religion Archives - Megan Taylor

Lent may be a religious thing that you either ignore or don’t even know about and I am not about to get all religious on you because I’m no religious genius and that’s just not what my blog is about. This being said I am about to give you a little insight into my rather un-religious obsession with Lent which I have had since I was in Junior school.

RELIGIOUSLY GIVING UP

Pretty much every year since I can remember I have given up chocolate for 40 days and 40 nights. The reason I gave up chocolate for the first time was I believe because my school said we should all give lent a go. I then kept giving up chocolate because I am beyond obsessed with the sugary stuff. The only problem is that I just get more and more obsessed after the quitting stint.

DENY FOR YOUR OWN GOOD

I like to give up chocolate each year because it is something unhealthy that I have an “unhealthy” obsession with. I would really like to stop craving it but I’m not sure how. My aunty even tried a little bit of NLP on me but, nope, nothing can get between chocolate and I. If you are going to give up something for lent then it is the perfect opportunity to challenge yourself to give up something that you know is bad for you. I strongly feel that there is no point in denying something from yourself just for the sake it but if you know in your heart that you should give something up then why not have a go until Easter.

(Chocolate Dipped Strawberries)

WHAT COULD I POSSIBLY GIVE UP?

There are so many things people have been known to give up, tangible or other ways. I feel that the best and most common are chocolate, sweets, crisps, cakes and biscuits. Yet there are some other clever ones such as giving up social media. This would be an amazing one for someone that is constantly on their phone logging into Facebook or Instagram but for me it is a huge part of my career so I couldn’t do that. That being said, I do think I should ease up and maybe have a night cap on my social media dependancy…I may have to discuss this in a future post.

WHEN TO GIVE IN

You are bound to have a celebratory event of some kind over the 40 days. Lent tends to fall over my dad and cousins’ birthdays and as I always give up chocolate or some kind of sweet treat this can sometimes be an issue with birthday cakes or parties. I am not one to miss out on a celebration so I always give an exception to birthdays and big celebrations because no one likes a party pooper.

I am already counting down the days to Easter. Giving up chocolate makes Easter Eggs that much more special.
Are you going to give up something this year?

Last weekend a group of us went to Hamburg to get in the festive spirit.
I have always wanted to go somewhere like Germany to experience the Christmas markets and Hamburg definitely lived up to my expectations.

Where we stayed: Radisson Blu, Hamburg
Where we ate dinner: Hans Im Glueck
Where we ate brunch: Alex Pavillion
Where we ran: Alster Lake

The weather was appropriately cold and I dutifully wore five layers of clothes.
As a vegetarian I really struggled to find food I liked yet I guess this was to be expected in Germany.
The sweet treats were however scrumptious.

Top Christmas Markets In Hamburg:
1. Winterwald
This was my favourite market as there were far less tourists.
Hidden in the back streets you really felt as if you had stumbled across a hidden gem.
We sat and drunk Glug spiked with Rum in the Christmas tree garden.
The only problem was that we didn’t find this market until half an hour before we had to leave for the airport.

2. City Hall Market
This is the biggest and most popular Christmas market in Hamburg, sitting outside the Town Hall.
I would strongly advise only going to this market in the daytime and during the week not at the weekend.
We went on Friday afternoon and it was lovely and quiet but on the Saturday evening you could barely move.
There is a Christmas decoration shop at the far end of the market which is well worth queuing to go in.
The shop is filled with millions of decorations and twinkly lights. Decoration range from €1 to €100s.
Top Tip: Make sure you see Father Christmas fly over the market everyday at 4pm, 6pm and 8pm.

What I wore:{Roll Neck Body: Topshop}
Everyone needs the black funnel neck body from Topshop.
It was a great base layer to keep me warm and stop and chilly breeze sneaking up my top.
It makes any outfit look a little more sophisticated.

{Scarf: Zara (similar) . Coat: Zara (similar) . Jeans: Topshop .
Boots: Vagabond . Gloves: Marks and Spencer}

{Roll neck Jumper: Zara (similar)}
I bought this roll neck knit jumper from Zara a few years ago. It is huge and incredibly warm.

{Hauptkirche St. Petri, Hamburg}
I love going to churches in foreign countries and lighting a candle for lost loved ones.
This church had an incredible candle display where you melted an area to stick your candle to.

{Neuer Wall, Hamburg}
A street lined with very expensive shops and decorated impeccably.
{Hat: Zara}

My hubby wore:
{Shirt: Gap . Jumper: French Connection (similar)}