Exploring The Hoe + MTV Crashes Plymouth with CrossCountry

After a tumultuous week (do not ask), a girlie trip full of shopping, sushi and good music was exactly what I needed.

As you may have seen from my giveaway post a few weeks ago, I was offered the chance to go to MTV Crashes Plymouth to see Jess Glynne and Rudimental live by this year’s official rail partner, CrossCountry trains.

We were given first class tickets for the train journey up to Plymouth on the Thursday. I’ve only ever been in first class once before (only because my friend’s dad was the train manager, fyi, I’m not just super classy with my public transport) and I’d forgotten how nice it is to have so much legroom!

Buzzing with excitement for going to a Primark and H&M, and laughing at our sad West Country girl lives, we whizzed through Cornwall and swiftly arrived in Plymouth (the CrossCountry train only takes an hour from Redruth – easy!).

After some shopping and of course a Yo Sushi lunch (because we’re also deprived of sushi restaurants in Cornwall *cries*), we checked in at The Grosvenor Hotel; a sweet boutique place literally on the edge of the Hoe – perfect for our evening gig and just 5 minutes from the shops.

Once we’d dropped the bags off we went for what was going to be a walk around my favourite part of Plymouth, the Hoe, but quickly realised that the entire area was fenced off for the MTV Crashes Plymouth event (duh, how did I not realise this?) – so we stuck to the sea front instead.

As a Cornish gal/weird person I always seek out the sea wherever I am. It’s part of why I didn’t enjoy living in Surrey very much, and it’s definitely why this is my favourite bit of Plymouth.

Whilst it was cloudy and a little rainy on our trip, it was pretty warm, so it was lovely to get a nice refreshing breeze from the ocean too.

Olivia from Oliviablogs, staying hydrated as always :P

Shop: Floral Kimono Playsuit* ON SALE

I took more photos of Plymouth Hoe during mine and N’s anniversary trip here last year, and while it was a shame we couldn’t walk around there this time, we couldn’t complain too much as we were actually going to the event later on in the evening. Stop your whining Anna.

^ Yep, it was warm enough for people to actually be in there – shock horror!

After our walk we went for dinner at The Thai House, where I had OMG THE BEST THAI GREEN CURRY I’VE HAD IN MY LIFE. I couldn’t stop going on about it. Honestly it was so so good. If you’re in Plymouth anytime soon you should fo’ sho’ go there, because yum.

Then it was time to get ready for the concert in the evening, and by ‘get ready’ I mean just adding a pair of tights to my ensemble because it was beginning to get a little nippy outside…

Feeling like the oldest people there by about 4 years, we headed straight to the VIP viewing area, where we were able to watch the acts without feeling crushed by the masses – a definite bonus!

We watched Jonas Blue, Raleigh Ritchie (who is apparently a bit of a God in Game of Thrones, but that seemed to go over everyone’s head but Olivia’s, who was a little bit too excited), and Jess Glynne, who of course was amazing!

Living in Cornwall, I often feel pretty isolated from the cool events and shops and restaurants you get in proper cities, but after realising that actually it really doesn’t take that long to get there on a fast CrossCountry train (and it’s pretty inexpensive too!) I’m sure I’ll be popping up there more often now – if not only for that incredible green curry of my dreams….

For more information, visit crosscountrytrains.co.uk, and don’t forget if you have a 16 – 25 Railcard you can get 1/3 off most adult standard and first class rail fares. Or if you have an NUS Extra or Apprentice card, you can get an exclusive 10% off CrossCountry advance tickets too!

 

*Please note that I was sent on this trip by CrossCountry to review my experience, but all thoughts are my own! The links with a * are affiliate links.