At the Olive Farm…

Alcalá la Real is full of olive farms. My Sister-in-Law Veronica, has just inherited her family’s olive farm and is running it with her sister. It has been passed down over many generations and is a spectacularly beautiful place to get to explore. As far as the eye can see, just rows and rows of beautiful twisty olive trees disappearing over the hills…

I wandered around the farm and tried to capture as much of the magic as I could…

It is very easy to get lost in an olive grove, just FYI for next time you go exploring on an olive farm…

I stumbled across faerie ring after faerie ring and had thoughts of my younger days with Melissa and Audrey flood back to me like it was yesterday…

And all of these beautiful olives…

Much to my utter GLEE we were able to bring back 5 liters of Veronica’s deliciously rich and wonderful olive oil. I am very happy to report that we have been eating olive oil on everything and the day we run out I might have to fly back to get more!

Next up…The animals of Spain xx

Road Trip to Granada…

We woke up bright and early one morning and hit the road to Granada…

The Alhambra!!!

I really don’t have words for how grand and beautiful the Alhambra is…simply stunning.

Next up…Christmas in Spain xx

A December Stroll Around Alcalá la Real

Yippee! I have more Spain photos for your viewing pleasure!

There was so much to photograph yet I left feeling like I should have taken more.

Shall we begin?

Our first day in Alcalá la Real we simply could not sit still and took a nice brisk hike up the hillside…

Quite the view!

The clouds rolled in to create a nice moody light…

My gorgeous Sister-in-Law Veronica standing underneath her street sign…

The Magi…

My darling Brother-in-Law Andy, experiencing his first deep thoughts of the day…

Next up…Our road trip to Granada xx

Parental Invasion!

While we are on the subject of people visiting me in London….

My Parents came to see me!!!!!!!

In April, they decided to be brave and close their dental practice (for the first time in like ONE BILLION YEARS) to come visit me in London!

They only had 9 days and that included a trip up North to Cumbria to visit the In-Laws (as well as my most favorite Animal Park) so we really had to cram a lot in…
By now, I’m pretty much the official “First trip to London must-see tour guide”…

Of course, we had to go to Westminster…

As well as Westminster Abbey…

Mom attempts to soak in more than a thousand years of history…

Tralfagar was next…

It was pouring down rain off and on, but we soldiered through!

A stormy stroll along the Thames…

We stopped in Stratford-upon-Avon (the birthplace of William Shakespeare) on the way up North to experience some of the festivities taking place in honor of his birthday.

Strolling around the Lake District…

AND FINALLY, SAFARI PARK HAPPY PLACE!!!

Sleepytime bear…

MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE GIRAFFE…

GIRAFFE KIIIIIISSSSSSEEESSSSSS….

Look at this guy’s FINGERS!!!

MAKING FRIENDS LIKE I DO.

I don’t really like these guys very much…

They are very very large and agressive…

But THIS dude right here is THE BEST!

THE END XXOO

Becca’s visit!

Leaving Nashville a year ago was a mixed bag.
I was super sad to leave my friends and family, but extremely excited to marry my sweetheart and stoked to be starting a new life in London.

I worried that no one would ever come visit me.

I mean, I did move 4,000 miles away and across the Atlantic Ocean.
Tickets are expensive and taking time off work is tough(especially for Americans).

But lo and behold, this has not stopped people from continuing to make the journey.

Which, makes me feel REALLY LOVED.

I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that I happen live in one of the coolest city’s in the world, but I like to think that it’s only a tiny part of why people have made the trip.

Becca is one of my GIRLS!
We worked together for years and she is probably the most reliable and trustworthy person I know.
She also threw my bachelorette brunch and has generally just always been an incredibly great friend to me.

When I found out she was going to come visit me I literally jumped up and down in my bedroom screaming “BECCA’S GONNA COME SEEEEEE MEEEEEEE!!!!!” at the top of my lungs while my dog looked at me with distinct disapproval of my volume level.

We had a REALLY good time and saw ALL OF THE THINGS.

We were out and about every single day walking (and shopping) our butts off.

I have photographic evidence of all the funtimes.
Most of the photos are of Becca because she’s just really super pretty.

A day exploring Greenwich…

The Prime Meridian Line-where time begins!

Becca is also a MAJOR Harry Potter fan.
She took a bus one of the days she was visiting and went on a 3 hour superfan tour the Studio where they filmed all of the HP movies.

All by herself. Awwwww..

Bearing this in mind, it was simply imperative that she visit the Millenium Bridge as it is apparently featured in a scene of one of the films where some scary smoke monster thing flies over it or destroys it or something?

Clearly I haven’t seen the films.

She was a little excited.

Simply adorable.

Here we are slurping down a few beautiful craft cocktails at Bar Social…

And then snarfing down some gorgeously sinful pizza in Shoreditch…

And beer…

And the prettiest little butter lettuce & avocado salad…

Did I mention that Sir Noodles fell in love with Becca during her stay?

(she’s totally channeling some ultra hot Uma Thurman in this shot)

Exploring Salisbury + Salisbury Cathedral with the hubbs and the Noodz.

Sunday Roast…

Let’s all just take a moment of silence for how breathtaking my friend is.

Unfortunately she couldn’t stay forever and had to go home. SADFACE.

