Brown Warrior in Edinburgh

 

Hello all! I have never dedicated a post before, so this will be my first time. This post is dedicated to Brandee's mom, Terri Duncan. She specifically wanted Brandee to tell me that she reads my blog every night before she goes to bed. Thanks for reading, Mrs. Duncan, and I hope you especially enjoy this post!

So, let's get started. I am going to focus on our trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, but I think I need to preface that with Justin and Brandee's arrival to London.

Daniel was going to take the tube to Heathrow airport to pick them up. About half way there, the train stopped and the announcer said that they are sorry for the inconvenience, but somebody is "under the train" a.k.a  somebody committed suicide, so all passengers will need to get off, as the line is now closed for clean up. Isn't that a lovely thought? So, Daniel had to take a cab for the remainder of the way to the airport AND a cab back, totaling 110 pounds! Side note- I read that 100 people a year jump in front of the tube in London. So sad! Anyways, that gave Justin and Brandee a charming first impression of Jolly ol' London!

OK, so they finally arrive to our flat, we do some exploring, and then take a private car (much, much cheaper) to the airport.

There is nothing as spectacular as a 1 hour flight. We took Little Red (Virgin Air) and although it was a bit more expensive, the experience was great! We could check luggage free of charge, they offered complimentary drinks, and the seats were very comfy. We got there so easily, hopped in our 4th cab of the day, and arrived to our destination.

This is where the fun really starts.

 

 

 

Not the flat where we stayed. But you would think so if you hear Justin describing it.

We used a site, Air B&B, to book our flat. We wanted to save money, and found that renting a flat was much cheaper than staying in a hotel.

 

Especially if it is a one bedroom flat that you are SHARING with the person who lives there (your host).

 

It was my fault. I had no idea that it was even an option on Air B&B to share someone's flat. We were so confused when our host let us in- her clothes were everywhere, kitchen counter was so cluttered, and HER CAT WAS SITTING ON THE BED WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE SKEEPING IN!

 

Her cluttered kitchen

The bathroom was teeny tiny, had enough hot water for only 1 shower every 30 minutes, and the toilet took some coaxing to flush.

 

Daniel and I laughed and called it a "true Scotland experience". We got to sleep in queen sized bunk beds! And we were right by the castle- could see it from the window! Plus, our host could help us out with what to do and we were saving so much money.

 

Justin and Brandee, well, not so much. They thought this was going to be a reenactment of the movie Hostel, and if I had a pence for every time I heard from Justin that he either wanted to take the next flight home to Houston or pay an exorbitant amount for a hotel, then I'd be a millionaire!

Yep, that's a roasted pig with a knife through it's head

 Justin and Brandee's culture shock continued for the rest of the night. They quickly learned that, along with the rest of Europe, Scotland is nothing like their manicured, brand new neighborhood in Suburbia, Houston. Things here are old, a little dingy. People are loud. Public transport gets interrupted by people killing themselves. Streets are crowded. It's very, very different.

The next morning, we woke up rather early. Justin wanted to get the hell out of the flat (before our 110 lb Scandanavian host would wake up and lock him in her closet for torture and experimentation), and we also had quite an itinerary for the day.



Our first plan was to walk to the castle. We walked the long way, and went through a lovely park to get there.

 

Old men playing the bagpipes, wearing elf ears and Santa beards. I love Edinburgh!

SANNNTTTAAAAA! I know him!

A race was getting started, and everyone was wearing Santa costumes! Bagpipes were being played and there was just so much excitement in the park. It was a great way to start our (windy) morning in Edinburgh. 

 

Once we were out of the park, we had to walk up some very steep hills to get to the castle. There's no way my bike could have made it up there. It was so cold, yet we were taking off our jackets once we made it to the top! 

 
The castle was the best I've been to so far. The hill it is on top of was created by a volcano 3000 years ago. People inhabited the hill around 2000 years ago, and the castle began being built over 1000 years ago. There are two statues framing the castle- the one on the right is William Wallace aka Brave Heart aka Mel Gibson.

Perks of being on top of a hill- great views of the city! And AWESOME wind blown hair

 

We started off with a 30 minute tour of the outside of the castle. Our guide, Euon, taught us all about the castle's history. I highly recommend taking the tour if you go and visit!

