What better activity is there to do on Christmas Eve, than go and see Santa's reindeers?! Well... maybe not Santa's ACTUAL reindeers - but reindeers nevertheless.

I'd been to Whitworth Hall years ago and knew that there were deer there, but never been recently. I've got a thing about deer - I think they're so majestic and I'd wanted to try and get some close up photos of them for ages. Last time I saw deer was at Raby Castle, but they were less tame than the ones at Whitworth, and scarpered when you got close.

So off we went to Whitworth Hall, as you can imagine it was teeming with families - probably all wondering why the reindeers aren't with their gaffer. The grounds of the country park are beautiful, even without the deer, it's worth going if only to see the County Durham countryside. There's also a monument to the 18th century local politician Bobby Shafto, amongst some other things to look at. We were lucky as we managed to catch a lovely sunset too. I've posted some of my favourite photos from the afternoon below.

Carnaby Street has embraced the spirit of the new Queen film, Bohemian Rhapsody, and gone all out with it's themed Christmas lights this year. There's also a Queen shop on the street where you can buy film merchandise and see a small exhibition on the band.

I have wanted to go up to Kielder water for a while now, but living in London makes it all the more difficult, so I took advantage of being in the North East (you know all the annual leave you get stacked up at the end of the year, right?!) and went up for the day with a few friends. If you don't know where it is, it's basically in Scotland, it's right on the border - so from London that's akin to going to the Arctic....

The drive up to Kielder is a scenic one if anything, Northumberland dubs itself as "Officially England's Most Tranquil County," and I can certainly vouch for that. It's also got to be up there as one of England's most picturesque counties too. The winding roads are lined with looming pine trees, accompanied by hills rising in the distance, it's reminiscent of what I imagine the wilds of Canada, or New England look like. On the drive, I was dreaming of owning a cottage here, secluded from the hustle and bustle, and silent from the sounds of everyday life in the city. I was suddenly craving tranquillity and solitude, and I wouldn't half mind it with some of the views around here.

A major thing which appeals to me about Kielder Water and it's surrounding area is that it's the most remote place in England, and has the lowest levels of light pollution in the country. Due to this, the forest park has been awarded the title of "gold tier dark sky area". This means that it's absolutely fantastic for stargazing and draws many astronomers, both amateur and experienced, to witness the star-studded night skies. I have a keen interest in astronomy (I must stress that I am very much an amateur in this field!) so finding out that there is an observatory with state of the art equipment in Kielder, was a massive draw in for myself. We booked up to attend a lesson on our solar system at Kielder Observatory and kept our fingers crossed for clear skies and some impressive views of our galactic neighbourhood.

We headed up in the morning and pulled over at a few well known vantage points. I'd just bought a new DSLR camera so wanted to test it out. The area is lovely, it's so quiet and it's nice to be away from the crowds for a day. After we'd been scouting the best views, we went to a pub near Kielder village (I think it's the only one?!) and managed to time it well enough to watch the England match - day was made better by Kane's late winner!!

After having slight feelings of revenge (not quite enough though) against Croatia, we had a wander around Kielder village and walked up to the castle. There isn't really much there but it's worth seeing. The castle isn't the type of castle I expected, it's more of an old house styled to look a bit like a castle - I think it's used as some sort of office now. The night was drawing in and it was time to head over to the Observatory.

The Observatory was easy to find and clearly signposted, so we turned off onto a narrow single track road. The track twisted and turned through the forest, with no lights for guidance, it was like somewhere you'd expect a grizzly bear to jump out and attack you from. The road seemed endless, and slowly cambered uphill. We probably didn't drive that far but because we had to take it very slow, it seemed to take forever. After what felt like hours, we reached the top and it really sank in how high up we were - the track was so gradual that we'd hardly felt much of an incline. Kielder Water was simply a puddle in the distance, glistening under the moonlight; and the moonlight was the only source of light for miles. It was pitch black and truly living up to it's title of the darkest place in England.

