Friday, Saturday, it's a bonanza of repeats!

Greetings, lovelies!

We're still here... Believe it or not, and quite well for the most part. (Some of us are fighting off colds so we're taking it a wee bit easy.)

Please be aware that we'll all be coming back saying words such as "wee" and "brilliant!" and "lovely." Seriously... Every time - EVERY TIME - you go to pay for something they exclaim, "That's lovely!" It's so darn cute. (I suppose you could say it is, in fact, a "lovely" thing to say!) So just be forewarned that our vernacular will be expanding.

So here's the update: we have a very full house. (We even have a ghost! Not quite as lovely!) Kristin and Tracy are here, we have Bonnie who is headed back to Spokane tomorrow, we have Brandon, Luna, Diana and Cindy & Jenna. And Stacey the ghost. Yes, we've named her.

For the past two days we've been split up so Jenna will be giving you one group's update right now and Cindy will get on the computer tomorrow to fill in the pieces. We know we have very special readers out there and we don't want to leave you all hanging. (The funny thing is that I think Brandon is one of our biggest readers and he's HERE asking for blog updates. Hilarious!)

Let's move on to some lovely photos, shall we? Let's see what we have on hand... Here's a few from lunch yesterday. We went to Di Maggio's again:



Brandon, Tracy, Diana, Kristin & Luna



Watch out, Luna! Auntie Kristin wants some Mac 'n' Cheese!



Oh no! Auntie Tracy wants some too!

Seriously... We ALL passed that around! It is pretty amazing Mac 'n' Cheese. They don't mess around at Di Maggio's!

It's been two days of city sites and food and shopping... Lots of repeat performances from earlier in the trip, as we had to share our new favorite spots with the girls!

We did more shopping downtown on Buchanan Street and then hopped back on the City Bus Tour and did the whole tour stop to finish. We were fantastically fortunate to have the most amazing tour guide this time, Judith, who is largely involved in drama and the arts in Glasgow.

Kristin is a huge Dr. Who and Torchwood fan and Judith's husband happens to be John Barrowman's personal stylist and close friend for the past several years (she even has his dirty socks in her washer at this very moment!) So she was chock full of great information and what luck to see Glasgow under her direction. It was amazing!

We then went to dinner AGAIN at Masala Twist, that fantastic Indian restaurant that we also went to the other night. The girls love Indian food and a great time was had by all!

No more pictures to share from Friday - let's move on to today, Saturday.

Finally we were all able to go to Smile! Cafe to introduce the girls to Rocco & Santino. The Americans took over the whole place (it is a wee little cafe, dontcha know!)



Tres, Kristin, Luna, Brandon, Diana & Cindy



Kristin, Jenna & Tres



Diana's Tic-Tac Mocha - Delish!

After that little bit of deliciousness we headed out to explore a secret little avenue called Ashton Lane that had the most picturesque little pubs and places...



Brandon, Kristin, Luna & Tres



Tres & Jenna - Vodka Wodka - um... Yes, please!



Luna's fashion photo of the day!

We tooled around a bit and then headed back downtown for more shopping! Everyone got something today - it was a banner day for shopping in our little group! Tracy and I have a serious All Saints addiction and today we found their "Archive Store" (a nice way of saying off season clothes) and we went bananas. Everyone will be coming home very well dressed, that is for certain!

Lunch at the Willow Tea Room (again for Jenna and Luna - no matter, we LOVE it there!)



The lovely Kristin & Tracy



Jenna & Luna



Kristin & her "afternoon tea" delicacies!



And look at the view! It's All Saints! Perfect seats!

After lunch Luna was treated to a penguin balloon animal on Buchanan Street:



Happy girl & her penguin

We were quite tired after our activities so we headed back to the flat to relax. And we haven't stopped since... All hanging out on the couches upstairs listening to the rain.

That's it from my update! Signing off for now... Cindy will fill in the pieces tomorrow for you!

Love to you all, dear ones!
Jenna

Location:Clouston Ln,Glasgow,United Kingdom

Backtracking to Thursday - Another "Choose Your Own Adventure" Day!

Hello lovelies...

Greetings from rainy Glasgow! Of course it has been mostly raining since we got back "home" - only brief patches of sun have come our way. No matter - we still have much to do!

