St. Andrews

Last Wednesday Matt and I joined the rest of the family on a day trip to St. Andrews! We saw the famous golf course, the Swilken bridge, and where William and Kate lived during their time studying at the university. Our tour guide actually went to St. Andrews himself and knew everything there is to know about the area. We ate lunch at the Jigger Inn, where I ate the best fish and chips I've ever had in my life! They were seriously amazing. Although it was windy and a bit cold, we had some blue sky and it didn't rain. I didn't know how much history St. Andrews had as a pilgrimage site during medieval times, nor was I aware of how many key events surrounding the Protestant Reformation took place there!

This seaside castle was lived in by King James I of Scotland and was the birthplace of James III of Scotland.

It is said that St. Andrew, the brother of the apostle Peter is buried underneath this ruined cathedral. 

My dad was pretty excited about getting to see the Old Course. Apparently, Mary Queen of Scots liked to play here (much to the dismay of her male advisors)! Being here (and seeing all of the cute golf outfits in the shops) made me wish I had any interest in golf whatsoever...

London Round 1

Well, technically, I guess this is London Round 2, since I posted about my trip back in June. If we are really being technical, this is London Round 3, since I went back in 2007. I digress. I was so excited to see my family in LONDON! They had all flown across the ocean to see me. I'm pretty lucky. ;)


On Friday, we went to Harrod's (where I got some cute things for Easter baskets!!), and dinner at Senor Sassi's which has the most delicious fettuccine alfredo I've ever had! On Saturday we met Vivian (our same guide from this summer... love her) and made our way to St. Paul's. I loved walking across the Millennial Bridge... and interupting a commerical shoot in front of St. Paul's. I could have spent all day in there! I enjoyed seeing the Duke of Wellington's grave, the American monument, and the alter cloth embroidered by returned soliders. After a quick stop at Starbucks, we headed to another museum, which I truthfully don't remember the name of. We strolled through the financial district, which was extremely empty and peaceful. The coolest thing about the museum was that it had ruins of an old Roman theatre in its basement! Back when London was called Londonium, and the Romans occupied the city. We then rushed to Fortnum and Mason for a late lunch/tea/ice cream. We went back to the hotel to see EMILY and then had a quick turn-around before heading back out to drive to the Warner Brother's studios for the HARRY POTTER TOUR! It was great being the last group they admitted at 6:30, because the place was practically empty. We spent 3 hours exploring!

Sunday was a more low-key day! We spent the better part of the morning shopping at Fortnum and Mason, where I got an adorable teacup, as well as an oven mitt. I can't wait to use them!! I can't find the exact teacup I got online, but I really loved this one too. We had an early dinner at a French place in the West End before seeing a show: The Play That Goes Wrong. It was very funny. Amanda was insistent that we see it, having seen it and loved it in New York earlier this year.

Dinner before the show!

On Monday, we made our way to Windsor! Despite slightly depressing weather, I loved walking through the quaint towns of Windsor as well as Eton. Seeing all of the boys in their Eton uniforms was definitely a highlight! We had lunch/tea (do you notice a theme here?) in a hotel overlooking the Thames and then made our way to the gorgeous castle. My favorite parts were seeing the chapel where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be married in May, Queen Mary's dollhouse, and seeing the vast collection of royal dishes. They seriously have so many beautiful dishes and serving pieces, it's a wonder how they ever pick out which set to use! After taking the train back into London (during rush hour), we scurried back out for dinner at Nobu. I'm not a giant sushi fan, but the raw tuna tacos at Nobu (and the crispy-rice-spicy-tuna dish) are phenomenal. The next morning I was up bright and early on the train back to Edinburgh. I was sad to leave, but now I'm even more excited to go back with Matt and Brian Beazer in April.

This used to be the castle's moat... I think it makes a beautiful garden! 

Italy

During "Flexible Learning Week" I convinced (not that it was too hard..) Matt to go to ITALY! I found great tickets to Venice and knew we could take the train to Florence from there pretty easily. Because this was a bit of a longer trip, I thought I'd do a photo diary to best explain our lovely week in the land of pasta and gelato.


