Last minute decisions on our vacation led us to Cambridge and I’m incredibly grateful we got to explore this amazing place!  It’s funny where life will sometimes lead you, and we absolutely fell in love with Cambridge.  Not including travel days, we spent 2 full days exploring the best of Cambridge and I’m so excited to share it with you.

We stayed at The Regent Hotel which overlooked Parkers Piece.  We loved the hotel so much, and because Cambridge is a college town our room had this really cool modern calculus wallpaper.  I found waking up to big calculus equations both stimulating and horrifying at the same time.  Parkers Piece is a 25 acre green grassy field, with trees and benches around the edge, where people will socialize and relax.  This was during the Europe heatwave so it was mostly brown so I didn’t bother with a photo.

Many people told us to go punting in Cambridge, and our hotel easily set that up for us and told us where to go.  Punting dates back some 3000 years, and our guide was really good.  He gave us so much history about Cambridge as well as some funny stories.  There are 31 colleges in Cambridge, my two favorites being Kings and Trinity.

A funny story about Trinity is that Charles the Prince of Wales was actually not accepted at first, but a after a phone call from the Queen he was miraculously accepted, and he is the student with the lowest grades to ever be accepted.  Ouch – and those are the exact words of our guide.  Another funny story is that the students like to climb to the top of the buildings and leave weird stuff for people to see, from santa hats, underwear, construction cones, and the strangest – a car was left on top of one of the college buildings.  It’s a mystery to this day how the students got it up there.

My favorite part about punting down the River Cam was seeing all the gorgeous bridges.  A well known bridge is the Bridge of Sighs, below, given the name from Queen Victoria when she thought it resembled the Venice Bridge of Sighs.

Mathematical Bridge, below, is also another favorite.  It is also known as Newton’s Bridge because a popular fable tells that Sir Isaac Newton originally designed it to be built without any nuts or bolts, it was designed entirely out of straight timbers all in compression so that it didn’t need them.  Then one year the students took it apart to see if they could rebuild it, but they couldn’t figure out how to get it back together so they had to reassemble it using nuts and bolts.

The Eagle Pub is a large pub with a great garden in the back and is rumored to be haunted.  The staff at the pub is always sure to leave the upstairs window open.  There was a family that lived up there a long time ago, and a young boy died in a fire.  If they don’t leave the window open for the boy then the pub will have bad luck and the window will spontaneously open on it’s own.  There is also a ghost who sits at table 3, you’re welcome to sit with him and enjoy a beer, but just be warned if he doesn’t like you he will spill your drink.

There are also a lot of great boutiques to shop at, my favorite was the Gifts for Interesting People store.  It was filled with so many creative and unusual gifts, even if you aren’t in a shopping mood definitely take a peak inside!

In another happy coincidence, the annual Cambridge Shakespeare Festival was going on, and one evening we watched The Taming of the Shrew outdoors surrounded by the trees.  The actors were really great!

Here are a few more beautiful pictures we were able to capture…

The colleges are just absolutely gorgeous, it’s almost unbelievable.  Later that evening we had a FaceTime call with Ashley and she was so amazed we were in Cambridge.  She said it always had been her secret dream to go there and wanted a t-shirt.  Cambridge is so beautiful and safe feeling.  You can feel all the knowledge and thirst for learning in the air.  Anyone traveling through England it makes a great stop, we had 2 full days exploring but we relaxed and took it at a slow pace.  I think it could be condensed into one full day without travel.  Also don’t forget to check some of the fun year-round festivals including the 8 week long summer Shakespeare Festival!

Recently we took a trip to Dublin, as you may or may not know this wasn’t our first time visiting the city.  On our last visit to Ireland we spent a good chunk of our time outside of the city.  It was an amazing trip but once we returned home I started wishing we would have looked around Dublin a little bit more.  So when we were planning our 6 week adventure in Europe I really wanted to go back to Dublin because I didn’t think we saw all it had to offer.  Plus since then I’ve found out from my DNA test that I’ve got quite a bit of Irish in me, and that always makes things more fun doesn’t it?  I needed to drink beer and eat potatoes with my people.

So after this long weekend in Dublin I’ve rounded up 12 things I think you shouldn’t miss while visiting.  Yeah, there might be other things to do, but if I didn’t like them they didn’t make the list.  In no particular order here are my picks for things you just can’t miss.

THE GUINNESS STOREHOUSE

You can’t skip a visit to the Guinness Storehouse while in Dublin.  Even if you hate the beer, you’ll find something interesting inside to look at.  The Storehouse is bustling with activity with interactive exhibits, demonstrations, a huge gift shop, and several restaurants to stop at if you get hungry.  If you’ve never tried Guinness or you just aren’t a huge fan of the taste, try it here.  Yeah, it’s a heavy beer but the beer here is so fresh and creamy with so many flavors that it will never taste as good as it does here.  I don’t drink Guinness at home but I do here.

KILMAINHAM GAOL

Last time we visited Dublin we had such limited time that we didn’t get to visit the Kilmainham Gaol (pronounced jail) and I was really disappointed.  The former prison housed many members of Irish Republican movement, as well as women and children.  Walking through the narrow stone passageways and looking into the tiny prison cells it’s hard not to feel their misery as they were guarded by the British Troops.

The top photo you can see the newer part of the prison, called the Victorian Wing.  The rounded appearance of the wing was to give the prisoners a feeling that they were always being watched, this section was also light and bright as they thought that would help reform the criminals.

The photo with the cross is where the leader of the party, James Connoly, was executed.  He never stayed in an actual prison cell but in the first aid unit and he was soon going to die anyway from his injuries, but that was deemed to be unfair.  So he was wheeled out to the execution yard on a stretcher, propped up in a chair, and excuted by British firing squad.

DINE AT THE BANK

The Bank on College Green is my favorite restaurant in Dublin, I know I mentioned it in my old blog post on Ireland.  Inside you can visit this 2 story old former bank and admire the gorgeous architecture.  It’s a great place to just stop, rest, and grab a few drinks, but they also have great food, including brunch, lunch, and dinner.  It looks like a fancy place, and it is, but you can walk in dressed very casual and won’t have a problem.