The weather forecast had the night down to be a clear one - so we were a bit disappointed that it was very opposite to that, the sky was filled with clouds and my hopes of seeing the Milky Way in it's glory (or as near as we can see with the naked eye from Earth!) were tarnished. We did get to use the telescopes at the Observatory which was good, but it was a shame that we couldn't see more - on a clear night it would have been amazing. The class was great and really interesting, we even got to touch meteorites and a bit of Mars rock. It was worth going but just a shame that the night wasn't clear.

It was just my luck that after we left the Observatory, the clouds started to disperse and we could finally see the sky. We pulled over in a parking area next to the Water and set up our cameras on the tripod, and experimented with photos of the night sky. I'd like to read up more about astrophotography and try and get some good pictures of the stars.

If you're from the North East, you'll definitely know that there are tonnes of castles in the region. Castles in use, castles in ruins, whatever your preference of castle is - there'll be one in the NE. I love castles/palaces/stately homes and find the entire subject fascinating. I'm not that great at history but I just love the wonder of what might have happened in the spot where you're stood, most likely a gruesome event or a knees up full of aristocrats or royals.

I've visited my fair share of (ex)regal residences, but there are far more I'd like to go to. Most notably Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany, close to the Austrian border; but for now, the UK will have to suffice.

Raby Castle is a medieval castle just outside of Darlington, County Durham. It's set in 200 acres of land and home to two species of deer (I did initially visit with the intention of seeing a few deer close up - but I got close and lost my bottle when a huge stag came out of the woods!! This could have been on my gravestone!!). The castle belongs to Baron Barnard and still serves as a working residence. The land was originally owned by King Cnut back in the early 11th century, he apparently did build a manor house here, but it wasn't the current castle, this was built by the Nevills in the 14th century.

I went for a stroll around the grounds and gardens of the castle, there's a lot to see and its usually relatively quiet, so it's ideal for a peaceful afternoon relax. Hope you like the photos I took below, it was quite a gloomy afternoon.

The North East isn't short of beaches, I can tell you that! We're lucky because ours are all sandy and packed with interesting finds. I love to go to the beach, just for a wander, so when I was up North visiting my parents recently, I made a point of going.

We went to Seaton Carew, one of the many beaches on Teesside. It's great as it's cleaned daily and was even granted a "Seaside Award" recently. It's also a regular host to a colony of local seals, you're lucky if you manage to see them during the Summer (I didn't!). Another interesting fact is that there's actually a shipwreck in the intertidal zone there, the type of vessel is a "collier brig" - don't ask me what it means! Apparently the shipwreck is buried under the sand, but when extreme weather occurs, the sand moves and the wreck emerges, I would like to see it one day.

As usual, I took a few photos and have posted them below. The clouds looked quite dramatic in some of the photos.

My favourite perk of living in London is the easy links to the rest of the world. Not only is there a greater variety of destinations with a minimal travel distance, it's also a lot cheaper than travelling from up North. It's also a lot cheaper than travelling TO the North.

I cannot express how weird I found it going to Kings Cross St. Pancras railway station to get a train to Paris, when this is usually my "gateway to the North" - this time I was going somewhere a little (just a little!) more exotic than Darlington. Check in for the Eurostar was like a basic version of airport security, it was really quick and not busy at all; after this you're left to your own devices to wait for your train. I think the total travel time from London to Paris was just over 2 hours, which isn't too bad really, although there are multiple occurrences which I found strange... such as travelling to a different time zone on a train - and receiving a phone call when under the English Channel?!

After I arrived at Gare du Nord, my initial thought was "this looks like London" - I don't think many people would agree, but the buildings gave off a real Marylebone vibe to me. I then headed off on the short walk to meet my friend in the apartment they were renting, near Bonne Nouvelle metro station, in the 2nd arrondissement. Google Maps makes it a whole lot easier to find where you're heading to and not look like a lost tourist at the same time - I don't know where I'd be without the help of Google Maps (let's be honest, probably walking laps around Gare du Nord or even in the catacombs).

