been my go-to spot for literally everything-
from casual coffee☕️ dates to birthday celebrations🥂, and not to forget, my first choice for when mum’s not around to cook😉

It checks all the boxes- starting with, obviously the most important: good ambiance 🍃- just kidding😅- most importantly, it’s got GOOD food 🤤, with a diverse range of options, including loads of options for vegetarians! Zen Gardens has 2 restaurants, Bamboo 🎍, which is Asian themed, and Jade 🥗 which is more continental🌎- perfect for Sunday Family lunches!☺️ So this leaves a ton of options to choose from- meaning, you never have a reason not to go to Zen😉

My personal favourite is Bamboo, which serves the best papaya salad (seriously)🥗, sushi🍱, mock duck pancakes & dim-sum🥟 to perfection 🤌🏼

Alongside all the food, there’s an extensive wine list 🍷 and cocktail menu🍹, which even includes a whole section of just Gin Cocktails for you gin lovers! 🍸

And we can’t forget about dessert! Famous for their Tortes & Cigar cakes - Mmm chefs kiss 🤌🏼😍

And finally it’s got a beautiful ambiance🌿🌺, with a mix of both outdoor and indoor spaces- a perfect way to enjoy Nairobi’s (almost) all year round pleasant weather☀️

Part 8: Eidfjord & Vøringfossen

Our last, but stop before heading back to Oslo to fly out was Eidfjord and Vøringfossen. Only a 2 hour drive🚦from Bergen, this was a nice break in the journey back to Oslo.

Eidfjord is a small, but incredibly beautiful town located in the arm of Hardangerfjord 🤩. If you ask me, it’s one of the locations that best captured the essence of Norway 🇳🇴. It was insanely beautiful, serene 🧘🏽‍♀️ and full of culture 🦌. We explored Eidfjord by simply walking around outside our hotel, by the lake and then heading out to see Vøringfossen, one of Eidfjord’s key attractions.

Vøringfossen is an absolutely stunning site of waterfalls 😍. It’s a popular stopping point on the drive between Oslo and Bergen, and hopefully the visual proof will explain why! 😉

After soaking in the beauty of the waterfalls and Eidfjord’s town, we had a quiet night in before we made our way back to Oslo!

This post marks the end of my Norway serious, stay tuned for more! 😌

Part 7: Bergen

An absolutely iconic city in Norway is Bergen. Commonly known as the rainy ☔️ city, this was quite the nice city break we needed from all the mountains 🏔️. (Don’t get me wrong, Norway’s scenery was absolutely breath-taking😍, but it was nice to have coffee ☕️ in a cafe instead of a gas station ⛽️, and have more than 2 options for restaurants!).

Of course, Bergen did not disappoint, when it comes to rain. It pretty much rained 🌧️ the entire time we were there, but that did not steal from its beauty 🫶🏽.

After driving almost 9 hours from Molde, we decided to have a short, but sweet stay; spending 2 nights in Bergen.

We started off with one of the most popular things to do in Bergen, visiting Bryggen, a UNESCO heritage site. One thats not to be missed 😍. We then walked around their old town, joined a tour explaining its history. We then made our way to the cutest Italian🍝 restaurant, just slightly away from their famous fish market, called Olivia.

The next day, we walked around Bergen’s city centre, did some shopping 🛍️ and visited the Fløibanen. A funicular railway that takes you up to see Bergen from above. It also connects to Mount Fløyen, and has scenic walking routes.

Overall, I think Bergen is a small city, perfect for a weekend get away, and extremely well connected, within the city!

Part 5: Trollstigen

On our way to one of our final stops, we took a slight detour to drive down through Trollstigen🗻 on our journey from Stranda to Molde. As they say, ’take the scenic route’!😉

Quite literally, Trollstigen is defined as the Trolls🧌 road, which is ironic given the beauty it beholds 🌿. Trollstigen is hands down, one of the most scenic drives I’ve encountered in my life🤩.