SHOP FOR WOOL

Ireland is known for their wonderful Irish wool.  You can find great places throughout Ireland to shop, but in Dublin I love the Aran Sweater Market.  They have a great selection of sweaters, scarves, blankets, ponchos, mittens, and novelty items.  Plus if you’re out of luggage space they’ll ship it home for you.  Did you know that each of the Aran stitch patterns in the wool have a special meaning?   The cable represents luck, the ladder stitch is for health, and the diamond for wealth are just a few examples.  Each article of wool tells a story.  I bought the poncho on the left by the way, and I’m really excited to wear it.

TEMPLE BAR

The Temple Bar is a very well known district to get your drink on in Dublin.  The locals hate it and the tourists are always sure to visit.  It gets loud, crowded, and full of drunks but I find it pretty PG-13, it’s not a Bourbon Street or anything.  Here you can find authentic old pubs, modern bars, tons of restaurants, and a few hotels.  If you’re looking for a calmer vibe be sure to visit earlier in the day.

We stayed at the Temple Bar Hotel with a window overlooking the street.  I’m well aware people party all hours of the night here, so when I saw our hotel had ear plugs on our nightstand I knew exactly what they were trying to say.  We had a sound machine and slept fine though it, seriously never travel without a sound machine!!

WALK ALONG THE RIVER LIFFEY

Be sure and take a nice stroll along the River Liffey, it’s a great way to soak up the city’s energy and admire the many bridges along the river.  Above, Ha’penny Bridge is the most famous bridge in Dublin, this pedestrian-only bridge was built in 1816 and is made of cast iron, and it used to cost half a penny to cross it.  Right across from Temple Bar and in the heart of Dublin you can’t miss it.

QUEEN OF TARTS

Queen of Tarts is an adorable little cafe and bakery open for breakfast and lunch.  Just walking past the bright red exterior will make you want to walk in for a visit, try to avoid peak times because it’s pretty small inside.  If you do wait, it’s well worth it.  The breakfasts are out of this world amazing and they have so many incredible baked treats to pick from.  I settled on the smoked bacon & leek potato cakes and the strawberry meringue, both incredible, they have pretty great coffee drinks too.

GLASNEVIN CEMETERY

This is probably the prettiest cemetery I’ve ever seen.  You can really step outside the city and get lost inside the sea of gravestones, stopping to read about the people and families buried beneath.  Opening in 1832, there are over a million people buried here, and there is a new section that is still being used.  It’s quiet and peaceful inside with a museum, cafe, and flowers for sale near the gate.

SAINT PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL

No trip to Dublin is complete without a visit to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral.  Inside you’ll find tombs, carvings, and stained glass.  Compared to other cathedrals in Europe it’s more simplistic but still majestic and full of history.  Saint Patrick is the man who is credited for bringing Christianity to Ireland, and it was here at this site that he first baptized people.

CITY SIGHTSEEING BUS DUBLIN

We love doing city bus tours in most places we visit.  Here with the City Sightseeing Bus you can take 2 routes around the city, there are stops all over, just find one of the stops, buy a ticket and your good to go.  If you’re unsure of where the nearest stop is ask your hotel.  These sightseeing busses are a great way to rest your feet and hear some history.  You can buy a 1 or 2 day pass, and individual or family passes.

CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL

Christ Church Cathedral is the oldest building in the heart of Medieval Dublin, filled with exquisite architecture it’s one of the leading attractions.  Inside is one of the oldest and largest crypts in all of Brittan and Ireland, dating back to the 12th century.  Founded by King Sitric over 1,000 years ago who was the Viking King of Dublin at the time.  This should definitely be a stop while visiting the city.

MOLLY MALONE STATUE

Known as the Tart with the Cart, Molly is a hit with locals and tourists.  I honestly find her character a little confusing, from what I understand Molly Malone was a fictional person, a lady of the night, with a full bosom who died at a young age from a fever.  She inspired the unofficial Dublin Anthem also known as Cockels and Mussles.  You can find Molly on Grafton and Suffolk Street in Dublin.  She’s very popular so if you want to get a photo with the busty lass you may need to wait a while.

Those who want to know a little more about what Ireland has to offer besides things in Dublin be sure and read my old blog post Ireland in March. I touch on a few things in Dublin but I have more focus on the entire country and all of it’s unique beauty.  Just a warning some photos aren’t good quality, but if you’re interested in exploring Ireland it’s definitely worth a read.

WARNING:  This blog post may cause hunger pains and an intense urge to drink beer.

BEER

Let’s start with the obvious here, beer!  Belgian beer can be traced back to the 12th century.  It is believed that St. Arnold saved his people from the plague by telling them to drink beer instead of the contaminated water supply.  While walking around Bruges we found 2Be Beer by accident and I’m forever grateful.

Here we learned about their perfect method in serving each beer.  First they take the glass and hold it upside down in a fountain to wash and chill the glass, they then fill the beer and and use a beer comb to scrape off the excess foam, lastly they rinse the stem and – voila!

Located inside the 15th century mayor’s house, this place is so fun and quirky!  Be sure to check out the massive beer wall and the goldfish aquarium counters and sinks in the restrooms.  Beer flights are also available if you’re undecided and want to try as many flavors as possible.

CHOCOLATE

Eat chocolate… lots and lots of chocolate.  There seems to be an endless amount of chocolate in Bruges, you’ll never go far without finding a great shop.  Chocolate Line is a neat store.  You can watch the entire chocolate making process starting from the beans, and they have a large assortment of chocolate items for sale.  Dumon is a modern beautiful store and when you walk in this store the smell of chocolate will hit you in the face – it’s awesome.  La Belgique Gourmande has a lot of chocolate and fun treats like pineapple, anise, and lavendar flavored marshmallows.

BELGIAN FRIES

Don’t you dare call them French fries, you won’t get a good response.  There is an ongoing dispute whether fries were invented in Belgium or France.  The fries at Chez Vincent we were told are some of the best in Bruges, and I have to agree.  There is indoor and outdoor seating, plus it’s affordable with other menu items available too.  Are you team ketchup or mayo?

