"Aye, Scotland!"

Last weekend Whitney and I went north to Scotland. I think it is my favorite place thus far. London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, and all other excursions were fun, but nothing compared to the natural beauty of the highlands of Scotland!
Whitney arrived (exhausted) in London on Wednesday. I met her at the train station hugging her as tight as possible. I couldn't believe she was actually here! We got to my flat and she met my roommates who instantly fell in love with her. (They told me so!) I took her on a quick tour around London seeing Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, Parliament, Westminster, the Thames, Big Ben, 10 Downing St., the theater district (West End), and took a ride on the London Eye. We later joined one of my classes for dinner and a theater performance (Blood Brothers). We went to an authentic English pub, where the food tasted amazing and then the theater which turned out to be a very good musical. Later we brought Whitney to her hostel for the night. Next day, while I was in class, Whitney went to the British museum, Oxford St., and the surrounding area on her own. (She became adventuresome quite quickly!) With my roommates and Whitney, we went to the famous Harrod's department store and drooled over the ever increasing rooms of specialty chocolate, baked goods, butcher meats, teas, candies, and ice cream rooms! (YUM!) Whitney and I came back and packed and left for the train station where we began our journey to Scotland.
It was Whitney's first time on a train, so the transportation itself became an attraction! After barely sleeping through the night (left London at 12am and arrived in Edinburgh 7:15 am) we had breakfast and joined our tour group for our three day adventure to the Scottish Highlands and the Isle of Skye.
Our tour guide, Colin, was really knowledgeable and funny. He was in his mid twenties so Whitney and I teased him throughout the whole trip because he kind of felt like our big brother. He started calling us the "Troublesome Twosome" saying that he knew we were trouble from the start! We saw so many things, read so much Gaelic, and heard so many myths I cannot begin to list everything we did on the trip (see photos for a small sampling!). One big event for Whitney and I was to conquer ordering our first alcoholic beverage. We were so inexperienced when ordering, that the bar tender smiled and handed us a guide to bar drinks and cocktails. We felt pretty silly! We quickly learned what we did and didn't like (I hate whiskey!). We liked Haggis Sunrise and Messy Nessies as well as Magners Irish cider. Whitney also fell in love with sticky toffee pudding. (A toffee flavored dense and sticky cakes that has raisins inside usually served warm with custard. A basic English dessert). We also went to a clansman show where we were taught about highland lifestyle, weaponry, and the multi-purpose kilt. After demonstrating the uses of a kilt, I was almost convinced to wear one myself! We also skipped stones in a loch (lake), toured a medieval castle that is still inhabited, searched for the Loch Ness monster, reached the top of the Isle of Sky, heard "singing fairies" at the glen waterfall, walked on Calodin battle field, visited William Wallace Monument, achieved eternal beauty when dunking our heads in an enchanted river for 7 seconds, and laughed at the US national anthem rendition Whitney and I so poorly sang. We have very fond memories of our time together. I will never forget the amount of times Whitney and I said how beautiful it was. I love mountains for how humbling they are and we definitely felt that as well as Christ's love while we were there. His creation is so beautiful and perfect. We couldn't understand how any person could see this and not love Him back! We learned so much about Scotland, each other, and God whilst we were there. I miss Whitney very much now that she is home. I'm so grateful for the time we had together and the many, MANY laughs that will be talked about for a lifetime.

The Italian Report

Well I'm back to normal life in London and writing a paper for my government class. Italy was fun and exhausting! Our idea of traveling is "winging it". All we did was book accommodations and flights to and from London. When we showed up to a city we pulled the map out, and started walking towards something famous. We booked trains, buses, and metros as we went and learned Italian-English (very poorly). We got lost more times than I would like to count and loved every minute of the adventure.
We went to Rome our first two days and saw a lot of historical places (Brian informs me that we missed a lot though!). In Rome we officially tried calzones and veal (not exactly the American version). We went to the Vatican museums, St. Peters Basilica, Trevi fountain, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, Roman Forum, Colosseum, St. Pietro en Vincoli, and many other historical places. We learned that bus drivers do not know the stops on their route whatsoever, that you don't buy bags off of street vendors b/c the police will fine you 1,000 euro, and that getting lost can still be fun.
We then left on a train (barely missed it by 4 minutes) to Cinque Terre, specifically Vernazza. (No cars are allowed in the cities!). Cinque Terre is a 5 cityr area that has been kept secluded for so long that Italy proclaimed it a National Park. The area is on the west coast of Italy about 2-3 hours from Florence. Most people come to the area to hike along the coastline from city to city. Brian and I hiked from Vernazza (where we were) to Monterosso (the Northern most city of the 5). After the hike, instead of hiking to all five towns) we rode the train to each and walked around. They are very similar, but if you explore enough you can find little characteristics that tell you about each city. All the towns have one main road, small ristorantes and shops. English is as widley spoken and you are tagged as a tourist the minute you walk off the train b/c everyone in the town knows each other. It was beautiful. We had perfect weather! Brian and I learned we LOVE fresh Foccacia and mozzarella! we ate this for every meal pretty much! I also love their local pesto and tomato sauce and absolutely hate lemoncino! They have fresh lemon and orange trees growing up the mountain ridges as well as grape vineyards. (I cannot describe how beautiful please check out my pictures).
We then left for Florence where we had colder and wetter weather than London. Yuck! We soon learned that Florence is quite small compared to Rome and we got done with most of the big things to do there. We went to the Uffitzi, Duomo, bronze doors, Ponte Vecchio, the accademia (Michelangelo's works are here), piazza Signoria and Croce. We also went to markets, stores and walked the Arno river. We had the best pasta we have ever tasted from this authentic Tuscan restaurant. I can't explain it, but you could have eaten the pasta with no sauce or toppings and still have been totally satisfied! We basically rolled out of the restaurant we ate so much! The next afternoon I got sick (we think my stomach didn't react well to the bacteria in the water) and I stayed in bed until the next day when we headed back for London.
We had a full day of traveling b/c our flight was out of Pisa. By the end of the day I was so sick they almost had to take me to the hospital. Yikes!
I have been slowly recovering while also trying to show Brian around London (very briefly!!) before he left this morning. He also surprised me and took me the see the Lion King musical. It was simply amazing!
Italy taught me a lot about expectations of travel and stereotypes of cities/countries. I can't say they are all positive, but I have learned. Italy was a lot of fun but I have to say I missed my home in London and am glad to be back.