My Dad and Janice Came to town

Last weekend I was so lucky as to have my Dad and Janice come to Stirling and visit for a few days!! They are the first people that have come to Stirling to visit me. It was wonderful having them here. They got in to Stirling on Saturday afternoon. Before they got in they rode a train from London to Edinburgh and then Edinburgh to Stirling.

I met them at the train station in Stirling and was sooooooo excited to see them!! I hadn't seen any family for 5 weeks, so I think it's easy to say I was due!!

I met them after security at the Stirling Train station, and I was SOO excited to see them!! So with hello's over we headed to the bus. We took the bus to thier ADORABLE Bed and Breakfast in Stirling. They stayed at the "Old Tram House" on Causewayhead road just a 15-20 min walk to my University. We met the owner there named Allison, who was adorable. The B&B was really cute, she even made bunk beds cute! lol.

So they dropped their luggage and then we headed out to the University. We decided to walk, since it is literally just around the corner. We got to campus and I showed them my shoebox dorm, and then the 2 buildings on campus that I spend time in. We walked down by the loch, and there were a few swans that actually got really close to us!!

The campus pub called Studio and our "Starbucks". It was really funny, in every place that I took them, we saw one of my friends. It was totally coincidental, but really funny.
So after we spent a little time on campus we decided to go to dinner. We invited Allie and Amanda, but only Allie was able to come with us. We went to Filling Station, a restraunt downtown. It has a very similar feel to BJ's. So that was really good. Then Michael (Allie's Bf) joined us for desserts! DELICIOUS!!!

Sunday
Sunday started with the intention to get to Edinburgh bright and early. But seeing as this was really my first Sunday trying to do ANYTHING off campus, I didn't know that the buses don't run regularly until 11. Or that the Trains don't run with near frequency on Sunday. Or that the Mall wouldn't be open until 11 on Sunday!!
So I told Dad and Janice I'd meet them at thier Bed and Breakfast at 8:30, but that didn't happen. I went to the bus stop on campus, and waited there for a few mins, and saw buses don't even start running until 11. So I walked to thier B&B. When I got there we decided to call a taxi to take us to the train station. So we got to the train station and had JUST missed the train we wanted to be on, so we had to wait an hour. We walked into the "downtown" part of Stirling. Which isn't much more of a "downtown" than downtown Minden....hahah.
We walked in to the mall, and it wasn't even open yet. but we did know that there was a coffee shop open down the street. We went to Cafe Nero, which proved to be not the worst cup of coffee in Stirling. It was actually pretty good!!
We waited til we needed to get to the train station and left Cafe Nero.
We got to the train station with about 3 mins to spare and then got on the train to Edinburgh. 

Weekend in Italy Continued

 So after missing the flight on Sunday and not being able to book a flight at the airport, we went back to Brandon's apartment and booked a flight home for me.
We yet again got Kabob pizza, and skyped my Mom!!!
So yet again Monday we left with hopes that I would make this flight. We took the metro to the train station and a train to Milan. It was amazing, this time the train left within 30 seconds of it turning 8:50 and that helped tons!!! It felt like, Okay I'm going to make this flight.

We caught another bus to the airport from the train station. This time I was not nearly as preoccupied with making the flight that I actually looked out the window! and EVEN GOT PICTURES!!!

hahaha, slottery....vegas....hahaha....so many jokes!!

Bonardi st. That was pretty cool to see!

So we made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare.....
Brandon and I got pizza and wandered around the airport for a few hours.
After a teary and sad goodbye I had to board the plane back to Edinburgh......  :_(

I got to the gate and yet again they didn't have a jetway to walk down. So we got bussed 100 ft to the airplane. But it was kind of cool. Right next to us was the take off strip, and so there was an airplane taking off really close to us!!

So I boarded the plane and scored an awesome seat!!
This lady was sitting next to the window and there was the middle seat and then the aisle seat was broken!!! So I scored a good middle seat without someone being in my bubble!!

Italy for the Weekend Continued

So I got up early Sunday moring, knowing that I had to go home....boo!!!
We left at 7:30am and took the metro to the train station. We got to the train station and had some time to wait before our train was going to leave the station. So we got on the train waited almost 45 mins before anyone told us anything, and they came over the loudspeaker saying that the train wasn't working and we needed to switch trains. GAHH!!! This was rather annoying, since we needed to be on the rails? already....

annoyed!!!

So we got on the second train and it finally got going.
Brandon and I took that time to make a list of things to do when he comes to Scotland, and things to do when I go back to Italy for Spring Break. It was really nice to spend 2 hours together where all we were doing was being together. When you drive you are focusing on other cars and what's going on. Training is a pretty cool way to travel.

So we got to Milan 2 hours later and pretty much ran out of the station to grab a bus to the airport. Online the bus company said that the bus would be 30 mins. Well they lied. It took an hour, and had the train not been super late this would not have been a problem. But it was a problem. So the time I was supposed to be at the gate came and went.....
We arrived at the airport shortly after the plane was supposed to have taken off, but seeing as we were in ITALY, there was a strong possibility that my plane had been delayed and it was still there.
But of course not. haha.
And this is when I realized I left the umbrella on the bus, and it was POURING RAIN!!!!!!!

