A Scottish Travel Diary: Skye

If you ever find yourself with a few days spare in Scotland and want to make the most of them I always say - GO TO SKYE! It is one of the most beautiful islands in my opinion and has everything - a lot of small towns and villages, beautiful scenery, historical sights and a real Scottish feel.

The view South of Portree

On my visit I stayed in Portree - the islands main town. We stayed in the Youth Hostel on the town square which was super comfy and welcoming to students! Previously, my family have rented a house for a week looking out to the Bay in Portree. 







Some highlights I would recommend visiting:

Cafe Arriba - Portree
I've been for breakfast a couple of times and it is such good value! The atmosphere is lovely and peaceful and the cafe is also dog-friendly! 

Fairy Pools - Glen Brittle
Another lovely tourist attraction! Be warned, the car park is extremely busy especially in tourist season and be mindful to the environment around you as it wasn't build for such a huge audience.

Talisker Distillery - Carbost

The view across the Bay in Portree

Take. The. Tour! It is so interesting to find out how Scottish Whisky is made and you get a taste at the end if you're above the age of 18! It is a hidden luxury of Skye

Dunvegan Castle - Dunvegan
The historical home of the Clan MacLeod. Learn more about Scottish Clan history particularly the MacLeods' and their significance in the Outer Hebrides. 

Clan Donald Centre - Armadale
A centre explaining about the significance of the Clan Donald. It is worth paying to get in here, not only is there lots of space to run around for children but there is plenty of information to interest them and adults!

To finish, a small fact: The Isle of Skye could fit everyone in the world standing side by side with some elbow space! I hope you've enjoyed this blog post and I've interested you in the world of Scottish islands! This is one of the more accessible islands as it has a bridge to the mainland for cars. That's all from me now - until next time x 

A Scottish Travel Diary: Aviemore

Hello again!! Over the course of the past few months I was fortunate enough to visit lots of places in Scotland with friends and family. Travelling Scotland is one of a favourite of my summers as there is plenty to see and lots of different ways of living!

The first place I visited was on my first music tour with the Universities of Scotland Symphony Orchestra. Around 70 of us stayed in Cairngorm Lodge in Glenmore (owned by the SYHA) which is close to Loch Morlich. We had beautiful weather with around 25 degrees on both days which is unheard of for Scotland! 

As it was a music tour we performed at the MacDonald Resort in the Osprey Suite with a repertoire of Holst's Planets, Debussy's Clair de Lune and Neilsens Helios (The Planets, The Moon and The Sun if like me took a while to work out the link between the three) which took up most of our time in Aviemore itself but we had mornings and evenings to ourselves so they were spent on the beach at the Loch!

La Taverna - Aviemore

Loch Morlich at 10pm

Myself and a few friends went for dinner at an Italian buffet restaurant called La Taverna which was delicious! I had a pepperoni pizza which was delicious!!

This photo is currently my phone wallpaper as I think the colours of the sunset are so beautiful! This was taken after our first concert and I sat by the water as a couple of friends went swimming !!

Teen Tips: Surviving the Start of University

Hello everybody! I must apologize for my silence since July! It's been a busy time in my life. Since then I've moved out from my parents, started university and left my job! As this super crazy lifestyle has started to settle down I'm picking up my blog again and what better way to start off than with another chapter to Teen Tips!?

Going to university is an amazing decision. So is college, doing apprenticeships and taking a gap year but I could not imagine myself anywhere else apart from at university right now. I live in my universities accommodation too so I'm extremely lucky to have a 2 minute walk to lectures, an absolute blessing if I accidentally sleep in!!

University is an experience, for some people this may be a great experience and for others it may be a horrible one but for me personally, I'm loving it! Today I'm going to focus in on University priorities - lifestyle, work load and the dreaded issue NEW FRIENDS!

Before I continue I'd like to add that I'm in no way an expert on all things university all the advice comes from my own experiences!

(1) Freshers Week

It's only fair that I start this off with the biggest week of the year for most first year students! Freshers week is one of those really odd weeks where you attend 'classes' and then go out for a drink(s) afterwards to celebrate your newly found 'freedom'. If you're currently stressing out because you don't like going out drinking then do not fret! University unions plan other activities to meet people that don't involve alcohol!

It's true what the rumors say, "you make your friends on freshers week". On my very first day I sat next to 5 other girls and we've fast become really good friends. No matter how scared you are on your first day be comforted that you are not the only one and don't think about it - just talk to the person next to you. If you don't think it's important to make friends on your course (and trust me I've heard that a few times) then think about when its nearing exam time and you're needing someone to talk to about how stressed out you are about a certain class. Uni friends are good for just talking through how you're feeling about Chemistry and how you really enjoy Biology but don't understand a certain aspect.

(2) Getting lost

I remember my first day at high school I got lost so many times. University is so much bigger and if like me you've moved to a different city then you have to navigate your way around that as well.

Getting lost isn't a bad thing, in fact if you get lost you're more likely to find a shortcut! I got lost a lot on Freshers week and I also got lost around the city too but me and my flatmates went for walks every day and together we were able to locate places like Starbucks, Tesco, the train stations, subway stations, Sainsbury's, cheap off-licences, and shortcuts around which aren't 'dodgy'.

(3) Studying

Although you might be a first year you still need to do some studying!! Managing your workload is really important because if you don't learn how to do it in first year you will not cope by the end of fourth year.

Personally, I keep drinking nights to when I have the morning off the next day. Planning this way means I can keep on top of my studies without missing lectures and possibly failing or getting extremely low marks which could risk my place at university next year. 

My one piece of advice would be to timetable your week. Even just a general timetable with your classes and sports clubs/orchestras etc will help your organisation and allows for you to fit in time for relaxation

(4) Day to Day Life

Once Freshers Week is over you might want to settle into a regular pattern which is completely natural. If you're living with other people the best way to do this is prioritize yourself. If you don't then chances are you'll quickly become tired, fall behind uni work and feel rubbish. Don't feel guilty for leaving your flatmates an hour early to get a good nights sleep. If they don't sleep till late then that's their problem not yours! 

Cooking for yourself is also a common problem especially if you share a kitchen! Plan your meals out and then buy what you need. This saves money and hassle deciding what you fancy for dinner. It also means you know exactly what you need to prepare your meal so you can get in once a flatmate has finished!


That is it for this chapter of Teen Tips! I might expand on this topic once I've experienced more at university because it was definitely a worry for me before starting my course! I hope you've enjoyed catching up with me and look forward to seeing what will be happening soon! 

See you soon! x