London Loving

On the evening of the 17th of April, I headed into London to see my cousin Taryn who lives there, as well as my grandma, Auntry Shelia, Uncle Brian and another cousin Alicia. After not having seen family for so long, it was wonderful to catch up with them. We went out to dinner at Jamie's 15 and it was delicious - I had gnocchi, and then a hazelnut icecream sandwich. So good. Taryn, Alicia and I spent the evening at a bar in Shoreditch, before heading out to The Shoreditch, a bar/ club. Such a fun night.

The next day, we walked through London and along the South Bank. Alicia hadn't been to London before and so it was lovely being able to tourist with her. Here are some photographs from our day! 

That evening, we had Chinese takeaway for dinner and an early night. Alicia and I spent the next day exploring Oxford Street (I also introduced her to the delights of Pret for lunch) before we headed back to meet with my aunt and Grandma at the train station. 

There is definitely something about being with family that makes one feel so much more settled. Fed, content and well rested (the beds had two pillows! And sheets!) I headed back to university, ready for the start of my spring (study) break. London, I always adore you, and I'll be back soon.

A Wales of a Time

Considering my school had close ties with Wales, I wanted to head over and see England's next door neighbour for myself. With assignment deadlines looming, I managed to head over for the grand total of 19 hours - and what a jam packed 19 hours they were!

It took three trains to get there, but when I arrived in Cardiff I was stunned by how big and beautiful it was. Cardiff is actually a city, with tall buildings, and this blew me away. I'm not sure what I was expecting but after living in Brighton for 3 months, which is a relatively large city but does not have a skyscraper in sight, I was quite surprised.

My travel buddies, Grant and Amy, had headed over earlier in the day but I arrived at about midnight because I had a dance class before. They, very kindly, walked to the train station to pick me up and walk back with me.

The next day, Grant and Amy had a Doctor Who tour booked, and while it sounded fun, I haven't seen the show and so decided to spend my morning wandering around Cardiff and seeing all of the major sights. My first stop was Cardiff Castle, and as castles go, this was definitely a good one.

In the afternoon I took a boat down to the port, near where the Doctor Who Experience is, so Grant, Amy and I could wander around. It was lovely to enjoy the sun while we explored a little bit of Cardiff's history. 

So, what is my verdict on Cardiff?

Weirdly enough, Cardiff is a lot like Perth (if Perth had castles). The city centre was really similar to ours, while the port had a similar feel to Fremantle. It was quite odd how much I felt like I was at home - I literally could have been walking the streets of Perth.

If you have free time, it's definitely worth visiting however you either need a day or a week. We had almost run out of things to do by the time we left because a lot of the main attractions are quite far out of town and with only a day to explore, we didn't have time to take public transport out to see them. I'd definitely love to return to Wales to explore the countryside - it looks absolutely stunning but without a car over here, I am limited to public transport options.

Cardiff gets a tick from me - we definitely had a Wales of a time.

Scottish Adventures Part 2: Skye High

While I always have wanted to go to Edinburgh, Scotland's real draw was the Highlands. We decided to go on a Mac Backpacker's tour and it was definitely worth it. Three full days and two nights allowed us to see a lot of the Isle of Skye and the surroundings - I don't think I will forget Scotland's beauty in a hurry.

On our way up through the Highlands, it stared snowing heavily and our guide, Graham, stopped the bus so we could get off and take photographs.

Our next stop was Loch Ness to see Nessie and go for a paddle. It was absolutely freezing but definitely worth it. While we didn't get to meet Nessie, I'm sure she appreciated us dropping in.

Mackenzie Castle was our next stop and it was absolutely stunning. Seeing it emerge through the mist as we drove over a hill was beautiful.

I don't remember the name of half the places we visited the next day because we made so many stop offs but they were absolutely stunning. We spent the whole day on the Isle of Skye and enjoyed some hiking in the afternoon through the Fairy Glen. Enjoy the photographs!

In the afternoon, the Scottish weather finally came through for us and we were amazed by bright blue skies.

The next day also dawned clear and we left the Isle of Skye, driving around the Highlands to see stunning views like this one.

We went to a supermarket to grab food and our next stop was a picnic at Glen Coe. Parts of Harry Potter were filmed here and it's not hard to see why - scenery that made our mouths drop open and everything so magnificently huge.

With Graham, our Scottish tour guide

We stayed another night in Edinburgh before 5 of us headed off to Glasgow. Not many photographs to see from there - we spent our days walking around town and relaxing in our lovely Airbnb! Scotland was such a wonderful experience and sharing it with nine of my new friends was fantastic. I would definitely recommend seeing the Highlands, absolutely one of the most beautiful places I have seen in my life.