Exploring Edinburgh at Christmas

 I've lived in Scotland for almost ten years now, and every year I get just as excited to visit Edinburgh's Christmas market. Walking out of the train station and being greeted by the warm glow of the glittering lights and attractions always fills me with so much joy. 

Last week, my friend Emily and I decided to head into Edinburgh for a fun day out to celebrate the end of our exams. After a few too many celebratory cocktails the night before, we were both feeling a little bit fragile, so we spent the day just walking around and taking in all of the Christmas festivities. I genuinely had the nicest time! Later that evening, I also met up with my mum for dinner and another wander around the market. 

One of my favourite things about the Christmas market is all of the different food and gift stalls. There are so many different stalls selling a variety of European foods and cuisines that make it so hard to choose what you want to eat, and the gifts always looks so unique and pretty. Pretty much every year I go for a pretzel, and this year was no different. My mum and I both decided to get one, and we also had a hot mug (or two) of mulled wine at the Bothy bar. The bar was really well decorated and cosy inside, and if you head up to the very top of the bar, you can get a really great view across the gardens and the Christmas market.

Of course, no trip to Edinburgh at Christmas time would be complete without a trip to The Dome to look at their classic Christmas decorations. The Dome is always decorated so beautifully at this time of year, and like many other people, I couldn't resist taking a photo. 

I had such a lovely day wandering around and exploring the Christmas market. It was so chilled out and relaxed and exactly what I needed to celebrate the end of a semester of stress and exams. Every year I get excited to visit the market and take in all of the festivities, and this year definitely didn't disappoint.

A New Chapter

As I am writing this post, I am currently sat up in bed with a cup of tea, still in my pyjamas. I've been pretty busy over the last couple of weeks, and a lot of exciting things have happened, so I thought I would write a bit of a chatty post this morning just to update you all.

I finally moved back to Stirling on Saturday, as I only have one week left until I go back to university for my second year. I'm actually quite excited about going back to university. I'm not entirely sure why, but I think it's because I have so many exciting things planned for over the next few months, and I'm also ready to get stuck back into my course again. Last year, I changed my degree to sociology and criminology, so I'm looking forward to starting the criminology part of my course. I'm also doing an extra business module on the side which I'm quite looking forward to trying. I had a lot of ups and downs at university last year, so I'm hopeful that this year will bring a lot more new experiences and happy memories. It sounds a bit cliché, but I feel like I'm about to start a whole new chapter of my life.

This weekend was the first time I had spent the night in my new flat, and it felt really surreal to me that I now rent my own little place. My mum helped me move the rest of my stuff in on Saturday, and I got so emotional when she left and went home. All of a sudden it hit me that I am actually on my own. Living alone doesn't scare me, but it hadn't felt real that I was moving out until that moment when my mum left my flat. All of my family seem to really like my flat, so I'm hoping that my family will come and visit me a little bit more over the next few months. As I lived in halls last year, they felt a little bit awkward when they came to see me. But now that I have my own space, they'll be able to come more often. 

Something else fairly exciting also happened last week. I now have my own domain name!! I've really been trying to put that little bit of extra effort into my blog lately, and I'm finally starting to see it paying off. So I thought why not purchase my own domain name, and move away from my blogspot domain. From now on, you will be viewing all of my posts at www.studentwanderer.co.uk! I'm going to keep trying to improve my blog, so if you have any feedback then please feel free to let me know.

Now that we're into September, it is officially my birthday month. In just under three weeks, I will be turning 19! I can't believe how quickly this past year has flown by, as it doesn't feel like that long ago since I was celebrating my 18th with all of my family and my old flatmates. I usually get really excited about birthdays, but for some reason, I'm not really about this one. I think it's because I'm in a really good place in my life at the moment, and I feel truly satisfied with everything around me. I just want to have a nice day with my friends and family.

During August, Jordan and I spent quite a lot of our time through in Edinburgh. We had so much fun exploring the Fringe festival, and even just the city itself. One of the highlights of my month was watching the fireworks at Edinburgh Castle on the closing night of the Fringe. They were just so incredible, and unlike anything I'd ever seen before. I've always loved Edinburgh as it is such a beautiful city, but during August I seemed to develop a greater appreciation for the city in a way that I hadn't before.

A lot has happened in my life recently, and I'm sort of enjoying all the changes! I'm excited to get started on my second year of university, but I'm also looking forward to being more independent and getting to do my own thing. Living on own was defintely the best decision for me, but it will also mean that I can see my family a lot more often too. It is also finally starting to feel more like Autumn now, which is my favourite season. Hopefully everything will go up from here, and I hope all of you have a lovely September, too.

