Windsor Castle

Most people know Windsor Castle because it's the resistance of the Queen for, according to the audio guide, most weekends. It's actually rather easy to get to Windsor. There is a train from Waterloo passing Clapham Junction as well that goes straight to a lovely little train station from where you can see the castle when you look left.

Just a walk up the hill brings you to the entrance. It's 18 pounds for students – my run-out student card from school still works since no one really takes a closer look once they see it's German. If you get a signature in the end you can come back for free for a whole year though, so it's definitely worth it if you don't have enough time or want to see a section that not open all year long. And the prize includes audio guides!

The castle is hugh, just to warn you. At the end it's actually hard to pay attention or care about whose portrait it is or how old the china is. You can see the guard change if you arrive on time (and only on Sundays I think), visit the state appartments, Queen Mary's Dolls' House which is probably worth more than my future university education as well as the St. George's Chapel unless it's a Sunday. There is also a little part where you can learn more about Shakespeare and why Windsor is an important place for the historic play writer.

It's really nice, especially the garden you can see around the Round Tower, including a little waterfall, don't cease to amaze. Just watch out for Guards shouting when you get in there way as we had to find out ourselves.

Luckily the grounds are so big that you don't feel cornered. And if you are lucky and the sun is out, you can get some really good looking photos.

After a few hours we left and went to get lunch at the Nando's across the street. The Guy taking my order was red-haired and called Harry, I don't even wanna know how many jokes he has to endure. Also, who the hell manages to eat an entire chicken, I only had 1/4 with hot sauce, spicy rice and sweetcorn and I was full.

The rest of the afternoon we spent making our way through the shopping street and having a little walk along the Thames. We would have probably spent more time there, but it was getting cloudy and we could feel the first raindrops falling. I'm sure it would have been lovely if the sun had shone though, it all looked very peaceful.

The train ride back was rather uneventful apart from my very first ticket inspection in the UK so far. So there are actually keeping track of illegal passengers.

A Day in... Edinburgh (2)

Day 3

After waking up to my third day in Scotland, I went out to have a proper Full Scottish Breakfast (which is basically an Full English Breakfast with Haggis and black pudding). I even asked the guy at the front desk which place he recommands. Sadly it turned out the one he referred me to wouldn't open for another half an hour, so I went to City Dinner instead, an American Restaurant with good prizes. And let me tell you, I'm happy I only got the small portion! I was honestly not able to eat anything for lunch, but that's perfectly normal after a breakfast like that.

Next stop was the Edinburgh Castle. I can be expensive if you are on a small budget but totally worth it. There are different museums, for example for the Crown Jewels, the Royal Guard, an old war prison, the World Wars as well as a memorial for fallen soldiers and the medieval dining hall (right before Christmas even with a small presentation of Victorian Christmas traditions).
And don't forget the canon going off at 1pm that once signaled the time to every ship owner!
I spent just about four hours here and even though you get tired and easily distracted after a bit I think it's a wonderful place to spent your day.
Tip for the grown ups: just before I left I went to the Whiskey shop where a Whiskey testing takes place and got two small bottles of really good Whiskey for my au pair parents.

After that I just walked through the city, but the weather was so annoying that I went to the Black Medicine Coffee Company (one stop on the Harry Potter trail from day 1) to get something warm to drink and then back to the hostel rather quickly to just sit down with my copy of A Game of Thrones. This was really important to me: a hostel where I would feel comfortable enough to spent some time in. No use in saving money if you feel umcomfortable after all.

Day 4

On my last day I went on a little hike. And with a little I mean that the hike was ok, it is the destiny that was a surprise.

Arthur's Seat has nothing to do with King Arthur - I checked - it is merely the highest mountain around Edinburgh. It's very easy to get there, just walk down the Royal Mile until you get to the end where the Scottish Parliament is, turn right and there it is. A lot of people were there with me considering that is was rather muddy and windy, but I guess nothing can stop a tourist who arrived with the knowleadge what the weather would be like.
So I made my way up. it's actually a wonderful place for pictures, there is just one problem. As soon as you get close to the top, the wind gets terrible. I had to pack away my camera as well as my hat because I was afraid it would be blown away. And I was not the only one. On top of Arthur's Seat - which is actually just a stone, nothing special - everybody sat down when it got too bad and tried to not fall off. That's why I don't have any good pictures from up there, sadly.
But it's the experience that counts, so whatever. I even had a little conversation with an Asian man who thought I had trouble when I was actually just sliding over to make some room for him. Really nice guy.

When I got down I still had a few hours to kill, so I went to the National Gallery, a Forbidden Planet store I found on my first day as well as a smaller shop where I got a croptop from Hell Bunny and a black wood belly button piercing After that I went back to the hostel where I watched some more TV and waited. Btw, you can keep your luggage in the luggage room even when you already gave back your key. And you can't get in there without asking at the front desk, so everything should be safe.
Another thing I saw before leaving is a Christmas special again. A light show at the Royal Mile with christmas music playing. I only stayed a few minutes as I was already on my way to th coach station with my backpacking rucksack and smaller bag and wanted to get there as soon as possible.

The drive back was about as 'wonderful' as the first one, but that's the downside of a coach drive you just have to deal with.
The thing is, if you like to be quick and comfortable, you just either take your own car or a train. The coach is good because it actually takes all night to get to Scotland and this way, you get there in the morning and it is way cheaper. So it really depends on your financial situation as well as the destination.

A Day in... Edinburgh (1)

First Christmas alone. A lot of au pairs go home for the festive holiday, but I decided to stay in the UK and visit Scotlands capital city instead. Well, not on Christmas itself, but right before that.

