Home for the holidays

Well I'm currently in Idaho, I got to go home for about three weeks for Christmas. Derek has been on leave as well, so it has been very very nice having everyone around, I know my mom is enjoying it. Aside from getting the stomach flu right before flying home, it has been a relaxing time.

Scotland

I went to Scotland last weekend. The first day I went on the Royal Yacht Britannia, which was the Queen's vacation yacht. The Queen only had a single bed in her room and a single bed for Phillip in separate bedrooms. I went to Edinburgh and saw the Edinburgh Castle, which is huge and impressive looking on the outside but the inside isn't as impressive, it did have the crown jewels and the Stone of Destiny which is just a rock that was used to coronate the Kings and Queens of Scotland, which was stolen by the English of course and eventually returned however they steal it back to coronate the monarchs of Great Britain. Edinburgh the city is pretty cool, it has very gothic style architecture. I also went to Holyrood Palace which was fantastic. It has like the four poster beds that Mary Queen of Scotts used and the current Queen stays there occasionally. I also went to Stirling to see the Wallace Monument. It's on a giant hill and it has 246 steps to get to the top. It is home to William Wallace's sword which is 5'6" so they estimate that Wallace was about 6'6". Then I went to Loch Ness, which is in the highlands. The Loch is really deep and the water is black with amber coloured waves. I went on a boat tour of the Loch and it was really windy so there were lots of waves and the boat was hitting them pretty hard. I didn't see Nessy but I'm pretty sure the boat hit her as we were going over one of the waves because there was a loud thud.

All caught up

Ok well, that should get me up to date. I will post some more pictures of my latest adventures in London when I get back. I am going to see the musical Wicked which I am so excited for! Until then, cheers!

Bamburgh Castle

Here is another castle that I went to. It is amazing! It is right on the sea front and is supposedly haunted by several ghosts. There are actually 5 apartments there also where people can live, wish I could rent one of those!

Vindolanda

Ok, so I have been dating one of the locals here for a few months now (against my father's advice not to date a limey, ha ha sorry dad) and he took me to this place called Vindolanda. It was an old Roman village built in about 223 AD. It was fantastic and there is an active archeological dig still going on. In the museum they have a whole wall of old gladiator sandals that have been found, a bunch of coins, painted glass, and jewelry that have been found.

Dublin, Ireland

Well, I finally made one of my dreams come true and I went to Ireland! I have wanted to go to Ireland since I was little kid and I wrote many school reports on the country. Dublin was great, the people were so friendly and helpful, one gentleman even walked about half a mile with me to help me find the place I was looking for. I toured the Jameson Whiskey Distillery, the Guiness factory, Christchurch, Dublin Castle, walked along the river Liffy, went to a really fantastic market, and went to a service at St. Patrick's Cathedral. I ate a full Irish Breakfast, which is better than a full English Breakfast. :) I also went to Trinity College and saw the book of Kells, which is an ancient, illustrated version of the gospels of the bible. Trinity College was amazing and I fell in love with my tour guide's accent!