Hey, before you go, are we friends on Bloglovin?

My First Fringe Festival Experience

I've lived in Scotland for just short of 10 years, and I'm ashamed to say that I'd never actually visited the Fringe before. There really is no excuse considering I live a mere 20 minute train journey away from Edinburgh. But last weekend, I finally got the chance to explore the festival, and I have to say, it was one of the best weekends I've had in a while! 

On Friday evening, Jordan and I had plans to go to the cinema (we went see Nerve and absolutely loved it, I'd defintely recommend it), but we had a few hours to kill before the film was due to start, so Jordan suggested checking out the Fringe. We headed to Cowgate as there seemed to plenty happening and we fancied seeing a show. The one that we saw was at The Three Sisters pub, or "The Free Sisters" as it is currently known for the Fringe. I can't remember what the show was called, but it was a comedy with 4 different comedians each taking the stage for around 10 minutes to showcase their talent and to entice us to go and see their individual shows. We sort of just stumbled upon this show, but we actually really enjoyed it and it was surprisingly funnier than I'd expected. 

Everywhere we walked there would be someone trying to hand us a flyer and get us into their show, which got a bit crazy in the busier parts of town. I was quite surprised at how many shows there actually were, and the range of different talent available to go and see. We then headed up towards the university as it had been transformed into the Gilded Balloon for the Fringe. There were also lots of food and drinks stalls up at the university where you could get things like crepes and waffles or pizza. I couldn't resist a crepe, so I got one filled with Nutella and strawberries. It was delicious, but Jordan refused to have any since he's on a major health kick, so I couldn't finish it all by myself! But I've been craving one ever since. Everywhere was just so busy, but it was really nice to see so many people appreciating the city and enjoying themselves.

On Sunday, Jordan and I decided to go back through to Edinburgh and explore the Fringe a little more. I'm pretty sure I must've walked about 100 miles over the course of the weekend, as Jordan had me walking from one end of the city to the other! We went for a really nice lunch at Revolution as were given a voucher by a lady stood outside the restaurant, and then Jordan wanted to show me the Pleasance as I'd never been before. It was actually really cool, with loads of string lights hanging from the top of the orange tent, and there was even a Prossecco Bar, but we didn't get anything to drink. There was loads of things for kids to do at the Pleasance so we didn't stay all that long. 

On our way back to George Square, we walked through the Meadows and I spotted a fun fair! I turn into such a child when I see the rides, and immediately dragged Jordan over to the fair so I could have a look. We ended up going on one of the rides as it looked like fun, but Jordan wasn't too sure and kept saying the funniest comments as it spun us around. We didn't stop laughing once! I haven't laughed that much in a long time. It sounds a bit lame, but that was one of my favourite moments of the weekend.

Once we made it back to George Square, we headed into the Underbelly. The huge floating purple cow was defintely intriguing. The Underbelly was full of bars and food stalls. The one that intrigued us was a giant tent called the "Hilton Hideaway". On the inside, everyone was sitting on cushions on the floor, and it had loads of Moroccan style lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Jordan and I love to travel, so we found this place really interesting. We only got one drink each,  but the tent had a really cool atmosphere so we stayed for a while.

That evening, Jordan had tickets to see The Showhawk Duo. His friend unfortunately couldn't make it, so as Jordan was really looking forward to it, I offered to go with him so he didn't miss out. The show was down in Cowgate again, so we headed down a little bit early to ensure we could get a good view. The Showhawk Duo take acoustic guitar playing to a whole other level by playing of mix of electronic dance music and trance classics. I wasn't sure what to expect of the show, but I have to say, I absolutely loved it! Jordan had showed me videos of the duo before, but they were so much better in person. They're no longer playing at the Fringe, but I'd defintely recommend searching them on YouTube. 

My first experience of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival was defintely a good one. I had so much fun wandering around all of the different venues and seeing a few shows. We had plans to see a few more, but plans unfortunately changed, so I'll defintely be going back next year to see a few more. The Fringe still has a few days left, so if you haven't been yet and you live close enough to visit, I'd definitely recommend checking it out whilst you still can. Jordan will be moving into Edinburgh in just over a weeks time, so I'll definitely be spending plenty of time at the Fringe next year! I'm already looking forward to it!

Have you been to the Fringe Festival this year?

Hey, are we friends on Bloglovin' yet?