The Best Week of My Life! Oh How I Adore Scotland!!!

Last weekend I went to Scotland for 5 days, and it was a whirlwind of adventure!!! I had the best week of my life! There was never a dull moment and we were laughing constantly. And Scotland was so beautiful! The Highlands were especially gorgeous with their rocky cliffs, never ending waterfalls, rivers and lochs everywhere and green mossy hills. We went on a Haggis Tour of Wild & Sexy Scotland, and let me tell you, that Scotland was indeed wild and very sexy!

We started our journey in Edinburgh, and just hung out there the first night. The castle was on a hill and all lit up. It was gorgeous! Then on Friday morning we got a two small buses with our two amazing tour guides, Tony and Uncle Fergie. I was on Uncle Fergie’s bus, and he told us all sorts of cool history and funny stories about Scotland. He even played Britney Spears for us and sang along in his deep Scottish voice. It was awesome!

So we drove around seeing various sites, and went all over Scotland! We went to Glencoe, Inverness, the Isle of Skye and Loch Ness. And Scotland is one of the most beautiful places in the world!!! I cannot wait to go back! So here are some photos of some of the places that I went and some of the adventures that I had.

So this is our awesome bus. All of us crazy Californians had a great time!!!

The Wild and Sexy Tour of Scotland!!!

This is Hamish the Hairy Cow (Pronounced hairy coo) He is the most famous hairy coo in Scotland. He is married to Heather, another hairy coo, and this is their baby. They are sooo cute!!!!

And here is some gorgeous scenery from all over Scotland. Now you see why I want to live here. It looks like freaking Middle Earth!

See, it looks like the Shire!!!!

This is Glencoe. Glen means Valley in Scottish, and it was so gorgeous! And if you pass by here when it is raining, over 1500 little waterfalls appear along the cliffs. But even without the waterfalls, it was gorgeous! And according to legend, a Giant lives here high up in a cave. Cool huh?

This is the famous Loch Ness!!! Our tour guide, Uncle Fergie, took advantage of us gulable Americans and told us that if we went knee deep into te Loch and shouted "I Believe!" then Nessie herself woudl appear behind us in the picture. Let me know if you can spot her haha. And to answer your question, YES, the water was freezing cold! But it was super epic to wade in Loch Ness.

But I found Nessie eventually! And this is the cute baby Nessie!

Does anyone recognize this castle? Just imagine two pompus French knights on the wall, flinging insults and farm animals. Thats right! Its the Monty Python Castle! And another reason why I love Scotland so much is that no matter where you go, around every corner you will find either a castle, or and old stone church. It is absolutely incredible!

I had to do it. This is Eilean Donan Castle. It is the most photographed castle in Scotland. it was in a James Bond movie, and the chick flick Maid of Honor.

On the first day, we hiked up a pretty steep hill to get to the William Wallace Memorial. Once we got to the top, we had a lovely view of Stirling Castle and the Lowlands.

This is Edinborgh Castle. It is quite impressive, and it totally reminds me of Hogwarts! In fact, there is a lot of HP stuff in Scotland. We saw where Haggrids hut was, and the cafe where JK wrote the books, as well as Tom Riddles grave (yes, he was a real person) And for everyone in the HP book club, I will bring lots of pictures of all of these things to the meeting in January!

Kissin a Scottsman! He was a wee bit tall for me though.

And while there, I ate entirely too much shortbread! And it was all sooooo fabulous! This one even has coconut! YUM!!!

A Taste of Italy

I have always loved Italian food, but eating REAL Italian food is a real treat. Those Italians really know how to make some tasty food! I dont think my tastebuds will ever be the same again.

These are simple Hour's Diervs we had at the wedding. It was bread, with a soft mild cheese, and then topped with either salmon, cavier, pancheta, or those orange fish eggs they put on sushi. These were soooooooo tasty!!!!! And yes, I tried cavier! It was pretty good actually. It is salty and fishy and pops in your mouth. However, I dont feel the need to pay a ton of money for it, so I am glad I was able to try it.

And on the side, there is also fresh Italin Parmigano Regiano! It is very expensive, and VERY yummy!!!

This is the first course of the most expensive meal of my life! Caprese salad with incredible ripe tomatos, fresh mozzorella and another kind of tasy herb. SOOOOOOOO FREAKING GOOD!!!

The second course was al dente penne, with frsh tomato sauce, eggplant and parmigano regiano. The eggplant was a nice touch. YUM!

The main course was salted sea bass in a lemon sauce. The Amalfi coast is famous for their lemons, so I wanted to try this dish. It was soooo fabulous! But by this time I was super stuffed, so I tried to eat most of it. I have nver eaten so much food at once. Oh, and did I mention that dinner lasted two hours? Yeah, the Italians take their time with food, so that is probabbly why it wi sooooo amazing!

In Rome I had the best pizza of my life! This was all cheese!!!! Fresh mozzorella, provalone, blue  chese and another soft yummy cheese, with fresh tomatos. It was so big, I had to fold it to eat it. I want another one!!!!!!

And to answer all of your questions, YES! Italy has the best gelato EVER!!!!! I had some everyday that I was there! This one is at a small place just outside of Pompei. It was chocolate chip, and I loved every bite!!!!

Roman Holiday

So this past weekend I went to Italy for my cousin Audra's wedding. I flew into Naples, and stayed there for a day. While there I was able to go to Pompei, which was super cool!!!! That place was huge! Most of the ancient city is all ruins, and the only things left are the paved roads, walls and foundations. But some of the structures are very well preserved, and some of the walls have the original frescos. It was gorgeous! But aside from Pompei, Naples was not very exciting. It was actually quite dirty, and a bit seedy. So I made sure I was in my hotel room beofre dark.

