If you’ve been keeping up to my blog as of late you’ll have seen i’m doing a little series on the best of early spring, but if not… hi! Nice to meet you! Good to have you here! Regardless of your status on my corner of the web, all you need to know is I’m indulging you all in some of my absolute adorations of this early spring period. It’s been a lovely one, with warm sunshine yet vicious wind and I hope the weather continues to be good (though not roasting as my POTSie neurodivergent self can’t take much) and a stunning temperature for outdoor swimming especially, my absolute favourite activity. But anyway, we’re not here to discus that, on to the Spring faves! Here are my absolute local favourites: Portsmouth edition!
Speaking of outdoor swimming, before we start, Hilsea Lido gets an honourable mention as it is due to open in May. Have a look at how stunning it looks! This will be the absolute perfect place for hybrid swimming when it opens (hybrid meaning it is outside, however not a ‘wild’ swimming spot)
On to the main body of my post!
Workshops by Jess at Make It Quirky
We have attended a few Make It Quirky Workshops before, my wife and I, and we have been blown away by the sheer talent and phenomenal teaching skills from Jess.
The first workshop she taught us was candle painting – we decorated dinner candles around the valentines day mark and they were absolutely beautiful! I did bows and croissants on my first one, and the lesbian flag colours with the phrase ‘You Matter To Me’ from Waitress the Musical, mine and Em’s first dance song, and Em did daffodils and clouds.
More recently, we attended an Easter bunting making workshop, and this was so much fun! I, however, didn’t do mine Easter themed! Mine was Winnie the Pooh themed with the date of our Wedding on it and the Eeyore took me forever but I am incredibly proud of it, I must say!
Jess never judges anyone’s art ability, she always encourages you to do more, tells you you’re talented even if your art skills – like mine – are questionable and always – always – supports her clients. She is an amazingly talented role model and is endlessly supportive. Thank you always, Jess. The work you do is incredible and we will always come back to your amazing workshops.
Maddie’s Matcha
So, Maddie’s Matcha. Daaaaammmmn. I got an advert for it on instagram one day and and the day I found out there was an exclusive matcha shop in Portsmouth was the best day of my life (apart from my wedding day ofc). I gave them a follow and had my eyes on them for a while and simply salivated from a distance because living in Fareham, I hardly go to Gunwharf a lot – the parking is extortionate so my Dad will not go and my wife works most of the time. So the getting there was hard. But on my Dad’s birthday, he wanted to go, and I was over the moon – finally I could try it, and I DID. and
HOLY SHIT
It was worth the wait.
I got the mini eggs matcha and cold foam with oat milk and I have no idea what matcha they use but it was such high quality and tasted better than any matcha i’d ever tasted before in so many ways. A) The matcha. Just the quality of the matcha. This made it soooo much better B) Mini egg matcha?!? INSANE. I tried to recreate it at home using similar syrups and cold foam but just couldn’t get it right. Oh and C) That was the best cold foam I have ever tasted in my life
Later that week my wife went back to Gunwharf with some pals without me and Maddie’s held a pop-up selling canned matcha so I send her away with the task of bringing me one home so this time I got raspberry with mini eggs cold foam. It was delicious (but this time the cold foam had all mixed into the matcha by the time I had gotten it, which was equally as delicious, just a different experience).
Maddie’s is sensational, and even if you don’t like matchas they serve lattes too, so there’s something for everyone – Em was even wooed by their loaded brownie! I highly recommend popping in if you can – it’s right by the Spinnaker tower too, so how’s that, a cafe with a view!
Southsea Coffee
Southsea Coffee is a stunning little independent business that serves coffee, matcha, smoothies, meals and everything in between. On my most recent visit I had a blueberry matcha with strawberry cold foam (though the blueberry one specifically is made with coconut water, not milk, and blueberry puree, not syrup – which makes it ultra special and has a clean feeling when you wash it down) and a raspberry and coconut cake, which was so moist and an absolutely beautiful bake. My wife also said her salted caramel brownie that she was eating was the ‘best brownie she’d ever tried’, and me and my dad LOVE the new coffee options that roll in from all around the world and the methods from which you can try them (from espresso that we’d try in a cortado to batch brew and pour over). I can’t wait to return and try their most recent one which I gave a miss last time as I was in a matcha mood. I’d always return to Southsea coffee, the vibe is good, the servers are polite and friendly (very my vibe, we always have a good chat), so this is a cafe i’d definitely say to give a go if you’re in Pompey, especially heading for the seaside area.
Hunter and Gatherer
Another incredible independent coffee shop, but this one’s USP is that it is entirely plant based (aside for the fact it offers average milk, though only on request). The first time I went, I purposefully didn’t order the bacon/maple pastry (as I’m veggie) and I later heard a woman ask if it was vegan (and she was asking about the last pastry left on the shelf too) – they confirmed it was and I was so sad! Now I know about it, that pastry is definitely the best thing to ever exist – VEGAN MAPLE BACON?!? HELLOOOOOO, get in ma belly!!!
The first time I went I had a dirty chai and holy hell, they do a proper Indian chai. It was incredible – the whole establishment is a taste sensation. I truly need to drag my vegan sister away from her Northern vegan hub and introduce her to Pompey veganism, compact in its own little cafe.
Hunter and Gatherer also, as well as doing a banging coffee and incredible food, sell pin badges. If every queer you know doesn’t collect pin badges then we’re in vastly different circles! Em and I both collected pin badges religiously before we met but our obsession only heightened when we got together; the amount of pin boards we have don’t fit on our bedroom wall yet we still collect and collect and collect, and seeing coffee themed pins at H & G made me weep with excitement! Of course I had to pick some up – I did so for myself, my wife, and my friend Becky as she loves coffee too!
Victorious Festival
Every year, Southsea holds a music festival filled with tunes, vintage clothing stalls, food stalls and family fun! Last year I attended with my Dad as the Kings of Leon were headlining amongst other guests. We had weekend tickets but only made it on the sunday due to me being poorly with my chronic illness, but we made it to see the headline act, eat some Mac and Cheese and have a mooch around the festival.
The festival had relatively good accessibility policies including letting my Dad take in a chair to sit on and letting me take in lots of drinks and snacks which is not usually allowed, as well as having a high platform for access users but it also had its flaws which I am happy to talk about in another post. Regardless, it was a good festival filled with family fun, it wasn’t too busy or loud (and I am sound sensitive and autistic), and there was a lot to do to fill your days if you chose to be there the whole time. It was also on the coastal line which is lovely as if you were visiting you could spend some time on the beach.
Victorious was a good festival and I would reccomend going if you like a range of music (though it does fall on the grungier side typically) and there were loads of fun daily activities you could get involved in!
Bonus
Friendly shoutout to CRY charity shops, I don’t know if they’re local or national but i’ve never seen them outside of the south of England so I thought i’d put them in this post! I did a little instagram post of a haul I did in one of their shops, as seen below.
I hope you’ve enjoyed all these wonderful things local to Portsmouth! If you are a local resident, I hope maybe you can discover these gems if you haven’t before, or maybe, if you’re visiting… they’ll be spots of joy for you!
Sending well wishes to you all!
Stay safe, stay strong and look after yourself 🩷
Love always,
Lauren xxx
@holaurgraphic 
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