WAFFLES

There are places to eat waffles everywhere from quick in and out street cafes to sit down waffle restaurants, you seriously can’t go wrong.  The Best Belgian Waffles has waffles to go, with so many flavors, plus there is a topping bar for you to create your own – I had a lot of fun with that!  House of Waffles  has dessert waffles, and also savory waffles and waffle sandwiches.  You can get your waffles to go or get table service, the interior is really modern and beautiful too.  All these amazing waffles had me seriously doubting my usual low carb lifestyle.

MORE BEER

Don’t stop drinking beer now or the beer Gods will be angry with you.  We were told Belgium has over 1,000 beers so you actually have quite a ways to go.  You can find pubs all over the city but be sure to check out Vlissinghe, the oldest pub in Bruges, the inside is very charming and there is a nice patio in the back.  We had the chicory wrapped in ham, fish stew, chocolate mouse – and a lot of beer!

MUSSELS

When you’re needing a break from waffles, fries, and chocolate, Bruges has great seafood, but the mussels are something special.  It was very common to see people eating big pots of mussels.  The food at Poules de Moules is a little pricey but it tastes amazing.  They also had amazing shrimp curry and the outdoor seating had great people-watching action.

FLEMISH STEW

Another local dish that’s great to try.  Flemish stew is made with the Belgian beer which gives the stew a rich, dark flavor that can’t be achieved from stews made with wine.  You can find this popular dish on the menu at many restaurants, Flemish Stew House is just one of the many places you can try this great dish.

FISH SOUP

Fish soup is absolutely delicious and this fall I’m going to learn how to make it.  The fish soup at Vlissinghe is made fresh and is bursting with flavor, if you love seafood you must try this.  Brian and I share a lot of our vacation meals and we had to fight each other for this!

I’ll be writing more on the perfect town of Bruges soon but I thought I’d start with the good stuff… FOOD!  Belgium, and Bruges specifically, was a food paradise for us.  Brian says regular waffles are now dead to him, and I happen to agree.  Hungry yet?

A few days after we arrived in London we took a day trip through Viator to Stonehenge and Bath.  It takes a little over 2 hours to get to Stonehenge by bus or car from London.  As far as I know there is no way to get there by train, so going by bus and taking the tour seemed like the best option.  If you read my travel posts you probably know we love Viator tours, this was however our first flop!

Stonehenge is surrounded by English farmland, you can see fields of grass and wildflowers, and it is beautiful in a rustic way.  To preserve the natural beauty of the area the parking lot is set off quite a ways and you must shuttle over, or you can walk if you have time.

There has been a lot of restoration of the stones over the years.  Many if not all of the stones at some point have been moved and straightened.  Over the years stones have fallen over, so now they have been set in concrete.  You can look at the base of a few of the stones and tell they have been altered.

Vandalism used to be a huge problem here, people would write on the stones or break off pieces of stone for souvenirs.  So fences were placed around the stones to protect them, although I’ve heard throughout the years they’ve allowed some people go in and actually touch the stones.

It was most crowded at the start point where the busses let off, as we began to walk around the stones the crowds cleared off some.  At this point we started to really enjoy ourselves and started taking photos of the stones.  It was somewhere around this point that I became obsessed with the 2 birds on top of the stones.  They never moved the entire time we were there.  At first I was irritated they were ruining our photos, then I started to like them.

We named them both Birdhenge.  We took many photos of Birdhenge.  Can you spot both birds?

Then Brian saw Sprinklerhenge.

50 bird and sprinkler photos later we arrived toward the end of the Stonehenge loop, and this side is the most picturesque.  Say hi to the birds!

Now it was at this time Brian said “We better hurry up and get back on the bus with the tour group.”  “Do we have time to go inside the giftshop?” I asked.  “No.”  “Do we have time to grab a snack?  I’m starving.”  “No.”  “Ok, well I need to go to the restroom.”  “Ok, but hurry the tour is leaving in minutes.”  “How can this be?” I wondered.  We spent maybe 30 minutes walking around Stonehenge and that was us hurrying, I could have spent a lot longer time out there.

So while I got in the long restroom line Brian quickly took photos of these cool Neolithic houses below that I wanted to see.  Then we RAN to our tour bus that was about to leave.  When we got to the bus it was pure chaos unlike any tour I’ve seen, the tour guide seemed tired and hungover and the people had randomly switched seats.  Meaning the tour guide was confused, people were upset that families suddenly had to sit apart and it was a mess.  People were also out of breath from frantically running to get back on the tour bus.

SO WHAT WENT WRONG?  A lot of things, first of all the the tour schedule was way too tight.  Second, for whatever reason our bus left a good 20 minutes late and we did NOT get that time back – unrelated: the bus was also old, hot, and smelled like cauliflower.

Stonehenge was extremely crowded with annoying tourists, which is understandable – we are them ourselves –  but riding the shuttle busses over to Stonehenge took forever.  We spent most of our time waiting to ride the shuttle bus to and from the Stonehenge parking lot, the lines were so long and the busses were not constant.  The tour did not account for that which was incredibly frustrating.  These issues could easily be dealt with if you just go tour the stones on your own, or find a tour that gives you a good 3 hours, start to finish.

We were at Stonehenge an hour and a half and probably spent an hour total just waiting in line for the shuttles.  Yeah, there was an option to walk but the trail was so far that you can’t even see the stones from where the shuttle picks up.  A man on our tour was about to pass out from running it 30 minutes each way.  The following picture is the line waiting to get on the shuttle to go to the stones.

Luckily our next stop in Bath, wasn’t very far away from Stonehenge.  I remembered watching Samantha Brown do a feature on Bath years ago on the Travel Channel and I was genuinely excited to go.  I was determined not to to be rushed or have my afternoon trip ruined.  The tour guide warned us that after visiting Bath our return trip to London would take a good 3 hours possibly closer to 4 with traffic.  And we heard that they don’t stop for bathroom breaks.  No No No!  We’d had enough.  We pulled out our phones and sure enough we could take the train from Bath to London in about 90 minutes.  Cha-Ching!

We arrived in Bath, visited the Roman Baths, and then disappeared.  We would have told our guide we were going solo, but in a flash he was gone and we didn’t want to walk back to the bus and search for him.  I do certainly hope he missed my sarcastic eye rolls on the trip back to London.