 



 



Trying to get the dang audio guide to work



 

 

The creepiest statue in Edinburgh. That's supposed to be a pope. Looks to me like a dead zombie grandma.

 

The wives locked up in jail.

We spent hours at the castle. We saw the war memorial (the newest building) and St. Margaret's chapel (the oldest building in Edinburgh), the jail, crown jewels, armor, cannons, and the war museum. It was well worth the 16 pounds a ticket and is a MUST see if you go to Edinburgh!

 

  All that walking uphill made us Bonds work up an appetite! We went to a local pub and we all had some authentic Scottish food. Scotch eggs, bangers and mash, meat pies, and of course some ales. The food was fantastic and so inexpensive compared to London!

We walked around a "wee" bit after lunch. Every building in Edinburgh is old- the city withstood World War II, so you feel like you are stepping back in time being in Edinburgh.

We stumbled across The Museum of Edinburgh, and it had everything you could imagine. Most impressive to me was the whale skull! 

 Daniel and I weren't in the mood for museuming, so we went to the pub across from it to wait for Justin and Brandee. Greyfriars Bobby was the most loyal dog in all of Scotland. Once his owner died, he guarded his grave for 14 years. The dog is an icon of Edinburgh. I loved the story!

After the museum, we went to the Scotch Tasting Experience.

It starts off with you going on a ride that explains how Scotch is made. I thought it was a little excessive- I would have much rather paid less money and have somebody explain it to me, then to take a ride. But everyone else loved it- they said it was like Disney World! Ha! 

Me, thinking this is lame and just wanting to get to the good stuff!

I love Scotch. Scotchy scotch scotch.

 After the ride, we learned all about the different regions in Scotland and the scotch that is made there. It was really quite interesting! We got to try a scotch from the Islat region (Ardbeg) and from the Highland region (GlenDronach). The Highland one was very good- a little spicy, but easy to drink. The instructor taught us to add just a splash of water to open it up, how to tell if it was a full bodied whiskey by swirling it, and smelling it to guess the region. The next Scotch was from Islay and it tasted like fire. I didn't care for it! Way too smokey. It was amazing how different the two Scotches tasted!

Once we learned about how to taste Scotch, we got to try a 25 year old, single malt Scotch. It was delicious! We drank it while admiring the largest collection of scotch in the world! Owned by a Brazilian, and not a single bottle had been opened! How sad. He had bottles over 100 years old, some worth tens of thousands of dollars.

I found it fitting, a Scotch made for teachers!

The boys loved the tasting and I am so happy to have turned Justin's opinion of Edinburgh around. I think when you imagine Scotland, you don't realize that it isn't all sheep dotted, rolling green hills and quaint villages- there are actually some large cities there, Edinburgh being one of them (although so much smaller than London). I wish we had time to rent a car and drive through the country side- next time!

 

Just to keep on trend with every one of our vacations involving lots of steps. Just one of the many, many flights of stairs we had to take in Edinburgh.

 

OH, and why this is titled Brown Warrior in Edinburgh: we found out that Brandee's maiden name, Duncan, means Brown Warrior, and we are now calling her that. So Terri, you are Momma Brown Warrior. Enjoy your new nick name!

 

My opinion of Edinburgh: I loved it. It felt safe, clean, and just really old. The pubs were fantastic, I really enjoyed the castle, and it was a great city to walk around in because everything is pretty close. It is probably my favorite UK city so far. Stay in the old town and go with an open mind: even though it's old, it's still a city. There are tourists, McDonalads, and GAPs there. It isn't a quaint little village. 

Small Talk

Hello! Bloggin' is going to be sparse for the next couple of weeks, because Justin (Daniel's bro) and Brandee (Justin's wife) are coming to visit! They board the plane tonight and arrive tomorrow morning!

Here's what's been goin' on this week...

 1. Want to hear something sad? I took this picture during a run....at 4 pm! And it's already this dark! I hadn't run up Primrose Hill in awhile, so I wanted to challenge myself and do it a couple of times before going to yoga on Sunday. And you know what? Uphill running was SO much easier than usual, and I think it's from all of the uphill biking I've been doing. So exciting seeing how much stronger I've gotten.

