Edinburgh aye!

My friends and I went on a recent trip to Edinburgh for our friend’s birthday in March.  Scotland is so beautiful, it even resembled Ireland a lot. 

We decided for the trip we would rent out an apartment and I’m so glad we did.  For 3 nights it cost us 90 pounds altogether and it included everything; Wi-Fi, your own kitchen, living room and spacious bed rooms.  The apartment was also in a prime location; five minutes from the lively city of Edinburgh. 

We did have a bit of bad luck in regards to the night life, Georges Street was student central.  Definitely not our scene anymore, grass market looked pretty good though but we got there too late L

On our second day we walked up Arthurs Seat.  Arthur’s seat is basically a dormant volcano where people can climb to the top and take in the beautiful surrounding areas of Edinburgh.  Afterwards we popped into one of Edinburgh’s Museums on the way back to our apartment.

We went of The Witchery on the Friday night which has a 3 Mitchelson star rating.  The food was lovely but as you would expect it was quality over quantity, the portions were so small but the food was amazing.  If only there was more, more than six chips! Not joking, I counted six.  Afterwards we went to the voodoo club for cocktails; it was a really cool club, definitely worth a visit. 

My favourite part of the whole trip was the ghost tour.  The guide was extremely interesting and stayed in character the whole time.  He filled us in on the history of Edinburgh, brought us through the cemetery and down into the vaults. 

The vaults were terrifying; at one stage his flash light stopped working when he was telling us a very horrific story.  I thought I was going to die!

On our last day we went to Edinburgh castle, big tourists we are.  The castle is really beautifully and the view up top was truly magnificent.

Travel Tips: Dublin

Dublin City- Courtesy of Terri Casey :) 

The Docks- River Liffey

Bad Ass Cafe

St. Stephens Green Park

Grabbing food after a great night out :) 

Temple Bar

More Temple Bar

A lot of people that I work with have asked me for tips for trips they plan to Dublin soon. So I have decided to write this post. I lived in Dublin for over a year and I loved it so much there, I'd go back in a heart beat. 

If you plan to go to Dublin any time soon you should go to the Guinness Storehouse, Dublin Castle, Trinity.  Trinity is one of the top Universities in Ireland and it’s really  beautiful. It’s in the centre of the city- that’s where the book of Kells is also kept (Really famous book). I'm pretty sure they do tours but you can also just walk in and wander.

St. Stephens Green is a really nice park at the top of Grafton Street.  Grafton Street is a really busy shopping street with a lot of restaurants and cafes off the side street.  It’s just a really nice area. 

Near Grafton Street is Temple Bar, that’s a huge tourist attraction, really beautiful area, I used to always eat there. Elephant and Castle is a great place to eat in temple bar. If you do go, get the chicken wings as they are to die for.  You’ll see everyone eating them.  If you go later in the evening try and book ahead. I always used to eat in the Bad Ass Cafe...mmm to die for! Temple bar also has a market there on Sunday morning where you can buy books, cheese and all sorts.

Henry Street, just off of O Connell Street is also a great area for shopping.  The Jervis Centre is amazing! If you head over to O Connell Street, do have your wits about you. The area can be a little rough at night but during the day you'll be fine. Stay away, far away from Talbot Street.

  

If you want to venture out of the city centre, Ranelagh is the place to go for food.  There is literally a whole street of really good restaurants.  If you want to go there, get the number 11 bus from O Connell Street. If you’re not sure ask the bus drivers and they will tell you, make sure you have the correct change for the bus too. They don’t except notes. 

Howth is also a beautiful area by the sea, you can get there by using the Dart or bus. 

Most of the Museums on Kildare street are all free, if you have time you should take a look.

There is also the National Leprechaun Museum, I've never been but it looks hilarious, you can walk there or get the luas (the tram) .  To be honest the place hasn't gotten great reviews but it sounds too funny to miss out on.

For night-life, Temple bar will be buzzing but it is quite expensive.  That general area is pretty good though, you should try the workman's club.   Mulligans of Poolbeg is a great pub. Doyles is also pretty good. Sweeneys on Dame Street is great. Harcourt Street is a very popular area for nightlife. Whelans on Wexford Street is a popular place for good music and bands.  If you do venture around Temple Bar/Dame street, go to Zaytoons after for food. They have the best Kebabs I've ever tasted. I miss them so much!