Moving on, let’s talk about Bath!  The town is simply lovely and the Roman Baths are amazing and full of so much interesting history.  The water is pretty dirty but it’s actually still spring fed.  Inside there is a museum with so many interesting artifacts, you could really stay in there for a while looking at everything.

Outside the Roman Baths is the very lovely Bath Abbey.  A street performer was playing Ava Maria and the energy from the town was amazing.  Shops and restaurants are all around the area, so we went wandering the streets, in no rush.  It’s what we do best.

Cheers Darling to surviving our first tour disaster!

We seem to just snack more these days rather than eat actual meals.  Left, Scotch eggs with a brown sauce and right, scallops in a pesto sauce.  YUM!

So would I recommend this Viator tour?  Unless you’re pressed for time and want to see both places and there is literally no other option, no I wouldn’t do it.  Without honesty my blog is nothing.  The only thing is Stonehenge is out in the middle of nowhere, your best bet is renting a car, or finding just a Stonehenge tour where you aren’t rushed for time.  There was actually another combo tour that did Stonehenge, Bath, and Windsor Castle in the same amount of time.  Run away!!  Bath on the other hand is on the train line and it’s a very easy town to navigate.

We’ve taken many Viator tours and this has been the only horrible one, so I’d say they have a solid 90% success rate.  They have online reviews, which I’ve yet to leave one, but we did fill out the online questionnaire and were pretty brutal.  But other than the tour drama, we really enjoyed what time we did have in Stonehenge, and the charming little town of Bath shouldn’t be missed.

I’ve always wanted to explore the charming neighborhood of Notting Hill so when we were able to find a hotel inside the neighborhood we jumped at the chance to stay.  When we were spending our last few days in Italy we kinda had a ruh-roh moment and realized we hadn’t booked our London hotel.  

With all the great areas to stay in London it’s easy to get overwhelmed where exactly to stay, and overwhelmed is definitely how I was feeling.  As we sat at our beachside cafe sipping prosecco scrolling through hotels we suddenly saw The Premier Notting Hill.  It was perfect, we really didn’t have a strong plan for London.  A little over a year ago when we visited we hit all the big tourist attractions, so this time it was perfect to be a little more off the grid.

I was really excited to explore the neighborhood but I had no idea what to expect.  Any knowledge I had of Notting Hill was based strictly off the movie with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts.  Notting Hill did not disappoint!   It’s oozing with charm from the colorful townhomes to the quirky cafes and the flowers overflowing from baskets and window boxes.  Most of the areas were quiet and felt very secluded, but you can still find plenty of energetic streets full of people, shopping, and activity.

My favorite things about walking the pretty little streets of Notting Hill were all the colorful doors and the abundance of gorgeous flowers growing everywhere.  I love how people can express themselves through their colorful painted doors, every color you could imagine from bright pink to rich blues and even glossy black for those more reserved.  It was hard not to take photos of every door I saw!  

Some of the homes were perfectly renovated and manicured while others were had more of a weathered English look – and both complimented the neighborhood quite nicely.  There are plenty of hotels, plenty of cafes and shopping, plenty of everything.

The neighborhood is near Hyde Park and Kennsington Palace, but It may be a little far from the center of London and some attractions.  But if you’re wanting to step back and little and get more of a local vibe then you should definitely visit Notting Hill, even if it’s just for the day.

I can’t get over the town of Bellagio, just stare at it and take it in for a minute.  The entire area of Lake Como has stunning beauty but this town nestled up against the mountains is just perfection.  It’s everything you’d expect it to be and more.

We didn’t stay in Bellagio, we stayed directly across the lake in the town of Cadenabbia.  When we checked into our hotel, the Grand Hotel Cadenabbia, the front desk told us to be sure and take the ferry across the lake to Bellagio.  The Bellagio casino in Las Vegas is one of my favorite places to go and for some reason I never made the connection it was built and inspired by this town in Italy.  I just never stopped to think about it, but I’m here to say it is absolutely perfect – although there are no dancing fountains that I’ve found in the real Bellagio.

The ferry is an easy 5 or 6 minute ride across the lake and the views are incredible.  Below, there a view of the Swiss Alps along one side of the lake.  Lake Como is pretty big, it’s long and winding, and it makes an upside down Y shape.  Mountains, hills, little towns, and mansions make up most of the shore line.

While waiting on the ferry to arrive I sat on a bench under shady vines, I could hear bells ringing all around me from multiple little towns and it was such an incredible feeling and sound.

There are many restaurants here where you can dine outdoors under shaded trees strung with lights, it’s incredibly dreamy.  Like something out of a fairytale.

We we’re really lucky to get the best table at this restaurant, right on the water.  Not only we’re the views beautiful but this table had the best breeze!  Italy is so hot in the summer and we we’re constantly looking for a breeze, it felt like we had a fan blowing on us, it was awesome.

We spent hours exploring the tiny streets in Bellagio, going in and out of little gates, and climbing stairs covered with vines and flowers.  The streets are wide enough for only one car, and it’s still pretty tight, I was shocked when I saw a Lamborghini trying to squeeze through a tiny curved road we were on.  I’m not exaggerating when I say it had about 2 inches on each side between the car and the building.  I couldn’t get my phone out fast enough to get a picture.

The shopping here was one of my favorites, lots of local-made Italian items.  I bought a few family souvineers and I fell in love with a handmade wooden toy, so I bought it along with a Christmas ornament and a hand painted olive oil jar.  We always collect ornaments when we travel, but now I’m going to add local made toys to the list.  I think it would be really fun for my future grandchildren and other children who visit us to play with toys from around the world.

Late that afternoon the streets did get a lot more crowded, but honestly we still loved every minute of being here.  The views of the lake and Italian architecture never get old.  There is also a botanical garden to visit here, we just ran out of time.  Boat rentals and private water taxi’s are also available.

You can tell just how clear the water is here, being from Texas I’m always amazed lake water like this even exists!

