Oh sweet relaxation.

When you’ve had a really stressful week, you find yourself looking forward to the weekend; those two days during which you can ignore the fact that you’ll be going back to the same routine come Monday. I personally find that treats always get me relaxed, so today I called up a friend of mine to try out new “sweet” venues.

We first went to this cute little patisserie called Gustav which serves the most amazing things. My friend laughed at my sharp intake of breath when we entered the place. The displays were filled with amazing-looking desserts and cakes, and at the counter the owner of the place was working on creating European flags (probably for a UEFA Euro 2012 cake) out of coloured fondant.

First we went for two large slices of red velvet cake, slathered with cream cheese icing and Swiss white chocolate sauce respectively. I didn’t think to take a picture before starting to eat, so I’ll leave you with a picture from Gustav’s site.

Doesn’t that look amazing?
(Photo Credit: http://www.gustav.ws/)

It was incredibly sweet, but there were many things in the store and we couldn’t just settle for the cake. Now… for some reason I’ve always avoided macaroons, but the ones they had looked so inviting I had to try some. I got blueberry and strawberry flavoured ones, and they were delish! They also had these irresistible chocolate balls. I got one labelled as “Twix”, which had biscuits and caramel and was topped with dark chocolate and sweet crunchy stuff.

My macaroons and chocolate ball!

A day isn’t complete without a trip to the bookshop. So we went there, even though I know I recently bought a handful of books. I was only intending to buy one, but… well, I couldn’t resist. I recently finished Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, which explains my top choice. The other two… well, I was lured by their covers, haha.

My bookshop spoils. In case it wasn’t clear, the one at the bottom is “The Family Fang” by Kevin Wilson.

After this we were feeling a bit tired and hot. The heat was unbearable today (37 degrees Celsius) and we needed something to help us cool off, and that’s where an ice-cream parlour called “Gino’s Gelateria” comes in.

So many flavours! I asked to test type several of them before I finally chose.

Since I’d just had chocolatey things before, I desired something fresh and tangy. So I selected lime, mandarin and watermelon ice-cream, and they were heavenly. Each spoonful was a little cold bite of bliss. I’ll definitely be making many trips back there; there are too many flavours I need to try!

By the end of it, I returned home feeling happy and content, infused with all the sweetness and chocolatey goodness I had today. And happiness about new books, of course! I’m set to face another daunting five days of work! … or at least I think I am.

That’s been my day so far, so how about yours? What do you do to unwind after a hectic week? =]