So, it's a bit sad but one thing I always get excited for when going to another country is... Sephora (come on - make one in the UK?!!), so as we didn't have a lot of the day left, we got the metro to Champs Élyseés and had a wander for some food and retail therapy. There are loads of shops here, it's the Oxford Street of Paris (but surprisingly a lot less full of tourists). If you look in a North Westerly direction up the Avenue, you can see the Arc de Triomphe for a lot of the way, but we walked in the opposite direction and headed towards the Seine to go up the famed landmark, the Eiffel Tower. We got there with the intention of going to the top, but we couldn't even get in to the grounds of the tower, as armed police were swarming the place due to an apparent security breach. I was a bit disappointed as it's one of those things you've "got to do" when in the city, but nevertheless it was still magical to see the tower in all it's grandeur.

One of the things I really wanted to see in Paris were the Catacombs. If you're not familiar with the Catacombs, basically it's a section of a series of tunnels, hundreds of miles long, spanning a lot of the city; holding the graves of around 6 million Parisians.  I'd looked online beforehand but their booking system was down and the only way in on my dates was to queue up and buy on the day. Foolishly, we thought that we'd get there "early" (and early by my standards was 10:30am) and beat the queues. When we arrived the queue was round the block and didn't look like it was moving at all; so we waited for about half an hour, hadn't moved at all, so we gave up on it as we'd have been wasting the day waiting in line. It's a shame as it's one of those attractions that's quite dark but incredibly intriguing - at least I have a reason to go back to Paris now though.

After we binned off the queue for the Catacombs, we headed for the train to Versailles. The palace was one of the things that I'd longed to see for years, I have a particular interest in castles and palaces, and this one looked to be the grandest of them all, so you could say that I was excited... It didn't take long to get from Saint Michel to Versailles, it was a pleasant train ride and a cheap one too. Stepping out of the station at Versailles Rive Gauche felt as if you weren't even close to Paris anymore. It was a lovely little town, very quiet and clean (not saying Paris is dirty but.. there were some questionable smells about), and very leafy. I'd be quite content living there. It was a short walk down the main avenue to the Chateau and at the end we were greeted with a spectacular full-frontal view of the main attraction itself. Alongside the fantastic view of the palace, we also had a fantastic view of the incredibly long queue for entry. It wound around the courtyard like a zig zag and brought back traumatic memories of the Catacombs line. Nevertheless we headed to the ticket office as we had made the special trip. A bonus worth noting with the tickets is that if you're an EU citizen (oh Brexit.. why) you get free entry to the palace - which was a great saving as I think it was about €18 for an adult ticket.

After our pleasantly surprising short wait in the mammoth line, we were subject to the standard security checks and then the palace was ours - so we headed off into the tourist laden corridors of Louis XIV's former gaff (and what a gaff it is). First you go through the communal areas, such as the chapel and various rooms full of statues, just from the first ten minutes you can tell that King Louis was a flamboyant bloke with a penchant for all things fancy, I read online somewhere that the (very wide berthed) "estimate" for the construction of the palace in today's money would be between 2 and 300 billion dollars. To be honest it's a pretty crap estimate as that's like saying "yeah it would have cost loads". But hey ho, there you go, it was a lot of money and just a little bit more than my 2 bed flat in Tooting that's for sure.

It's easy to get drawn into the gorgeous baroque architecture and interiors of Versailles, and forget about the monumental history of the place. I'm not an expert at anything historical, but I am interested in it, so to think that I was currently walking through the home of the peace treaty that ended WW1 was quite something. Alongside the historical aspect, it was also odd to be walking through the bedrooms of the former royal residents. Louis had a few bedrooms to himself - about 3 if I remember correctly; and it's anyone's guess as to why he needed all those rooms for himself. (He also had a passageway between the bedchambers... who knows why). I must say the decorating in some of the rooms was a bit garish... no disrespect but it looked like Laurence Llewellyn Bowen had had his way with the choice of wallpaper, times 100. Saying this, as we made our way through the chain of residence rooms, each one just got grander and grander, until finally we ended on the Hall of Mirrors. This was actually quite breath-taking and the photos you see online don't do it anywhere near enough justice. It was awe inspiring and the absolute height of any grandeur. Apparently there are over 350 mirrors in the room, some of these making up the chandeliers which are immediately the focal point of the room. Rumour has it that the chandeliers used to get taken down daily for dusting. Big job for someone.

