A river cruise on the Danube through Hungary, Slovakia and Austria on the Tui Skyla.

City mini breaks are our favourite way to travel. My husband and I used to aim to do two a year before the pandemic, one in the Spring and one in the Autumn. One city that we fell in love with instantly was Barcelona due to it’s perfect mix of beach, city and culture.

As a History of Art and Architecture graduate I couldn’t wait to explore the city and was particularly fascinated by the architecture of Gaudi. Gaudi’s Park Güell has been one of the main inspirations for my new Barcelona surface pattern collection - from the jagged irregular shapes of the mosaic tiles to the beautiful bright colours that perfectly pop against the clear blue skies of the Spanish city on a sunny day. I have even drawn inspiration from the famous mosaic lizard that sits prominently on the main staircase at the entrance to the park.

A few years ago my husband and I had a short Autumn city break to Oslo and it quickly became my favourite city in the world. Oslo is a beautiful, clean, and friendly city with a perfect balance of culture and nature. It has amazing art galleries (Edvard Munch has always been a favourite of mine), museums, restaurants and of course the stunning fjord.