Before Christmas, after the end of the first semester, I travelled back down to England by car to go home for the holidays. The nine hour journey however was well worth it as I had just started to get a little homesick. Its always good to touch base with home as I didn’t have the chance to go down to Kent during reading week, so I haven’t been to England since mid-August.  So here’s a few little things I did whilst being back home for Christmas and New Year.

Walking through the woods was one of my favourite things to do back home so it only seemed fitting to start off the holidays doing something familiar. I don’t have a bicycle or another form of transport so I don’t get out much because to go anywhere I’d have to pay or walk which takes time and money. So it was refreshing seeing the woods again and getting out of the city. This year I do plan to hop on the bus or train more and get around Scotland, I also plan on buying a bike this year so I have no excuse to stay indoors.

I live really close to Rochester castle so I saw it fitting to take a visit, I remember going there all the time as a child so it was rather nostalgic. The castle is a norman keep built on a hill overlooking the River Medway. Its such a lovely old place with such a rich history, you can even see Rochester Cathedral through the castle walls.

While down I also went to the Dockside area of Chatham, to get art supplies for my course, and meet up with friends. I went to the cinema twice to see ‘Moana’ and ‘Rogue One’ which were both amazing films that I must recommend you going to see!

At Dockside there used to be a theme park called Dickens World because nearby (in Rochester) Charles Dickens lived there and wrote his novels (I would have visited the house where Dickens lived but it was  under maintenance). However they still have the sign up which I just thought looked amazing, when it the clocks strikes the hour the clock face turns round to reveal Dickens’s novels’ characters. I also took a trip the Dockside outlet centre which has Cadbury world that sells discounted cadbury chocolates including huge bags of ‘mis-shapes’ which are rejected chocolates based on how they look.. but they still taste great! Better yet, you can buy the bags by the kilo! As it has been established I have quite the sweet tooth, so (twice) I went to ‘Kreams’, the dessert only, disco/diner themed restaurant at Dockside and had crepes and waffles for lunch and a white chocolate mocha.

So that’s what I did back in England along with catching up with old friends and family, going out for drinks and heading to a friend from A-levels house party for New Years. I’m going to miss Kent again but this year I’m going to try and spend more time getting to know Dundee and the vibrant culture here in this lovely city and visiting more of Scotland, hopefully making it feel more like a home away from home. So Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I wish you all the best this year and hope you have a great start to the new semester.