Happy 2013! I hope everyone's New Year is off to a good start. After a long hiatus, I'm back on the blog and looking forward to sharing our travel adventures! 

Mark and I spent our Christmas week in London with friends who were visiting from San Diego. As we couldn't make it back to the States for the holidays this year, it was nice to have a part of home on our side of the pond!

Mark, Steph, Brent and I rented a great flat in the Earl's Court neighborhood. With a kitchen and a nice living room, it was really fun to have the space to make a meal and spend time together.

The four of us arrived in London the Saturday before Christmas and checked into our flat. After investigating our home for the next week, the four of us met up for drinks with our friend Brad who Mark and I know from Lausanne. Sunday morning, Mark and I headed out to explore while Steph and Brent attempted to get over their jet-lag! We took the tube to South Kensington station and then walked from there through Kensington Gardens, stopping to see Princess Diana's memorial fountain and then onto Knightsbridge, one of the famous shopping districts in London. We enjoyed a delicious sushi lunch in the Harrod's food hall. I love Harrod's food hall and drag Mark to it every visit we make to London! It has an amazing array of foods and decadent desserts on display and every room you walk through is a sensory overload of beautiful, colorful foods from cupcakes to cavier!

Brent and Steph met us at Harrods after we finished our lunch and from there we walked to Hyde Park to check out the Winter Wonderland festivities. Finally, we ended our sightseeing day by walking down Oxford Street, another famous shopping area to view the Christmas lights.

On Christmas Eve, we headed out to try and catch some sights that were open that day, as many attractions closed from the 24-26th. We started at Buckingham Palace where the Changing of the Guards was taking place. This time-honored tradition is the exchange of the new guard with the old guard previously on duty.  We got there shortly before the ceremony started so we there were are already lots of crowds in front of us.. TIP: Get there very early to have a chance at standing at the palace gate--the best observation spot! We did manage to see the new guard marching down the street toward the palace.  From there we walked to Westminster to see Big Ben and the Parliament building and Westminster Abbey. To rest our feet, we stopped for lunch at a pub, the first of many during our week in London!

After lunch, we continued with our sight-seeing day, stopping to peep through the gates onto Downing Street where the British Prime Minster lives. From there we passed the home of the Royal Horseguards and then onto to Trafalgar Square to see the "official" Christmas tree, given to England by Norway every year.

Our group split off so that Mark and I could do some shopping while Steph and Brent went on a photo safari! After more hours of walking, our tired legs made their way back to the apartment where our housemates were, still recovering from jet-lag. Steph made a great Mac 'n Cheese dinner for our Christmas Eve meal and we sat down to enjoy a delicious meal and hang out for the evening.

Christmas Day was a very relaxed one for us. As everything in London closes on Christmas, including all public transportation, we had fun staying in with National Lampoon's Christmas vacation and preparing our Christmas feast! Steph and I-thanks to Pinterest!-made a traditional British meal of roast beef, veggies, yorkshire pudding and gravy! Everything turned out well and we enjoyed our meal with traditional British Christmas crackers! Christmas crackers are paper rolls that you pull to make a "cracking" sound--hence the name! Once unwrapped, they unveil little goodies, including a paper crown to be worn during dinner! Bon Appetite!

Stay tuned for Part Two of our Christmas week in London!

Mark and I spent a long weekend in Scotland at the end of April. We made our base in Edinburgh and went sight-seeing around the city for two days. On our third day, we took an all-day tour up in the well-known Scottish Highlands.

We arrived in Edinburgh in the late afternoon and checked into our hotel, the Apex Waterloo Place. We had reservations for dinner so we walked over to The Tower Restaurant, located inside the National Museum of Scotland. We had an unbelievably good meal and enjoyed the fabulous views of Edinburgh Castle from the restaurant. Mark and I shared one of the restaurant's signature dishes, the Tower venison Wellington with roasted potatoes, beetroot and green beans. So delicious!!