MONDAY

Since our flight wasn't until the afternoon, we had a leisurely morning. We went to the gym, ate breakfast, packed, and cleaned up the flat. We flew the always-lovely Ryan Air from Edinburgh to Venice Treviso. Now, since this isn't Venice's main airport, we had to take a 40-minute bus to get to the "city center", where we would take a water taxi to meet the Airbnb host. I'll never forget getting to the "city center", which was really just an abandoned-looking dock. Luckily, we found the right platform and were able to cruise through the Grand Canal and met Marcuzio by the Rialto Bridge without issue! After dropping our stuff off, we headed out to get a slice of pizza and gelato. The pizza was delicious, the Coke Zero basically revived me, and the gelato was hands-down the best I've ever had in my life. It was hazelnut with a pistachio creme swirled throughout. The combination of sweet and salty, plus the texture of the pistachio creme... I still dream about it. Matt honestly seemed kind of concerned by how much I enjoyed it. He got a fresh berry gelato that was also delicious. I think I blacked out from how good the gelato was because the next thing I remember is waking up on Tuesday morning.

TUESDAY

We started off at the same place where we went the night before for pizza! We both got pastries and hot chocolate. Then, we embarked on a free walking tour. I found this tour on Trip Advisor, and it had amazing ratings. Each guide does a different route, depending on what they are interested in. It was an awesome way to see parts of Venice we wouldn't have otherwise seen. They make a point to not take you to St. Mark's Square or other super touristy areas. The tour was awesome, except for the fact that my feet were literally freezing. I lost feeling in them about 20 minutes in. The tour guide gave us a quick break to tinkle and we sprinted into McDonald's so Matt could use the facilities and then we each tried rubbing my feet to get feeling back in them. Luckily, after the tour I changed into my boots and was very comfortable the rest of the day!

Matt in the Jewish Ghetto in front of the bank where the term "in the red" originates from 

The Rialto Bridge 

Gorgeous view from the roof of a department store

St. Mark's Basilica

The coolest department store right by our Airbnb!

Doge details

The Bridge of Sighs

So glad we went to Suso Gelato 5 times in 2 days :)

WEDNESDAY

We took the train from Venice to Florence. We decided to walk to the train station, which ended up being fine, although we got lost a few times along the way ;). The train was lovely! We passed through snow, the countryside, and a few small towns. Once we made it to our Airbnb, we set off to explore! We saw the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio, and walked up to the beautiful Piazzale Michelangelo. It was a great way to get acclimated to the city. We had a great lunch at Zaza's, but our dinner that night was really spectacular! We ordered the 40oz. Florentine steak at a small, local place our Airbnb hostess reccomened to us. It was delicious! Matt said it was the best steak he's had in his whole life. Naturally, we finished the day with gelato.

THURSDAY

Thursday was museum day! We began the day at the amazing Uffizi Galllery. It was amazing to see famous works from Michelangelo, DaVinci, and others. I only remembered a little about this place from the trip three years ago, so it felt basically brand new! After the Uffizi, we got panninis for lunch. They were good, but nothing compared to Sub Shop in Memphis, which seriously has the most delicious sanwiches EVER. Next up was the Accademia to see the David. There is something so awe-inspiring about turning the corner and seeing Michelangelo's masterpiece looming large under his special dome. Matt and I sat (it was practially empty) and took it all in for almost half an hour. The other room full of statues was really cool too. What we did next was an idea from my mom! We walked all the way to the St. Regis, which is where my family stayed when we came in 2015. I love the area around the hotel. We went to the gorgeous Winter Garden for tea! It was very quiet and the perfect way to warm up, chill out, and it felt extremely luxurious. Matt decieded our next activity was going to be hiking to a park! We walked up several very steep hills, passed where Kim and Kanye got married, and ended up smack-dab in the middle of nowhere. Despite this, we enjoyed the beautiful sunset and have a few good laughs. After walking back to our hotel,  we were both too tired to do anything dramatic for dinner. So, we returned to the trusty Zaza's! I had delicious gnocchi, and Matt had the pizza again. It was a perfect last meal.

I had such an amazing time in Italy! It was just as wonderful as I rememered it being. Experiencing it with Matt made it even better. :)