We took some more photos of our excursion, and looked upon the palace in awe for just a bit longer, before heading back into the city. Versailles also has some extensive gardens you can go around, but we gave this a miss as it was a bit of a grim day and we wanted to get back central for some more sightseeing.

Our next stop was the Montparnasse Tower. We had originally planned to go up the Eiffel Tower but due to the security issue this had failed, and my friend's Dad had recommended the Montparnasse instead. This was a fantastic idea as it was a lot less busy and there was a bar at the top (winner). I also thought that the view was better as you have the Eiffel Tower actually in your sights - without this there isn't really anything standout Parisian about what you see, so I'm really glad we chose this option instead. The view was great, although a little grey and windy - but it was fun trying to spot landmarks and tie up the view with the map that was there. I'd highly recommend a trip to the top of the Montparnasse over the Eiffel any day. After we'd finished here, we headed back to the apartment, with a quest for some gin en route.

After sourcing the gin in a nearby offy, we had a few pre-drinks and headed out for dinner in the area near the apartment. We ended up in an Irish bar that turned rather clubby after dark - it was a good choice after a few! I really liked the area that we were staying, it was slightly hipster but a bit reminiscent of Fitzrovia or Marylebone.

The next morning I woke up feeling a little delicate. It was the last day of the trip and I had almost a full day to kill whilst having a banging headache (my own fault, of course). My friend was heading back to London early so I was alone until my train. After getting ready, my first thought, like many other people's first hungover thought was, McDonalds. There was one just around the corner from the apartment so in my mind, there would be no compromise on this being the first activity of the day. I bid my friend goodbye and off I went to get some nugs.

After I'd had time to compose myself in a dark corner of Boulevard Poissonniere's finest dining option, I decided that I wanted to take a walk down towards the Seine and go and explore Notre Dame. It was a pleasant walk and I took the long way through some backstreets, to try and get the feel of the city. It was laden with people sat outside coffee shops, in the typical Parisian way. It took me about an hour or so to get to Notre Dame, the walk wasn't too far but I had a leisurely stroll and took some photos en route. The cathedral was extremely busy when I got there, but wasn't too bad inside. It was a beautiful building with some incredible gothic architecture; although I couldn't stop thinking about poor Quasi up there ringing the bells. I'm not a religious person but I do like to admire religious buildings as they're usually beautiful, and this one sure was up there with some of the best I'd seen (best I'd seen was probably the Cathedral of Barcelona, it felt nicer than the Sagrada Familia, probably because the latter was a building site). I took a pew and sat for a while both to rest and to contemplate life.

A stand out feature of Notre Dame, apart from the famous two towers, is the glorious stained glass rose windows. They're magnificent to see first hand, and photographs certainly don't do them any justice. I read that the windows sustained significant damage during the French revolution in the 1830's and have since been extensively restored. I'd recommend paying Notre-Dame de Paris a visit on any trip to Paris, it's worth it.

I felt like walking more, I had that urge you get just to keep walking - so I headed towards Rue de Rivoli, the famed shopping street, and my eyes lit up when I spotted a Sephora, glowing in the distance like my own personal heaven. I spent a while in here and even felt a little bit like a local after sharing a conversation with the security guard in his native tongue, French. Maybe I don't look stereotypically British after all. I spent the rest of the afternoon just wandering, with no real aim, but do you really require an aim when you're just "wandering?". Soon enough my time to head up to Gare du Nord came and I was homeward bound.

One thing to note regarding the Eurostar terminal at Gare du Nord is that, to put it as bluntly as possible, it's a bit of a shit show; or at least it was on the day that I was there. I was confined to park my backside on the floor as there was absolutely no space, and no organisation, and this was not what I wanted to deal with when I was feeling tired, delicate and had a head full of cotton wool. But nevermind, the train provided a good napping opportunity on the journey back to St. Pancras.

