The biggest lesson so far from my #OldLadyEuroSummer is this: when you say something out loud, the universe seems to conspire with you to make it happen. I mentioned to @tiffdunk in the @womensweeklymag that I would like to go and walk and just BE for a month in Europe solo as a gift to myself for turning 50. I hadn’t even considered the logistics or if it was even possible and I just sort of blurted it out and to be honest, I thought nothing more of it. As always – I assumed there would be just too much to organise, too many people to inconvenience, too many other bills to pay, too many pets (and kids!) to billet out etc etc… BUT. I said it. And little by little the road rose up to greet me. And here I am. In Europe for the first time ever at the age of 50. Thank you to everyone who bent a little to make this seemingly impossible dream come true for me. I’m here! IT’S HAPPENING! Stay tuned for more (once I’ve had a little rest 😂) It took me about 17 different plane trips to get here 🤪 BUT I AM HERE! The treasures are OFF THE CHARTS and I am weeping with joy a lot 🤗 @novaentaus @thechrissieswanshow @jackcharles @sarahmcgilvray @henriestride @luxury.escapes @meliavienna @pointhacksau @airbnb
Please enjoy these 3 minutes of Taylor Swift-induced sheer lady madness. There’s everything here – weeping, losing my mind, singing across the room with Montell – a magnificent prize winner (and total kindred spirit) from @thechrissieswanshow – and a woman who has waited 230 days for this very moment and doesn’t care a jot what anyone thinks of her unbridled joy. Also: I am insane. ❤️
Thankyou @mrjamierow for capturing these moments and still wanting me in your life 😂
PARIS! Omg. Everything I’d ever hoped for and so much more. Did as many of the touristy things that I could including Versailles and Giverny… that Monet sure had his stuff sorted. Walked a million miles, nearly got run over the same amount. Had the best club sandwich of my entire life. Slept like a zombie. Ate dinner at 10pm. I could get used to this! Next stop… ITALIA! 🇮🇹
Hullo London! Well, you’re a bit of orright, ain’t you, Guv’nor? In a nutshell, London feels like being at home again but supercharged with beauty and energy. I feel really comfortable here. It’s damned gorgeous and the sun is shining like a diamond. It’s true that 25 degrees in London feels much warmer so I will no longer scoff at the stories on the news where you see Londoners with their tops off in the park when it hits 25 degrees! 😂 I am not travelling totally solo all the time here and it’s been so lovely! Thinking company might be much better than all alone 🤗 Highlights include: prawn crisps, Stonehenge, the spectacular city of Bath, seeing all the things I’d only ever seen on a monopoly board, walking, Notting Hill, Tesco and M&S and Pret a Manger sandwiches, shopping with no agenda, having no agenda in general🤗 Kudos to @luxury.escapes for sorting out my first night’s #giftedstay @thehoxtonhotel when I didn’t know my Holborn from my Hampstead (ofcourse now I’m basically a local 😂) – it is SO calming to have the first cosy destination sorted when arriving – a bit overwhelmed – in a totally foreign city. 10/10 recommend this tip! ❤️ Also thanks god for WhatsApp video calls for Mums away from kids ✅ Greys coming through with a vengeance and giving zero f*cks ✅ Synapses exploding with new sights and experiences ✅ #OldLadyEuroSummer rolls on!
THE #OldLadyEuroSummer rolls into Vienna! Weather was absolutely perfect and I just walked and walked and walked and slept and ate and walked and ate. And slept. And walked. And ate some more 🤗 Stepped inside my first very old and fancy church: wept. Came up from subway at Stephanplatz: wept. Enjoyed piano in the park: wept. Ate 4000 hash browns from the fancy hotel breakfast buffet: wept. Got around on my own steam on the train system: wept. Used my year 12 German: wept. Tears of joy though – the best kind. Next stop: LONDON! Big ups to @luxury.escapes for the #giftedstay @melia.hotels.international when I had no idea where to stay for my 2 night Vienna Debut! Also Wiener Schnitzel is lyf.