Today was one of those "Choose Your Own Adventure" days. This morning we went to coffee and caught up with Santino. Then we separated paths.

Jenna will start off with her adventure, followed by Cindy, who will share her wonderful day with Diana (also known as MommaRam!) A quick note before we start: the girls, Kristin & Tracy, were supposed to arrive this evening around 11pm, however, they are delayed in London due to flooding! So at this point we do not even know if they have departed, or if their train has been canceled until tomorrow. More to come on that soon...

So... Jenna, Brandon & Luna celebrated a belated Father's Day today and headed out to Buchanan Street. We had a wonderful lunch at Di Maggio's in the "Merchant City" section of Glasgow.

:: View from our table ::

:: Brandon & Luna at lunch ::

:: A most excellent ending ::

Another amazing restaurant in Glasgow! We are planning on going back one day with the girls when they arrive. (Just got a message from Tres while writing this that they are on the train, but that there is a landslide that needs to be cleared that is presently being working on. Good Lord, we're sending out positive energy & prayers to the girls for a safe journey!)

After our delicious lunch we walked by All Saints (remember, Jenna's favorite store?!) and they were having a HUGE sale so we popped in for some spontaneous shopping. Brandon got a few awesome pieces and let me tell you... Jenna made out like a bandit as well. We're talking a new leather jacket that is simply amazing as well as many other fantastic pieces. Perhaps we'll do a fashion show blog entry later. Who knows? But I'm sure you'll see some pieces pop up soon in photos so let's all look forward to that. Ha ha...

We then relied on our old friend, The City Bus Tour, to show Brandon around Glasgow a bit and also to get us on over to the Science Museum. This was FUN! We showed up pretty late, due to the shopping excursion, so our tickets were reduced. And it ended up being a great time to go as it wasn't so crowded. This seems to be a pretty popular place to take the kids!

:: At the Science Center - Sideways Room ::

:: Sideways Luna ::

:: Luna in the Alice in Wonderland Section ::

:: This made me laugh... reminiscent of our Amsterdam experience! ::

:: Awesome prospective room - Luna's taller than Daddy! ::

:: Brandon & Luna - the Expansive Science Center ::

:: Brandon's sand art ::

:: Luna & Brandon ::

:: Brandon's Theremin Experience ::

That last one was the highlight of Brandon's Science Museum experience - the Theremin. It has been used by Jimmy Page in Led Zeppelin in a musical nature (for example, in "Whole Lotta Love"), however, it is most commonly found in sound effects in movies & TV. He was thrilled. We had to drag him away. Seriously.

Splendid. So we had a marvelous time at the museum and then headed back home. We enjoyed some leftovers from Di Maggio's, Jenna did a fashion show for everyone, and we spent the evening talking and hanging around. 

On to Choose Your Own Adventure Two... Cindy & Diana's Story...

Diana and I began with familiar territory taking the subway to the Buchanan Street exit and then a block over to Cathedral Street.  It was a short jaunt towards the Glasgow Cathedral.  

Before touring the Cathedral, we toured Provand's Lordship, the Oldest House in Glasgow.   While the original function was somewhat uncertain, it is a medieval building and a very rare example of 15th century Scottish domestic architecture.  There are far too many details to cover in a paragraph or ten however it is worth the time and effort to Google the site to learn more about its historic relivance and function.  

 

Behind the home through what I refer to as the "wee" door (we see Diana peeking through as she exits the house...)

And we approach the lovely St Nicholas Garden, which reflects the buildings possible links with the Chapel and Hospital of St. Nicolas.  On the outer edge of the garden there is a physic garden containing plants which were in common use for medical purposes in the 15th century, while the center of the garden is based on a Celtic design, illustrating the development of more formal gardens which occurred in the Renaissance.  The garden was officially opened by HRH The Princess Royal in 1995. 

Note from Jenna: we are stopping here and publishing this unfinished, just so you have something to read! We have to obtain photos from Diana's iPad but we have been split up, again, today and haven't had the chance to all get together to work on this so forgive the sudden end - we will post this and then add to it later.

Quick update: The girls arrived very early this morning (close to 3am!) after a very crazy journey but are well. We all rested this morning and Cindy & Bonnie headed out to Edinburgh for the day. The rest of us spent time in Glasgow, shopping, eating, site seeing, and more eating. It was great! Didn't take many photos but will update tomorrow...