Here we are back in the other side of the lake in the town of Tremezzo, there isn’t as much to do as Bellagio but there are still some great hotels and nice cafes.  We stayed at the Grand Hotel in Cadenabbia, which is next to Tremezzo, and it had a huge balcony overlooking the lake, it’s an incredible place.

The music festival was the entire reason our Italy trip came to be.  Remember Scotland was planned anyway and Gary Levinson, my daughters violin teacher invited us to hear him in Lake Como.  Beautiful gold chairs were stacked on the green lawn, and even though it was pretty warm that evening a nice breeze was coming from the lake. The music was just as gorgeous as you’d expect it to be and Gary like always killed it on the violin, he plays with Stradivari violin, crafted in 1726.

I would love to go back to Bellagio again one day, we saw many hotels and I’d love to stay at one, explore the gardens and just go at a slower pace.  Tomorrow I’m switching gears and talking about a new country and a favorite colorful neighborhood.  Any guesses?  If you follow me on Insta you probably already know where I am.  Caio!

More Europe Diaries!  We’ve really had some weird and funny moments…

First of all, I am sink cursed.  It seems like I could hardly get any sinks to work in Italian bathrooms.  From a germaphobe perspective it’s been horrible, especially when you’ve already soaped your hands and the water won’t turn on.  The hand sensors just don’t like me, yet they turn on for everyone else… then there is the other kind of sink.  One night in a little restaurant I said to Brian “you go in there and get the sink to turn on, I give up”.  He comes out and says sweetie it has a foot pedal, those foot pedals have been tiny though!

I am obsessed with taking bicycle photos, why are bicycles in Europe so cute?  The baskets, the colors, and the little bells are just too much for me to resist.  I took so many bike photos in Milan, I will spare you all 100 of them, but this one was one of my favorites!  Even the way they park them is so cute, sometimes they’re lined up vertical on the street, other times they look perfectly angled and horizontally stacked like a domino effect.

I never did do a blog post on Milan and I doubt I will, not that I didn’t love it, I did.  I did the blog post on the Duomo Cathedral and felt like that naturally ended up being a huge focal point of our trip.  The rest of the time we were just walking, shopping, and eating.  Seeing me shop isn’t very interesting to you, but I may go back later and do an Italian food post of our favorites at some point.

I did love all the modern art around Milan though and this one outside the Milan train station was my favorite.  It’s The Big Apple of Milan by Michelangelo Pistoletto.

These lemons are wired on.  Kinda ruins the magic doesn’t it?  In Milan we kept seeing areas with gorgeous lemon trees growing in pots, and after admiring them for days I had an urge to pick one.  The idea of picking a fresh juicy looking natural lemon growing in Italy was just so irresistible to me. I know that’s probably frowned upon, well when I got up close I noticed they’re wired on!  I checked every tree too!  So pass on the grocery store lemon.

Major luggage regrets here. Yeah…. we’ve gotten looks, at this point I’m used to it.  Honestly we held it down too, but being here for so long we need stuff… lots and lots of stuff.  What broke us is packing such variety.  Formal clothes, casual clothes, beach attire, and packing for cooler climates.

However, lugging around 6 pieces of luggage and a purse has been a nightmare.  From getting on and off trains and going up and down flights of stairs with no escalator or elevator, it’s been an experience.  Occasionally we see people like us who have a lot of luggage and I feel like we share a special bond.  Our new luggage from Amazon had been seriously awesome though.  We’ve abused it a lot and it’s tough.

We found the train system to be a bit difficult in Italy, and while switching trains we nearly got separated from each other.  Because we had so many bags to unload I got off first to grab the bags, he walked back into the train when the doors shut and the train started to take off.  They only gave us about 60 seconds total at that stop, there was also no door open button like you see in England & other places.   Brian had to run up and pry the doors open and jump off with our last suitcase.

I’m not sure what we would have done, I had no idea where I was.  We made sure to come up with a plan if we got separated after that.  Luckily we were on our game after that and it didn’t happen again.

Graffiti seemed to be everywhere in Milan, even on some really nice fancy buildings, and I couldn’t stop thinking why don’t they remove it?  Sometimes it was pretty though, like the graffiti on this train.

We are now professionals at washing clothes in the sink.  It was actually kind fun, luckily I packed a travel bottle of Tide, so our hotel bathrooms always smelled like fresh laundry.  Just washing them out in the shower wouldn’t work, the clothes need to soak in detergent to get that stank out.  Remember bad AC or no AC = stank.  The trick to get them to dry quickly is wring them out, and then roll them in a dry towel and squeeze out that extra water. Using that method they dry overnight even being indoors.

How to not fry your hair in Europe.  Air drying and all natural is best, but due to my extreme hair poofiness that’s not an option.  I’ve had people tell me over and over that if you get dual voltage you’re ok.  I’m not so sure.  In both France and Ireland I’ve witnessed my expensive flat irons & hairdryers pop and hiss, smoke, and smell like melted plastic.  Not to mention serious hair frizz and damage.  Dual voltage or not I no longer trust American hair appliances in Europe.

Maybe I’ve just had bad luck, but why risk it?  Just get 220V hair appliances, it doesn’t matter what plug you get, you can get an adapter for any European country.  Mine are the UK plug and they worked great with an adapter in Italy.  You can buy these from Amazon or easily in local stores.  Larger cities will be easier, in England there are Boots stores everywhere.  My hairdryer I bought in London, and I use this flat iron from Amazon.  Some of the reviews say it doesn’t turn on – you must hold the button down a few seconds for it to turn on, and just about every country needs its own adapter.

Nobody in Italy trusts us with an iron.  All 3 of our Italian hotels didn’t have irons, when we called the front desk to have an iron sent up, they said we would need to visit the ironing room, and in 15 minutes we could get the key and go to the ironing room.  This is an ironing room.  I don’t get it.

My color blind husband told me very excitedly that he got a great photo of the Italian flag beautifully blowing over Lake Como.  Dude…that’s the French flag.  Color blind problems are real y’all.

If you’re ready to move on from Italy, I’m nearly done.  I just want to show Lake Como – probably on Friday, then that should be the last one.  We’re currently in England so we’re ready to move on too.  Caio!

