As most of you know, we were fortunate enough to get to visit Scotland (for the second time), Paris, then tour around Italy. The primary reason for our trip was to go to our friend Zoe's (she was our exchange student in '95) wedding in Scotland! It was like a fairy tale! They got married in a castle, which we got to stay 2 nights in. The castle was situated with a loch (lake) on one side and a forest on another. It was amazing! We also got to go sailing on a Scottish loch with Zoe's dad who owns a sailboat.
Next we went on to Paris. We met up with our friends Leon, Angela, & Jon. We saw the tower, went to the louvre, Notre Dame, had wonderful Paris coffee, crepes, wine, 
and bread and enjoyed the city. I think the most memorable was when we got stuck in a rainstorm on our way to the tower and had to duck under a tall building's eve until the rain stopped! During this time we, of course, had to uncork some red wine! It made the wait a lot more tolerable and fun! :)
and bread and enjoyed the city. I think the most memorable was when we got stuck in a rainstorm on our way to the tower and had to duck under a tall building's eve until the rain stopped! During this time we, of course, had to uncork some red wine! It made the wait a lot more tolerable and fun! :) 
Last, we toured around Italy. We used trains as our primary source of transportation. We went to Venice, Florence, Tuscany, the Italian Riviera, and ended in Rome. We liked Tuscany and the Riviera the best, with Rome coming in close behind. Venice was really neat and we did a gondola ride (which was one of the best parts). Florence was a happenin' place and we saw the famous statue of David. From Florence, we made a day trip to the Italian Riviera (Cinque Terre) and visited a few towns along the coast. We lounged around and swam in the warm sea. We all floated like logs because there is so much salt in that water. Way more than here. Jon, Leon & Dusty also loved the "scenery" as it was normal to see topless sunbathers there. We went to the Tuscan region after Florence and loved it. All the neat cypress & olive trees and vineyards along the countryside were beautiful. We had lunch at a small quaint country farmhouse. We made a pit stop and saw the famous leaning tower of Pisa. Our last stop was Rome. We loved seeing the ancient ruins and Colosseum, it is really amazing. We also went to Vatican City which was cool.