Trollstigen is a road that’s carved into the mountain, which consists of eleven hair pin 🧷 bends - a pretty scenic way of testing your driving skills if you ask me! Along the drive, there are several waterfall streams and the rock 🪨 architecture is incredibly stunning too! Pretty sure I say this about every Norway activity I’ve shared about, but this is definitely a must-do!

Part 4: Stranda

If I’d to pick my favourite day ever, it would be this Sunday in Stranda☺️.

After Geirangerfjord, we drove down to Stranda and decided to take a break🧖🏽‍♀️ from our road trip. We got there on Saturday evening, and decided to spend the rest of our weekend there.

My Sunday morning☀️started off with a hike 🥾 with my dad, where we explored Lievarden🌲, while mum & Jaini relaxed in our little cottage. Lievarden was unbelievably stunning 😍. With its crisp air, spectacular view & pure serenity, it was the perfect start to the morning ⛰. Definitely a chill, easy hike I’d recommend!

We then headed back to our cottage🏠, which was part of a lovely ski lodge that was full of different houses, all shapes & sizes. That afternoon, we headed to Stranda town only to discover it was basically closed because it was Sunday! But we got lucky and found a restaurant for a quick bite 🍝.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering Stranda Town 🗺, sitting by the calming water & spending some quality family time.

Part 3: Geirangerfjord

Geirangerfjord is one of the top three activities that pop up when you type ‘best things to do in Norway’, and I’m here to tell you (and show you), it absolutely is😍.

On our fourth day, after leaving Songdal, we headed towards Geirangerfjord!⛰15km long and 260 metres deep, this fjord is surrounded by the most picturesque mountains and waterfalls, and the drive up to it was pretty neat too!🤩

To truly enjoy the fjord and see all it has to offer, I’d recommend taking on the cruises🚢 & of course, if you’re feeling more adventurous, you can Kayak 🚣too. There are also walking tours 🚶🏻‍♀️, e-bike tours🚵🏽‍♂️ and some hiking trails 🥾.

With its majestic layout: the blue waters, lush mountains and artistic structure this is definitely a must-do if you ever visit Norway!

Part 2: Sogndal & Naeroyfjord

As our road trip kicked off, our first stop was Sogndal🏔.

Here, we chose to stay in a beautiful Ski lodge which was so incredibly spacious, had all amenities and had such a stunning view😍. We chose to stay in a cottage for a couple reasons:
- Convenience - we planned to stay in locations that were enroute to our tourist activities. For example, we chose to stay in Sogndal because it was one of the closest locations to Naeroyfjord from Oslo.
- Food🍴- From my experience, Scandanavian countries, especially outside the big cities don’t seem to have a lot of vegetarian options. Usually, the classics are available: Fries, pizza and some times, Pasta 😶. So we chose to stay in an airbnb in certain locations so we would have the flexibility to cook.
- Cost 💸- it’s no secret that Nordic countries have a relatively high cost of living, which means, that hotels too can get quite pricey.

Oslo to Sogndal is roughly an 8 hour drive, so that didn’t give us much time to explore Sogndal on day 1. However, the next day, we headed out towards Kaupanger to visit Naeroyfjord🤩. A unesco-world heritage site, and rightly so, it was incredibly beautiful!😍 Our cruise then stopped by Gudvangen, a small viking village🍃, which was adorable! We then drove back to make a home cooked meal where I managed set off the fire alarm!🙃🤭

Part 1: Oslo

I’ll be honest, Oslo was not really a city I was thrilled to be visiting when we said we’d go to Norway, and that’s nothing against the city per se, it’s just in comparison to all the beauty it’s surrounded with, it seems pretty average🤷🏽‍♀️. However, since it was a mandatory stop for us, we decided to make the best of the situation, and I was pleasantly surprised😌.

We spent a total of 2 days in Oslo, on our way in and out of Norway, but here are some the activities we got up to:

1. Visit the Munch Museum🎨. This is basically the Louvre of Oslo with the iconic work of Edward Munch on display, alongside his life story.

2. Visit the Viking Ship Museum ⚓️- I’m not a history fanatic, but it was actually quite cool to see the Viking Ships from Viking age! Unfortunately this museum has been temporarily closed for rebuilding, but will reopen doors in 2026!

