To Scotland We Go...

May 25, 2012

We found out that the funeral will not be until May 31^st.  That gives us an extra week here in England.  I have never been to Scotland, so we decided to drive up to Edinburgh (pronounced Edinbruh) for a few days.  We have a very good friend from our rowing days, Carolyn Anderson, who lives up there, and we really wanted to see her.  Unfortunately, she is leaving for the weekend, so we only get to spend this evening with her.  However, being the ever generous person that she is, she invited us to use her flat while she is away.  Not sure how we are able to be so blessed.

So begins our drive up to Edinburgh and I enter Scotland for the very first time…

We are staying at a place on the west side, so we get to our hotel, check in, and take a train to the center of Edinburgh.

The walk from the train station to Carolyn’s place is beautiful.

When we get to Carolyn’s, there are hugs all around.  We haven’t seen her for five years, but it feels just like yesterday…

Her flat is gorgeous with views of the Crags and Arthur’s Seat.

I love the little wall hanging, it made me laugh…

Then Carolyn took us on a hike up the Crags…

Arthur's Seat...

The Crags...

The views were spectacular…

This is Carloyn's flat.  It's just above the trees, second floor of the front building, on the corner.

There are some pools in the lower left of this picture where the kids want to go wading…

 This porcupine building houses a museum where you can go experience an earthquake… Danika really wanted to go there…

We couldn’t have asked for better weather…

So we had to finish with an ice cream J

Then we walked through town…

Loved this curved street…

We had a nice dinner at a noodle place before we said our goodbyes and headed back to the train station.  It was a beautiful ride back even though we were all pretty tired…

What a great day…

~Mary

Our Day at Roundhay Park..

May 21, 2012

Today was the day for David to take his dad around to run errands such as picking up the death certificate and meeting with the undertaker…  So, the kids and I had the day to ourselves.  We spent the night at Peter’s place, so we had Roundhay Park just across the street.  We decided to spend the day exploring the park…

Jason and Danika and I spent some time playing ball and the two of them wrestled in the expanse of grass.  It was very quiet there.  There is a lake nearby, so we decided to walk the perimeter.

  

We found a lovely patch of bluebells…

Interesting trees…

  

And lots of birds including swans, ducks, baby Canadian geese, and much more…

We really had a lovely day in the park.

Later we went back to stay with Andrew and Julie where Danika and Jason played on their hoppers.  They have a lovely back garden…

This is the view from the room Danika and Jason are staying in. 

A very relaxing day with the kids.

~Mary

A Resting Place for Grandma...

May 19,

Today the family joined together to take Peter to see where we might scatter Joyce’s ashes.  Peter and Joyce's place is just across the street from a very large park called Roundhay Park.  There is a garden within called Monet’s Garden fashioned after his garden in France.  These arches are like the ones in France.

  

We took a walk through the lovely garden…

Enjoyed the spring blooms…

  

And took in the surroundings, picturing how peaceful it would be to sit here and remember Joyce.

  

We even talked about getting a memorial bench..

A lovely time with the family…

~Mary

Our last day in Rome...

May 15, 2012

We decided we needed one more trip to Roma for several reasons.  The most important was that we needed to purchase a coffee cup for our neighbors, Mike and Arlene Reding at The Tazza d’Oro Casa del Caffe.  They bought two the last time they were there, and broke one.  We wanted to make sure we were able to get one before we left.  We also wanted to return so that we could walk from place to place and really get a feel for it without being rushed.  And lastly, we wanted to go inside the Pantheon, as we hadn’t had time in previous visits.

First we were up at 5:00 a.m. to catch the train from Perugia.  We began our day in Rome by going straight to The Tazza d’Oro Casa del Caffe and getting said coffee cup.  The only problem was that there were two to choose from, blue or brown… we liked the blue one better, so we hope we chose the right one J  While we were there, we bought some ice drinks (granite di caffe or ciaccolatta con panna) and headed for the Pantheon.  I think Danika is loving that chocolate slushy!

The Pantheon was completed in 120 AD by Emperor Hadrian.  These old buildings just amaze me.  They architecture is spectacular. The dome is actually wider than Michelangelo’s dome at St. Peter’s Basilica, making it one of the largest in the world.  It is made of concrete, with the concrete getting thinner and lighter with height.  The highest part is made out of volcanic pumice. 

During the Rennaissance, Brunelleschi was given permission to cut a hole in the dome to analyze the material.  You can see it in the picture below.  Brunelleschi built the dome in Florence.

The Pantheon is the only ancient building in Rome continually in use since its construction.  Some pictures of the artwork inside…

This is the original bronze door. 

These are the original columns that are made from one solid piece of granite and were brought from Egypt… how did they do that???  I really like this picture too…  don’t you think it would make a great postcard?

Luckily we had another beautiful day in Italy as we walked to the Trevi fountain.  The kids threw coins into the fountain ensuring their return to Rome someday.   We spent quite a bit of time relaxing here…

 Then it was on to the Spanish Steps…  this is the boat at the bottom…  really busy with tourists here…

Not sure what all the fuss is about, I must admit I was not really impressed… but here are the steps…

Once at the top, we had a lovely walk overlooking the city…

And ended up in the Piazza del Popolo.   In medieval times, this was the main entry into Rome.

We walked down the Via del Corso from this gate to the Forum.  Along the way, we had to stop at the Ferrari store so Jason could pick out his 16^th birthday present… Right…

 We crossed the Arno river with gorgeous views in both directions…

 Passed by the Corte di Cassazione…

Then walked back across a different bridge with a lovely view of St. Peter’s.

By this time, we were starving, so we decided to stop for a meal along the river.  Danika is saying “What is in this sandwich?”  Jason is saying. “I don’t care.”  David and I are just happy to be sitting down…

In the Piazza Navona (dating back to 80 AD) there are two fountains… this little one…

And the Four Rivers Fountain.  The Nile, with its head covered because its headwaters were unknown, the Ganges, holding an oar, The Danube, turning to look at the obelisk, and Uruguay’s Rio de la Plata, tumbling back in shock, wondering how he ever made the top four rivers of the world (as Rick Steves says in our Italy 2012 guidebook)

Not really sure how this Texas statue ended up here…

We were seriously doing the full walking tour of the city, so it only seemed right to go up more steps.  This time they were Michelangelo’s stairway to the square by the same name atop Capitol Hill.

Off to the Forum… actually we only went by the Forum as we had already been in on a previous visit.

Same holds true for the Colosseum, so we said our goodbyes…

 Then it was off to the train station for a relaxing ride back to Perugia.  The kids were very happy to get off of their feet and onto their iPods…

The countryside is stunning this time of year…

I love seeing Trevi from the train.  It is so lovely up on the hill, and it reminds me that we are getting close to home…

When we arrived back in Perugia, we still had a good 25 minute hike up hill (some of it really steep) back to our apartment.  Aside from the 350 actual stairs on the way, we still had the 52 stairs up to our apartment.  We were all really tired.  In fact, the kids usually have to rest a time or two on the steep hills we climb that don’t have stairs.  They were so tired after walking Rome that they wanted to get home as quickly as possible.  They walked all the way home without resting or complaining once…  I think it was a miracle.  Needless to say, we it was fabulous to be able to plop into bed after a great last day in Rome.

~Mary