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Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Euro Trip Part 2

If you missed part 1 of my Euro Trip, click here. We left off on Saturday night. This meant, I only had two more days in London before heading to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Sunday was another free day. A few of us met up at 10 am and headed out to the Camden Market. Camden is the area where punk rock was started. It has a grungy feel, but pretty cool. Rory told me about a market place there, so we met 3 other co-workers at the flea market area. We were soooo not impressed and wondered how Rory bought such amazing things on a previous trip. But then we walked further along the road and saw the real Camden Market.
Camden Market

Camden Market

Camden Market

We spent hours here shopping and eating. My co-workers made a huge dent in their wallets. After shopping, we headed back to the hotel to drop our things off before walking over to Buckingham Palace for the States Room Tour. I have been to London 4 times now and I have always wanted to go into Buckingham Palace. You don't get to see the bedroom or things like that, but so many beautiful rooms. They open this part to the public only during a few months a year (during Summer). And photos are not allowed. I only got a few snaps outside, but it was pretty amazing and beautiful in there.
Buckinham Palace

Buckinham Palace Gardens

After our tour, we went to Covent Gardens for some more shopping. This time we all bought a bunch of tea from Whittard's. Then we made our way over to Sticks N Sushi for you guessed it, sushi. And it was amazing. Seriously sooooo good. I got a salmon sashimi and a rainbow roll. We also split some ebi bites (tempura shrimps).
salmon sashimi

Sticks N Sushi rolls

After dinner, we stopped at Gelupo for some gelato and then headed back to the hotel.

Monday we worked all day and then headed back out to Bone Daddies for more ramen. This time we tried a different location which was closer to where our co-workers were staying.

Tuesday, one of my co-workers and I headed out to Edinburgh, Scotland. We flew there, so we most of the day was spent at the airport. It is a quick flight, but with international flights, you need to be there at least 2 hours ahead of time.

Once we got into Edinburgh, we checked into our hotel and unpacked. Then we set out and walked around the castle grounds.
Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle

We stopped for a beer before going into a few shops.

Scotland Church

bag piper

snow owl

edinburgh scotland

The rain was coming in from the leftovers of Hurricane Helene and the weather quickly turned on us. Luckily, we were able to walk to our dinner spot. It was crowded, so we put our name in and went around the corner to my favorite bar, Lebowskis. Yes it is just like the movie. You can drink a variety of White Russians and they play Big Lelowski on the tvs. It is such a cool place and the drinks were amazing.
Lebowskis The Dude
 I got The Dude

White Russians from Lebowskis
And an amazing caramel one.

After our drinks, we went back over to Bar Italia for dinner. My co-worker (different one) and I went here two years ago and loved it. We went back twice since it was that good. This time, it was just ok. Not bad, but not great. Then we headed back to the hotel in the rain.

Wednesday we got up bright and early for work. We spent our day in meetings and then headed out into the massive rain and wind storm. The hurricane had definitely made its way into Scotland. We had trouble walking anywhere. We grabbed a cappuccino along the way which was one of the best cappuccinos I have ever had.
caramel crunch cappuccino


Since it was raining so much, we decided to go do the Whisky Experience (tour). We did the tour, had a scotch tasting and then went into their tasting room for another drink.
Whisky Experience
 Whisky Experience

Whisky Experience

Aberfeldy Scotch

After the tour, we headed out to dinner at Wildfire Steakhouse and had the most romantic steak dinner. Ha. It was funny because it was a girl co-worker and I at this tiny steakhouse which seats about 10 tables in a small room. We sat by the fireplace, shared a lobster gratin and a bottle of wine. The we each got filets with mashed potatoes. It was soooo heavenly.
Wildfire Steakhouse

Les Oliviers Wine

After dinner we headed back to the hotel to pack up for Ireland.

Thursday morning we headed out to Ireland. This day was spent mostly at the airport again. But when we arrived, we checked into our hotel, unpacked and made it to the Guinness Tour for the last tour of the day. I had been on this tour before, but my co-worker hadn't, so we enjoyed a Guinness and then went shopping in their store.
Guinness Tour in the gravity bar

It was raining all day, so we took a cab to our restaurant for dinner. We went The Boxty House and got one of their boxty dishes. They specialize in these potato pancake filled "burrito type" of dishes. We both got the steak one and shared some of their dumplings (kind of like gnocchi).
Boxty House dumplings
 The dumplings were really good and had this amazing sauce on them.