3. Visit the Royal Palace, which was at the end of their famous street Karl John’s gate 🤴🏽. While we didn’t enter the Palace, there are lovely grounds to walk by🍃. Karl John’s gate is one of their most iconic streets with all the classics around. It’s definitely an Oslo must-do.

4. Visit the Oslo Opera House 🎻. It’s architecture is quite iconic. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time in Oslo to go watch an Opera in their iconic Opera House, although I’ve heard good reviews!

5. Eat. While you’re in Norway, be sure to try their famous Brown cheese waffles 🧇! Unique, somewhat peculiar, its definitely something you won’t regret, especially when paired with berry jam! We tried it at Haralds Vaffel, which at the time (2019) was one of the best rated cafes to serve Brown Cheese waffles.

Overall, if you choose to visit Norway, in particular, Oslo, there are some pretty cool activities you can get up to, but you’ll see why I thought it average in comparison to the other places I visited in Norway 🇳🇴

Next up, I’ll be sharing our trip to Norway🇳🇴.
I’m sure a lot of you don’t know, but the initial reason I’d started this page was to share this Norway series, my last big adventure with Jaini 🫶🏽. Although, for a long time, I found every reason to put it off, because it felt really hard to write about. But, here we are, on the other side of the tunnel.
I present, an 8 part series, starting off with our time in Oslo 🖼, then our journey through the Centre of Norway 🍃, all the way through to the Atlantic road 🏞, Bergen, and through some breath-taking drives🏔! So stay tuned for some spectacular scenes!

Obviously you can’t go to Paris and not see the classics. So naturally, we had a full day of the classics, starting off with the Louvre (a must do)! Besides the famous Mona Lisa, they’ve some pretty cool exhibits, showcasing some incredible sculptures, ceilings and other artists!🎭🎨

After the Louvre, we decided to grab a meal at Agelina Paris (no i will never stop raving about this place), and then made our way to Champs des-elyees 🛍

While their not closely spaced, I highly recommend the walk from the Louvre to Champs des-elysees. Besides, what better way to explore a city! 🚶🏻‍♀️

At the end of the iconic street, lies the Arc de Triomphe! 🤩 Next, we padded over to the Eiffel Tower. - So far, I’ve been to Paris twice, and the Eiffel tower at night, is just *wow* 😍.

These also the Palace of Versailles and other classics we didn’t get round to doing, although don’t forget to get some macaroons & pastries while you’re in Paris! 🇫🇷

This is your sign to go to Paris with your best friend 🤩.

Last November we decided to pull a classic move & visit Paris🥐 for the weekend. But don’t worry, since Paris is such a common destination, I’ll start off with the not-so-common Parisian activities we got up to.

First, we stopped by the Concierge, which was a historic museum and had some beautiful architecture (& that’s as much as I can tell you about the site)🫢.

Next, we visited Saint Chapelle and it is STUNNING😍. With every stained glass tile telling a story, the intricate details of this chapel were mind blowing🤩

Third, walking along the river🚶🏻‍♀️. This is a really under-rated activity but a casual stroll by the river and walking across a bridge was actually one of my favourite highlights of this trip. This could be because of the pure simplicity of it, or just the vibe around the river bank, but it was wholesome.

Next is walking through Paris’ “Soho”. Living in London, it’s hard not to compare other cities to it, but almost all places have the equivalent of their ’Soho’, and Paris’ “Soho” is pretty damn amazing 🥂.

Another low key, but extraordinary place to see is the Mosquee de Paris. It’s a quick walk around, but the architecture is remarkable.

And finally, don’t forget to check out the Pantheon. We didn’t have the time to go inside, but it does look stunning! 🤩

Up next I’ll be sharing my trip to Paris from last November 😌

For now, let’s appreciate the *chef’s kiss* food (mostly dessert) & drinks Paris has to offer 😍

First off, we have 🤩, followed up by some Crepes we got from a kiosk. Followed by the bar aesthetics of , , .paris &