There is one thing I've learned being in Italy this weekend. Italy is where murphy's law started, If it can go wrong it will go wrong. Nothing works when you need it to, but if you don't need it to, it's just fine!!! GAHH!!
So we went to the ticket counter and had to see if I could get another flight out that day. And of course not!!
We decided to go to one of the other terminals to see if there was another carrier who would have a flight out on Sunday. We took the shuttle over there and when we got to the ticket counters, the only offer we got was 800 euros for an indirect flight home that night...GAH!!!! well needless to say, that wasn't happening!!! We had to wait forever to get back to the original terminal and even then we couldn't get a flight then.

But something we did do to pass the time was take pictures of things around, so here are some funny or cool pictures of what was going on in the airport or us!

Things got so ridulous, it turned funny. It was like, "WHAT NEXT!!???!?!" But I am so thankful I had Brandon there. Those of you who know Brandon really well, you know that he is really mellow and stays calm in pressure situations.. Thank God he is like that, because I am not always like that!! But he kept me together, and I am thankful for that!!!
So we took the two hour bus back to Torino and decided to call it a night.

We took the bus back to Torino and then got on the metro, where I finally got a good picture of this sign!

hahah, I thought it was funny.
Until next time,

Molly

Weekend in Italy Continued!!!

So Brandon met me at the bus stop. When I saw him from the bus, I instantly starting crying. We hadn't seen each other in 2 months, and it was hard, but I didn't let it hit me until I saw him again. It hit me just how much I had missed him. So we hugged for a few minutes and pretty much picked up exactly where we left off. We were already joking and being silly. There was a little concern that after you're away from someone that long, things may be awkward or weird, but that was not the case. So it was WONDERFUL having my boyfriend back!!!!
Since there was a bus/metro strike that day, we had to walk 3 miles back to Brandon's apartment. Things operate a little different in Italy. Their government collapses about once a year, and they strike for one day a couple of days a month. It seems wildly ineffective to me, but I guess it works for them. So we walked the 3 miles back to Brandon's apartment and grabbed Kabob pizza along the way. I know what you're thinking, WHAT IS KABOB PIZZA? Okay so in the states we have shish kabob, which is like bbq'd meat and veggies on a stick. Not the same thing. "Kabob" is not really a specific meat, to be honest I have no idea what it is made of. But there's a big hunk of meat that they shave pieces off and put on your pizza. It sounds foul, but GOOD LORD IT'S GLORIOUS!!!!!!!!

It's soo good, EVEN Brandon gets it with lettuce on it...hahaha.
So we ate Kabob pizza, and let me tell you, it was AMAZING!!!

Brandon has a knack for finding amazing hole-in-the-wall type restaurants....lol

That "thing" in the back is Kabob.

So the next morning we got up early and went to the Palazo Maddamo,
and went to a museum in there. Along the way, the Metro was no longer striking so we got to ride the metro, which of the walk that took us 30 mins, took us 7 on the metro!!! It's amazing. and Some metros are creepy and weird, but Torino's metro is total marble. Which for a city that receives quite a bit of rain, it seems like all slick marble wasn't the best choice. But it looks good!!!

So we rode the metro and then got off so Brandon could show me "Via Roma", which is Torino's equivalent to Rodeo Drive!!! It too was covered in marble and gorgeous!!!! This is where the Louis Vuitton stores are, and all the really beautiful bridal stores are, and Rolex. Talk about my kind of place!!!

found it funny there was a "Scotland" Store in Torino!!

 The museum we went is in a square that contains the old palace from when the Savoy's ruled Italy. There is WAY more history of this in Brandon's post of this museum.....but it seems rather redundant for me to copy and paste that info from his....hahahah.....I would....lol.
But we went and explored around that museum!! Which was amazing!!

They had a glass elevator!!! so that was neat!!

Brandon in the tower!!

Views of Torino from the tower

After seeing all the museum had, we headed back to Brandon's Apartment.
On that walk we saw this little girl walking with a really cute umbrella!!
My sister's dog is named Diego and he is a Sheiba Inu, and this is a picture of Diego EXACTLY!!!
I thought it was so funny, we tried to creep behind this family to get a picture!!! hahah

Things like this are what make me miss home!! Even though I don't miss Diego barking, I do miss his owners!!!!
After some rest and relaxation we decided to go out to dinner, to a restaurant down the street called La Caprisciosca.... They do an amazing "chips pizza"....which is one of Brandon's favorite foods!!! lol. So he took me to go try chips pizza! I don't know how we did not think of this earlier? It is amazing!! This will become a family recipe!! hahah. and I will claim it is authentic Italian......hahahah

 Then after pizza, we ate gelato!! Which is glorious!! haha, that's literally the only word I can think to describe genuine gelato. probably magnificent would cover it as well.....hahah

YUM!!!!

Well until next time!!!
Molly