Castle On The Hill…

Hi guys!

For a while I’ve been wanting to write a post about my beautiful (new) home, the city of Edinburgh, but if I am being honest I didn’t even know where to start. There is so much to do, see and visit that it seems almost impossible to put it into one post. But today I thought I’d give an insight into what you could do if you ever planned to visit the city- mainly the tourist-y things since I’m pretty new here myself!

For my birthday last year, my boyfriend bought us tickets to do the tour of Edinburgh Castle, which in my opinion is honestly the most breathtaking view in the whole of Edinburgh. If you book the tickets in advance online they cost around £16, and if you are coming in the summer I would definitely advise booking ahead as the castle is obviously very popular- I will leave the link below! As it’s a self guided tour you can take as long as you want walking around, and there is a little cafe inside if you choose to have lunch there too, or if you just fancy a sit down in the warm (it is Scotland, after all) with a cuppa. There is so much to learn about inside so if you’re a massive history geek (Scott) or just appreciate beautiful buildings (me) then it’s definitely something you’ll enjoy.

https://tickets.historic-scotland.gov.uk/webstore/shop/ViewItems.aspx?CG=TKTS&C=GA&_ga=1.18036601.1955771722.1488926101

Even if you’re not interested in exploring inside, I would still recommend walking up to the castle to see the views of Edinburgh from up there, as they are honestly extraordinary.

Another thing I would definitely suggest to anybody visiting Edinburgh is the dungeons! Now, I am a bit of a wuss when it comes to anything scary, but I had been so keen to do these ever since my first trip up in 2015. However, I actually never got the chance to do them until a few weeks ago! They ask you to turn your phones off so unfortunately I don’t have any photos from inside the dungeons except the ones we purchased afterwards, which I’ll insert below as they are guaranteed to make you giggle!! It’s not for the lighthearted, as it is verrrry dark down there and includes two rides, one of which is a very small drop ride (not gonna lie, I cried before the drop). Again, if you are a bit of a history geek it’s extremely interesting to learn about some of the gruesome past of Scotland, but even if you aren’t there to get educated it is a very enjoyable day out!

My most recent discovery was the National Museum of Scotland. I had to visit for a uni assignment, so my friends and I turned up thinking we could do it in an hour or so, as we only had to do the Scottish collection. Boy, were we wrong! The Scottish Collections alone are 6 floors, and the museum is so interactive that it’s impossible not to have a play around and read with everything you walk past. So, we decided to visit again a week later to spend the whole day exploring the museum at our own pace. I can honestly say it is so much fun, especially if you want to embrace your inner child (aka me and my friends) as there is so many activities and games to play! The best part of this is that the museum is FREE!!! As you can tell though, it is gigantic so this is the type of thing you need to set a whole day aside for.

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There is a lot more to the museum than the animal section I promise, it was just my favourite bit!

There’s plenty of other amazing things to do in Edinburgh, for example the zoo, climbing Arthurs seat etc, but these (for the moment) are my top 3 must do’s!

I hope this helps any of you who are contemplating a visit to Edinburgh, or convinces some of you who have maybe never considered it before!

Do any of you guys have anywhere in Edinburgh to recommend for my next day trip? Or is there anything you would like to know more about? Let me know in the comments!

Chlo X

Barcelona, how can I forget..

Sometimes you visit a city and you can’t wait for an excuse to go back. For me, Barcelona was that place..

When we went on a cruise in 2015, Barcelona was one of the ports so my family and I spent the day exploring and I FELL IN LOVE. It has everything, from beautiful beaches, to shops, to restaurants, to bars to stunning architecture, and the list goes on and on. So when I joked with my nan about an offer on Wowcher for 3 nights in Barcelona and she told me to go for it, I booked it ASAP!

We visited in July, and the weather was ideal for sightseeing as it wasn’t too hot to walk around in, but was hot enough that you had that ‘holiday feeling’. The hotel we stayed in was called ‘Hotel Senator Barcelona Spa’ which was located close to the Nou Camp stadium (perfect for my football mad Nan and brother, as this was the reason they asked to come along). For the price we paid, the hotel was lovely. Although being rather small, it had a rooftop pool which you could lounge by, and the breakfast in the morning was hands down the best breakfast I’ve ever had at a hotel, with the bacon being cooked to your preference etc! I would definitely stay here again, with the only problem being that because we weren’t in the centre, it was quite a walk to find places to eat and drink in at night.

http://www.senatorbarcelonaspahotel.com/

We had a mid-day flight as there was restrictions due to booking through Wowcher, so on the first night we just grabbed some food, had a few quiet drinks in the hotel bar (well, the waiter knew my order by the 2nd night, so perhaps it was more than just a few)… and headed to bed.

On our first full day, since it was the whole reason they’d came to Barca with us, we visited the Nou Camp stadium and did the tour. Jake (my brother, who despite being about 3ft taller than me is actually 2 years younger) and I had done it before on school trips, but my Nan was so excited to go! Even if you aren’t the biggest football fan in the world, the stadium is so impressive and definitely a must visit while you’re there. In fact, on our last day we went back just to sit in the café area and have some food, because the view is so incredible. It does involve a LOT of stairs though so it’s perhaps not for those who struggle walking far, my poor 89 year old Nan went straight for a nap once we were finished!

The next day, we decided we wanted to see all Barcelona had to offer. Since my Nan is obviously a little too old to walk around such a gigantic city, the best option for us was to take a sightseeing bus, which conveniently for us had a stop at the Nou Camp, so it was easy enough for us to jump on. For the price you pay, you really do get to see most of Barcelona. We saw beaches…

some VERY important and gorgeous architectural builds… (which you’re probably better ignoring the quality of the photos for, as I never thought I’d end up publishing them online!)

and of course, visited one of their shopping centres for a quick look around. My favourite thing about the shops we went to is that they have a Dunkin’ Donuts stand, and I’d been having withdrawals from them since I tried them in Florida! I would definitely recommend a bus tour if you aren’t staying in Barcelona for very long, as it allowed us to see all the major sights within our short stay.

It was a holiday I will never forget, and I hope to return one day because I feel as though there is still so much to see!

Have any of you ever been to Barcelona? What do you recommend?

Chlo X