The next day, I met up with the wedding party and we took a scary van ride to the Amalfi coast, winding along the cliffside. But It was so beautiful! There were a lot of clouds, and it actually rained, but it was still gorgeous. The wedding was in a lovely hotel, and the ceremony was held inside a cloister type place. It was supossed to be outside on a tower overlooking the sea, but the weather did not permit. BUt it all worked out, and the bride and groom were happy. But Audra looked gorgeous in her vintage style wedding dress, and Michael was very dashing in his tux. And the dinner was the most expensive meal I have ever had in my life! But let me tell you, those Italians know how to do food!!!!

After the  wedding, I went back to Naples to saty one more night, and then on Sat morning I took a train to Rome. Rome was big, and alot less scary than Naples. I loved seeing all of the old buildings and random statues everywhere. The Vatican museum was fabulous and the Sistine Chapel was breathtaking! The Trevie Fountain was also gorgeous.

On Sunday, I was about to get on a train to the colosseum, and I ran into to Canadian girls about my age. We chated for a bit, and then we decided to continue our adventures together. So we went to the colloseum, the Forum, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, and then got some gelato. It was so much fun and I am really glad I ran into them. I enjoyed traveling by myself, but after a while, I got pretty lonely. So I am so greatful for that tender mercy.

The language barrier was not too much of a problem, but sometimes it made things difficult. But it all worked out in the end. It also made for some great stories.
But here are some pics of my Italian adventures!

Pompei, with a view of the Napolian moutains in the background

The ominous Mt Visuvius

Amalfi

Me, on the Amalfi coast

TrevieFountain. And Yes, I did throw in a coin so I can return to Rome someday.

On the Spanish Steps with my new Canadian friends Ann and Michaela.

The Globe and Bourough Market

On Monday we went to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to see Much Ado About Nothing. It was so incredible!!!! I stood right at the front of the stage! I was so close that I could see teh actors spit when they spoke thier lines. But it was fun being that close becasue the guy who played Claudio was pretty cute! But the production was fabulous! And I can imagine that it woudl be very close to a Shakes original. Then on thursday, my class went back to take the tour. It was lead by an actor and he told us all of this cool history. After the tour, he took us down into a rehearsal room, and taugt us about what it was like to be an actor in Shakes' day. It was NOT an easy job! They didnt get the whole script, and it was rare that they were able to have a full rehearsal before the performance. And then our guide made us try our hand at some acting. We werent very good. But we all had a good laugh.

Then today, I went down by the London Bridge to Bourough Market which is a giant farmers market with all sorts of fresh foods and cheese and meat. It was great!!! Rachelle, you woudl have gone nuts there!

After the tour, I walked over to St Pauls Cathedral. And Yes, I did sing Feed the Birds on the steps!

Sorry its out of order, but this is the stage at the globe. It is rather small, but it does the job!

This is me at Bourough Market. It is huge! and this is only the start of it. While there I bought this incredible chocolate! OMG, it was to die for!!!!

And this is a scary Pirate I met at the London Bridge. they have two scare houses there. One is The London Dungeon, and the other is The London Bridge Experience. I was a bit lost, so I asked him for directions. It seemed like a good idea at the time. And he was gracious enough to help. I like Pirates. But I forgot to ask him if he wanted to be on The Black Tide with me and Captain Jo Calico (Virginia) But im sure he woudl have accepted.

Oxford!!!!

On Friday I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Oxford! It is a cute town, filled with all sorts of old buildings. The Oxford University is made up of over 30 independent Colleges, and all of the students there are virtually self-taught, and work closely with tutors each week. These colleges are spread out within about 1 square mile. The most famous one is Christ’s Church College. It is huge! They have a lovely courtyard, and they are famous because it is featured in the Harry Potter films! (But I will post those pics in a special HP blog later) It is also famous because that is where Lewis Carol got the inspiration for the Alice in Wonderland books. Alice was a real girl whose father was the Dean at Christ’s Church College. And when she was little, she would go rowing down the river with Lewis Carol and her father. While relaxing in the boat, Lewis would make up these curious stories of things that Alice would do, and her father thought it would be a good idea if Lewis wrote them down. And it was a good thing he did! And her father was also the inspiration for the white rabbit, because when they would sit down for a meal in the great hall at school, he would check his pocket watch and say “I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!” And then run down a secret staircase, like a rabbit hole. There is more history to tell, but I will explain that in the HP blog entry. So for now, enjoy the pics of Oxford!  

This is a little river running through Oxford. Its so beautiful! They even have cows that graze close by.

This is the outside of Christ's Church College

This is the inside of the eating hall in Christ's Church. This was the insparation for the HP films. And the students still eat here! Nice Huh?

This is us punting along the river. Its like a gondala, and they were able to tie two boats together so we could go as a group. It was so much fun!

The other end of the boat. AND, our very cute punter!

This is a little shop across from the college that sells Alice souvenires. It is so little and cute! It used to be a sweets shop that the real Alice bought her favorite Barley Sugar's from. I got a jar of them, and they are quite good.

This is an awesome pub called The Eagle and Child. This is where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien had weekly meetings every Tuesday to chat and discuss their newest writing projects. This old pub is small and quaint. They have pictures of both authors up on the walls, and a plaque comemorating the small room in which they met. 

This also hangs on the wall in Honor of two of our favorite Hobbits!!!!