To conclude, I enjoyed my break in Paris. It wasn't quite how I imagined, although I think that's because it's so romanticized in the media. There's a lot to see in the city and it's not all that different to London (apart from the smells, there are a few funky smells in Paris); a major similarity which I spent a bit too much time thinking about is that the city centre is vast - you can't really walk everywhere, you need to get the Metro, I've been a few places where the main city centre is easily walkable and the bus or train isn't even required. So in this respect it's very London-like. I quite enjoy this, as it shows how much there is to see and do. Or maybe it's because I'm just used to London, can't teach an old dog new tricks after all.

Palma, the largest city and the jewel in the crown of the Balearic islands, is only a stone's throw (or more like 100 miles or so) off the coast of mainland Spain. Easily accessible from all over Europe, Mallorca is a popular holiday destination with a lot to offer; and best of all, it's only a two and a half hour flight from the UK.

A classy city and swathed in culture, there is more to Palma than meets the eye. I don't know about you, but when I first imagine Mallorca, I think of Magaluf and all inclusive sun holidays; if that's what you're into then by all means take advantage! But for me, there's a lot more to see and do on this marvellous island (alongside a few cocktails!).

The charming narrow streets of Palma old town are bursting with traditional tapas restaurants and trendy cocktail bars to unwind in,  so for a great start I'd recommend heading to Hotel Almudaina's Sky bar. This place is a hidden gem which boasts impressive views of the terracotta rooftops below, and further to that, the glistening waves of the Med. Almudaina is located on Avenida de Jaume III, not far from El Corte Ingles department store; it's easy to miss so keep an eye out.

If cocktails aren't your thing then follow the streets downhill to the marina or La Seu cathedral. Palma's gothic "Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma" began construction in 1229 by King James I of Aragon, but wasn't completed until almost 400 years later, in 1601. The building also heralds a large canopy designed by Gaudi in the 1900's. This gothic structure is undeniably worth a visit, even if religious buildings aren't of interest to you. Looking around the city, you can see Gaudi's influence over many of the old buildings, and there is a "mini Barcelona" feel to the place. Palma is very much reminiscent of the Catalan capital, and in particular the tree-lined shopping street Passeig del Born has a much smaller, but striking resemblance to Las Ramblas. What's nice about Palma is that although it has a city feel, all of the main attractions are easily circumnavigated on foot.

I could wander the streets of Palma for hours, without any real aim. I think it's important in any trip to take some time out and just walk - not heading for anywhere in particular, and you never know what you'll stumble upon. I find it refreshing, taking in your surroundings, and I'm a particular fan of quaint traditional Spanish streets; they're ideal if you like taking photos. With this city, I felt  a strong juxtaposition between the Old Town and the beachfront - they seemed very distinct from one another and could easily have been different towns; not that this is a bad thing - they do say that "variety is the spice of life" after all!

After our daytime stroll, we headed down to the sea and relaxed with a drink at Anima Beach. This bar is, as aptly named, right on the beach, and is surprisingly serene considering the location. It's got an upmarket feel to it (and upmarket prices!) and serves an array of Spanish and Mediterranean food. It's a nice place with pleasant views of the sea, it's also one of the only places to go to in the immediate vicinity; so unless you fancy a walk back along towards the marina area, I'd highly suggest a rest stop here. The walk back into the city is appeasing and made even more interesting by the spectacular views of La Seu, which can be seen from most places in Palma (the cathedral looks even more magnificent when it's lit up at night!).

For night time drinks, the sea front area, near to the marina is a great place to start. There are numerous bars which offer live music and entertainment, although the city's nightlife isn't overly busy on a weeknight. Who can go wrong with cocktails and a great view though? For the second night of our break, we hit the British stereotype nail right on the head and got a taxi into Magaluf for some really cheap drinks. The Magaluf strip is exactly as you'd expect; Brits abroad - nevertheless it was a fun night out. If you do go here, bear in mind that it doesn't get busy until after midnight; we arrived early as we didn't know this, but there are some lovely bars on the beach front which aren't as rowdy as the rest of the resort.

Overall, Mallorca is a picture-perfect postcard island and has a variety of things to see and do for everyone, best of all, it's so accessible from the UK with reasonably priced flights and accommodation.

