Military Tattoo

My time in Scotland is done and I am back in the US.  Before I left Scotland, I had the opportunity to experience the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.  What a great night, even if it was outside and it was raining the whole time.  The Tattoo features performers from over 46 countries and tells the story of the Scotland origins and exploration around the world.  A lot of fun music, a great story, and wonderful lights on the Castle.  It takes place just outside the Edinburgh Castle and was a perfect way to finish my time over there.  Anyone thinking of traveling to Scotland should try to go in August to take advantage of the Fringe Festival and the Military Tattoo.

Beautiful sky outside the Castle

Oh kilts, I will miss you

The Castle in lights for the different countries being represented

The island nations were great to watch

So many bagpipes

Lots of bagpipes

Patriotic Castle

Military Pony!!! So cute

Ibiza

I am not sure what to say about Ibiza.  It is beautiful for sure, the weather was amazing, the apartment we rented was perfect, the clubs were fun, but overall.... not a place I need to go back to.

It all began on 8 July when I arrived in the middle of the night, which apparently is not a big problem because people do not sleep much on this island.  I had a few days before my little sisters arrived, and with no internet at the apartment, I was actually able to get a lot of work done on my dissertation.  I know most people do not go to a party island to do school work, but really, it happened for me.

My sisters arrived on 13 July; my youngest sister, Jennifer, was turning 18 and her older sister, Jessica, thought it would be fun for her to party on Ibiza for her birthday.  I tagged along to see them both for a couple days before they went back to the states and got ready to move to Reno for college.  I am so thankful to have this opportunity to be with them, and we had a great time, but man can partying with young kids make you feel old quickly :-D

The House Rules for our apartment

View of the bay from our balcony

This pier was right outside our apartment building and offered beautiful views of the sunsets

Boat passing through the bay

Just one of about 100 sunset photos I took... Ibiza has amazing sunsets

The before picture from the night we went to the largest club in the world for a paint party

Me and the birthday girl on her 18th birthday on a party boat

Party boat view

Sunset on Jennifer's birthday... taken from where we were having dinner

Three sisters for Jennifer's birthday dinner... I whole love my little half sisters

Lambananas

Yes, Lambananas.  Half lamb, half banana, 100% fun.

While Jessica and I were in Liverpool we found these adorable creatures.  Apparently they were part of an event in 1998, the largest (or Superlambanana... totally a thing... click here) is 17 feet tall and bright yellow.  It is something to see for sure.  There were about 125 made all together (much smaller than the Superlambanana) and some are still around the city while others have been bought and are now in private collector's homes.  Or wherever rich people put their fancy art.

I just loved taking photos when we found them, even if it annoyed Jessica to have to stop a lot for me to get a shot. :-)  She was a good sport for the most part and even pointed a couple of them out when I didn't seem them.

So, for your enjoyment... my collection of lambanana photos.

A Sgt. Peppery Yellow Submarine Lambanana

Restaurant lambanana

Not sure what this design was... a mixture of many different thoughts

And the reverse

Southwestern lambanana 

Other side of the Southwestern lambanana

Pop faces lambanana side 1

Pop faces lambanana side 2

Flower lambanana

Under the water lambanana

Lambanana covered in lambananas

Row of lambananas with a creepy clown in the front

Jessica

After three weeks I said good bye to my little sister as she went on her way to a music festival and I came back up to Scotland.  I had such an amazing time with her, it was the first time we were able to spend that much time together, just the two of us, and it was really great.  We spent time doing nothing, we traveled the U.K top to bottom, and we still really like each other.

I love how different all of us siblings are, and yet we have some very similar traits that remind us we are family.  Jessica is incredible and while I know she is still figuring out who she wants to grow into, I have no doubt when she gets there she will be great at it.

I don't even like diet coke, but I would share one with this kid

Yeah, this happened.... a lot on our train rides

Good thing she isn't a ham :)

Pretty much perfectly describes this one

We were trying out ideas for her next haircut

A mini Stonehenge in Cardiff

She has the weight of the world on her shoulders

There, there cute little rocks... do you need a pat on the back?

Kicking rocks and taking names

I want to rock... ROCK

Whole love this kid

She might be the smallest, but she is way fierce

Half sisters full of whole love

Salisbury

The last stop on our tour of the U.K was Salisbury.  We arrived Tuesday afternoon, found the house we were staying at, unloaded and went to dinner.  The room we rented was with a fantastic family in a great location; we could easily walk to the city centre, train station, and there was a little garden out the front door.

Wednesday we got up and headed out to Stonehenge.  While we had great weather, a fun time, and enjoyed ourselves, I don't know if it was everything it was cracked up to be.  The new visitors center is very large with a lot of history about the stones and their potential meaning, but the audio guides don't work for English, and it is kind of loud and therefore difficult to hear what is being said (which is a disappointment).  The location is set back far enough from the visitor center that a bus or tram is needed, or a nice 40+ min walk will get you there.  Overall, we had a good time, but I don't know if this is on the list of things we have to do again.

After Stonehenge we took the bus back to town and walked over to the cathedral hoping to get in to see the Magna Carta.  Unfortunately it was a little out of our price range to get in, and pictures are not allowed, so we skipped going all the way in and walked around taking in other sites along the way.  It was a nice way to end our tour of the U.K and our time together.

Gate entrance to the cathedral

Salisbury cathedral

One of the many canals in Salisbury

I mean it could be a post card

Yup, I am punny

Sometimes you just need to go kick rocks

Oh, we own our geekiness better than any others