2. On Tuesday, in typical landlord fashion, it sounded like there was a circus going on upstairs from 11-midnight. Daniel had HAD ENOUGH and on Wednesday we moved all of our furniture, switching our living room and bedroom, in hopes that whatever room is above our living room doesn't receive as much action as the room above our bedroom.

It was quite awkward walking into our flat and immediately seeing our bed, but my baby has to sleep, so I went along with it.

Turns out, from the living room, outside traffic is pretty loud, and we still hear our landlords stomping around. Daniel contacted our relocation agents about the possibility of moving, and they wrote a letter to the landlords, reminding them that it is in our contract that they provide a peaceful environment for us. This is very touchy, because I think even if they were still trying to be quiet, we would hear them because the walls are paper thin. However, maybe this will spur them to NOT do laundry and dishes as midnight and to just try and walk a little softer. Either way, I am dreading the awkwardness that is to come.

And, we ended up moving our furniture back to its original place on Thursday night.

3. Got Daniel his own thick, puffy Primark jacket because Scotland is going to be FREEZING- we leave tomorrow, about 5 hours after Justin and Brandee arrive! Saturday is going to be a long day for them!

4. I've gotten breakfast, drinks, and coffee with different girl friends this week. Look at me being all social!

5. Ok, I think that's it. Will try and update y'all on Scotland next week! Have a great weekend!

Thanksgiving in London

I didn't realize I would miss Thanksgiving so much, but I really did (even with my mom and sister visiting). Obviously, people don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, and I knew that as the holiday approached, but that didn't make it any less strange. If my family weren't here, it would have been just a normal, mundane day here in the UK. Daniel worked, the tubes were crowded, children were at school. Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday: you're with your loved ones, you eat a ton of food, and it signifies the start of the holiday season. People are a little extra cheerful, strangers smile at you, you can feel the joy and excitement in the air. All of that was missing, and it made me feel deeply lonely, especially after my mom and sister left.

Plus, all of you facebookers posting pictures of your turkey dinners, Christmas trees, and families didn't help with my homesickness :-P

The absolutely adorable couple...J. Crew called, and they want y'all to model for their Holiday catalogue...

SO, we were very thankful that our friends Sadia and Keith were hosting a Thanksgiving dinner on the Saturday after turkey day.

Keith went to an international high school in Jakarta and several of his class mates now live in London. They were all there for dinner, and for nearly all of them it was their first Thanksgiving meal ever!

The food was so crazy good! My mouth is watering just thinking about it...one of the best Thanksgiving meals I have ever had! Not a single dish was missed...we had turkey (duh), mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, mac and cheese, corn bread, and one of the most delicious sweet potato casseroles I have ever had (and that is saying a lot, since I bake sweet potatoes all the time. But there is something that can be said about sweet potatoes covered in brown sugar, with marshmallows drowning in them). The wine seemed to be limitless, as well, which is a good thing when A. It's Thanksgiving and you're 6 time zones away from home and B. You don't drive! Also, we had pumpkin pie and gingerbread cake! Not to mention a bunch of cheese and olives that I devoured while waiting for the turkey. Ohhh how I wish I scooped up some leftovers while nobody was looking!



Could Sadia be an any more gorgeous hostess? She looks like she came straight from a magazine spread!

 

Us, about 5 minutes before we practically licked our plates clean.

 It was so, so very kind of the Turner family to host Thanksgiving at their flat. We will NEVER forget our first Thanksgiving abroad and are so thankful for that delicious meal and great company!

Poe's in London

Some random, captioned pictures to broadcast what we did in London with my mom and sister. 

 

Street art we found while walking along Regent's Canal. I wrote to live everyday with joy, Mom wrote to live life with no regrets, and Madeline wrote to adopt a British accent. Ha!

Regent's Park. So lovely. We walked through it before leaving for Paris on my family's first morning in Europe.

There are people in London who have the very important job of sweeping leaves EVERYDAY. They get slippery after awhile!

Buckingham Palace. Not to impressive, compared to Parisian architecture!

What's a trip to London without checking out Harrods? We scoped out the food sections and had a pot of tea there.

Westminster is only a couple of tube exits south of ours. You get off and literally run in to Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. PLUS, we got to tour the abbey for free because I live in the Westminster borough.

Walking around Soho with our Starbucks. Pic at Liberty!