Happy evening, lovelies!

It's Thursday but let's talk about Wednesday...

So Wednesday was a really laid back day. We took a couple of photos but things are starting to get a wee more complicated with all of the people we have and the now ever popular "choose your own adventure" theme.

Luna was bouncing off the walls in the morning to get over to Santino's place - she said "Dad has to go see Santino NOW." So Cindy, Brandon, Luna and Jenna headed over for some coffee. We were greeted by the extremely adorable Rocco, Santino's business partner (and possibly brother? or best friend? They are from the same village in Italy...) and the boys trade off working every other morning.

:: Jenna & Brandon at Smile! Cafe ::

We were so happy to be back "home" in Glasgow and REALLY happy to finally have some good coffee. 

:: Rocco made us hearts! ::

:: Luna and her Italian hot chocolate ::

We did a little light shopping at the charity shops on Byers Road and Jenna picked up a TON of awesome clothes. Yay for that!

We split up again for a bit and then joined up again for dinner. Tom & Linda recommended a fantastic place called Masala Twist, an incredible Indian restaurant. We were dazzled!

:: View of the Bar ::

:: Brandon's dinner & Garlic & Cardamon Naan ::

It was a splendid evening and we can't wait to bring Kristin & Tracy there when they arrive. The girls get in very late this evening and then our great adventure continues! We plan on going to Edinburgh again tomorrow - stay tuned!

As for today - we're all splitting up. MommaRam & Cindy are venturing out to see the Tenement House and Glasgow Cathedral. Bonnie went to Kelvingrove Museum. Brandon, Jenna and Luna are celebrating "Father's Day" today, since we missed it earlier, and are taking Brandon to the Science Museum and the Transportation Museum. Fun adventures to be had!

Amsterdam... the lost days...

Amster-Amster-Dam-Dam-DAMN that was a good time!

What a whirlwind weekend we had! Let's recap it for you all, shall we? We know we owe you a big update!

We flew into Amsterdam on Saturday morning around 11am. Brandon was already waiting for us, luggage in hand. Luna was SO happy to see her daddy! Jenna, Cindy & MommaRam were as well - Brandon has been to Amsterdam twice before and served as a most excellent tour guide for us! It was nice to "not have to think" and just be sheep for a little while.

One thing that we noticed immediately is how utterly HUGE Schiphol Airport is! We had to take a bus from the plane to the terminal - that's how big we're talking.

:: MommaRam & Luna - Let me out! ::

We easily went through customs and got on a taxi and headed to the hotel. We are staying at the Grand Hotel Amrath. It is a very interesting place. Here's the website if anyone is interested: http://www.amrathamsterdam.com/

:: Grant Hotel Amrath in Amsterdam ::

:: Luna & Jenna arrive! ::

 :: View from MommaRam's window ::

Sisters Kristin & Tracy (AKA Tres) were already there. When we were reunited we all jumped around and hugged like a bunch of little kids. These are two of Jenna's oldest and dearest friends from NJ. The kind of friends you'll have for your whole life. Everyone was already well acquainted with the exception of Cindy, who was meeting the girls for the first time. They became fast friends as well! We were an excellent group - the dynamic was great!

We were all quite hungry and itching to get out into the city so we got a recommendation for a nice place to eat from the hotel concierge and headed out! 

This is an extraordinary city, to say the least. It is a bit overwhelming, quite actually. (Not necessarily in a bad way... it's just different.) But the views are exceptional - every twist and turn is packed with sights to see...

:: Typical Canal Views ::

:: Twisting & Turning City Streets ::

:: Backs of Brandon, Jenna & Tres walking down these gorgeous streets ::

:: Kristin, Brandon & Jenna ::

:: Boats Galore! ::

 :: Waiting for brunch, Jenna & Tres ::

We went to a fantastic little place for brunch, De Bekkerswinkel. It was very Dutch - the menu was in mostly Dutch and a little English. Very pretty menu though!

:: Yummy Place! ::

One thing of note is how s...l...o...w... things move in restaurants here. We waited for quite awhile to be served. It's just the way it goes in Europe, we suppose! No matter... this whole trip is a huge "go with the flow" experience! And we were all just so darn happy to be sitting down together that it could have taken all day and we'd be just fine!

