What a whirlwind that last few weeks have been! Let me back up and I'll keep it short and sweet!
After Mom and Dad left, Amanda visited. It was so much fun to get to show her around the city!! We did the big bus like we did with my parents. It was fun to see it all again! While she was here, Kyle got invited to a private screening if the new 007 movie and Amanda was so nice and watched Colston so I could go too! It was really neat because it was only for Swiss Re employees and clients. We had to dress up a little so that was fun. When we got to the theater, we were handed personal bottles of champagne and a box of goodies to take in to the movie. Many people there were dressed in tuxes and formal gowns. The movie was very good and then we went upstairs to the terrace for mingling and some more goodies with martinis and wine. It was interesting to listen to all Kyle's British coworkers talk! I couldn't understand half of what they were saying because of their accent and slang. But we had a good time. The next day, we all went to Sushi Samba, which is at the top of Heron Tower. It was fantastic!! Oh, the view wasn't bad either! ;) It was good having Amanda here and was sad when it was time for her to go.
The next weekend, we made a trip up to Scotland!! It was wonderful! Kyle and I fell in love with It, almost as much as Italy! We went to Edinburgh and stayed at a Marriott hotel just outside the city. We saw Edinburgh castle and learned about the history of our family names. It was a very neat castle. We then walked through town to do some shopping and grab a bite to eat. Along the way we found a shop full of swords and the like. Kyle had so much fun looking at it all! We then found a small cafe and had some sandwiches. We continued to walk through Edinburgh to Arthur's Seat, a dormant volcano. We climbed to the top of a nearby hill to take in all the views. Edinburgh is a very big city but it felt like an Italian village. The next day, we spent the day exploring the hotel and then headed to an aquarium, which was really neat. Colston thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the fish and sharks. Oh, I almost forgot...the breakfast at the hotel was unbelievable!! It was a traditional British breakfast with some of the best waffles we have ever had. We hope to someday return to Scotland and do more exploring!
It was then time for us to pack up and move to Zurich. Our time in London flew by and now it was time to begin the second part of our journey. We got all moved in to our ground floor apartment with a yard and then we headed off to Italy once more. Like I said, we love Italy and jumped at a chance to return. This time, we headed to Amalfi on the Amalfi Coast. It was absolutely beautiful!!! Besides for the winding roads through villages hugging the mountains, it was unbelievable! The village of Amalfi was the perfect little Italian village. There was a harbor where Colston loved to look at the boats and many piers. The village square had a fountain surrounded by a church and many shops and cafes. We had the famous Naples pizza and some Italian desserts and then spent our time shopping and just enjoying Italy. The next day, we stopped by a market and then headed back into the village square (our hotel was on the mountain, about a 15 min hike from the village). We didn't do much but take it all in and relax. It was too cold to swim but we did stick our feet in the water. Colston really wanted to swim and was not very happy when we said it was time to go. We really enjoyed our time in Amalfi, but it was time to head to Zermatt.
Zermatt was a quiet little skiing village deep in the heart of the Swiss Alps. It is only accessible by train but it is breathtaking! Since we went during the off season, much of the village was closed down. The one hotel we stayed in was opening for the first time in over a month so we were able to stay there. And it was gorgeous! It has a beautiful view of the Matterhorn and is situated up on a mountain. It was everything you would think a ski lodge would be! They gave us a suite facing the Matterhorn with two rooms and a balcony. We were able to wake up to a view of the Matterhorn!! While in Zermatt, we also just spent our time relaxing and taking in the quaint little village. It was fun and Colston really enjoyed riding the choo choo!
Now, back to Zurich! :)