On Friday morning, we started off our sight-seeing at the Edinburgh Castle. The castle is great because it sits on a hill at the top of the Royal Mile, Edinburgh's most well-known and central street for tourists. Free tours are offered at the entrance of the castle so we took the tour when we first arrived. Afterwards, we wandered around and learned more with our audio guide...well worth the cost if you decide to visit.  You can book your tickets online to save time waiting in line.  The castle origins date back to 1130, but has been rebuilt through the centuries as needed.   The castle grounds also offer beautiful views over the city.

After the castle, we headed down the Royal Mile to check out some more sights. St. Giles's Cathedral, the historic city church of Edinburgh, originating from the 12 century, is worth a visit for its beautiful stained glass windows. Continuing on our walk, we popped into Cadenhead's Whisky Shop. If you are in the market for whisky, this shop is well-known for their whisky knowledge and can help you find a bottle. You'll also see the shop's dog keeping an eye out in the window!

At the end of the Mile, you reach the Scottish Parliament Building and Holyrood Palace.  The original Scottish Parliament dates back to 1235, but adjourned in 1707 when Scotland and England united as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Parliament operated from Westminster, England. In 1997, the Scottish people voted to re-create a Scottish Parliament and elections were held in 1999.  The new Scottish Parliament building was officially opened in 2004. 

After checking out the Parliament Building, we crossed the street for a tour of Holyrood Palace.  The Palace is the Queen and Royal Family's official residence when they visit Edinburgh. The Palace is open to visit when the royal family is not there. The palace is famous for its past history as well, as this was the home of the ill-fated Mary, Queen of Scots, following her return from France in 1561. On the grounds outside you can also see the ruins of the Holyrood Abbey and the beautiful gardens.

After leaving the Holyrood Palace, we headed back up the Royal Mile and went to check out the Scotch Whisky Experience! This is a fun place to learn more about how Scotch Whisky is made. The first part of the tour is a short ride that takes you through the whisky-making process (the ride is like the one you go on in the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland!).  After the ride, our tour leader told us about the four geographic types of Scotch whisky and then we had a tasting. Mark wanted to try a few more so we enjoyed sitting at the whisky bar after the tour and chatting with one of the bartenders while Mark enjoyed a flight.

On Sunday morning,  I went on a one-hour tour of Mary King's Close, a fun, character-guided tour of one of the underground streets off the Royal Mile. I highly recommend this tour to learn more about the people who lived in Edinburgh in the 1600's. This particular close (an alley or lane) was named after Mary King, a successful businesswoman who was a widow and a mother of four.  At the time of her life, a woman with her influence was very rare and naming a close after a woman was very unusal. The tour gives you an entertaining history of her family and what life was like in one of Edinburgh's closes including during periods of the plague. (No pictures allowed, unfortunately!)

After the tour, we took the public bus out to Leith, Edinburgh's port to take a tour of The Royal Britannia. The Britannia was the Queen and Royal Family's yacht from 1952 until it was de-commissioned.  The Britannia has hosted many royal functions as well as being the official residence the Royal Family when traveling. The tour is very interesting as the rooms have been kept as they were used then the Royal Family was using the yacht. Visitors get to see all of the family's rooms, including the Queen and her husband's bedrooms, the formal dining room and the quarters of the "yotties," the men who worked on the ship. There are also a lot of photos of the Queen and the family over the years on the ship.

After our tour of the ship, we caught the bus back into the city and then hit up a couple of whisky shops so Mark could do some shopping! The second shop, The Whiski Room, had a bar attached to it so we enjoyed a whisky-tasting. Everyone where we went, the Scots were super friendly and the men at both whisky shops were no exception. The gentleman at the second shop recommended some good "beginner" whiskies to help me try and find one that I might like! To end the day, we ate another great meal at Oloroso, a restaurant with delicious food and more "Mary Poppins" views over the city rooftops.

We were up and at 'em early on Monday morning, our final day in Scotland to meet our day tour for a drive to the Scottish Highlands. Our tour company, Rabbie's, provides small tours in a a comfortable bus with a maximum of 16 people. We signed up for the "Loch Ness, Glencoe & the Higlands" 1 day tour, which was 12 hours, but worth it to see as much as we did! The beautiful, rugged and chilly landscape of the Scottish Highlands is rich in history and our tour guide provided us with a lot of information, stories and Scottish music along the way. A couple of our highlights along the way included Glencoe, one of Scotland's famous valleys where the famous Massacre of Glencoe occurred in the 1690s, and searching for Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster on Scotland's famous Ness Lake.