In contrast, the street life is CRAZY BUSY. There are more bicycles here then we've ever seen in one place! You really have to keep your wits about you in this city - there are bicycles, scooters, motorbikes, trams & cars to watch out for. And they zip around every which way - watch out! 

:: Every corner has a pile of bikes parked ::

 :: This one was from near our hotel - you can't get away from them! ::

:: The bars are even on wheels! ::

The girls bike around the city in heels with ease. And the Dutch women are extraordinarily gorgeous - all very tall and statuesque. We walked around and shopped all afternoon. 

 :: Pretty transports ::

:: Fun place ::

:: Wow - they have a Cafe Luna! ::

We got back to the hotel around 6pm and were so exhausted we decided not to go to dinner to "The Supper Club," which we had reservations for, and instead split up a bit and went out for a nice local dinner that we could walk to. MommaRam stayed back at the hotel with Luna for dinner & the rest of us went out to Toro Dorado, which has delicious fresh beef from Argentina, Japan, Scotland (go figure!), Canada (?), and New Zealand. It was delicious! We ate outside and it was a splendid good time!

 :: Cindy & Tracy ::

:: Tracy & Brandon ::

:: Jenna & Kristin ::

So for this portion of the evening (as you can see from the photos above), the players are: Cindy, Jenna, Kristin, Tres & Brandon, our trusty Amsterdam tour guide. After dinner... there was some night life. This is what we can tell you... it is SURREAL in the evening. We never would have seen the things we saw without Brandon serving as our human GPS. It is VERY easy to get lost in these streets. And at night, it's a WHOLE DIFFERENT WORLD. Yes, we dared to venture into the Red Light District (we know you're dying to hear all about that, aren't you?) 

Well... you are strictly forbidden to take photos so once again, Cindy had the genius idea of photographing a post card. That's the best we can do...

:: You have to see it to believe it ::

It's hard to put into words how bizarre this experience was. First of all, we were there on a Saturday night, so it was beyond crazy with regard to the amount of people that were there. It is about 90% men (in big groups, typically) and 10% women, and the girls are mostly seen with men, not in groups. Brandon led us around (and around) the streets - it is vast and expansive, with location after location of women behind glass with red lights illuminated overhead. Most were on phones, smoking, or smoking whilst talking on the phones, or gesturing to the men passing by (whilst on phones.)

Tres likened it to those old fashioned food vending machines where you make your selection through the little glass doors. The women are on street level, which Cindy noted is different from in Paris, where they are seen up above. It's a little creepy, to be honest... all of those men. We wondered, how many "customers" do these ladies get in one night? Do they have a good insurance and dental plan? Do they work solo or for a conglomerate? How DOES this work? It's bizarre! (But yet, fascinating!)

Needless to say - this was an experience unlike we've ever had and we'll always remember Amsterdam. 

We headed back to the hotel and had some yummy room service and talked about our day. It was a good one!

(On to day two, Sunday, June 24th.)

On Sunday we did breakfast at the hotel and then prepared for some serious stuff. It was raining, so we whipped out our umbrellas and headed for the line for the Anne Frank Museum. This was... without a doubt... a very important experience. The line can typically take up to 3 hours to wait in, however, due to the rain we only waited about one hour.

:: Line for the Anne Frank Huis (House) ::

 :: Waiting in the rain! ::

Once in the museum, again, we were unable to take photos. The museum was a lot larger than we thought, and we were able to go into the hiding space that Anne and her family lived from July 1942 to August 4, 1944 when they were captured. Anne's mother, Edith, died in January of 1945 in Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Both Anne and her sister, Margot, died of typhus in March of 1945. Brother Peter died in the Mauthausen concentration camp in April or May of 1945. The only survivor was father Otto, who passed at the age of 91 in Switzerland.

Needless to say, this was a highly emotional experience. Highly emotional.

After the museum we decided to find a place to eat. We let Luna decide and she choose a pancake house! It was a wonderful choice.

 :: Pancake Corner, what delights! ::

Luna ordered a hot chocolate and it came out in this cute cup:

:: Dutch Hot Chocolate! ::

:: Cindy, Jenna & Tracy ::

:: Cindy, Jenna, Tracy, Brandon, Kristin & Luna ::

We then split up and went to some museums. Kristin and Tres went to the Van Gogh Museum and the rest of us went to the Rijks Museum, which houses work by Rembrandt & Vermeer (Jenna's favorite!)

