THIS IS MY LIFE: I MAKE A GREAT TOUR GUIDE

I have the best friends. Why else would they spend almost 100 pounds and take a five and a half hour train ride just to freeze their arses off in Scotland! After spending just over a month up here on my own, I very much appreciated the efforts Katie, Andrea and Jamie went to to come keep me company in little old Saint Andrews. I can understand if they just came for the views and beaches (and a free bed) because it is such a beautiful place. Although it is not a major tourist destination, there is still a lot of things to see and do about the town.

The Castle, which is situated on the cliffs overlooking the ocean, was built in 1189. By 1656 it was no longer in use because of the Reformation and it had begun to erode. They used the materials to repair the pier on the East Sands. The Cathedral is also in ruins, except for the Rule Tower which you can climb and get a great view of the town.

On Sundays the Old Course is closed to golfers and open to members of the public. It is a really huge course! I have walked it a couple of times but it takes a good two hours to get all the way around. The Swilcan Bridge, the famous small stone bridge, which was built at least 700 years ago to help shepards get their livestock across the river that flows underneath, is now a part of the golfing tradition in St. Andrews and a great place to get your picture taken.

I did all of these sites with Katie, Andrea and Jamie as well as try a few of the resturants in town that I hadn't been to yet, as I don't want to go out for dinner on my own! There is heaps of fine dining options here and for such a small place I am pretty sure every second shop is an eating place!

Only three times in my life have I woken up in the morning, looked out the window and been overwhelmed with excitement to discover that it is snowing! Every time I get the same excited reaction, like a kid on christmas morning after discovering that santa has been - or if you're like me, the feeling you get that makes it impossible for you to sleep on Christmas Eve! I was told many times by my workmates that Saint Andrews doesn't get snow due to the high winds, being a costal town. One magical morning though, my dreams came true, and with snowboots on I ventured out into the snow. It wasn't the typical snow that you are probably imagining though, but more of a frozen rainstorm, where once hitting the ground the frozen bits of ice/snow began to melt. Everyone thought I was mad for dramatically over reacting!

There has been a lot of rain and storms here lately, so at the first glimpses of the sun, I decided to go and explore the coastline in another attempt to once again try and loose the weight. There is a costal path that runs all the way around the coast of Fife, starting in Dundee to the north and ending in Kincardine, a town west of Edinburgh. It is a total of 190km but can be broken up into many smaller routes between the coastal towns.

I headed south of Saint Andrews, past the camping ground and up along the coast. The path became really muddy, because of all the rain, and it started to get really hard to walk on. Stupidly on my part, I carried on, trying to avoid the mud, and made it over to a small private bay. The path then carried on back up the other side of the hill, but I decided it was time to turn back though as there wasn't a lot of daylight hours left! I had almost reached the end of the mud, but the path was headed downhill and I slipt and fell flat on my arse! There wasn't any big leaves around to wipe it off so I ended up sitting down in the grass, fortunately it was still wet, and rubbing my bum along it. I didn't want to walk home looking like I shat my pants!

Originally I was planning to move from London up to Edinburgh, not only because it was one of the only places in Scotland I heard of but also because I had been told a lot of great things about it. It's funny how things work out for the best. I am so happy in Saint Andrews, I think it is a lot nicer than Edinburgh. Despite being the capital of Scotland, it is only the seventh biggest city in the UK and second most populous in Scotland. It is the second most popular tourist destination in the UK, after London.

Edinburgh is a very hilly place - it is actually built on seven hills. The city was first established with the castle, which sits on top of one of the hills. The town extended along the Royal Mile, which ends at Holyrood Palace, the official residence of the British Monarch in Scotland. The castle is super expensive to go inside but has a lot of history and interesting things to see. Edinburgh was where JK Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books. I visited the graveyard where she took inspiration for the character names, including Tom Riddell AKA Voldemort. There is also a cafe near the graveyard, called the Elephant House, where she wrote the books.

I did a nightime ghost stories tour which took us up Carlton Hill, where we got a great view of the city lit up at night. Carlton Hill, one of Edinburghs other hills, is often known for three embarrassing pieces of architecture, the observatory, the lighthouse and the National Monument of Scotland. The first two are embarassing because, due to the amount of fog that Edinburgh gets, neither of the buildings are in use.

The National Monument was modeled upon the Parthenon in Athens but due to funding was never completed. Another one of Edinburghs Hills is known as Arthurs Seat. It is 250m high and provides excellent panoramic views of Edinburgh. It was a massive climb up and I really struggled, proving that I really need to work on my fitness!

Aberdeen is Scotlands third most populous city, located on the north east coast of Scotland and is statistically the coldest city in the UK. I took a day trip from Saint Andrews, which took two hours and was a beautiful ride up along the coastline. I had told myself that I was not allowed to look in the shops until I had at least wandered around and taken in some of the tourist sites. It rained the whole time, so I ended up doing my christmas shopping instead!

Between Aberdeen and Saint Andrews is another town called Dundee, Scotlands fourth largest city. There is a massive renovation scheme happening there at the moment to improve the cities waterfront.

"Learn to be alone and to like it. There is nothing more freeing and empowering than learning to like your own company." - Mandy Hale

I hope this has inspired you.

LARISSAJODEE x

#friends #snow #solo #lifestyle #travel