Florence: You are too hot for me to queue at for the Mortadella Focaccia I came here especially for. Luckily I can download the local food delivery app and make a one off purchase! AMAZING FOCACCIA AND DELIVERED TO ME AT THE AIRBNB IN 20 MINUTES! If you think I didn’t stand at the window eagerly waiting for the bicycle to approach with the focaccia in tow you’d be wrong. 😂
Florence: You are too hot for me to queue at for the Mortadella Focaccia I came here especially for. Luckily I can download the local food delivery app and make a one off purchase! AMAZING FOCACCIA AND DELIVERED TO ME AT THE AIRBNB IN 20 MINUTES! If you think I didn’t stand at the window eagerly waiting for the bicycle to approach with the focaccia in tow you’d be wrong. 😂
So long, London! What a city, what extraordinary ENERGY?!? It’s life affirming and contagious. So much to see and do and explore around every single corner – so much beauty. So many PEOPLE 😂 … so few rubbish bins 🤷🏻♀️ Next stop – I’m boarding a train to PARIS?!? What even is this trip? I’m really hoping my year 12 French is going to serve me as well in Paris as my year 12 German did in Vienna or I’ll be up Merde Creek. The language is the only thing I’m nervous about… Also – I’m gonna need some new runners and a lie down when I get home 😂
When the planets aligned and my 3 gals were ALL available for an express AGM before I left for Europe I was so thrilled. I was also DEEP in the ‘eating down the fridge’ mode of the pre-holiday phase. I had all the ingredients for this pumpkin and goats cheese tart on hand (apart from the chopped pumpkin) so I whipped it up and it was, as it always is, a total delight for all involved … this reel is pure ladymadness but you’ve come to expect this from me. GOAT’S CHEESE, PUMPKIN AND CARAMELISED ONION TART. Here’s what you’ll need: One roll Careme Sour Cream ShortCrust Pastry 6 red onions 6 portions Meredith dairy goats cheese Few sprigs rosemary. Butter and olive oil. Balsamic glaze One bag baby rocket 2 bags pre-chopped pumpkin. WHAT YOU’LL DO Toss pumpkin squares on olive oil and garlic. Bake for 15 minutes at 160. Set aside Slice onions and cook slowly in olive oil and butter until sticky and soft. Squeeze in some balsamic glaze and toss in rosemary. Set aside. Roll out one sheet of Careme pastry and cut into 6 even squares. Place on 2 trays and brush with cream (shortcut glaze!) Blind bake at 160 for 15 minutes to get it started. Set aside. ASSEMBLE! Onions first, then pumpkin, then one square of goats cheese crumbled on each pastry square. Bake again at 160 for 15 minutes. Slide each tart onto a plate. Top with rocket and balsamic glaze. And more goats cheese if you like! SCOFF!
Drum roll please… herewith are the top ten things I ate over the last month in Europe. It was a tough race but #1 has to be the risotto Milanese and Osso Bucco I had in Milan along with the best Caprese Salad ever (my fave salad) and also a Melanzane Parmigiana I got from a truck stop somewhere outside of Naples… I’m back at work today on @thechrissieswanshow and if you’ve been watching my adventures and thinking ‘I’ll have what she’s having!’ I’d be listening if I were you 💋🇮🇹 🇫🇷 🏴 See you from 2-4 🤗❤️
Drum roll please… herewith are the top ten things I ate over the last month in Europe. It was a tough race but #1 has to be the risotto Milanese and Osso Bucco I had in Milan along with the best Caprese Salad ever (my fave salad) and also a Melanzane Parmigiana I got from a truck stop somewhere outside of Naples… I’m back at work today on @thechrissieswanshow and if you’ve been watching my adventures and thinking ‘I’ll have what she’s having!’ I’d be listening if I were you 💋🇮🇹 🇫🇷 🏴 See you from 2-4 🤗❤️
PARIS! LET’S GO! (Or should I say… ALLONS-Y!) 🇫🇷❤️
Seems The Logies learnt nothing from last time… ‘cos this idiot is apparently hosting AGAIN. Chookas Sammy. 😍 😉 @thechrissieswanshow @jackcharles
The most popular question I’ve been asked since embarking on my #OldLadyEuroSummer has been ‘can you show me where you stayed?’ and as I am a bona fide homebody I am and have always been mad for an Airbnb. Why? Because of all the surprise bits and bobs that you find there! Even on holiday, I like to cook, I like to make my own coffee, I like a fully stocked cutlery drawer, a Bluetooth speaker so I can listen to Taylor Swift and collections of odd teacups… I like to wash my own clothes, I’m partial to a microwaved cup of tea and I like to go to local supermarkets and have a proper fridge to put my stuff in that’s not already stocked full of tiny bottles of booze and $20 packets of M&Ms that I will not use. I love the random bookshelves and leftover olive oil and salt from previous guests you find in an @airbnb … I basically love staying in someone else’s home as long as they’re not there 😂 #HermitEra Herewith are the homey-places I found for my month away – some covered by a voucher (thankyou Airbnb!) and others covered by me. I know you’ll want the links to the specific properties but I really believe half the fun is choosing YOUR place on YOUR own. The adventure starts when you type in ‘Montmartre’ and imagine yourself in a robe on the balcony sipping a double espresso as the sun comes up over the Sacré Coeur. Or maybe that’s just me? SIDE NOTE: May I humbly suggest to put ‘aircon’ in your filter if you’re planning on visiting anywhere in Italy in their summer. Thank me later! #airbnb #spon
