La Vie En France

France. What can  I say, everything you would expect but more. Mostly, smart fashionable people wearing cool glasses reading books outside cafes while sipping on espresso. (Reading really big books about philosophy and the meaning of life).

Krista and I woke up early and took part in this aspect of the French lifestyle, sitting outside a cafe enjoying crepes and cappuccinos.  The cafes literally take over the city, every street seems to have at least 3 per block and they are all packed with people.
Hi Priya!
Here's a few of my favorite parts of the city.

 

I asked Krista to make it look like the water was coming out of my mouth.... She needs to be a photographer.

                                                                   The Notre Dame!

Beautiful beach in Marseille. 

I honestly can picture myself living in France at some point in my life. Such a relaxed lifestyle filled with people who are interested in fashion, reading, culture, and great coffee.

Munich, Newcastle, and the In Between

Oktoberfest, what can I say... a lot of beer, a lot of singing, a lot of sausages, too many people passed out on the side of the road, and memories that will bring a smile to my face for the rest of my life.

Our journey to Oktoberfest started by arriving into a small airport in the town of Memmingen. We took a few hours to explore the small town and were so excited we did, it was great.

Beautiful town with the absolute BEST gelato. Although we didn't really know what the flavors were considering our German is a little bit rusty, we enjoyed every bite of it. We then took a train to Munich where we arrived at the famous festival. Here's what we saw...

It was so overwhelming. 12 huge beer tents surrounded by rides, thousands of people, and hundreds of food choices. And most of all soooo many lederhosen and dirndls. Here's a few guys we sat with all dressed in their lederhosen.

We spent Saturday in the Hippodrom tent and enjoyed a few steins and a half chicken dinner, classic Oktoberfest cuisine. But, to get into each of these tents one most get in line hours in advance and wait in massive crowds of people like this;

 

 

The wait is worth it, Germans know how to make the best beer.

And they do not skimp on the size either... I would love to go back some day, and bring a dirndl along to wear next time.

 We arrived back home and celebrated Brittany's 22nd birthday on Friday. We went to her favorite restaurant here, Deacon Brodie's. Then we had a night out on the town and ran into the Edinburgh rugby team and the Italian rugby team.

                                                                           
                                                Here is Brittany with all of our Italian Rugby friends.

                           

                        Happy Birthday Brittany! 22 is going to be a great year for her,  I can already tell.

Also we took a Harry Potter tour through Edinburgh last week. J. K. Rowling wrote most of the Harry Potter books in local cafes. A lot of the places in the books come from real places here in Edinburgh.

Here is a school which as four different houses, each with the same color as those Rowling wrote about in Harry Potter.

                                                          
                                                               Tom Riddell's grave site.

Here is Victoria getting sorted into a house, she got Ravenclaw... most be a mudblood.

                                                     Here are a few cafes where Rowling wrote.

This past weekend we took a trip to Newcastle. Surprisingly, everyone in Newcastle hates Newcastle Brown Ale, and we got very weird looks for drinking it at a bar.

The Tyne River was so beautiful and I kind of got a bit obsessed with taking pictures of it... I'll only share two but there are about 30 more that all pretty much look the same. 

Then the highlight of our trip, a Newcastle United vs Manchester United game. Can't even describe the crazy fans, loud chants, and unbelievable skill of the players. 

 

Now we are back home in beautiful Edinburgh, here is our view from our favorite spot in the city to sit and read called "the meadows".

 

Also, when we return to Edinburgh we return to our normal diet of 11 pence top raman. 

 

 

 Next we are expecting visits from Victoria's parents and my sister-in-law Ashley!

Down By a Few Lochs

Our last few weeks here in Scotland have been packed with traveling and touring more of Edinburgh! I bought my very own kilt and celebrated being able to legally drink alcohol. In America. We traveled deep into the highlands to visit Loch Ness and traveled high up onto the peaks of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh to see a great view of the city. We learned to never eat at a American Diner in Scotland and that Victoria may or may not end up with a Indian man... Krista got a surprise present of socks and pop rocks, and most importantly RANCH! If I could tell anything to Scottish people it would be that Ranch and mayonnaise are not the same. Brittany started to going to school and became the first one of us to do anything responsible while in Scotland!

Our trip up to the highlands started with a three hour bus ride up the winding roads into the quaint  town of Inverness. We unfortunately decided to eat at the Route 66 diner which proved to be the worst restaurant we have ever dared to eat in. Totally disgusting. We forgave Inverness for having such a terrible restaurant as we ventured into the city and saw this:

  

And all of this.

 

 

We explored Inverness our first evening and woke up crossing our fingers that we could get a tour to the Isle of Skye, which we unfortunately did not get. BUT, we got a bus to see Loch Ness and it was so beautiful!

We took a stroll down the mountain that borders Loch Ness into the small town at the base of the Loch. It was the most beautiful two miles of Scotland I have seen yet. Completely breath-taking.

If I had a nickel for every time I've said "this is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen" while here I would probably be a millionaire. Or have two dollar...

We arrived back in Edinburgh and got ready for Tuesday, my birthday! We all bought kilts and planned a night of pub golfing to celebrate my 21st!

                               

                                
Here we are, birthday sash and all. We had a really great time out and my friends made sure I had the best birthday celebration possible.

We left Friday for Glasgow and Brittany's soccer coach and good friend Craig made sure we had a blast while visiting his home town. We visited William Wallace's monument and the remains of his home:

We went to our first Scottish football game, Morton vs. The Rovers and loved the chants and the crazy fans.

We went to Craig's best friends 50th birthday party and danced the night away to the greatest hits of the 70s and 80s. We spent Sunday touring Glasgow and were amazed by the historic city center.

Next stop, Munich. We leave tomorrow and cannot wait to see what all the hype about Oktoberfest is about.
Oh, and there's usually a rainbow here everyday.

Lots of love from Scotland!!