I had originally planned this post as a 1 year lookback/holyshitImadeitthislong recap but (since I am a brilliant procrastinator) that never happened and so we’re here now some 16 months since arrival and I’m keen to look back on how incredible this country has been.

Over 16 months I’ve explored my new home and country, had awesome travel adventures and made some incredible friends. I’m at this very moment living alone, fending for myself and attempting to Be An Adult for the first time in my life. I did have Popcorn for dinner tonight so that’s not going too well.

I love Edinburgh. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. Here’s a list of reasons why I fell in love with this city - and a reason to dislike it. Let’s go!

EDINBURGH IS BEAUTIFUL

I am so lucky to have lived in the most beautiful cities in the world. Sydney is stunning, Wellington is gorgeous, but Edinburgh is EVERYTHING. The moment I stepped off the Airport Bus in the centre of Edinburgh at 7am on my first day in Scotland, I remember staring at Old Town in front of me, Edinburgh Castle to my right, Princes Street Gardens below me and the towering Arthurs Seat to my left and I was BLOWN AWAY. And 16 months later I still feel that way. Every time my bus passes Edinburgh Castle I do a stealth shoulder shake of excitement as I get to live in this amazing city.

EDINBURGH IS CHEAP

Being from Sydney I am the only person (apart from the few who have lived in London) who believes Edinburgh is cheap. Transport? Cheaper than Sydney. Fresh Food? Cheaper than Sydney. Drinks? WAAAAAY cheaper than Sydney. People don't believe me. The other week we hit City Cafe where you can purchase jugs of 4 different kinds of cocktails for £8. The jugs were the equivalent of 8 cocktails. FOR EIGHT POUNDS. And while others were hesitating at the price, I was ordering a jug for each hand.
Not to mention all the online stores that have free shipping in the UK. I'm looking at you Amazon and your exorbitant Australian shipping fees. Now I get my Amazon and Asos goodies shipped for free.

EDINBURGH IS SMALL

I always have a chuckle overhearing about the length of time it takes people to get places in Edinburgh. “Oh she has to drive from Fife - that’s 45 minutes away!”, or “It’s going to take 2 hours to fly to Spain. TWO HOURS!”, or my favourite: “Rachel you live so far from work! How can you stand the commute?” I live on the harbour which is as far north of Edinburgh you can get before you are literally in the water. My bus takes me 30 mins. A taxi to town takes 12 minutes. I can walk to town in 1 hour and 12 minutes exactly. Yes, I timed it. If this were Sydney I would be living in the Inner Suburbs. I love how quickly I can get around town. It’s also such a novelty after living my entire adult life in Sydney where it takes hours to bloody get anywhere. Which leads me to my next point:

EDINBURGH IS GREAT FOR NIGHT’S OUT (for those who don’t usually enjoy a night’s out)

I don’t go out often, I love a night in either at home or at someone’s house for dinner and board games. In Sydney I did this quite regularly, and honestly can’t remember the last time I went into the city for a night out. It was always just such a ridiculous effort to get home, or unfair to make someone our designated driver again. In Edinburgh there are night buses that get me home in 25 minutes and a taxi cost around £10 to get home. Such a novelty!

TRAVEL

One of the main reasons I moved to Europe is to travel. This whole year has been about getting paid and spending every single pound on exploring this awesome part of the world. I've even done the unthinkable and dipped into my savings (damn you Iceland #noregrets). I think I’ve seen more of Scotland and any other country I’ve been to and can’t wait to explore it more. I love the cheap flights out of Edinburgh, often I can find a return flight somewhere in Europe for around £50.

NETBALL

I’ve joined a netball team for the first time in 16 years and now I can’t wait for Tuesday nights. We play in George Heriot’s School which is basically Hogwarts and I love playing again so much. My team is called Nets Go and I could not have asked for a more awesome team. Everyone is so fun to be around and though we don’t win often we try and have fun each game.

AND ONE THING THAT’S HARD, REALLY HARD…..

HOMESICKNESS

I hate being away from my friends and family. It’s the hardest thing to deal with.

DUNBAR CLOSE GARDEN

Edinburgh is genuinely full of surprises. You're walking down one of the busiest and most touristy streets in the city, and take a risk walking down one of the 80+ closes and then BAM you're in a 17th Century styled garden. It's so strange that in such a built up part of Old Town there are little hidden gardens that are so well maintained and beautifully designed. 

