The beauty of living in Europe was the ease of travel in such a short amount of time. As our time in bella Italia was coming to an end, we decided to go out with a bang and take one last big trip! We went to England, Scotland and France! Not only were we so close to all these places, it was also incredibly cheap to fly! It was truly a trip of a lifetime.
First stop – London, England. We fell in love the moment we got there. This magical place turned out to be our absolute favourite city. It was so quaint and filled with character. The architecture of the buildings was so different from Italy, but absolutely beautiful. While in London, it was absolutely imperative that we began every morning with a full English breakfast – toast buttered to the max, beans, sausage, eggs, bacon, tomato, hashbrowns and a “pint” of coffee! YUM! We watched the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace which was quite a spectacle – it felt like we were in a whole other world. We did all the typical sights of London – the Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, Thames River, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Covent Gardens, London Eye. However, a lot of these places we just admired from the outside as the cost to go inside the various cathedrals were crazy, particularly because the exchange to Canadian dollars is almost double. Despite our budget travel tactics, the sights were all amazing and wonderful to see! One tourist trap we did splurge on was the making of Harry Potter. This was a 3 hour tour that had all the real sets, costumes, and props from the movies– and being a huge Harry Potter nerd…it was so worth it! We ate at a Canadian pub which was super exciting, mainly because one of the bartenders was from London, Ontario…small world! On our last night, we went to see Stomp – this was the coolest performance I’ve ever seen and I highly recommend it. When we came out of the theatre, we saw a flock of paparazzi with all their gear and a group of human beings with Jason Statham posters – we thought “There’s no way Jason Statham is in that bar.” We quickly got our cameras ready just in case – Teron would take pictures and I would video-tape it. A few minutes later, the flash of the cameras was overwhelming, and we see Jason Statham walk out! We literally could have touched him – it was 1 minute of pure shock and awe. He is one of our favourite action stars, and in the words of my mother “sexy bitch, isn’t he.” We couldn’t stop laughing after – what are the chances we see Jason Statham– what a way to finish our 4 crazy days in London. Next stop – Edinburgh.
We stayed 3 nights with my cousin in a cute little village in Edinburgh. The houses were so charming and quite like hobbit houses…I kept thinking I was going to bump into Frodo or Bilbo Baggins! Good timing on our part as the Fringe Festival, apparently the biggest art festival in the world, was in full swing upon our arrival. The crowds and street performers were fascinating! We went to a pub called Jekyll and Hyde and watched some improv, then went to an acrobatic performance. This kind of performance always leaves me in awe – I honestly don’t know how they do it. Our second day we went to Camera Obscura which had really cool optical illusions, partook in a whisky tour and become whisky experts, and visited the Edinburgh castle. Our last meal in Edinburgh was a true Scottish experience – haggis, neeps and tatties (neeps = rutabaga, tatties = potato) – it was delicious. My cousin has a “pet” snake which had been shedding during our stay (he was literally sleeping under a rock for 3 days) but thank my lucky stars, he finished this freaky snake ritual just in time so I was able to hold and cuddle him before our departure…In fact, I almost started crying at the sight of my cousin holding the snake – eventually I got used to the beast and even wore him around my neck…for about a half second, until he started slithering down my back.
Last stop – Paris. This was my second time in Paris and it was just as wonderful – I had a lot of fun mimicking photos I took on my mother-daughter trip circa 2008. At this point, the go-go-go of our trip was really catching up with us, but we powered through. We went to the Eiffel tower before sunset so we were able to see the glorious French icon in daylight as well as lit up and glittery at night!! We walked to the Louvre, went to Notre-Dame, St.Sulpice, Sacre Coeur Basilica and Monmartre. I am always awestruck by the sheer greatness of these really effing old buildings… how did humans build them way back when, before machines and cranes? The only plausible explanation is magic…must have been magic. We also had some great French food – croissants (of course), baguettes for lunch, and our last Parisian meal, I dined on beef bourguignon with potatoes and carrots. That meal always reminds of the movie Julie and Julia. We also had our fair share of crepes while we were there. Sadly, the day came where we had to go home…home to Torino which certainly made it not too bad!
The 10 days we spent traveling were unforgettable!
Oh hey Jason…
Thanks for reading, have a beautiful day!
JADE 