Christmas in London :-)

Our rations after Borough Market. Bread, pasta, olives, quiche, jam, and wine straight from the barrel! I can take that bottle and refill it for only 5 pounds!

We did so many other things and I can't believe none of us took pictures! Along with everything I wrote about that we did for my birthday, We...

- Took the bus to Oxford Circus and had a lil shoppin' trip

- Saw Book of Mormon and died laughing! And then proceeded to sing the only line from each song we remembered for the rest of the week (I wanna Baptizeee herrr...It's a spooky Mormon Hell Dream!...Just turn it off! )

- Walked along South Bank and through the Christmas Market, where my mom bought herself a new purse!

-Walked along Abbey Road and pubbed it up at some of our favorite neighborhood joints

-Admired the works of Picasso, Dali, and Monet at the Tate Modern

I loveedddddd having my mom and sister visiting and I was so not ready for them to leave! I enjoyed showing them around London and was very proud of myself for never getting us lost (thank GOD for GPS on phones). We laughed so much through out the trip and made lots of memories! I was depressed the whole day that they left, but I am thankful that we will see them again in a few weeks for Christmas!

Paris, je t'aime (kinda)

Hello readers! I have a TON of pictures to show y'all from Paris...and get ready, because a similar post will probably be written in a few weeks after we go to Paris again with Justin and Brandee.

So, let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start...

We took the Eurostar to Paris from London. Cannot say enough good things about taking the Eurostar/ train in general when you have about 3 or less hours of a journey. It is so much faster and easier than a plane, since you don't have to get there super early and go through the whole ordeal of going through an airport. 

We were SO lucky and stayed at our friend Vincent's family's flat, in the heart of the Latin Quarter. We had hundreds of shops, bistros, and wine bars in a .5 mile radius around the flat. It was so lively, and the flat itself was AWESOME! Super Parisian looking...ceiling with exposed wood beams, a wall of stone, and a gorgeous view.



I already told you about the tragedy of the abducted MK bag, but I've neglected to tell y'all about the second worse thing to happen to us. I'd been raving about this cheap Primark puffy jacket I had bought a couple of weeks ago. Well, about 2 minutes after I rub in how warm I was in my puffer jacket to my complaining and cold family, I ran into a pole and snagged the arm onto a nail hanging off of it. Yah, I know. So that's why it looks like I am bleeding stuffing in the rest of these pictures.

We started off our trip by going to this quaint wine bar along the Seine river (I believe called L'Eccluse). It fit about 3 tables in it. We had a couple glasses of wine, some fresh locally made bread, and creamy, soft cheeses. Délicieux! I loved it- every restaurant had huge, crinkly brown paper bags filled with freshly made bread from the local bread shops. Nothing frozen or preservative-laden here!

           






Paris is just gorgeous at night. We walked off all of that cheese and walked by Notre Dame, the Louvre, and just along the river. Daniel was our tour guide, and we must have walked over 20 miles total while in Paris!




We did actually go in the Louvre, but it was just us 3 ladies and we were in and out in less than 2 hours. It's just so overwhelming! And Paris is such a beautiful city- who wants to spend the whole time in a museum?


We walked along Champs Elysees, where there were was a Christmas market. We all got some piping hot mulled wine to warm our hands and bellies while we walked.





There is actually a couple of Ladurees in London, but it isn't a trip to Paris without going in and buying some macaroons! We tried all sorts of flavors...coffee, orange, raspberry, strawberry yogurt, chocolate, vanilla...oh, so yummy, especially after all of that walking!

Speaking of all of that walking...I should have posted these pictures when I blogged about my sister's new Fashion Sport Fashion Shoes. Before buying those fashionable kicks, we went to the pharmacy and bought her some overpriced gel pads. She was gellin'! 

Of course, I have to end this post with us at the Eiffel Tower. We didn't bother taking the lift to the top, but instead just took pictures on the ground.

Paris is a gorgeous city, probably the most beautiful city I have ever been to. That was my second time going, and Daniel has been loads of times for work. However, even though we SO enjoyed this trip, my mom's purse getting stolen just left a sour taste in my mouth about the whole city. Nearly everyone I have talked to about that also has a similar story. I hope they do something soon about their growing crime rate!