Stonehenge

Every few months we make a trip down south to a few bases that have some conveniences we miss at our base where we're stationed. My DH and I decided that since we were going down there and had the whole weekend to ourselves (he was taking a class and wasn't on shift work for a month), we would take the long way home and see Stonehenge. It definitely wasn't as grand as I expected. It just looked like a rock formation in the middle of some farmers land. But it was really neat to see the stones and hear about the history of it. It was frigid when we went but it was definitely worth seeing. Hey, you can't live in England and NOT see Stonehenge! =o)

Edinburgh, Scotland

My DH and I decided to take a trip up to Scotland. Having been in England for just over a year and not seeing Scotland yet, we felt it was due time. We drove up to Edinburgh and spent 2 nights there. We had such a great time there that Glasgow just seemed like it was in a whole different country. In Edinburgh, it rained the whole first day we were there and we were so wet and cold that it was hard to enjoy ourselves but we found a place indoors to see. It is called Camera Obscura. A camera obscura is a mirror mounted on the top of a building that is about 3 inches by 5 inches and by focusing the image through 4 lenses, an image is projected inside the building of the entire city. It was amazing to see! That is not the only thing that was in Camera Obscura though, they had different illusions and mind blowing tricks in there it was like one giant magic show! On our second day in Edinburgh, we went to the castle. This is where I took this picture. It had stunning views of the city and the very tall building on the right hand side is known as The Hub, a gathering place, cafe and theatre in downtown Edinburgh. We had a great time and will be going up to Scotland again. I only wanted to go to Glasgow to find Gerard Butler but it is such an industrial town that we shopped and made our way back home. We had a great time in Scotland and are hoping to go back once the weather is warmer.

Palma de Mallorca, Majorca, September 11, 2010

After spending a day at sea, our final stop was Palma. It was by far our favorite stop on the entire cruise. The atmosphere there was so laid back and easy going, it reminded me a lot of Hawaii. Plus the architecture was just gorgeous! We toured Palma on our own, taking a Hop On Hop Off bus again. This is a picture of Le Seu, the cathedral in Palma. It is the oldest cathedral I have been inside and the only cathedral that you can see the reflection of in the pool in front of it. It was such a grand cathedral that it was hard to not tour. We loved looking around Palma and of course found a Hard Rock Cafe to eat at. We would definitely like to go back to Palma sometime in our lives. All in all, we had a wonderful time on our cruise and are blessed to have had the opportunity to go on it.

Naples, Italy, September 9, 2010

Our last stop in Italy was Naples. We pre-booked a tour of Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius after reading there wasn't much to do in Naples except shop, which had we had a few days there instead of hours, I would have been fine with. So we started our tour in the ruins of Pompeii. What a sight! It's amazing to see how horribly the town was damaged from Mount Vesuvius, still an active volcano. We saw people and animals that had been caught in the lava and were recovered from excavation teams. It was very sad to see. Then we went to Mount Vesuvius. We had the option to climb it if we wanted to and of course we did! Mind you, I had an awful cold the entire cruise so I was congested and feeling pretty puny that day. The hike up Mount Vesuvius is about a mile and I am not kidding, about a 45 degree angle the entire way. Needless to say, I stopped many times on the way up. This photo is a view from climbing Mount Vesuvius. The view was absolutely stunning! We got to the top and were able to look down into the volcano and it was just breath taking! It has not erupted since 1944, the eruption in 79 AD that took out Pompeii made it a must see for us! It was definitely worth the climb and if you ever happen to be in Naples or Pompeii, climb Mount Vesuvius and take in all of its history.

Rome, Italy, September 8, 2010

Our third stop was Rome. What a fabulous city bursting with culture and architecture! We docked in Civitavecchia where we met our tour guide. He took us to the train station and we rode the train into Rome. There is where we met with our Rome tour guide, Vincenzo. We started at the Colosseum. What a great sight to see! From there we could see Constantine's Arch (which I was dying to see) and moved from there through many sights in Rome. We saw the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain (which is what the picture is), the Spanish Steps and our last stop was Vatican City. We toured the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. They were both very worth seeing. Our tour guide could not have been more helpful and although we moved fast, we saw everything we wanted to see. I even got to try authentic Italian gelato! I'll never look at chocolate ice cream the same again!

