Travel: candy coated Shanklin

What's that saying? "If travel was free you'd never see me again." Last summer you saw Graham and I travel to Portugal and I thought it was about time I posted some (candy coated) snapshots from our trip to the Isle of Wight which occurred a few months later. We've frequented the island a few times now and always stay in Shanklin, a picturesque little place with lots of adorable shops, pubs, cafes, amusements and the promise of sandy beaches close by. We like a chilled out peaceful place when vacationing (we prefer countryside breaks and beach escapes to city life) so the IOW is ideal for us. Not gonna lie to ya, the candy coated colours in Shanklin make for a pastel pretty backdrop, and what blogger in their right mind doesn't want that when strolling along on vacay? THAT SWEETSHOP THO. I honestly fell in love. The perfect pink punchy hue, the beaut balloons. God, my heart. Isle of Sweets? Isle of Paradise I say.

One of Shankin's most loved sweet shops, The Rock shop, is one of our favourite haunts. It takes me back to being a kid too, when I used to go on family holidays to the IOW with my mum + dad. Last year I picked up a stack of retro sweet bracelets which have come in handy to rock as chokers; the perfect ironic 90s accessory when shooting a candylicious look for Instagram. Who says candy is for eating? So 1989 darling (hair flick). The array of sweets inside are pretty impressive and the retro vibe certainly makes for the lack of Starbucks branches on the island (one, hear me cry!) Am I alone in thinking the decor looks good enough to eat? Because it truly does. And that's before you even get indoors.... 

We indulged in a slab of angel cake with cups of tea and hot chocolate at The Strawberry Thatch, a cutesy tea room brimming over with flowers surrounding their outdoor seats. We loved it so much that we ventured there several more times before we left the island. Armed with our reading material (Graham with his Marvel comics, me with my Adele Parks novel), we sat down and whiled away several hours in the sunshine. I've been trying to hunt down an angel cake slice that's as good as this ever since, but alas. 

One of the lovely things about Shanklin is that the shops often stay open a little later during the summer. After an evening game of mini golf or a majestic walk along The Chine, gift shops like Pencil Cottage are great to browse in. Pencil Cottage also had a tea room and gardens but we ran out of time to try out their range of tea and cakes. Because we are the cake connoisseurs to end all cake connoisseurs. 

Last but not least, The Old Thatch Teashop was somewhere we sought shelter in a few years back from torrential rain and for some lovely home cooked food. The eye catching old worldly theme was welcoming and after chatting to the owner we discovered he was from Rochester, the place Graham and I first met and had our first date at (and is fairly local to both of us). Obviously we didn't ask him what had attracted him to move so away from Kent in the first place (the pink sweet shop, what else?!) 

Have you ever been to the Isle of Wight?

What do you make of Shanklin? 

☕️🍰🍡