Til next time!

xxoo

A Very Cold Venetian Holiday…

Ahhhhhh Venice!

The last stop on our honeymoon tour of beautiful and unseasonably wintry Italy.

When we planned our trip, we did zero research on what events would be going on in the various cities we were visiting.

We just had 14 days to burn and decided on February at random.

Much to our delight and complete surprise, Carnival was in FULL SWING when we arrived in Venice.

Costumes, music, FOUNTAINS OF RED WINE, and confetti, confetti, confetti!!

We stayed at the Hilton because we got a super good deal for it being such a high-end hotel-http://www.molinostuckyhilton.it/index.php

Although building is beautiful and the view was amazing…(view from our room…that’s Venice across the way)

…we would never stay there again, for the following reasons:

It was simply too damn big, too far from the mainland, food drinks etc. were SO OVERPRICED, Wifi was like 25 euros (barf), and it was freezing so the gorgeous pool was closed.

We felt like we were missing out being so far away from the center of Venice.

We got up and ready and out the door everyday and then had to wait for a water taxi and then another 25 minutes to get into Venice.

By this time, we were HANGRY and GRUMPYFACED.

We did Florence and Rome via Airbnb https://www.airbnb.co.uk/

And has such great experiences with this that we will never ever book hotels again.

We learned our lesson in Venice!

So onto the fun part! PHOTOS!

I took a massive amount of photos.

Get a cup of tea, sit back, and relax because I’m going to post them all in one go.

Venetian shop windows…!!!

My most favorite book…

Rialto Bridge at night…

A night of glorious Italian opera (birthday gift from the super sweet hubs)

Day in Murano…

The Venice Cemetery…

Ponte dei Sospiri (The Bridge of Sighs)

Confetti covering everything…

Pups!

St. Mark’s Basilica

It was cold, but it was still dreamy. Ciao Venice xx

MAJESTIC FLORENCE PART III

I present you with the last of my Florence photos!
Wondrously Amazing Florence…

Boboli Gardens

Ponte Vecchio

Medici Riccardi

Basilica di Santa Croce (Basilica of the Holy Cross)

GOODBYE SWEET FLORENCE! xxoo

MAJESTIC FLORENCE PART II

Annnnnnnd we’re back!
See how quickly I did that?
I’m really trying to be better!

I have more spectacular photos of Florence!!! Hoooraaayyyy!

I do not, however, know the names of every statue and painting (or most really) as I am a shutterbug and am usually too busy to write them down.

I could look them up I suppose, but so could you!

AND GO!

The battle of who looks more Roman…

My gorgeous husband deep in thought…

I love animals. Even LEGO Animals. ESPECIALLY LEGO animals!

Frozen river…

There are even MORE photos to come! Stay tuned…

MAJESTIC FLORENCE PART I

Well, it happened again! I was momentarily swallowed up by life and subsequently abandoned my blog.
Sorry for the delay, but as I’ll be working part-time and from home this month during the London Olympics, I shall have much more time to catch up on catching YOU up!

So where were we?

ITALIA!

Specifically Florence.

Florence is beyond amazing. It is simply breathtakingly mesmerizing.
I had heard that it was the best, and it truly is THE BEST.
I did not want to leave. AT ALL.
The food. The churches. The art. The gelato.
The AIR. THE WAY THAT EVERYTHING HAS A GOLDEN GLOW TO IT!!
The ease at which one can simply float about, slowly absorbing the day.
No hustle, no bustle…worlds away from the insanity that is London.

And, we were lucky enough to rent the most spectacular apartment right in the middle of everything in what used to be a convent dating back to the 16th century. Fresco ceilings and all. Antique furniture. Orange trees in our private garden.

A week was not long enough…but we did our very best to drink it all in…

Santa Maria Novella

Il Duomo di Firenze

Baptistery of St.John

There are ALOT more photos to come…sit tight and dream of your visit!!! xx

Rome in February

As my luck would have it, gobs of snow fell in Rome for the first time in over two decades exactly when WE decide to go for our Honeymoon.

OF COURSE.

We made the best of it, but I’m not going to lie…it was pretty miserable most days.

Large sloppy snowflakes smacking you directly in your face then melting into deep icy slush puddles …subsequently filling my leaky boots…freezing my feet…making me extremely displeased and dare I say BITCHY.

It probably wouldn’t have been so bad, but seeing as how my traveling has been somewhat limited up until this last year, I was bound and determined to tackle Rome headfirst and see as much as possible.

I think that the more we travel, the more relaxed I will be about trying to do EVERYTHING.

The endless hours of walking around without proper snow gear was DISMAL.
Not to mention that many of the museums and such were closed due to the gloomy weather.

IF I HAD ROME TO DO AGAIN, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE RELAXING!

Alas, we trudged ahead, counting our blessings, and I tried to get as many good shots as possible.

Some days were better than others. The last day in particular was incredibly warm and clear.

All in all, Rome was incredibly beautiful and very special.

Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II (The Typewriter)

Roman Forum

The Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano

Trevi Fountain

Pantheon (Closed due to snow)

Bridge to Vatican City

Vatican/St. Peter’s

Colosseum (taken with crappy iPhone camera)

Six Nations Rugby at Stadio Olympico

Piazza Navona

There were so many churches…I can’t remember all the names unfortunately…

Florence is up next…stay tuned!!!