You only need to travel a stone's throw away from London to feel as if you're in the middle of the countryside, but if you want to go a bit further afield, but not too far, Oxford is a great shout. Although I have lived in London for almost 4 years, I feel as if there are a lot of places in the South that I'm yet to see (I should make more effort to do this on a weekend, but it's so easy to get trapped in your "London bubble").

Direct trains run fairly regularly between Marylebone and Oxford, and the journey time is about an hour. It's a nice day out and even nicer if you top it off with a Sunday roast. There isn't a lot to do in Oxford per se, but there's a lot to see. It's a historic city and obviously home to one of the world's grandest university, which houses lots of really beautiful buildings.

Windsor Castle, Berkshire. One of the Queen's residences - built almost 1000 years ago and the oldest inhabited castle in the world. I have a real fascination with castles, palaces, stately homes – basically anything grand and historic. Just knowing that you’re at a place steeped in so much history, (sometimes gruesome!!) is something special, and Windsor Castle isn’t short of this. It was built in the 11th Century by William the Conqueror, and has been in use ever since.

The main thing I’d advise about a day trip to the castle is to book your tickets online in advance. When we got there the line for tickets was ridiculous – but as we’d booked them already it felt like “priority boarding” as we got to skip straight to the front to simply collect (honestly, do this!). As for the journey from London, it’s not so bad, it was around half an hour from Clapham Junction (you can go from central too obviously).

It’ll probably take you 3-4 hours to look around all of the open parts of the castle, you could definitely do it quicker or slower, but an afternoon or morning there is enough. If you’re going on a weekend, chances are it’ll be really busy, especially in the Summer, so be prepared for crowds. This applies to Windsor town centre too, especially the main road outside the castle which houses a few pubs and restaurants, alongside the tourist trap souvenir shops.

So, to enter the castle you have to go through airport like security, but once you get past here it’ll take your breath away. It was a lot bigger and grander than I’d somehow imagined and it felt a bit fairytale-like walking up the pathways towards the castle. The gardens are beautiful and so are the surroundings. One side of the castle is in the town centre, the other side is backing straight out onto the countryside – best of both worlds! You’re pretty much free to roam around the castle at your own pace and in whichever order you like, obviously minus the parts which are still lived in by HRH! The quarters in which the royals still occupy is fenced off but you can peep through the gate to have a look at where the other half live.

Alongside strolling around the castle and its grounds, you can go into the state apartments, it’s well worth going in and seeing areas which the Queen still uses nowadays for events, such as hosting other heads of state. You can’t take photos for the most part here though. There is also a historic route which includes rooms created by Charles II; they’re very garishly decorated with gold and royal red, alongside hosting many valuable art pieces (notably the ceiling being painted so intricately!). It’s said that Charles II set out to decorate these rooms to rival that of his cousin’s gaff, Louis XIV’s Versailles.

After you’ve spent time in the castle, it’s worth having a walk around Windsor town centre, getting some lunch (we went to the Duchess of Cambridge pub, just opposite), and then having a meander down to the riverside – and crossing the river into Eton.
All in all, it’s a great day out from London, and you certainly get the feeling that you’re far from the city – at the end of the day it only takes 20 minutes by train to get into the British countryside!

Read more about Windsor Castle here: https://www.rct.uk/visit/windsorcastle

I’d wanted to go to Madrid for a while. I’d been a few other places in Spain and absolutely fell in love with the country, in particular, Barcelona. Everyone I knew who’d been to both Madrid and Barcelona said how you can’t compare the two, and that they’re both such different cities. I was really intrigued, especially after I’d heard it has loads of good pubs too!! My birthday was impending and I had a couple of mates from Australia and New Zealand who were willing to explore as much of Europe as possible, so it was a great excuse to book a weekend trip.

We got flights for £40 each, return from Gatwick and booked a trendy (looked a lot trendier than we could afford too!) apartment from Sweet Inn. I was excited to be going to Spain, there’s something that really interests me and draws me in about the country; the culture, food, architecture, it’s all so fascinating. I’d love to live there one day and teach English.

