The road goes on forever...: A Tale of Two Cities

Edinburgh & Amsterdam...both incredible and very different.

Edinburgh's historic charm captures you the moment you arrive and stone surrounds you for as far as you can see...castles, statues, cathedrals, and cobblestone squares. You can't help but want to see it all and we tried in our 5 days despite the wind & snow.

German Christmas markets are all over Europe & our first night in Edinburgh we were greeted by booths steaming with mulled wine & oozing with deliciousness! We stood in the chill of night experiencing our first taste of Christmas until we couldn't feel our toes anymore. To see the city we took a bus tour, which I'd always thought were hokey...best thing! We toured the huge castle that overlooks the city and saw where JK Rowlings kids went to school which was the inspiration for Hogwarts! And although we loved finding music to listen to or hidden places to get out of the rain, we did leave the city for a day and ventured up to St. Andrews, the home of golf. Although the course is open year round, the day we went there it had frosted...aka snowed, so no golfing was to be had. We made up for that by taking pictures of the historic Old Course and going into several golf shops. The city alone is beautiful so we enjoyed a day walking next to the coast...ps it was cold...and meandering through the city center. To say the least we loved our time in Edinburgh... Amsterdam had big shoes to fill.

Our stereotypical view of Amsterdam had us thinking the aroma of pot would be seeping from alleyways and red lights would be shining from the center of town. Instead, canals and bridges form their own roadways and everywhere you look people are riding bikes...we've never seen so many cruisers! So to see the city we rented bikes, hopped on a canal cruise, and joined a tour of the Red Light District, which was awesome & crazy. When in Rome my friends. We found it hard not to like the city and the Dutch people. Their tolerant, laid back attitude is evident when you see coffee shops (not for coffee lovers) located next to churches, which are also near the beautiful women dancing in the windows. Eyebrows raised? Yeah we hid ours and actually loved the tour of the district and found the history of prostitution fascinating...don't get me wrong we had some shocking moments (to be told when we're home). But, this city surprised us & quickly crept its way into our hearts and although we couldn't read a thing, it was a new adventure to be away from the comforts of the English language...our first experience of many!
We're off to Ghent, Belgium until the 13th of December.
Until then,
xoxo

Abby & Ben