Sunday morning we got up and it was raining. It gave us a chance to have a leisurely morning. Stuart made breakfast and some card games were played.
Once the rain stopped we decided to go ahead with the plan of going to Murano and Burano, two small islands not too far away from Venice. Murano is the home of the Murano glass, and there we saw a glass blowing demonstration. Burano is the home of fine lace, of which we saw some beautiful examples.
By the time we got to Burano it was almost 2 pm. We were all starving, and therefore sat at the first restaurant that appeared to have enough room for us. It turned out to be delicious food, thank goodness. Jack was the most adventurous eater on Sunday, having the fried seafood platter that consisted of fried fish (skin and all), prawns, calamari, and sardines.
After lunch we wanders around the shops looking for a top for my mom. We didn't ever fine one that suited her so we decided it wasn't meant to be. After a bit of shopping and a view into a basilica, we headed back to the taxi. The ride back was a bit brutal. It was long and hot, but we finally arrived back at the apartment just before 6 pm.
The kids had wanted a Nutella calzone the first night we were in Venice, but our pizza guy had run out, so we decided to get one on Sunday before he sold out. The rest of us waited for food because we weren't hungry. The kids showered and ate their calzone, then played cards for a while before going to bed. We ate from the pizza place downstairs as well. Once everyone was fed and showered, and we had repacked our bags, which were overweight, we said goodnight to Sunday.
We didn't have to leave the apartment for the train station until 10 am. As we finished sorting out our bags, we discovered we really were going to be overweight, and that only being allowed one hand luggage would be difficult. So Stuart went down to one of the shops and bought us a small rolling bag for hand luggage. Now, I'm not sure this did anything but add to our baggage. We stuck my backpack in the rolling bag and we re no further ahead than we were before he bought it. Maybe it will make sense to me at some stage.
Once he was back from purchasing the bag, we left for the water bus to take us to the train station. Stuart and I have decided some of our travel plans could have been more efficient. We could have actually stayed one more night in Venice and flown back from there to London, or even straight to Edinburgh, as that will be our destination on Wednesday. But we didn't do that, so we will live with what we did plan. We could have avoided the train journey of 4 hours had we planned differently. We ate, read, played games, and slept on the journey, which wasn't terribly exciting, but was necessary.
Once we arrived back in Rome we got two taxis to take us to our final apartment of this trip. We settled in and played some cards. We then headed for a nice, last meal of our Italy trip. We walked down to the Vatican and then doubled back to a side street where our host had told us were nice places to eat. We found a fantastic place where the food was delightful, the waiter was funny and there was even a little musical entertainment.
Once we were back at the apartment the cards came out again. When the kids finally went to bed, we had a last game of pitch. Sadly my dad and I lost and had to declare my mom and Stuart the champions until next summer when we are sure to thrash them once again.
We were up and out of the apartment at 9 am and an Uber took us to the airport. We were there a bit early, but got to say goodbye to Grammie and Pop, which was sad as you would guess. Millie loves her Pop and she just wept. I felt so sorry for her. We were all sad. The most fitting quote for this mid from A.A. Milne. It says, 'How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard?' These words were so true this particular morning.
Our EasyJet flight was delayed back to London. By the time we got back to Gatwick and checked into the Premier Inn it was almost time for dinner. We showered the kids so that after we ate Stuart could twilight drop our bags, making it easier for us to go through security the following morning.
We got up at 5 am and got to the airport by 6 am. Our flight, again, was delayed. EasyJet is not impressing me at all. We got to Scotland around 10 am. Kate was at the airport to greet us. It was so wonderful to see her. We went to Kate's apartment and got settled in.
Shortly after arriving we took a walk to the castle. It started to rain, but Kate had equipped us with rain gear so we continued exploring the city. Millie loved the rain and had asked for it when we first arrived. We had a pub lunch and Jack ate a Haggis burger, which he loved. Haggis is made of all the gross parts of a sheep, but it is quite tasty.
