England and Scotland with Family

If we have been anything this past month it has not been lazy. As soon as we were back on English soil we hit the ground running with Ashley's sister and dad. We spent a few days in London seeing all the sites and boy are there some sites to see. After London we hoped onto a train and made our way up to Edinburgh, Scotland. Edinburgh definitely was surprising. I would never have guessed that a city in Scotland would have such interesting architecture and history. After Edinburgh we went on, what I can best describe as a marathon trip of Scotland. We would wake up, walk, walk, walk some more, see as much of a town as we could, crash at the end of the day, and start it all over in a new town two days later.  It was hard but completely worth it. We saw just about every type of Scottish landscape you could see, from grassy fields to rocky mountains. It seemed that everyone enjoyed Pitlochry the most. I personally enjoyed Stornoway, a sister city to Ashley’s home town, Pendleton. I thought it had a real island Scottish feel to it. 17 days and 7 towns later we split ways in Glasgow. Ashley and I went to Todmorden to relax for a week before heading to France and Rick and Shelby flew back to SC. Overall, they were great travel companions and we both highly recommend Scotland! Don’t expect to loss any weight by eating the food though!

 

Castle of Edinburgh

 

Rick and Shelby

 

Rick showing everyone where our apartment was located. 

 

Two salty sailors

A Bit of Ireland

Here are a few photos of our time in Dublin, Waterford and Cork. Ireland is a beautiful country and the landscape is unbelievably green!  

London Calling

We arrived in London after an early start in Croatia and made our way to our AirBnb room!  For those of you who haven't heard of it, AirBnb.com is the BEST way to get a room or an apartment nearly anywhere in the world! We immediately set out to do some exploring and we covered a lot of ground in the 4 days we were there.  We also had the chance to visit Derek's cousin and had a lovely dinner with her family!  After seeing the Victoria and Albert Museum, Science Museum, British Museum, National Gallery, Westminster Cathedral, Big Ben/Parliament Building, Trafalgar Square, Harrods....etc, well, we realized there is a lot to see and do in London.  Way more than we had time for, but we tried!  Enjoy the photos, there will be more from London when we meet Ashley's Dad and sister there on June 14!

Playing Catch Up!

We've been busy for the past week or so.  We arrived in London, spent a few days there and then headed off for Ireland!  This post contains photos from our last 2 days in Dubrovnik, Croatia....one of the most beautiful places we've been!  Keep and eye out for posts on Ireland and London later in the day!

Hiking to Stari Grad Fort and Split Part 2

Cetina River Adventures

We rented a kayak a few days ago and took a trip up the river.  The natural scenery here is breathtaking and we definitely spent more time looking around than paddling....which is probably why it took us twice as long to reach our destination.  You can easily paddle upriver until you reach the point where the small rapids make it impossible to go any further.  Luckily, there is a great outdoor restaurant on the river bank!  An old mill was transformed into one of the most popular restaurants in Omis, Radmanove Mlinice (you can find more photos here: Radmanove Mlinice Restaurant) While we didn't have a full meal, we did enjoy a local beer and one of the local Dalmatian specialties: smoked prosciutto. Amazing!  Enjoy the photos!

The Best Views....Ever

A few days ago we took the short hike up to Mirabella Fortress.  We see the tower from our kitchen window every day and decided we needed a closer look.  We ended up with some of the most beautiful views of Omis!!

We Split for Split!

We took a short bus ride up the coast to the second largest town in Croatia, Split.  It started to rain in the afternoon, but luckily, we are only 30 minutes away so we will be back!  We enjoyed their walkway along the Adriatic and after exploring some of the narrow streets we had a wonderful lunch with a view of the water.  Diocletian's palace is here, but we only snapped a few photos before the rain came.  More on that on another day!