Well, since you last heard from me, a few exciting things have happened that I wanted to share:
Stirling Castle
A few weeks before all of the Christmas festivities started, John and I ventured out to Sterling Castle. Sterling Castles sits on the top of a very imposing hill that makes it a fortress easy to defend - although it has fallen a few times. History goes back to the 1200's and is connected to names like Robert Bruce, William Wallace and Mary, Queen of Scots (who was born there).
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| View from the Castle |
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| Statue of Robert the Bruce |
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| John locked in the Castle - as he should be! |
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| Queen's Throne room where Mary of Guise (mother of Mary, Queen of Scots) would receive guests |
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| John walking up the stairs in the Castle |
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| Stirling Castle (it's bigger than it looks) |
Gail and Steven Grillo visit Edinburgh (whisky, so much whisky)
A few days before Christmas, Gail and Steve Grillo arrived in Edinburgh to visit us before we would all head off to Rome. Upon their arrival (and after a short, much needed nap) we drove them down to John's school to show them around and get a glimpse of the countryside. The next day was spent in the city where we showed them the Royal Mile and the Christmas Market on Princes St followed by a delicious meal at Whiski Rooms - one of our favorite spots in the city. We tasted lots of different whiskys, something Gail and Steve haven't really had a chance to do! On their last day in Scotland, we ventured up to Dirleton Castle (see pictures below) which was built in 1240. Only ruins remain, but we could still wander through the maze of rooms throughout the castle - and we were the only ones there! We followed this up by a visit to Glenkitchie Distillery where we did a tour and a tasting of different scotch whiskys... and then a 4am wakeup call to the airport.
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| Grillo's climbing the steps to Dirleton Castle |
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| John hanging out in one of the fireplaces |
Rome for Christmas (wine, so much wine)
Because we were in Rome for 7 days, you can imagine that we saw a lot (and ate a lot). We also became very accustomed to the afternoon siesta, which was very important on those days that we had wine with lunch. So, I thought I would just hit the highlights and bullet points of our time in Rome:
- Christmas at the Vatican - this couldn't have worked more perfectly. We arrived at St Peter's Square at 9:45am looking to attend Mass at 10:30am. We wandered into the Basilica where we got our first glimpse of this incredible structure - larger than I could have imagined. As we made our way up to the main alter, we noticed it was blocked off, but after Gail exchanged a few words with the guard, we were let through the barrier. We walked through to find Mass was being held behind the alter in one of the side chapels. We then heard Mass said by one of the Cardinals said in Latin - an experience I have never had. When Mass ended, we walked out of the Basilica to find thousands of people in St Peter's Square - and we found ourselves with a front row view where Pope Francis came out and addressed the crowd. It was hard to hear him, but it was an incredible experience nonetheless. It meant so much for me to be there as my parents were in Rome in 1984 (when I was a wee baby in my mommy's tummy) and they attended midnight mass said by Pope John Paul II.
- Sights - Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, Roman Forum, Spanish Steps
- Meals - not a bad bite taken
- Vatican Museum - a private tour (necessary with 20,000 other daily visitors) and a chance to see the Sistine Chapel and get a glimpse into the mindset of Michelangelo
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| New Italian leather shoes |
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| First of many lunches with everyone |
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| In front of the Pantheon |
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| A view of a lite-up street |
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| Alix and John in front of the Trevi Fountain |
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| Lauren enjoying her gift from Alix and John - a bottle of whisky |
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| Pietà in St Peter's Basilica |
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| Sun shining into the Basilica on Christmas Day |
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| Pope Francis during the Urbi et Orbi address on Christmas Day |
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| Alix and John in St Peter's Square on Christmas Day |
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| Alix and John in front of the Colosseum |
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| Grillo men in front of the Colosseum |
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| A view within the Roman Forum (Ancient Roman ruins) |
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| Delicious Pear dessert made by Gail - thanks again! |
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| A visit with friends from CO who happened to be in Rome at the same time (Bruce Vezina, Alix, John, Bradley Vezina and his girlfriend, Alycia Stupan) |
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| All of us at the Vatican Museums with St Peters in background |
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| One of the Vatican Museum corridors |
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| Another painting (featuring Mary) at the Vatican |
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| Raphael painting in Pope's quarters - we learned that the man in front is actually Michelangelo added later by Raphael |
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| Sunset in Rome from the Spanish Steps |
Venice for New Years
We arrived in Venice on December 29 just in time to ring in the New Year in this city on the water. We started the stay with a walking tour - as there is no other way to get around the city (no bikes, cars, or motorized vehicles of any sort). We also learned that Venice was originally a city of approximately 120 islands and only people with money could afford to travel by boat might leave their island. This meant that each island needed a church - so there are A LOT of churches. Then they started building the bridges, of which there are more than 400 to bring these islands together.
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| On of the original bridges still in Venice - notice there are no railings... you can imagine many people probably ended up in the canal way back when. |
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| St Mark's Cathedral |
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| Gondolas (way too expensive to ride) |
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| Alix and John in from Saint Mark's Cathedral |
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| Eating in for New Year's Eve Dinner - John and Steve made a delicious meal |
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| VERY crowded square for ringing in the New Year |
A few days in Copenhagen (beer, so much beer)
After Venice, John and I ventured to Copenhagen, Denmark on our own. A very cool city with a lot of young people around, most people speak English and easy to get around... however, VERY expensive. Food and drinks were a lot more than we had expected, but had to bite the bullet for it. We spent a lot of time in food markets - essentially a warehouse of various food booths. It was some of the best food we have had - especially the Mexican food, something that does not exist in Scotland. One of the highlights of this trip was the visit to Carlsberg brewery where we toured the brewery process and participated in a tasting. It was nice to get back to a good variety of beers that rivals the selection we have back in Colorado.
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| Beer at Mikkeller |
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| Visiting Carlsberg Brewery |
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| The beer collection at Carlsberg - 22,000 and counting |
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| John petting one of the horses on staff |
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| An old time car |
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| John and Alix visiting the Little Mermaid |
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| Nyhavn |
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| Legoland |
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| Legoland |
And alas, we made it home again. Thanks to Gail and Steve for a great trip and so glad that Matt and Lauren could meet us out. And I would be remiss if I didn't thank my parents, Ken and Marietta for all of the Christmas presents they showered us before we left for Rome.
So, overall, I wanted to recap the trip by noting a few statistics:
- Days on the road - 14
- Countries visited - 5 (Scotland, Italy, Vatican City, Denmark and Christiana (a hippy village that counts itself outside the EU, mostly so they can sell weed)
- Modes of Transportation - planes, trains and automobiles... and boats
- Steps taken (according to my phone) - 215,334 (23,687 on highest day)
- Bottles of whisky/wine/beer consumed - too many to count
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musselburgh
Love you all!
Alix and John out!
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