Boxty House beef boxty
I liked this dish, but thought the filet medallions could have been more tender. But the mushroom gravy on it was sooooo good. I also had one of the best Old Fashion's there.

After dinner, we took a taxi back to the hotel and turned in early.

Friday we had more meetings that we went to. After the meetings, we had a nice cappuccino in our hotel (seriously was soooo good) and then headed out into the rain. We walked over to Trinity College. I went last time I was in Dublin, but it is so beautiful and worth it. We also shopped in the school store. I even bought myself a shirt to match the one I got for the girls last time and bought a warm and cozy beanie there.
cappuccino

Trinity College
A little break in the rain (too).

Then we headed over to Temple Bar area to take the iconic Temple Bar photo. My co-worker also shopped in their store.
Temple Bar

Soon it was time to get dinner and we headed over to a pub with traditional Irish food and it was awful. The scene was fun with a live band and people watching, but the food sucked. I got some sort of Sheppard's Pie with an Italian take on it (was a house favorite) and it was nasty. I ate a couple bites and then had some of my co-workers seafood stew and soda bread, which was better. Overall, we were disappointed in the food there. So we headed back to the hotel to pack up and head back to London bright and early the next morning. As in, we left the hotel at 4 am.
This view never gets old.

I slept from about 8:30 pm until 1:30 am and then was too excited to head home, so I surfed Instagram and texted my boss to make sure they landed back in the States ok. We left our hotel at 4 am and flew to London. We had a short layover which we almost missed, but thankfully we did not. Then we flew home and I was greeted by the two sweetest little girls in the world and their daddy. They even held up signs welcoming me home.

23 comments :

  1. I just love the welcome home you got from a great trip. Why is it, the cappuccinos in Europe are just so much better? I love white Russians...these look so good. Well, everything looks grand and I am so glad you got this opportunity with work.

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    1. I have no idea why they are better, but they definitely are. Amazing. Those white Russians are sooo good. I need to make them more often.

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  2. What a great work trip. I love love Camden Market!! So much great stuff. I always make sure to pick up a bunch of iphone cases when I'm there. They have so many to choose from and I love that you can making a deal for them. haha Man, I'm so jealous that you get to travel so much for work. I wish! although, I know how tiring it can be plus its hard being away from your family. Awesome pictures.

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  3. Excellent photos! The food, drinks, scenery - everything looks fantastic!

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  4. What an incredible opportunity. Looks like lots of fun! Have a wonderful Wednesday.
    Tanya - The Other Side of the Road

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  5. This pics are so awesome! You ate so well and now I am craving a white russian! I am so jealous of all your cool travels for work!

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  6. Camden Market and Covenant Garden are two of my fav spots. All the markets really but Camden is just so fun and eclectic.

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    1. It really is a great market. I have no clue why it took me 4 times to finally go there.

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  7. That whiskey tour looks like so much fun!! Gosh, you're making me want to go so bad!

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  8. Man, they sure know how to do their coffee drinks, dont they?
    you cant convince me other wise - that owl is headed to Hogwarts ;)

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  9. Your welcome home was the cutest! It looks like you got some great exploring in. I'm glad you found the real flea market. We went to a flea market in Amsterdam and it's so fun seeing what other cultures have and are selling. The problem is always trying to figure out how to get things back home. Sierra Beautifully Candid

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  10. What an amazing trip you had! I swear there is no substitute to great European coffee...The Dude looks absolutely excellent! And I just love your welcome home :)

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  11. Camden market sounds amazing!!! I love that it has a grungy feel!

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  12. Wow what an awesome opportunity to do all this traveling!!

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  13. Wow - again, these pictures are just so amazing! I can't stop thinking about what my girls would think if they were to see that castle. Such an awesome experience and opportunity for you!

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  14. Amazing pictures!!! Do you travel a lot for your job?

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  15. We didn't get to scotland and england during our European month, I want to get there though.

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  16. Lovely pictures, looks like a great place to visit someday~
    Regards.
    Neverpayful.com
    Dealswithin.com

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  17. I didn't even notice Lebowski's when we were in Edinburgh (and still haven't seen the movie!). It's on my list! We went to Boxty's on our first night in Dublin and we did the Guinness tour one day. So fun! Love seeing your photos and what you did on your trip! The coffees and cappuccinos are SO much better in Europe!

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