I am back and ready to share more of Italy with you!  After some pretty intense internet issues and being completely unable to log into WordPress I decided it was time to take a much needed break.  So I’ll pick up where I left off.  After staying in Milan – and our day trip to Switzerland – we enjoyed 3 incredible days along the Italian Riviera.  We stayed at the town of Rapallo at the Hotel Astoria which was ideal because it’s walking distance from the train station, very close to the water, and one of the more affordable beach towns.

Our hotel staff was so kind and helpful to us, providing ferry information, restaurant recommendations, and beach towels.  We stayed on the top floor, in the room with the center window.  The views out or window were absolutely incredible,  I won’t lie our room was freakin hot though, even with the air conditioner constantly on.  It’s great to find a hotel with air conditioning, but I’ve learned that what Europeans consider AC to be and what Texans to consider AC to be are WAY off.  Besides that everything was perfect though.

We experienced 5 towns along the Ligurian Sea, all were wonderful and charming in their own ways, and I’m so excited to share them with you!

RAPALLO

I loved Rapallo, not only was the water beautiful but walking around the town was also charming.  The town has a beautiful square, market, and tower where we would here the bells ring.  There was a small beach area but the marina covers most of the water and we were told that made the clarity of the water not quite as good as towns farther down.  So we were recommended to walk or take the ferry to the nearby towns for beaches and swimming.  The towns are literally minutes apart, so walking town to town was pretty easy.

A big attraction here is the little castle on the sea, the inside is closed but it’s still really fun to walk around.  There was a small beach area next to it where locals would picnic.  We took it easy our first day here, exploring the town, drinking wine, and walking along the sea.

SAN MICHELE DI PAGANA

The next morning we left Rapallo and starting walking to the nearest town, which was maybe 10 minutes away.  I was surprised when our hotel owners told us the water where we were at wasn’t the best quality, because it looked great to me.  As we walked to the next town I understood what they meant though.  The water turned from beautiful to crystal clear perfection, and it only got more incredible the farther we walked.

Here in San Michele di Pagana we took our first dip in the Ligurian Sea, and in fact our first dip into any kind of beach without sand.  The rocks did hurt our feet a little, but then again I seriously hate sand so I was happy.  By the end of the day we had learned to walk in a way that hurt a little less, water shoes would of been ideal though.

Here we rented beach chairs, swam, and I had fun playing with the pebbles in the water.  I collected a few of my favorite pebbles to take home, the dark gray ones with the white stripes and swirls were my favorite.  There are both free public water access as well as private, and there are plenty to choose from.  After a quick bite we continued to the next town.

SANTA MARGHERITA LIGURE

After a swim at our pebble beach we continued up the long hill into the town of Santa Margherita Ligure.  I loved it here and found the perfect swim spot, which also means I took the least amount of photos here.  Isn’t that the way it always goes?  More fun = less photos.  After walking here from San Michele we were really hot again and decided to go for another swim.  I loved the concrete ledge that made getting in and out of the water easy, also the rocks hurt our feet less here.  We swam out pretty far and there was so much activity around us.  Huge boats were coming in to dock and the locals were having fun jumping off the rocks.

After our long day of walking from Rapallo, San Michele di Pagana, and Santa Margherita Ligure we took the ferry back to Rapallo where we showered and went out for dinner.  We planned on hitting more beach towns the next day.

PORTOFINO

Portofino was the next town after Santa Margherita Ligure, but instead of walking we took the ferry.  Here definitely had more of a glamorous wealthy vibe, yet it was still a down to earth place.   Here you’ll see massive yachts and high-end stores such as Dior and Louis Vuitton.  The water is so clear we saw huge fish swimming around in between the boats which is really fun to watch.  We ended up taking stairs up to a cliff overlooking the water and the views are breathtaking!  Up here is also a castle you can explore inside and out, called Castello Brown.

There are tons of amazing waterside restaurants, and it was here after being in italy for nearly a week that I gave in and finally ate pasta!  The owner sold me on his fresh lobster tagliatelle pasta and every calorie was worth it.  The fresh tomatoes in Italy are unlike anything I have ever tasted in America.

SAN FRUTTUOSO

After Portofino the ferry continues to San Fruttuoso.  The water here is absolutely unreal, it looks fake in these photos but I can promise you that’s exactly how it looked.  We didn’t swim here but that’s ok, we sat along the beach and later on dinned cliffside overlooking the water.  The town is really small, with tunnels and restaurants that go through the cliffs.  There is a small abbey you can explore and several bars and restaurants, whether there is more than that to the town I am unsure, but it this little area was small, quirky, and perfect in every way.

It seems like in Italy I was always in search of a good breeze and this little picturesque restaurant had the best one of all, I even had goosebumps at one point.  We must have sat at this cliffside restaurant for hours sipping prosecco and eating mussles.  San Fruttuoso is small and has no hotels, and even though it had lots of people it still felt cozy, private, and small.  Dining at this restaurant was probably my favorite thing out of the entire trip.

Isn’t the Ligurian Sea incredible?  I was just so sad to leave it!  Any of these towns would make a perfect trip, but I recommend all of them.   After we left Rapallo, we hopped back on a train and rode north to Lake Como, which I have yet to organize those photos.  Italy’s beauty is just unreal.  Ciao darlings!

Switzerland has always been on my bucket list, but a trip has never really happened for a variety of reasons.  So when I was looking on Viator.com for day trips to take from Milan and saw Switzerland on the list, I jumped at the chance.  There are a couple of different tours to pick from but we decided on the Swiss Alps Bernina Express Train Tour from Milan.  Some of the other tours include boat rides and a trip to Lake Como, but we were planning on visiting Lake Como later in our trip anyway.

One thing you can expect with Viator Tours is to be on a large comfortable air conditioned bus with huge picture windows.  We began our journey from Milan and around the banks of Lake Como before finally crossing over into Switzerland.  We were told to bring our passports in case we needed them, they didn’t ask to see ours, but we were told that sometimes they will.  After crossing the border the bus began acending the switchback mountain roads.  Everyone started taking photos, because it’s incredibly stunning – and it helped take my mind off of the sharp drop offs.

An interesting fact our tour guide told us is that the residents of Switzerland speak the language of their closest border country.  I assumed they only spoke French, but not so.  Most Swiss people speak either German, French, or Italian.

