London & Paris

Our tour of the UK began in early July. We travelled by train to London. London is a big, bustling, busy city. We saw the London Tower, did the London Eye, changing of the guard, St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey (fabulous tour). We spent a fun night in Chinatown and enjoyed the Victoria and Albert Museum--a huge collection of pretty things! We also visited the Science and Natural History museums, all walking distance from our little hotel. We really enjoyed the lush green parks of London, particularly St. James, where we got a chance to unwind from city activities. The girls loved riding the tube which was always packed.














We spent a wonderful day in Paris. We traveled via the Eurostar and had a glorious summer day visiting the major sites (Arc de Triomphe, Grand Palais, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame) and toured the Musee d'Orsay. It is a BEAUTIFUL city and we were sorry we did not have more time.

Edinburgh in Bloom

In June our friends the Blooms visited. It was a great visit with time to re-connect, show them Edinburgh, visit York (which felt very English), and hike the Pentlands.
We had a wonderful and memorable last day with a hike and sunshine, skittle bowling, pub grub, and an evening stroll in a secret garden by Duddingston Kirk. Other great highlights included an evening visit to the Scottish Real Ale festival and a visit to the John Leslie, an authentic pub in our neighborhood.

Sciennes Sports Day

June 10th was Sports day at school. The students are divided into houses (grange, lauder, tantallon, and sienna) and compete for points during the year. They spent the day in the Meadows competing at obstacle courses, golf, jump rope, egg(or potato) and spoon races.
It was a great way to celebrate a summery day.

Claire turns 7!

Claire turned 7 as we returned from France (we should all be so lucky!) We celebrated her birthday with a party at Imagination Workshop (www.theimaginationworkshop.co.uk). They created decoupage mirrors and had cupcakes. A good time was had by all.

April and May

We had a busy April and May. Amy and Aunt Mary came to visit and we were blessed with good weather (at least by Scotland standards). Amy, Mary and I visited Dublin. Dublin is a vibrant, hip, young city and the short visit was wonderful. The Irish people seem to have a smile on their face, a song in their heart and a story to tell (just like my friend Eileen)! Below are the photos of Dublin, Mallahide Castle and Trinity University.

Hannah’s class at Sciennes created the environmental art for an Art Show. The work was of high quality and like so much as Sciennes, it was well produced.

Hannah and her friend Lottie raced in the Great Jr. Edinburgh run through the Meadows—it was another lovely day and they did a great job.

Aunt Jane came for a second visit and we climbed to the top of the Scott Monument and strolled through Princes’s Street Gardens and the Meadows in full bloom.

Lyon, France

We all returned to France as part of a work trip and had a magnificent time in Lyon. No one was injured this time! Lyon is the second largest city of France that is considered to be the culinary capital - the dinning was indeed exceptional. We were surprised at how much we enjoyed this city from its old historic core (vieux lyon) filled with cobbled streets, beautiful views along two parallel rivers (Saone and Rhone), and its history (it was the heart of the French resistance in WWII). Above the old city, we took a fenicula (incline trolley) up the nearby mountains to the beautiful Notre Dame cathedral and Roman amphitheater ruins. We visited the historic grand synogogue which has survived for over 150 years - several French women we met helped us find it (it was hidden behind a front stone facade (probably for security) and translated for us.
Here are some pictures from Lyon.












The other aspect of our trip was that we did not actually stay in Lyon, but 30 minutes north in the wine country of Beaujolais near the small village of St. Etienne Des Ourielles. We stayed in a cute cottage (or gite) with 4 acres of vineyards in our backyard. They had a heated pool which was perfect for the girls. The mountains were like a Cezanne painting. The owners and wine-makers (Briar and Michel) gave us 12 bottles of wine and made us a welcome dinner on arrival. They had two kids and a dog (Oscar). We visited some neat places like the medieval walled city of Perouges, the most amazing wine musuem (we spent 6 hours there), and a neat wild bird park (see Hannah by the Ostrich). All in all, it was a great mix of city and country activities. Some more pictures. The final one was this fantastic market in the local town of Villefranche.