:: Rijks Museum entrance ::

:: Rijks Gardens ::

The Rijks Museum was lovely. Looking at the Rembrandt pieces... wow. His use of light is out of this world. A true master. Photographs don't do it justice, but here's one:

:: Rembrandt's The Night Watch ::

Jenna was particularly excited to see her favorite painter, Vermeer, but they only had three paintings to show. (The museum is presently under construction so only showing a limited number of pieces.)

:: Vermeer's The Kitchen Maid ::

A fascinating process was shown of how they restore some of these paintings. It was a very interesting and enjoyable afternoon! Kristin and Tres even had time after they were finished to join us and did a quick tour of the museum too.

We have to share this lovely little photo of a restaurant called "Eat Me, Amsterdam" - it became a landmark of sorts, as it was in close proximity to our hotel. These streets can be seriously confusing, twisting and turning and very easy to get lost, so we'd all get very excited when we'd this place and we'd shout out "EAT ME!" (So classy, we know.)

:: EAT ME! (Amsterdam) ::

After all of this we headed back to the hotel and again, split up. It was "choose your own adventure," once again! Cindy, MommaRam and Luna stayed at the hotel and had dinner in the bar. They had a wonderful time and the waiter gave Luna a very special strawberry milk and a raspberry sorbet that she thought was fantastic! 

Jenna, Brandon, Kristin & Tres headed out to an extremely posh Japanese sushi restaurant called, Yamazato which is in the amazing Hotel Okura. This was Jenna's first sushi experience, and we'll just say that she ended up ordering the filet Mignon (and it was the best filet Mignon she's ever had!) The rest of the group deeply enjoyed their sushi. This place is a SERIOUS restaurant. The waitresses are in traditional Japanese kimonos and everything. Very formal. They started us off with a splendid sparkling wine infused with cherry blossoms that was delightful. We all enjoyed a wonderful bottle of sake as well. We were well fed, that is for sure! The sushi fans were not disappointed.

Monday morning we had some brunch before the girls had to depart for their train to London. We were sad to see them go, but happy that they will be joining us late Thursday evening in Glasgow!

After their departure the rest of us enjoyed a delightful canal tour boat ride. A very good choice for the morning activity!

 :: Views from the Canals ::

:: Beautiful Buildings ::

 :: Row after row ::

:: Anyone want to buy a houseboat with us? ::

:: Luna & Auntie Cindy ::

We even had the opportunity to see a HUGE Celebrity Cruise ship! It was colossal! 

 :: See, colossal! ::

:: Pretty boat ::

:: MommaRam & her baby Ram ::

:: Sleepy Luna holding daddy's hand ::

After the canal tour everyone was a bit tired so we split up again. Brandon & Jenna went off shopping on the 9 streets (famous shopping area) and enjoyed some fries on the way back (apparently a traditional Amsterdam delicacy!)

:: Yummy! ::

We also picked up some olives, cheese from Holland, meats and rolls and brought them back to Cindy, MommaRam and Luna for a little carpet picnic back at the hotel. It was glorious!

Next morning - time to get ready to go back to Glasgow! We headed to the airport early and had lunch and then got ready to go!

:: Luna in the taxi on the way to the airport ::

:: Too cool for Amsterdam, we're outta here! ::

After a quick flight (about one hour, ten minutes) we were back in beautiful Scotland!

:: Coming in to Glasgow ::

:: Hello again! ::

Before you know it we were back "home" at our flat at 11 Clouston Street. (Pronounced "Cloosten" here in Glasgow!) We gave Brandon a tour and ventured out to a local pub for some dinner...

:: The Kick-Ass Curlers Rest ::

:: Come on in and join MommaRam for a pint! ::

:: Cool view from the inside looking out ::

We headed back to the flat and stopped by the local market for provisions on the way back. Ran into Bonnie and had a happy reunion hug with her! Then back to the flat for some rest and relaxation!

We're so sorry for the big gap in posting - but - we're sure you can understand. It WAS Amsterdam, after all! We didn't have much going on today (Wednesday) but did manage to take a few photos that we'll post separately.

xoxo

Cindy & Jenna and our growing company!