Smith Cabin Weekend

This past weekend, David, Lilly, Jaclynn, Josh, Duncan, and I all got together in the north Georgia mountains for a lovely cabin weekend and then spent some time in the alpine inspire town of Helen for some Oktoberfest merriment.  Duncan's good friend and groomsmen, Andrew, joined us Saturday.

Amy's Bachelorette Weekend

How many people does it take to brew beer in Sicily?

As I was trying to catch up on uploading pictures on our Shutterfly photo sharing site, it occurred to me that I never posted the pictures of Duncan and his uncle making beer.  So here they are for your viewing pleasure :)  Also, all the pictures from Europe should be available to be downloaded for free from our Shutterfly site.  

Duncan would also like me to let everyone know, that (if you haven't already) you can subscribe to this blog by email, that way you can get our blog post updates straight when they come.  Just another option technology provides!  If you look on the left sidebar, you should be able to just enter your email and then you're done!

So here you go, how many people does it take to brew beer in Sicily?  Two: an architect and an engineer... then a photographer as the cheerleader :)

We never learned how that beer tasted?  But we really hope it tasted delicious!!

Scotland

The first day we were in Scotland, the weather was quite rainy.  The weather progressively got better with each day.  We all joked that the weather forecast was always quite accurate: "sunshine and showers."  Hey, you can't go wrong with a prediction of sunshine and showers!

Duncan in front of a wind turbine.

I met my first cow on this trip.  She is the one to the right of the center looking at the camera.

Black sheep: they really exist and stand out just a bit.

One day, we went for a little trek.  Davaar island is in the middle of the loch of Cambeltown and during low tide you can walk there.  You have to be careful, though, because if you miss your window you are stuck on the island until the next low tide.  There is a time table available so you know when low tide is for each day (it was a six-hour window the day we went).  So, we trekked.

We had just reached the island.  See the long stretch of land behind me?
It took us about 30 minutes to reach where I'm standing.

On the island, we were startled to find quite a multitude of mountain goats.  I thought it might be nice to say hi to them, like I did the cows.  They decided it would be better to run away from the strange human.  Note to self: cows are friendly, Texas goats are friendly, Scottish mountain goats are skittish.  We continued to walk over rocks to get to our final destination on the island: Jesus.

According to BBC and Duncan's grandparents: this crucifixion painting has been on the island since 1887 when a man was inspired in a dream to paint it.  Locals apparently thought that it was done by God but when they discovered it was done by the artist, he was exiled indefinitely.  However, it was vandalized a few years ago with the image of Che Guevera.  Someone, out of the kindness of their heart, adhered to the strict time table of low tides to redo the painting.  Locals say that the new painting was done even better than the original.  Duncan and I were just amazed by the beautiful detail of the painting.

The next day, we went to the Island of Gigha.

Grummies (Hamish Smith, Duncan's grandfather), Duncan, and Granny (Jean, Duncan's grandmother).

 Other shots of our Scotland trip:

Playing around with a pair of binoculars.

The Scottish Thistle.

Cambeltown, the loch, and many boats at the docks and enjoying the day.

Tomorrow is Duncan's first day at his new job.

Say some prayers!

I know that he will do SO well.  This is a job that is so perfect for him.  He has such an inspirational passion for his field and I'm so proud of him for doing so well in school and in his internship and I just know that he's going to do so well in this job.... but I can only imagine how nerve-racking it is for him to go in on his first day for his first career job out of college.

Roma

These are our pictures of our short time in Rome.  

We decided since there was way too much to do, we would make it a point to go back again and therefore would just hit the very highlights on this very short trip in Rome (since it was just a connecting point from Palermo to Scotland).  So, the Vatican was our first priority, then the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain in the evening.

I contemplated breaking this entry in to two: one for Rome and one for the Vatican, however since we have two more cities left, I decided just to keep this as one entry, in spite of how long it is.  Enjoy!

Attempting a picture together in the Vatican.
[Ah, the downfall of not having a personal photographer everywhere you go.]

Entrance into St. Peter's Basilica.

Are you ready for inside St. Peter's????
I had NO idea what to expect!
Duncan and Sharelle kept telling me I was not allowed to look at Sharelle's pictures of the Basilica because I had to see it for myself.  It was truly extraordinary!

.............

The ceiling of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

Dome with mosaic walls

Where Duncan and I attended Mass inside of the Basilica!!

          That moment went to the top of the list of my favorite moments in life.  I could not stop crying because it was such a beautiful moment to receive Jesus in to my heart while in the heart of Roman Catholicism.  Mass was performed by a Cardinal (not pictured).  The only thing that would have made this better was if the Pope performed Mass, but I'm okay with the way it went.  We were SO blessed to have had this opportunity because we were not planning it.  I didn't even know they performed Mass on a regular basis.  We just happened to be touring the Basilica at the time Mass was convening.  Amazing luck!

Panoramic view of Vatican City from the Dome.

The journey to the top of the Dome is literally and figuratively not for the faint of heart.

     That metaphor, my friends, is credited to the Vatican itself because it was the single worst experience I ever went through to get pictures.  We took the elevator to get to the Dome but still have over 300 stairs to climb.  The stairs were inside the Dome and therefore the walls were slanted.  It was a single file line going up the stairs in the August heat.  I don't tend to consider myself a claustrophobic, but I swear by the time I reached the top and was able to get fresh air, Duncan had to instruct me to take deep breaths to prevent me from having a panic attack -- something he has become quite the expert in doing in the past few years.  

          I'm not even going to lie, I do not even know if the above picture was worth the four hours of my day spent trying to get this view.  It resulted in feet that were so sore they were shaking as I was trying to purchase gifts from the shop at the Dome.  I mean, in high school I was a cheerleader so spent hours standing at football games and now I'm a nursing student so I'm quite used to 8 hours going by before I can sit down.  But this was awful, even for Duncan.

          However, I went through pain and tears to get to the top of that Dome, so I am proudly showing you that image above... because, it is quite nice to see the square, the Vatican, Rome, and the mountains and clouds.

After touring the Basilica, Duncan and I found ourselves needing a break.
So we ate lunch that was kindly made by his aunt, Maria,
and we sat down to decide upon our next course of action.

Il Colosseo

The Roman Forum

More of the Roman Forum

Street art in Rome

The Trevi Fountain

Food Pictures:

The amatriciana dish that was recommended by Duncan's uncle.
Hands down amazing deliciousness.
I am learning how to make this recipe asap.

 

  Duncan with amatriciana, Amy with pizza.

Don't worry, we shared the food.  

There was no way I was to eat that entire pizza 

while Duncan just had that small bowl of pasta.