Ice Skating and Finishing Touches

It's official. My Christmas shopping is finally complete!
All done before Christmas Eve - this has to be a record!
Through the week me, BOTH my flat mates and Cayman got our skates on and finally headed to the Winter Wonderland to do it properly.

 

We strolled around all the market stalls in the 'Highland Village' and eyed up all the treats we were yet to allow ourselves.

Cayman was surprisingly professional as he glided across the ice.
Until he attempted a rather tricky manoeuvre and fell right on his bum mid-move!
There were no tears or major injuries - just a bruised ego I think...

 

Our time was up so quickly that we decided it was only right to ride on the swinging carousel, which left us all a bit dizzy but all in high spirits!
We even bumped into Santa Claus.

He was just doing some last minute research, making sure he had everything right for hig big night!..

 

 

 

On our way home we strolled down George Street, darting in and out of busy shops to pick up our last few stocking fillers.

We couldn't help but admire The Dome, dressed up for the season in all its glory! Amazing!

The only thing that could have made this night even more wonderful would have been a little sprinkling of snow.
But you can't have it all, can you?!

 



Cocktails!

After a few straight weeks filled with lots of hard work, it felt appropriate to head to Edinburgh's Hard Rock Cafe!
My flat mate and I began our evening playing St Nick and after stocking up on presents and gifts, we had worked up a hearty appetite...

We shared a starter of twisted macaroni cheese.
We are BIG cheese fans and their thick cheese sauce and garlic breadcrumbs scattered on top did not disappoint!

 

Celebratory cocktails to mark the end of exams - would have been rude not to!
Then came our beast o all burgers!

We weren't brave enough to take on their legendary burgers. Truth be told, the classic 6oz was a struggle just on its own!

 



As always, we were sure to leave room for dessert...
It was difficult to decide on just one so we got the lot. It is Christmas after all!

Only joking! This is the dessert menu!

If there is one way to tempt a customer into that third course, this is it.

 

Amazing food and the conversation was just as refreshing as the cocktails.
No talk of exams, revision or essays was a welcome change for us!

 

While we are settling down to a marathon of Christmas films, our much missed flat mate is out celebrating her freedom like a normal student with lots of drinks and lots of shots!

 

Farewell Craig House

Studying English Literature in Edinburgh is already pretty amazing.
Studying English Literature in Edinburgh's Craig House is even better!
Unfortunately my course and I have been told to pack up and leave this dream and head to a more modern, much less interesting, campus to continue our studies.
So, in a way, this post is a tribute to the wonderful Craig House...

Picture taken from napier.ac.uk.

An ex mental asylum of the 19th century, the building itself is so luxuriously beautiful.
The decor inside is just as intricate and charming.

 

                                                                                                                  Picture taken from Wikipedia. 

A maze of hundereds of corridors twisting and turning up turrets, opening unexpectedly at grand halls and coming to a sudden end at doors you never knew existed, carrying a map when visiting Craig House is highly recommended.

 

Above the hustle and bustle of the busy city life,we have breathtaking views of nearly the whole of Edinburgh! 

 

 

It really is just like stepping into Hogwarts. Only the stairs are more reliable.
I for one tried to adopt Hermione Granger's attitude, in the hope I'd be as successful in my studies as she is.
We shall soon find out if it worked...

Goodbye Craig House!
It's been a pleasure.





 

Winter Weather and A Winter Wedding



My visit home to Newcastle proved to be very a exciting one indeed!
On top of battling through my last two pieces of coursework, there was a family wedding to attend, Christmas markets to explore and a flurry of snow to enjoy!

 

My parents - the best pair in the world.

The whole day was like a fairytale. 

The venue for both the ceremony and the wedding breakfast took place in Horton Grange, a beautiful country house hotel, somewhere just outside Newcastle.

We had the place to ourselves and with all its halls dressed up for Christmas, it was just magical.

 

 Big brother trying out our Mum's glasses.

Nikki - the beautiful bride!

 And this is Ava, my cousin's little baby inspecting my rather antiquated gadgets.

Left on every table was a little bottle of magic bubbles.
Their novelty does not wear off with age...

 

 

A spot of late night shopping in the city to marvel at the sparkling lights!

Our guard garden gnome. A little chilly out in the snow!

 Look at the sky!

Threatening to scatter some snowflakes one more time!

And a few more times after that...

Stay safe and wrap up warm :)

 

West Port

With all of these looming deadlines and dreaded exams, my flatmates and I decided it was time we took a break from our hard work.

So, taking advantage of our 'clever intellectual student' mode, we caught some of the closing events of West Port Book Festival.

 

First we headed to Edinburgh Books for our first event! 

We admired their healthy, not to mention ageing, stock.
Deliciously embellished spines filled every shelf and we were left feeling slightly nostalgic after discovering their generous selection of Ladybird Books!

 

We settled down amongst an intimate audience to hear extracts from 'The Locked Ward' read by the writer himself - Dennis O'Donnell.

A memoir of his time as a psychiatric orderly, his novel gives insight into the lives of a selection of people suffering from various mental illnesses and re-establishes them as human beings rather than products of their condition.
Following an intense discussion, this book has made its way onto my wish list and promises to be a worth read.

Now we were left to explore this little store some more!

 

Edinburgh Books' answer to a guard dog.
We were told he comes alive at night.
We won't argue...

 

Heading downstairs to the music department.
We got distracted by their antique typewriter and couldn't resist a little play!

 

 

 

For our second, and unfortunately, last event -a very short festival for us- we trekked all the way to Love Crumbs, a lovely cafe just two doors down from venue number one!

After that little burst of exercise we felt we deserved a warm drink (and a sneaky cake or three), to keep cosy as we absorbed the history of the book, given to us Sara Sheridan, an Edinburgh based writer.

 

 

Very refreshing.
Now, back to those deadlines and exams...