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A couple of weeks ago, Ed and I had an urge to take one last trip before Christmas and we had just one essential criterion: a festive AF Christmas market.

With that in mind, we scoured the cheapest flights and landed (pardon the pun) on Edinburgh. I had never been to Scotland before and Ed had been to Glasgow with rugby, so both of us were really excited to experience Edinburgh as we had heard great things about the city and especially ... THE CHRISTMAS MARKETS.

As a notorious festive fiend (you will literally never find me more excitable than at Halloween and Christmas) I was extra excited about the markets (hence the caps lock) and just the Christmassy feeling of the city in general.

We arrived Monday morning on the 6:30am flight (my eyes were so puffy from lack of sleep that I could barely see after waking up at 3:45am to get to the airport, it wasn't the best look but ANYwho). We jumped in a taxi at Edinburgh airport and arrived at the Haymarket Hub Hotel on Clifton Terrace a speedy 15 minutes later where - thank the LORD - our room was ready. Within I'm gonna say 3 minutes of getting into our room, I had my fleece lined Penneys leggings on, two jumpers (Edinburgh is FREEZING - and as the coldest person in the world as it is, I'm not sure I was quite expecting just how cold it would be) and was passed out for a blissful 3 hour nap.

After a much needed siesta (the irony of it not by any means due to the weather being too WARM to be outdoors) we got ready - with many, MANY layers on and a camel coat each on top, matching hats (unintentional) and multiple pairs of socks, we set out to explore. The hotel we stayed in was really reasonably priced and was in the perfect location, with a tram station right outside the door or a 20 minute walk to arrive in the centre of everything.

As Monday literally poured with rain all day, we figured we would leave the outdoorsy, festive things until Tuesday when no rain was scheduled. First up on Monday, we needed food, and comfort food at that. I had heard Montpeliers came highly recommended and the menu online looked amazing so we headed for there. I had the most amazing Mac & Cheese with pulled pork and a glass of rosé - absolute BLISS. It had such a cosy, Christmassy feeling and I honestly could've stayed tucked up in there away from the rain all day.

We popped across the road to Project Coffee, grabbing some flat whites to keep our energy levels up after the food and wine coma we were then in, and headed up to the Camera Obscura, just beside the castle. I'm sure you've seen tonnes of photos of pretty much anyone who's visited Edinburgh in the Camera Obscura (e.g. the one where one of you looks tiny and the other looks like a giant? See below if confused). It was really cool and fun and I actually liked that it's not like a massive museum that takes ages to get through but still has lots of cool displays to see and take groovy pictures with.

After the Camera Obscura, we made our way back to hotel (walking in the PELTING rain might I add) and safe to say we were soaked to the skin by the time we got back and ever so happy to be reunited with our hotel bed. After thawing out and heating up, Ed went downstairs to the bar to grab us some drinks and we just chilled in bed and watched Gogglebox, passing out pretty early in anticipation of another day of exploring to come.

The next morning, feeling much more rested, we got up, ready and out in record time, making our way to Princes Street first for a stroll around, a spot of shopping and grabbed a coffee in the cutest, coolest independent coffee shop - Fortitude - a yummy traditional scottish sweet treat called Cranachan (so good) and a reusable coffee cup because -sustainability - and also it was v cute and had a pink lid and the guy in there was really nice soooo I ended up buying one.

Next up was the castle - which we happily got lost on the way to, ending up in the gorgeous Prince's Street Gardens for a little while - but eventually arriving at the tip top of Edinburgh (kind of) to the castle and taking in the gorgeous views at Golden Hour. We didn't go inside as any research I did said that paying for the tour wasn't really worth the money and that the best bit was the outside of the castle itself and the views.

After the castle, we wandered down the Royal Mile and into Grassmarket - such an adorable area of the Old Town - popping into some gorgeous Christmas shops, vintage shops and the cosiest little pub ever called The Last Drop for some food and a drink to warm our cockles (I would like to reiterate just how cold Edinburgh is - this coming from someone who is cold IN her heated home on Dublin's northside - it's so much colder than Ireland). As it started getting dark and the Christmas lights started twinkling and sparkling at us from outside the window, we decided it was the perfect time to hit the Christmas markets.

As the trip to Edinburgh was largely influenced by the festive JOY that is the Christmas Markets, our expectations were high and I must say they did not disappoint. Hundreds of little wooden huts adorned in twinkling fairy lights, the smell of crepes and hot dogs and mulled wine in the air and just the overall festive feeling, it was perfect. We got a gorgeous hand-painted bauble from one of the stands which we were able to get personalised for free, so we got it personalised for our first official Christmas together (stay tuned on Instagram for our Christmas tree/decorations to come - it's literally killed me to have to wait until December to put stuff up).