If you do visit Dublin, I hope you have a good trip J

Rock En Seine & Paris

Rock En Seine is a music festival held in Paris during August.  There is a lovely atmosphere surrounding the festival and like Pukkel pop, everyone was really nice. No trouble what so ever.

My friend who lives in Paris told me about the festival and she convinced me to go.  I’m glad she did because I had the best time there.

 I went to Paris a few days before so I could catch up with my friend and she gave me an amazing tour of Paris.  I had never been before so it was nice to have a guide. 

Kerrie brought me to all the main  attractions like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Sacre Coeur etc.  There was so many beautiful gardens around Paris as well, it truly is a beautiful city.  I’m going to plan another trip to go back and visit her again as we missed out on Disney Land! Oh and obviously because I miss her dearly J

But anyway, back to the festival.  The festival is held inside the Château de Saint-Cloud's park.  Everything is nice and close together so you are not walking around for ages to get to the next act.

We went to the festival in 2012 and I was pretty impressed with the line-up. We saw the black keys, temper trap, foster the people-insane, the reeling, green day; so many cool acts.  We also discovered new artists which I still listen to today.  My favourites were Caravan Palace and C2C, they were incredible and I would definitely go see them again. They were both funky class acts and brilliant for the summer atmosphere. 

The festival will take place on the 22^nd to the 24^th of August this year.  The tickets for three days cost 119 euros which I think is great value.  There is also the option to camp but I’m not sure how much that costs, but the link the website can be found here. 

I hope this post was helpful in your decision making for planning summer festivals this year J

Beautiful Brighton

Brighton Pier. Beautiful. 

The Lanes

Living in London can be quite stressful sometimes, especially during manic hours on the tube!  It's hard to believe that a place like Brighton can exist so close to London.

My friends and I went to Brighton last weekend.  It was definitely on my top list of the best places I've every been too.  The town was beautiful, so relaxed and very easy to get around.  The people were really cool and dare I say it...so trendy!

The night life was second to none, a lot of pubs in very close walking distance.  I would recommend the green door and the fish bowl.  The fish bowl stays open until 4 am for all you party people out there.

The food was delicious.  We went to Bills for breakfast, nicest breakfast I've had in so long.  Definitely, definitely book ahead when eating out because every where was full :( There was a really cool Mexican and Latin restaurant we wanted to go to but unfortunately we were a little too late.

We stayed in Kipps hostel, it was the Biz Nizz! No honestly it was one of the nicest hostels I've ever stayed in.  They even had chocolate fondue when we arrived...mmmm!  It was also really central, I highly recommend the place.

Brighton Pier was my favourite, it was so nice to just relax and take in the scenic view.  I also witnessed a seagull trying to make off with a women's fish and chips, that gave me a fit of giggles.  The casino and fun fair was a nice surprise as well.

All in all, it was a refreshing, chilled out weekend that was filled with lots of laughter and good memories.

Here are a few snaps of a joyful weekend :)  Thank you all for reading my blog!

Roma, Italy!

Trastevere 

Piazza Navona

Alice Making Her Wish :) 

The Trevi Fountain

 The Spanish Steps

                                         

Hey everyone,

I decided to do a post on my trip to Rome a while back. Apparently you either fall in love with Paris or Rome.  Honestly I fell in love with both.

 Rome was so much fun and such a beautiful city with so much visible history.

My favourite parts of the city were the Spanish Steps, the Trevi fountain *Make a Wish*, Trastevere (Beauuuutiful!!) ,Vatican City and The Colosseum. We didn't get to see the Sistine Chapel because it was closed, so disappointed.  The Pope resigned while we were there so everything was kind of up in the air.  The food was delicious, especially the pizza...yummy!

The parks in Rome were to die for, you can even go rowing on the lake for 5 euro which was really fun.  It's a pretty easy city to get around, you can actually walk most of it and there's always the metro.

When ever I go on a weekend trip I always buy a travel book because they are really handy to have.  If you want to really experience Italian culture and stay away from the tourists attractions, I'd recommend couch surfing. Basically, you can stay with a local for free and if they are nice they will take you around the city and show you the local gems.

I attached some pictures for your perusal, I hope you liked this post :)