It was a wonderful trip and we can't wait to get back to the land of lochs, kilts and whisky to see more of this great country!

Mark and I headed to Bordeaux, France to check out a new city and enjoy some wine-tasting over Easter weekend! We arrived on Thursday afternoon and spent the rest of the day and Friday exploring Bordeaux.   The city, situated on the River Garonne, has some beautiful architecture as well as a great pedestrian area to wander around.

On Saturday, we took a guided day-trip to the Medoc wine region.

    Our driver and guide, Isabel, took us and the two other couples with us on a drive past some of the beautiful vineyards on the "Chateaux Road." Our first stop was at La Winery, a wine-shop just outside the city that provides wine-tastings. We sat down for a sample of five wines from around the region. We hopped back in the van and continued on to the town of Pauillac on the river to have some lunch. Then it was time to check out a couple of chateaux. The French word chateaux means castles, but the chateaux in the Bordeaux region are not castles, but the homes and vineyards.

    We learned a lot about wine on this tour, which was fun for us novices! Emperor Napolean III requested a wine classification during his reign, which led to the creation of the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. This classification ranked wines in importance from 1st to 5th crus (growths). The Medoc region grows mostly Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and blends with other grapes (Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot) to make their wines. Due to the mixture of the grapes, these wines are better when aged for longer periods of times, usually in upwards of 10 years.  

    Our first wine-tasting stop was at Chateau Lynch-Bages in the Pauillac appellation. We took a short tour of the winery and then had two tastings, the first of the higher quality 1st label wine. The second tasting was from the 2nd label, which is the wine which is good, but not as top-quality. Many chateaux put out two labels. We learned that you can usually tell the difference because on the wine labels, the better wine will always be listed under the Chateau's name.  The 2nd-tier wine is usually called a different name.

    Our final wine-tasting of the day was at Chateau Taillan in the Haut-Medoc appellation.  This beautiful estate and vineyard is just 11km outside of Bordeaux and dates from the Middle Ages.

   

Our second day was a wine tour out to the region of St. Emilion. The medieval village was a delight to wonder around, and the chateaux we visited were fantastic.

We drove out to St. Emilion with the same guide again, Isabel and the two other couples that were on our tour the day before. It was fun to re-join our group as we all got on along really well. Our first wine-tasting was at Chateau Soutard, producer of a Grand Cru Classe wine. The chateau was beautiful, having been renovated in the last couple of years. Our winery guide showed us the vineyard and then we got to check out the fermentation building and the new cellars, both built with beautiful design.  At the end, we were led into the tasting room for three different tastings, two from the first label, and one from the chateau's second label.  We really enjoyed this wine and bought a bottle to take home with us!

The next stop on our tour was in the village of St. Emilion. Our guide gave us some history about the town, as well as introduction to St. Emilion's famous macarons, a delicious cookie that comes from this area of Bordeaux.  After some quick instructions about where to eat and our meet-up point later in the afternoon, our group went to grab lunch at a cafe in one of the main squares.  After lunch, we picked up a couple of boxes of macarons...we couldn't leave without those!  Then it was time to meet up with everyone for another wine-tasting at a wine-merchant in the village.  We tasted five different wines from the St.Emilion region and enjoyed hearing about the different vineyards from our tasting leader and wine merchant.

Our final afternoon stop was at Chateau Laniote just outside the village of St.Emilion. A small, family-run estate, we were thoroughly entertained by the owner, a very charis. We first watched a video about the wine-making process and took a short tour of the fermentation and aging cellars. We ended our visit with a wine-tasting. It was great to see the differences between large and small estates. It gave us an appreciation for how much work it takes to run a vineyard, especially for a smaller estate where the family does all of the work.

We had a fantastic wine weekend in Bordeaux! We enjoyed lots of great French food and learned a lot about French wines! I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!