Hello Milano! Short but sweet pitstop en route to Florence… the bread! The Duomos! The Piazzas, oh my! Next stop… FIRENZE.. (Forgive the short reel – was too busy sweating my ass off and eating Caprese to film much) 😂
I bloody love this oven! I am the luckiest duck and @falconaustralia heard me having a GIGANTIC WHINGE about my old oven … which was running as Hot & Cold as Katy Perry… and they #gifted me one of their magnificent specimens to try. To say I have really ‘tried’ this product enthusiastically is an understatement. 🤗🥰🤗 I mean, where else can you cook EIGHT LOAVES OF SOURDOUGH AT ONCE?!? WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY SIMMERING 3 VATS OF HOMEMADE SOUP?!? I love it sick. Thankyou #falcon #falconaustralia – you made my whole year! ❤️
Behold. The worst meal ever served on a plane or anywhere in the known universe. I am always and forever pro plane food. But this was… a very sad episode. 😂🤗 Can you remember the worst plane offering you’ve ever ripped the foil off? #OldLadyEuroSummer
🚨 BANOFFEE PIE 🚨 🚨 THE SHORTCUT VERSION 🚨 I started making this pie by slowly boiling the tins of condensed milk for hours and hours to make the caramel. Which is lovely and everything but doesn’t make getting a Banoffee Pie on the table in a quarter of an hour possible like using cans of Top n Fill! So here it is – my 15 minute Shortcut Banoffee Pie: What you’ll need: 1 packet of McVitties Digestives 1 packet of Marie or Shredded Wheat biscuits. 2 cans Top N Fill 5 bananas 200 grams melted butter 600ml (or 900ml!) whipped cream. Cocoa for dusting WHAT YOU’LL DO: Blitz up the biccies then mix in the melted butter. Squash the biccie base down into a shallow tray with grease proof paper in it. Whack in the fridge (or freezer – it’s quicker!) Next whip your cream. As much as you like (my mum is a fiend for cream so I always do heaps) Pull the chilled biscuit base out and spread your tinned caramel all over it. Layer with thinly sliced bananas – literally as many as you like. Some people love it really banana-ry – like me for example. Tip your whipped cream on top and smoosh it all over. Put your cocoa in a little sieve and sprinkle to finish. SCOFF! And that’s it. From zero to Banoffee hero in about 15 minutes!
Hey ChrissieCasters! I’ve been embroidering! I loved the chat about Dugongs with @davethorno1 so much I’ve stitched it onto a t-shirt. **if you already follow me @chrissieswan – shuffle over here – @thechrissiecast – and follow me there! It’s a fun time. Promise! 🤗 LET’S GET TO 10,000 FOLLOWERS! You know the drill… Comment below with as many friends as you can muster. Get them ALL to follow this page… THE WINNER IS THE PERSON WHO TAGS THE MOST PEOPLE! You could be skipping to your mailbox to collect this ONE OF A KIND T-SHIRT MADE BY MY FAIR HAND LIVE AT THE COMPOUND! (May have a slight scent of last night’s felafel feast) I hate to part with this gorgeous tee… but I do love YOU… so whatchagonna do?!? IT’S GET TAGGING FOR THE TEE TIME! (PS – sorry for yelling but I am excited and I do that) (PPS – tee may have been whipped up by @skipping_stitches_ while I get my head around this machine…)
Want to win a $1000 Priceline shopping spree with me AND A BESTIE? That’s $1000 for you AND $1000 for your ride-or-die. We’ll meet and get a takeaway brew and fossick through all the must-have bits and bobs you absolutely must have. Heaven! Here’s how (it’s easy!) • Spend $40 at Priceline before July 3rd, scan your Sister Club card and you’re in the draw! If you’re not already a Sister Club member you can join in a flash. Terms & Conditions apply.
LAST DAYS! Win this one-of-a-kind Tee! How? 1. Go over to @thechrissiecast and HIT FOLLOW! 2. Tag ALL your friends and get them to FOLLOW @thechrissiecast TOO! 3. I’ll select someone to send the Tee to!
Cows of the sea! @dave_thorno joins @chrissieswan on @thechrissiecast as we chat about all things Dugongs. Find The ChrissieCast on The Nova Player or wherever you get our podcasts!
Ash, Chrissie and the angry deli man? Set your reminders ChrissieCasters⏰ @ashwilliams1 is back and will be joining me in tomorrow’s episode!