We grabbed some mulled wine (mulled cider for Ed, he's not a fan of the old vino) and strolled around all the gorgeous stalls and went on the Ferris Wheel which gave us the best view over the markets and Edinburgh itself - possible the best Christmas-dressed city I've seen - which was magical.

After the markets we (reluctantly) made our way back to our hotel to collect our bags and head to the airport (super close to the city centre and so easy to get to by tram/bus/taxi) to catch our flight back to Dublin.

It was the best, most festive couple of days and I would really recommend a trip to Edinburgh if you can squeeze it in before Christmas/in the new year. I'm sure it is gorgeous all year round, but there's something so special about the atmosphere there at Christmas time that is just the best. Check out my Edinburgh highlight on Instagram for more clips and pics of Edinburgh - the markets, the streets and more.

I'm already itching to book our next little break (obvs when I'm less broke as a result of, you know, Christmas), so please leave suggestions if there's anywhere you've been that you think we should go next.

Thank you for reading as always, and I hope you are all enjoying the festive season as much as you can. I know Christmas can be such a hard time for people, especially with the expectation to be super happy and festive and joyous when you may be feeling the opposite, so if this is you - just take care of yourself, do not pressure yourself into forced festive situations and remember, it will all be over in the blink of an eye, so just hang tight.

Lots of love,

S ✗

**photo credit - mostly Ed

After a glorious 10 hour sleep in the comfiest hotel bed, we were more than ready to take on the day's adventures that lay ahead.

Our morning started - as I believe all Saturdays should start - in Angelina's café. If you have never been to Angelina (or Paris, for that matter) it absolutely needs to go on your bucket list. I know that sounds dramatic for a café, but the hot chocolate (ask for L'African) made here is like nothing you have ever tasted, I promise. It's basically chocolate melted and mixed with unwhipped cream and it is to die for (yes, it is €8.20 but you get a whole jug of it and I promise it is worth it).

Angelina (the location on Rue de Rivoli) has been around since 1903 and became the place to be for the elite of the time - including Coco Chanel herself! They now have a few different locations around the city and in Versailles, but the original building holds the magic.

After filling up on a giant jug of hot chocolate, croissants, pain au chocolats and a crepe, we rolled out of there and made our way to the Musée d'Orsay, stopping on the Rue de Saint-Honorés for a look in all the fancy designer stores (pretending we were among the rich and famous fashion week goers) and Pont des Arts (more informally known as the Love Lock bridge) on the way to add a lock with our names and make a wish, throwing the key into the Seine (and narrrowly avoiding a boat of tourists, might I add).

The Musée d'Orsay is amazing and has all the different types and periods of art split up onto different floors so you can easily get to what you want to see most. It has a really chilled atmosphere - much different to the frantic queues of the Louvre - and is a really enjoyable place to have a wander.

Before jumping on the electric Lime scooters (scattered freely around the place with a QR code scan & ride system), we grabbed a drink on the riverside just underneath the Pont des Arts in this cute little bar café in a porto-cabin with seats outside looking on to the river and the locals skate-boarding and chilling.

As we were running out of daylight hours and still had more to see, we jumped on the electric scooters, cutting our 38 minute walk to a 14 minute "scoot" and arriving promptly - and somehow in one piece - at the Arc de Triomphe.

We were really lucky that it stayed dry out so when we climbed the 234 steps to the top of the Arc de Triomphe the visibility across the city was amazing. I always recommended going to the top of the Arc instead of the top of the Eiffel Tower because a) it's much cheaper and b) it's cool to be able to see the Eiffel Tower in the skyline from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. Also you can see all the different rues that all lead directly to the Arc de Triomphe in the centre and it's pretty impressive I must say (see pics for clarity on that badly described scene).

Next up, we made a mad dash to the Eiffel Tower - the dash being mad due to the fact that sunset was happening and ... you know ... nothing like a Parisian sunset. Rather than going to the area directly beneath the tower itself, the Place de la Trocadero nearby is the perfect viewing point (and photo-taking point) and you can sit on the steps and chill while the sun sets. THREE couples got engaged in the space of 20 minutes when we were there (Ed kept pretending he needed to tie his shoelaces which of course he thought was HIL-arious, classic). There is a super fancy hotel on Place de la Trocadero too which looks out on the Eiffel Tower and there was a L'oréal party on there for Fashion Week at the same time (we could see all the cool people in the outdoor area).

(peep the side-eye at the people getting engaged)

As our energy levels started to wane due to our jam-packed day of exploring, climbing and scooting while dodging traffic, we made our way back to our hotel where we collapsed on to the bed and only managed to drag ourselves up three hours later to grab a McDonald's (only thing open close to our hotel - we were staying in La Defense which is the financial/business district so not a super touristy area, therefore no late night restaurants) and promptly passed out again until the next morning.

Thank you for reading,

S ✗