21.12.13
My first proper train journey. It took us 6 hours to get to Edinburgh and they were some of the most relaxed and nervous moments of my life (until I went on holiday to Tenerife and had to fly). My boyfriend regularly gets 40 minute train journeys to and from university most days so he was used to trains but my longest train ride ever was 15 minutes. I'm a nervous traveller. However, when we were on the train, I felt so at ease and happy and just excited to go on holiday that my nerves melted away. I even fell asleep for an hour which helped significantly. We arrived in Edinburgh at 6:45pm and the city was in full swing. There were lights pouring from the streets, the shops were lit with a beautiful cosy glow and the Christmas Market looked like a haven of warmth and excitement. It truly lived up to it's expectations. We first had to go and find where we were staying before we could immerse ourselves properly in the culture though. Turns out that the £6.00 cab we paid for was completely pointless because the apartments we stayed at were approximately 5 minutes away. On a side note, I completely recommend the Thistle Residence - QuarterMile Apartments if you ever want to get away for a weekend in Edinburgh. We quickly settled in, looked around the apartment, which was honestly the most beautiful little home we could have asked for, and left almost immediately so we could experience the Christmas Market before our day was already over. That evening was extremely relaxed. We grabbed some food, perused the stalls and just wandered around the centre of the city. After a chilled, albeit wet night, we headed back to the apartment where we made some hot chocolate and settled down to watch some movies. A perfect end to a perfect day.
22.12.13
Waking up bright and early, we were showered and out of the apartment by 10am. We decided to grab a few bits from the Sainsbury's so conveniently located next to the apartments (I promise this isn't a sponsored post, ha ha) and then headed off to look at Edinburgh during the day time. It was a whole new world. We were located just 6 minutes from the Royal Mile (look it up, it's amazing) so we walked up and down there for a good hour or so.
We then headed up to the Edinburgh Castle which was absolutely phenomenal. It was about £16 each to get a ticket and we spent approximately 5-6 hours there. It was one of the best experiences of my life, and most definitely the coldest. Ever. The wind was whipping us on the top of the hill like a car hitting us at 180mph. My hair was flying so much I though it was going to rip straight off of my head, or I was about to be propelled away like a mini helicopter flying over Scotland. We learned all about the history of Edinburgh and the goings on in the castle. We also went in to a part of the castle were no phones or cameras were allowed. It was the war memorial - a part where the fallen were memorialised. It was beautiful. Anyone who has been there will understand the sadness in the air, and the sombre attitude of everyone walking around there, looking at the names of the people in the books and those whose names were not recorded. We next headed into the dungeons where the prisoner's of war were kept and it was amazing to hear all about the stories of what happened down there, why it was happening and individual cases of people that had such memorable tales about them. This was definitely the coldest part of the castle though. I was happy to get outside after being in there for an hour. I really thought my face had been frost bitten. Next, we went to learn about the royals of Scotland. I didn't need to read any of the plaques they had on the walls as my boyfriend was giving me his own history lesson as he had just finished learning about this for his course. It was so interesting and i'm really glad we got to share such a wonderful learning experience.
We were so hungry by the time we got out that we decided to go for an early dinner to a place neither of us had every been even though we'd seen it at home all the time - Bella Italia. It was such a cosy restaurant. The staff were wonderful, the food was amazing and our conversations were memorable. We talked about how happy we were being together and i'll cherish those conversations forever.
Next was the Christmas Market! This was my favourite part about the trip. I absolutely love Christmas Markets. There's just something so magical about them. As soon as we got there, I begged my boyfriend to ice skate with me. This was something he'd never done much of so it took a while for him to find his feet, but he did eventually and it was so much fun. Chasing each other around the skating rink and taking pictures even though we weren't supposed to - those actually were probably my favourite pictures of the trip so i'm really glad we did! He then begged me to go on a ferris wheel and i'd never been on one so I was happy to! As we ascended, I began pulling horrendous faces which prompted my boyfriend to ask how long i'd be afraid of heights to which I replied "I didn't know I was until now". It was one of the scariest moments of my life but i'd definitely do it again because it wasn't as bad as I though it was going to be. It really was high. Uncomfortably so. But, I persevered and i'm really glad I did it! After that, we mooched around the markets, picking out some lovely little pieces and then we headed home.
On our way, we spotted a little shop. The Nutcracker Christmas Shop. I had been on the look out for this since we arrived. I immediately ran to the store hoping it wasn't closing. We hopped inside and began rooting around the little trinkets. My boyfriend and I picked up a couple of christmas tree decorations for our mum's and I bought myself a snow globe (I love snow globes).
At home, we snuggled up together with another hot chocolate and some television and went to bed, ready for our journey home tomorrow afternoon.
23.12.13
Waking up was a little sad that day because I knew we were leaving our little Scottish bubble. I was grateful to be going home though so I could get a proper bath and with Christmas only being two sleeps away, I was so excited to see my family again and celebrate with them. We went for lunch when we left the apartment and had another little nosey around the city. After a couple of hours in the rain, we decided to head to the train station and had (another) hot chocolate there from Café Nero. This was our first experience of Café Nero and it has definitely not been our last. We loved it. We then headed to see if our platform had been listed. Ours was the only platform on the list with a dash. Above and below us were numbers of platforms so we were really confused. We ended up asking staff and they just directed us to 9. There was an east and a west on the other sides of the train station and we had no idea which one to go to. We headed east. Ours was west. You can imagine the panic. We finally got onto our train. After 2 hours, we arrived in Preston a little late due to water on the tracks. As the train pulled into the station, we knew we'd have less than 5 minutes to get to our connecting train. An elderly man, bless him, told the train it was "too late for him" and then went on to get off first. It took him 3 minutes. We rushed off the train immediately and breathless from running, we watched as our connecting train left the station. Fortunately, our connecting train came once an hour so we just had to wait around a bit. After a boring-ish hour of sitting in the cold, our train finally arrived. We spent another 2 hours on that train and finally arrived home where my boyfriend's mum picked us up from the train station. They dropped me off at home where I begrudgingly said goodnight to my boyfriend and was happily greeted by my family. It was bittersweet, but an amazing experience.
For this Christmas, I've decided to surprise my boyfriend with another trip to Scotland. Back to our apartment. This time, we'll do different things, but hopefully it will be just as magical
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Have you ever had a Christmas getaway?
Love,
Eloise
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Have you ever had a Christmas getaway?
Love,
Eloise
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