We then arrived into the town of St. Moritz, the entire town looks like a postcard!  We collected our stuff from the bus and got off for some free time to explore the town on our own.  Most of the group separated and went their separate ways.  We were given radio devices with earbuds so the guide could tell us any needed information while we were away from him, such as hey… your train is leaving!  We walked up the cobblestone hill, walking past the beautiful hotel of Badrutt’s Palace where Rolls Royces are parked out front.

Luxury shopping stores line the streets of this tiny town, we passed several restaurants for lunch until I found the perfect one.  The charming Sternbrau Cafe drew me in immediately with it’s pretty outdoor patio with flowers, fountains, and big yellow umbrellas to shade the sun.  Here we sat, ordered wine and lunch, and took in the town and mountain views.  What do you order when your in Switzerland for the day, and probably only getting one meal?  Fondue of course!  Brian ordered pork cordon blue and I ordered the fondue with steak.  I shared my fondue with Brian and we had fun cooking the meat in the sizzling oil and trying the different sauces and sides that came with plate.

After lunch we walked down the hill to the train station and boarded the Bernina Express, known as the little red train.  The train has big windows that open so you can easily take photos and feel the fresh mountain air all around you.  The air smelled fresh and clean with hints of rain near.  The skies varied from sunny to cloudy, and the air got colder so I put on my coat as the train ascended higher.

Along the railway is a mix of picturesque towns combined with mountains and pristine lakes.  Waterfalls and streams from melted snow pour below creating sparkling clear lakes of perfection.  Along the railway we saw cows and other livestock happily grazing on the fresh cool green grass.  Our tour guide told us that Swiss farmers move their cows farther up the mountains to graze in the summer, where the temperature is cooler and the grass is fresher, so their milk tastes better.

Towards the end of our train ride the skies finally gave in to rain, but the views were still just as beautiful.  When the rain got strong and started blowing in the train we had to raise the windows up, but when the rain softened everyone happily opened the windows again.  I remember decending the mountains and the train was right up against a lake and the rain was falling on the still lake and it was just so incredibly beautiful that I took this picture below so I could remember it.

After the train ended our bus driver was waiting for us, we crossed the border back into Italy and made a short stop in the town of Tirano.  In Tirano, have a quick drink, grab a gelato, and visit the Virgin Mary statue, which many people have seen cry and come to life.  Once back on the bus we passed hills and vineyards, a storm blew in and it began to rain again, it was actually very pretty seeing the Italian mountains and countryside through the rainy windows.

Eventually the rain stopped and we arrived back in Milan and ventured out for dinner.  It was a very long day, you will be tired at the end, but it’s very worth it.  Switzerland was gorgeous and we just explored a very small portion of it.  I uploaded a video from the train to my Instagram story, that aqua blue water was insane, and not edited.  I can’t imagine how gorgeous the entire country is and this has definitely given us a thirst to visit more of it!

I’m having a lazy morning in Lake Como and just finished the most delicious cappuccino so I thought this would be the perfect time to show you some trip photos.  When we left Rapallo I was actually able to spend some time sorting and editing photos on the train of the Milan Duomo Cathedral.  Out of everything I saw in Milan this was my favorite and I can’t believe for a second I considered skipping it because I was tired and hungry from walking around the city all day.

The cathedral was so gorgeous, it was life changing, and I still keep thinking about this gorgeous place.  We started our journey by walking around the outside, taking lots of beautiful photos before we went up to the top.  Now, let me say I’m not one of those travelers who insists of going to the top of every building.  I’ve often said when short on time skip the top of the Eiffel Tower, I also found the top of the Empire State Building windy, scary, and disorienting.  It’s just me I guess, I usually love to admire buildings from the ground.  Having said that if you visit this cathedral you must go to the top, ok?  IT’S A MUST!

Now, there are two ways to get to the top, there are stairs to the top at the left side of the church, but towards the back right you can take an elevator to the top.  I highly recommend this!  It’s a long way up and a lot of stairs.  So we ended up taking the elevator to the top and then taking the tiny windy stairs down.  We saw so many tired out of breath exhausted looking people walking up and we were walking down the stairs.  Take our advice.  Then, to actually go inside the cathedral there is a separate entrance on the ground, with security.

The views from the top we’re absolutely incredible!  The architecture was the most stunningly beautiful I’ve ever seen in my life!  It moved me to tears and I couldn’t stop crying.  All the love and labor that went into this cathedral all for the love of God is enough to take your breath away.  There were a few areas that had scaffolding and that were under construction but it in no way ruined the experience.  In fact traveling to Europe so often I’ve just come to expect things are always under renovation, these sites are old!

Most of the top of the church is very easy to navigate, there were a few spots where the marble roof was a little slick, especially wearing flip flops, as long as you’re careful it should be ok.  Now let me show you photos of the inside, it was just as incredible.

Inside was also sacred and beautiful.  People were lighting candles and kneeling to say prayers, as did we.  If you look closely at the alter you’ll see there was actually a small service going on.

Afterwards we at at the Maio Restaurant, a rooftop restaurant that overlooked the cathedral, it was so beautiful that every time I would stare at it my eyes would start filling with tears again.  By the time we left the restaurant it was dark outside so we we’re able to see the Duomo beautifully lit up, where I just sat on a distant concrete step, starred and cried taking it all in.  You could really feel God’s love.  It was shortly after Brian said we really needed to go because he was worried I was going to dehydrate from all the crying.

If you’re ever in Milan, or nearby I recommend a trip.  Even if it’s hot and your tired, just go.  Go.

Good morning from Italy, or maybe it isn’t morning… I don’t know, my time is all screwed up!  After spending several days in Milan, and a day trip to Switzerland, we traveled to the charming little town of Rapallo, Italy, and we’re currently exploring the coast before we continue on to Lake Como.

Italy is absolutely incredible but it was an adventure getting here.  Our travel day was one of those days that just never seemed to end.  Our flight from Dallas to Heathrow was overall pretty good.  Over 9 hours on a plane sitting in coach is pretty brutal, luckily we did spring for the bulkhead row and with the inflatable foot rests it was pretty awesome to stretch our legs out and relax.