I first went to Dunbar's Close during Fringe Festival. And if there is one lesson I learned that day it's to not visit the Royal Mile during the busiest month of the year. Why did I even do this to myself? What an idiot. Anyway, the Royal Mile is an awesome area of Edinburgh, running from Edinburgh Castle to the Queen's Scottish Residence at Holyrood Palace. The Royal Mile is packed in August with wall to wall people, tourists constantly stopping to take photos, people awkwardly trying to roll their ginormous suitcases over the cobblestone streets. It's hell! I ventured down Dunbar's Close to escape a bunch of vaping Brits and it was like I was hit with a wall of tranquility and peace and serenity and QUIET. I did a bit of research later on, discovering that this area of Edinburgh was where the super wealthy folk lived in the 17th century, and the landscape designer wanted to bring some of that history back into the area. They would have had little gardens like this hidden behind the streets and away from those commoners. I found a number of them in my travels, but apparently there are still many more I need to find.

TRUNKS CLOSE

TRINITY APSE

PRINCES STREET GARDENS

OK this one is cheating. Princes Street Gardens are anything but secret, they are basically the Central Park of Edinburgh. There is no escape from this beauty, the area dividing Old Town from New Town is basically the heart of the city. It's where the Christmas Markets are held, New Years Parties, concerts, it's where the National Gallery is and of course is looked over by Edinburgh Castle. It's not secret but I'm putting it here anyway. Hey this is my blog and I'll do what I want!!!

We spent the night at Kinlochleven in glamping pods. Let's just say the less said about them the better, BUT what we did discover on our little glamping pod tv was Trainspotting Live, one of the weirdest and most wonderful tv shows I've ever witnessed. It also became a theme for the trip #trainspottinglive. A show dedicated to spotting trains around the UK. And we're not talking about the Orient Express, or a steam train that's having it's first run since 1922, these are your everyday trains that I never knew were such a fascination to trainspotters. The show would cross live to someone at a train station who was getting super excited that Train no 2222 was pulling up and he can now cross that off his list. The host of the show was extremely excited for every single train spot, and even once used the phrase "well spotted Dick", which is a quote for the ages.

We started to drive out of Kinlochleven before slamming on the brakes for a photo opportunity because look at that reflection. Scotland may be a small country but it can take forever to drive from one place to another as the scenery is just too incredible to miss. Got to take those ridiculous selfies! I had just purchased a tripod and remote which was genuinely the best purchase of my life. We know we looked like right fools posing in front of our mini tripod setup but IT WAS WORTH IT.

We drove out to the Glenfinnan Viaduct to see the Hogwarts Express #trainspottinglive. Harry Potter nerds united at the top of the lookout as we watched The Jacobite steam train puff it's way over the iconic viaduct. We made it to the top of the lookout with minutes to spare - seriously if we had missed it I would have been a cranky bitch for the rest of the day, probably the rest of the year. We also had to elbow our way through the crowd to get an uninterrupted photo of the area. Though every photo I took of the viaduct features someone's gold iPhone and selfie stick, but let's not dwell on that.

We stumbled upon a castle near Fort William, the Old Inverlochy Castle. I'll admit, I had to google this one as I had completely forgotten we even went. I'm ashamed to admit but I have lost track of how many castles I've now visited. Later we past Eilean Donan Castle, but we just didn't have the time to go inside. I'll be back! 

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I flew down to London to spend Christmas with my friend Jye and his mate James. It was such a wonderful Christmas, despite the fact that it was the first Christmas any of us had spent away from our families. Jye worked Xmas Eve, so James and I shopped for food, decorations and decked out Jye's flat with cheap tacky snowmen and mini trees with flashing lights. It was also the first Christmas for Ugly Christmas Jumpers! YES. I have two, one with flashing christmas lights and the other of Santa Claus riding a velociraptor. I also purchased a Will Ferrell Elf t-shirt for the occasion incase it was too hot for woolly jumpers all day.

It was also our first time cooking a Christmas dinner. We had chicken instead of turkey, we bought stuffing and gravy but still managed to cook a mini feast resembling a christmas dinner. Sure the broccoli was overcooked, potatoes were still hard and looked a little unappetising, but I think we did a pretty solid job. Not to mention we were all drunk and dancing to Beyonce the majority of the day so major props to us.

Also it was our first European winter and not a single drop of snow. Disappointing UK, disappointing.