Taking a coach like I did has its pros and cons. It is way cheaper than a train and you can take a night bus, but it isn't as comfortable and fast. But this can also vary depending on the person. I was not able to get a good nights sleep on my way to Edinburgh, just a few little naps. Arriving at 7:45am, I took my backpack and headed to the next McDonalds to get some breakfast. And this was amazing already; standing on the street that is so different from London, on the top of a hill with a good look at the sea. However, my way was headed for the castle. My hostel Castle Rock Hostel was basically right at the base of the castles hill. It's great, everyone is very helpful, the rooms are big, there is hot water in the shower and the facilities are very comfy. 10/10!

(view from the front door)

DAY 1

Anyways, I was so tired that I hang around the breakfast/ meeting room for another hour before going on a little tour through the city. First I went into a little church since it was Sunday and the 4. Advent. The people there were really welcoming, three people asked me independently who I was and how I was doing as they didn't see me before. While having a cup of tea right after the mess I talked to some of the locals, or at least people now living in Edinburgh, who gave me the typical tourist places to go to, told me to try Haggis no matter what and so on. I already knew I wanted to go to the Harry Potter Trail in the afternoon, but until then I got to see the Christmas Market, got lunch and just wandered around a bit.

The Harry Potter Trail is a great, and free!, walking tour for every Harry Potter fan. It's only about 90 min long and takes you to the graveyard that inspired some of the characters names which is right next to the real life Hogwarts, the uni Rowling graduated from, the two cafès where Rowing wrote the books as well as the inspiration for Diagon Alley. The tour guide comes in full outfit and lends everyone a diy wand. Really great experience, which also lets you find new friends. 

I, for example, went to get a delicious hot chocolate in the Elephant House - "Birthplace of Harry Potter" with a girl from Germany I met on the tour; don't forget to check out the bathrooms for Harry Potter grafiti including letters to Rowling, quotes from both movies and books and sketches. Later we went for Haggis and let me tell you, it really is better than everyone makes it out to be. Really, it's not different from any sausage you eat, maybe a bit more spicy.

After that I went to my hostel and like I said, the rooms are really big. Everyone has his own locker (free, and don't forget a locket!), the bunks are against walls or divider and grant enough privacy for everyone and there is another space to walk around without feeling cramped. The washrooms are for everyone on the level, but they are spacy and hot, so that's ok. And seriously, nobody cares if you walk around in your PJs, everyone does it.

DAY 2

The day starts with a breakfast (1,5 pound) consisting of a bread roll, cereals and orange juice. The atmosphere is very relaxed and sleepy. Taking into account I was still rather tired and slept in, it was a great and easy way to wake up.

After breakfast I headed straight for St. Giles Cathedral, a beautiful place to start the day. I got postcards for my family and friends and went on to Calton Hill with the National Monument of Scotland. It was dizzy and windy, but once I made the first few pictures the weather cleared up. It's a great place to see Edinburgh from about while still seeing a lot of details. Up there is the old astronomy tower with the old telescope, a half finished monument in ancient greek style as well as a small little cafè. In total I spent about 1,5 hours up there taking photos, reading the info charts and enjoying the view.

Next stop is the National Portrait Gallery to come down and getting warm again. Apart from the old portraits (lets be honest, you get tired of those) there was also an exhibition about portaits of differents styles from all over the world. It is amazing to see how different the drawing and painting styles are. There were the once that looks so photorealistic you had to look twice, the once with minimalistic lines and colours, the expressionists and realists. Truely breath-taking.

And that was about it. The first part of my vacation was mostly a mix of museums and walking, really. Photos tomorrow!

Hampton Court Palace

Do you know that feeling when you wake up, look outside and your brain just goes 'nah'?

That's what I was thinking today. The sky was grey, it was drizzling and the wind was blowing like crazy. I stood up anyways and after searching for my phone for half an hour without finding it I set out to meet up with two other au pairs, one of which was singing in a choir in Hampton Court Palace and invited the other two of us. We only had to pay 1 pound instead of 16 I think, which is a huge relieve.

It was still raining when we met in Kingston and got on a bus. Of course we got out a stop too early and had to walk, though we were actually there before the bus due to traffic. S. then left us at the entrance to meet the rest of her singing group for a warm up. N. and I decided to do a little tour of the place with audio guides. It was really interesting though we only saw about half of the rooms and had to rush through a lot of them to actually see our friend perform. We were in King Henry VIII's apartments, King William III's apartments and King Henry VIII's Kitchens. The people working there were all wearing red uniforms and were really nice and ready to answer questions. I would definitely recommand going there, though it is a bit expensive so big thanks to my friend for giving us the extra tickets!

The singing itself was really good! Apparently Hampton Court Palace was built 500 years ago and to celebrate this anniversary several small choirs joint together to sing a specially composed new song as well as sing there own selection of older songs on their own in the Cartoon Gallery that is part of Cumberland Art Gallery. S.'s choir finished their own performance at around 3pm which means we were all hungry, so we decided to leave and go to Kingston to grab a bite. And it actually stopped raining by the time we left the building.

We ended up in Costa for a drink and a shared panini. We talked for quite a bit, amongst other things about our plans once we go back to Germany. Turns out we could all end up in roughly the same region of Germany if everything goes as planned.

And now I'm sitting here in my room. I found my phone (behind my bed) but can't find my USB port which is just my typical bad luck, really. You would think I have my life figured out, but nah.

Anyways, a big thank you to S. and N., it was a great day with you guys!