Dublin and Edinburgh (Part II)

Apparently, I am a bear or maybe a groundhog. I experience my first real winter and what do I do? I hibernate from blogging. Now that Spring has finally somewhat arrived, I have emerged from my den and vow to catch up the internet community on our many adventures over the past few months. Here we go.


Last fall we made a quick trip to Edinburgh, Scotland with two of our best friends. Edinburgh is a lively city with castles, cashmere, kilts, and ghosts. Some reports say the area around Edinburgh Castle has been inhabited for 7,000 years. Yep, that might explain the ghosts. 

Walking toward the Royal Mile

Our first evening we walked the Royal Mile at sunset. Fortunately, our photographer (Stewart) captured some amazing pictures during this walk as it rained the rest of our trip. The Royal Mile spans from Edinburgh Castle down to Holyrood Palace. The route is peppered with shops, cafes, historical buildings and churches. 

The Royal Mile

The Royal Mile

The Royal Mile

View from the Royal Mile

Edinburgh is a city that shines at night. 

After our jaunt down the Royal Mile we settled at a restaurant filled with locals. The restaurant offered whisky (without an "e") flights. Each flight contained four different types of Scottish whisky. Stewart and I, the only whisky lovers in the group, jumped at the chance to partake in the whisky flight. Our waiter was a burly and intense Scotsman. The man was scary. When we Stewart asked him for assistance in making the whisky flight selection the waiter was totally exasperated...until he realized that he gave us a list of 100 different types of whisky on hand and not the flight menu. Whoops. Believe me, I needed the whisky because the bed in our hotel room felt about as old as Edinburgh Castle. I think I still have spring marks in my back. 

On our second day we toured Edinburgh Castle. It was cold, wet and grey - a typical fall day. 

A very wet day at Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle or Hogwarts?  Rumor has it that J.K. Rowling penned the first Harry Potter from a cafe which had views of the castle. 

Sounds right. 

After getting soaked during our tour of Edinburgh Castle all I could think about was getting warm and dry. Naturally, that meant more whisky! Stewart and I ditched our non-whisky loving spouses to partake in The Whisky Experience. The Whisky Experience starts with a disney-esque ride through the whisky making process. 

Stewart on the whisky "ride"

Afterwards, a video presentation taught us about four of the five main whisky producing regions in Scotland (Speyside, Highlands, Lowlands and the Islands).  We then tasted whisky from one of the regions and viewed the largest private collection of whisky in the world! 

Just a fraction of the whisky collection

More whisky...

Feeling a bit warmer at this point. 

We spent the remainder of the day wandering through the streets of Edinburgh, stopping at the many cashmere outlets. 

Me, Jenny (+baby), and Stew. Edinburgh Castle in the background

A little legal humor  "The Advocate - Called To The Bar"

Now I am craving some of that whisky I picked up in Edinburgh. Cheers!


Photo credits - S. Brant. 

Christmas in Paris

Champs De Elysee

So I fired myself from the blog because I couldn't come up with a valid excuse for the lack of posts. Bad blogger. So much has happened since my last post . We finally broke down and purchased a new computer and a expensive real camera. My real camera had a life span of fifteen days. Yes, you read that correctly. I had the camera fifteen whole days before it decided to jump out of a backpack and onto the cobblestone streets of Paris. I mourned. For real. The cost of repairing the camera is pretty much the same as purchasing a new one. Someone please explain that one to me. 


Other updates...I now have a j-o-b, which I absolutely love. More later. I also experienced my first real winter. You know where you have to wear a coat, gloves, and boots. Wait, what am I saying, of course you Southern Californians don't know! What am I thinking?  


Rory and I spent Christmas in Paris. It was beyond magical. Our days were filled with pastries, wine, bread, butter, cheese, wine, and pastries.  In that order. As you would expect, Christmas is a grand affair in Paris. Wonderful outdoor Christmas markets are peppered throughout the city, with the largest one located on the Champs De Elysee. We are fortunate to have been to Paris before so we didn't feel the need to rush around like crazy tourists. Instead, we tried to experience Christmas in Paris as the Parisians would, casually wandering the outdoor markets with a cup of hot mulled wine, sampling the Christmas delicacies and buying presents. 

Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart)

Santa Claus paid a visit to Sacre Coeur

This outdoor Christmas market was situated just below Sacre Coeur on the hill overlooking Paris.

This Christmas shop was selling homemade soap. 

We picked up some meat, a type of Salami, from this vendor. He let us sample a variety of the products. 

We sampled some sparkling Chardonnay. 

I restrained the urge to just shove my face into the piles of candy. 

Mulled wine. 

The light display on the Champs De Elysee. I am totally blocking the shot. Doesn't this photo look fake? 

See, I was really there!

This is literally chestnuts roasting on an open fire. 

Luxor Obelisk (a gift from Egypt) at Place de la Concorde

Fresh churros with nutella. Yeah, couldn't pass that up. 

Worth every calorie. 

Inside Galeries Lafayette 

Fresh seafood available at many outdoor markets 

We waited in line for 45 minutes to order our Christmas ham from this store. After Rory placed our order in french, the elderly woman behind us patted him on the shoulder and congratulated his effort.  

Notre Dame

Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. She is cased in bullet proof glass. Now you can say you've seen it. 

Our last night in Paris was spent at O'Chateau Wine Bar. 

I dream about these pastries. 

It wouldn't be a Paris blog without at least one picture of Le Tour Eiffel



If you could spend Christmas anywhere in the world, where would it be?