Pisa, Italy, September 7, 2010

The second stop on our cruise was Pisa. It was by far our least favorite place. We docked in Livorno which is a very dirty town. Most port towns are dirty but this town was down-right atrocious! The streets were filthy and the people were very rude. We chose not to do any tours, just to go on our own. So our free shuttle bus dropped us off in the middle of Livorno and it seemed like no one spoke English there, or at least they didn't want to speak to us. We finally figured out how to buy a bus ticket into Pisa. We got into Pisa and had already pre-booked a Hop On Hop Off bus ticket. So we went about trying to find one of the stops for the HOHO bus. Boy was that hard! Luckily, we took our iPhone with us so we were able to put the street name into the maps and try to figure out where we were. So we finally found one of the stops and got on the bus and made our stop at the Leaning Tower. I think it was a mix between the heat and how hard it was to get around but I was not impressed by the Leaning Tower. It is just a big structure with a million people standing in front of it and thousands of street vendors rearing to rip you off. So we got back on the HOHO bus and rode around Pisa. We didn't find anywhere else we wanted to stop and thankfully we didn't. We made our way back to our original bus stop that the Livorno bus dropped us off at and we couldn't find a place to buy a return bus ticket. So we searched for 2 hours for a ticket counter and finally went into the train station to ask for help. They were completely useless and very rude to us so we just waited at the bus stop for the next bus to come and buy our ticket that way. The driver had sold all of her tickets but was gracious enough to just let us on anyways. I guess she could tell we were frazzled. We got back to Livorno and waited for the free shuttle back to the cruise ship. That is where we met our tour guide for Rome...

Monte Carlo, Monaco, September 6, 2010

Our next stop on our cruise was Monte Carlo. Monaco is an island on the south border of France and is the second smallest island in the world. We were pulling into port and could already tell that Monte Carlo was high class! It is most famous for it's casino, Grand Casino. This is a photo of Grand Casino beyond the fountain. Monaco is such a small country that we were able to walk around the entire city of Monte Carlo (one of 2 cities in the country) within the 8 hours we had on shore. It was a great place to visit but it really was high class. We felt a bit out of place, like unless we were millionaires, we didn't fit there. Kind of like Malibu without the celebrities. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and it was definitely worth seeing.

Barcelona, September 4th, 5th and 12th, 2010

My DH and I went on a 7 day Western Mediterranean cruise September 5-12. The port we left from was Barcelona so we flew in a day early to enjoy the sights Barcelona has to offer. We took the bus from our hotel to Placa de Espanya, one of the most well known streets in Barcelona. There we toured the sights around Placa de Espanya, Le Seu Cathedral, Las Ramblas and the Christopher Columbus statue. We took a bus tour of Barcelona on the 12th when we got back into port and that is when we saw La Sagrada Familia. Construction on La Sagrada Familia started in 1882 and still is not finished. Antoni Gaudi took over construction plans just a year into the beginning and it is being modeled after his vision to this day. Even though they are barely half way done, it truly is a great sight! The architecture is very modern for late 19th to early 20th century design but it is exquisite to see in person. Pictures just don't do it justice. If you happen to be in Barcelona any time in your life, you MUST go see La Sagrada Familia. It's worth your while!

Mock Wing Stop Chicken Wings and Fries

I have been missing the conveniences of the States lately. Malls, road trips and especially the food. I just can't seem to get into the food they eat in England. There is a lot of Indian cuisine and I especially cannot stand the Chinese food! It's much different than Chinese food in the States. So tonight, I decided to try to copy the mild and hickory smoked bbq wings that my DH and I used to order at Wing Stop in Colorado ALL the time. Instead of deep frying the wings and fries, I baked them. Both turned out fabulous but I was not able to copy the recipe for the fries. They just don't taste the same! So here is the recipe for the wings:

Marinated Oven Fried Chicken Wings


2 pounds chicken wings (about 12 wings) cut into 2 pieces, tip discarded
2 cloves sliced garlic
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoon liquid hickory smoke
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix all together in resealable zip top bag. Refrigerate and marinade 30 minutes to 4 hours (no longer).
Once wings are done marinating, take out of bag and pat dry. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with no stick spray. Arrange wings on sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Turn wings over and bake 20 minutes longer.

Mild Wing Sauce


1/2 cup Texas Pete Buffalo Wing Sauce
1/4 cup butter
1 clove minced garlic

Melt butter in small pan just until bubbling. Add garlic. Cook on low heat (do NOT let garlic brown!) for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in wing sauce. Once wings are out of the oven, pat dry and toss in mixed sauce. Serve.

Hickory Smoked BBQ Sauce


1/2 cup Sweet Baby Ray's Original BBQ Sauce (or similar smoky BBQ sauce)
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon liquid hickory smoke
2 teaspoon hot sauce (or to taste)

Mix all together. Once wings are out of the oven, pat dry and toss in mixed sauce. Serve.

The Mild Sauce really is a bit more spicy than a true mild sauce but I like my wings spicy. My DH thought they were too spicy so didn't actually get to enjoy them with me. So word to the wise; if you don't like spicy sauce, add more butter to the hot sauce, or use less sauce. Equal parts sauce to butter will make it less spicy. Anyways, the wings turned out so crispy baking them and both sauces were very close to the sauce they use at Wing Stop. If only I could get them to give me the recipe for the seasoning they use on their fries...

Winter Wonderland

Okay, so it's not officially winter yet but it sure has felt like it here! We have received about 6 inches so far within the past 3 days and there is still more to come. We were told when we got here that England doesn't get much snow. I guess we were bad luck and brought it with us from Colorado.

It really is beautiful though. The trees are all lined and our dog absolutely loves playing in it. I really enjoy seeing the snow but would be happy to see it 3 times a year; Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. Other than that, I wish it could be 70 degrees year round!