The only thing about those inflatable foot rests is when you start blowing them up you feel like an ass for 30 seconds or so.  Not to worry, they blow up really quick then the passengers around you start telling you what an awesome idea that is, then they start looking sad wishing they had one.  I mean would you rather hold your legs up on the wall for nearly 10 hours or just chill on a foot rest?  Sorry for the icky quality photo, we’ll blame it on the altitude.

For some reason we couldn’t get a good flight from Heathrow to Milan, I can’t remember the details now, so we once we landed we had to transfer over to Gatwick.  That was so chaotic!  It was shortly after that when I was tired, hungry, and achy that Brian told me he just realized he didn’t pack any type of pants.  Y’all, that was not a good moment for me!  Haha… he packed belts though, and lots of shirts, but he currently only had a single pair of baggy shorts, and he was wearing them.  So he went off to all the mens stores in Gatwick while I sat at the bar.  I had about a billion glasses of proseco and he bought jeans, so it worked out after all!

Things stayed a little difficult for a while as we traveled on into Milan, I was starting to think “Is Mercury in retrograde”? “What is going on here?” I thought.  Everything we’re doing is wrong, it’s hot, and so stressful.  Then we stepped off our bus to our hotel and a group of nuns walked by us.  I think they broke our travel curse and everything suddenly became perfect.

Our hotel, the NYX Milan Hotel, is absolutely beautiful, modern, and artsy!  Once I saw those golden naked statues with sunglasses I knew we were in good hands haha!  I recommend this hotel to everyone, it reminds me of the Saint Hotel in New Orleans that I’m equally obsessed with.

Above was our hotel room in Milan and below is the view outside our hotel room window, it’s the Estazione Centrale, or Milan’s central railway station where we ended up taking the train to Rapallo a few days later.  I’ll show you the hotel in Rapallo once I get organized.  It’s older and smaller, but very charming and right on the waterfront.

One thing I absolutely love about Milan is all the rooftop bars and restaurants.  They’re everywhere and have the most incredible views!  Again here’s the a view of the train station from the Terrazza Gallia restaurant and bar on the roof of the Excelsior Hotel Gallia.  Seriously amazing food!

I’ll update you with more about our Milan experience and our day trip to Switzerland when I can,  I have so much I want to share.  But it might be a little while longer, we have about 500 photos to go through so far!  Plus over here in Rapollo I have the worlds worst internet, it’s enough to rip your hair out.  It’s taken me days to upload these photos.

Below the Duomo Cathedral in Milan is the most stunning thing I’ve ever seen.  I absolutely can’t wait to show you more photos of it, it was my favorite thing in Milan.  But like I said I need to find good wifi, time, and good grief… it would be amazing if I could find some proper air conditioning.  I forgot how hot Europe can be, they advertise air conditioning but they must keep their thermostats set at 80!  I am writing and sweating right now.

Oh, before I go I want to show you the worlds most amazing caprese salad.  Seriously all other caprese salads are dead to me.  These tomatoes were bursting with Italian goodness, and the mozzarella was the freshest I’ve ever tasted… yep beats the mozzarella ball at the grocery store by far, and the addition of arugula was pure genius.  We love that nutty flavor that arugula brings to a dish.

Ok, friends I’m off to do some more exploring.  Can’t wait to talk with you soon.  If you have any travel suggestions or tips for any of the places we’re traveling to please let me know!  Oh, by the way in the meantime you can check out some cool videos on my Instagram.

Welcome to The Europe Diaries, the day is finally here!  So, depending on when you’re reading this I’m either frantically packing last minute items I forgot about, getting yelled at in airport security, or in the air right now on my way to London and then switching flights for Milan.  Hey… I wasn’t joking about getting yelled in security either, I literally seem to do everything wrong!

Let me start off by saying we didn’t plan to spend 6 weeks in Europe this summer, it just kinda happened.  I’ll explain…  so back in the winter we decided we wanted to go to Scotland for our 19th anniversary.  Brian’s family is related to the Campbell Clan in Scotland – who I hear you did not want to cross… and the Invarary castle is still in his family.  We love England and Ireland so we thought we’d check out Scotland for our anniversary trip, visit the castle, and try to get it back.

From my recent DNA tests it appears I have a good chunk of Scottish in me too, it appears even more than Brian and I tracked my paternal grandfathers family all the way back to the 1500’s in Scotland.  Pretty cool stuff.  By the way I’ve sent off for a second DNA test from another company to compare the results, but apparently I failed it.  How I’ll never know, when Brian and I did the exact same thing together standing in the kitchen… but whatever I failed and need to redo my sample.  Fun.

Ok… moving on.. So we booked the trip for August and that was that.

Then my daughter’s violin teacher Gary mentioned the music festival in Italy this summer and he invited us to hear him play.  It sounded like an incredible opportunity that we didn’t want to miss out on, but as you know 2 people flying round trip to Europe two times in the same summer is a fortune.  So instead, we just payed a reasonable change fee to the airline and moved our original flight to Edinburgh to Milan.  From there things just fell into place.

Honestly the past few weeks have been a giant ball of stress for me, but now that the trip has started I’m hoping I can just relax and calm down a little.  As for the blog I will still still be updating, I’m not sure how often, but it will be somewhat regular I’m hoping.  The blog is my baby and I love it, plus I need to write.  It takes my level of crazy & OCD way down, so that’s a win for us all.

Clearly the blog posts for the next 6 weeks – and probably even a few weeks after that, are going to be heavy on travel.  Those who aren’t into travel posts, hang in there.  I want a well rounded blog, so hopefully I can get some variety in here and there.  My thoughts with the Europe Diaries is just how it sounds.  Basically a diary, behind the scenes, or a casual view of our travel.  I still plan on putting more structured travel posts together where I feel it works.

So what’s our itinerary?   We first arrive in Milan, then on to Lake Como to the music festival.  I was told George Clooney would be there, he better be there.  I’ll be looking everywhere for him, I’ll just follow the scent of money, LOL.  Then we visit Portifino, Switzerland, London, Bruges, Dublin, and Paris before we make our final way to Scotland to seize the castle.