After our two and a half hour flight, we arrived at Madrid-Barajas airport and had to somehow find our way into the city. Honestly, the whole train from the airport situation is a huge debacle, you can buy a travel card (like an Oyster to top up) but it doesn’t work on all the trains, and the stations don’t make it easy to find the right train either. I’d advise just getting an Uber into the centre if you can afford it, it’s so much easier and not too expensive either. The train into the city didn’t take long but it was just the confusion that was a pain. Maybe it was us being idiots too though... When we got to the apartment a representative from Sweet Inn met us and showed us around, and gave us some directions for local shops and places to eat. The service from them was outstanding and it felt really personal and customer focused, I’d 100% recommend them as a company to rent from.

​One of my friends is a Madrid local so we had a good head start in finding out the best places to go and see, so after we'd had a rest and freshened up we went out for a wander to the Mercado de San Miguel which he’d recommended, for some food and birthday drinks. I’m an absolute fiend for tapas and basically any Spanish food so the selection of places to eat was amazing, I’d be in my element if I lived there, hand me the chorizo!

The next day we set out early to see as much of the city as possible, our flight home was quite early the day after so we didn't have a load of time there - it was a bit of a whistle-stop break. Our apartment was only a few minutes walk away from the Royal Palace so we'd arranged to meet our friend there, so out we headed to see the sights. I really loved the city centre because it's all quite walkable - there's a metro system but the city feels compact, not like London where it'd take hours to walk from one side of the centre to the other.

After taking some photos of the Palacio Real, we made our way towards Plaza Mayor, the main square - also known as the "place where all the pubs are". We strolled through the meandering streets whilst being given facts and some rather good history lessons from our guide - I did say to him he should take this up for a living because the amount of stuff we learned from him was amazing! Plaza Mayor is one of the most favoured icons of Madrid and has a rather dark past. It's built in classic Castilian baroque style and has been subject to various historic murders, assassination attempts and gruesome bullfights since it's creation in the 17th century. More recently it's been home to a variety of markets, and now it's the main tourist attraction in the city. It's well worth a look, but you'll have to try and get through the bustling groups of tourists, and good luck taking a photo!

We continued on our meander through the cobbled streets and alleyways, stopping occasionally to look at points of interest, and eye up the numerous "jamón" shops - the selection of ham in Spain is mindblowing. I absolutely love all hams, sausages and chorizo-type things... Anyway, Madrid is one of those weird capital cities where everyone's heard of it, and loves it, but nobody really knows what the tourist attractions are there. In London we've got Big Ben, Buckingham Palace etc., which are akin to Paris' Eiffel Tower, New York's Lady Liberty, and even Barcelona's Sagrada Familia - but not many people would be able to name an attraction in Madrid would they? Maybe the San. Bernabeu if they were a football fan, but not much else. Honestly I feel like Madrid is such an obvious not-so-hidden gem of a city; most people go to Barcelona or Valencia, which are both fantastic in their own right, but Madrid is something completely different and has loads to offer.

Time was going by a lot quicker than it should have been - it's so easy to lose track when you're walking with no real aim apart from seeing the sights. We took the long route from Plaza Mayor past the Spanish parliament and what if I remember correctly was the central bank (or something like that!), towards Plaza de Espana, and then to the Temple of Debod. The temple is located on a hill in Cuartel de la Montana Park, it's an Egyptian temple which when you don't know the history, does seem a bit odd to be placed slap bang in the middle of Madrid. It dates back to the 2nd century BC and was donated to Spain by the Egyptian government, to save it from floods following the construction of a dam. I had never heard of the Temple of Debod at all, but I'm so glad we visited. It's in a beautiful setting, and although bustling with tourists, it feels tranquil. It was recommended that we visit the temple at sunset, so that's what we did. There's also a cracking view of the city from the edge of the park too, which is always a bonus.

​We spent most of our time in the city sightseeing on foot, we saw a lot but I would love to go back and do even more. I'd like to visit the San Bernabeu, the Botanical Gardens and take a day trip to Segovia. If you want to see the main tourist sights, I'd say a weekend is enough, but to fully immerse yourself in the culture and see absolutely everything, you definitely need at least a few days. I'll definitely be back!