We popped in to the Museum of Scotland. It was free and got us out of the rain. It was fantastic. Jack said it was his favourite museum ever. We decided we would need to go back Thursday morning since we arrived at 4:15 pm and it closed at 5 pm.
This time of year is when the Edinburgh Festival and the Fringe take over the city. There are well over 400 venues of all different types of artists. We decided to go to the Fringe and see an acapella group called All the King's Men. They were phenomenal. It was an hour of entertainment that we all enjoyed.
We walked back to Kate's flat after the show. We stopped at the supermarket to get some food. Once we were at the flat the kids showered. We then had a hodge podge of food. The kids went to bed just after 9 pm and we were close behind.
Thursday we were out of the house around 9:30 am, and were back at the Museum of Scotland. We stayed for a couple of hours. Once again we had a great pub lunch of haggis skewers.
We went to the park and let the kids play for a while. We had denied them the Bungee jumping trampolines on Wednesday, so this afternoon we let them jump. We sat and drank coffee and wine. We came back to the house for the kids to shower and eat dinner. Then we decided an early night was in order. Seems almost three weeks of no routine while traveling is not the best thing in the world for a 5 and 8 year old.
Once they were in bed, Kate and I headed to her favourite pub for some time together. It was good to chat and catch up without the interruption of kids. We were gone a little longer than intended. When we returned Stuart was watching television. It might have been the first television I had watched in over two weeks. After an episode of Family Guy, we all retired.
We decided to attend a show at the Fringe on Friday at around 12:30 pm. It was a panto called Robin Hood. But before that we took the kids to the park. Kate knows where all the great parks are. It rained off and on most of the day, but it didn't slow us down. The panto was funny and a classic presentation of a classic tale in the UK.
We found a place for lunch as we were walking. Jack had a breakfast pizza and I had meatballs. It was the first place we had eaten this holiday that the portion size was actually good for me. After lunch, we headed back to the park to let the kids play some more. It was misting, but nothing too bad.
We then decided to walk down Princess Street and see some of the festival street performers. We stopped and watched an acrobat who had a bit of comedy intwined in his act. After we meandered through the city and then to the new part of Edinburgh. We decided to stop for a coffee. We were then going to go to Kate's favourite pub for dinner, but decided against it as it was super crowded, being a Friday evening. We decided instead to head back to her flat, eat pasta, shower the kids, put them to bed, and then we watched an Edinburgh film.
Stuart was up and gone by 5:15 am on Saturday morning. He was heading to Birmingham to pick up his daughter, Hope, as she was going to spend the week with us in Hastings. This would be the first time I would meet her. Grandma reported that Hope was very excited for the week ahead, which was great. Jack and Millie were excited as well.
Once Stuart was gone, I checked my phone and got some horrible news. My best friend throughout high school, Cathy, lost her mom Thursday evening. Fortunately I was able to call Cathy. We cried and cried and cried. Apparently she had a heart attack while out with friends.
Going back to sleep for me wasn't possible. Once the kids and Kate were awake we had breakfast and lazed around a bit. We played Bounce-Off, a game Kate had purchased for the kids to play. They loved it. We did the Walk of Leith with the kids and ended up at yet another park. Kate really did go out of her way to make sure the kids enjoyed their time in Scotland. After they played for about and hour, and it misted for a bit, we walked to the botanical gardens where we saw another Fringe show. This one was a little 'young' for the kids, but I think they secretly enjoyed it anyway. They certainly didn't comment otherwise.
We stopped for lunch before heading back to the flat so the kids could shower and we could head to the airport. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 8:40 pm. We headed to the airport around 6 pm. Just before we got there I got a call from Stuart saying our flight had been canceled. Now I hate EasyJet.
In the end Stuart rebooked us a flight leaving from the Glasgow airport, about an hours drive from Edinburgh, leaving Sunday morning at 6:45 am, meaning we would have to leave Kate's at 3:45 am. Super! Fortunately, she is that good of a friend. So back to Kate's we went for grilled cheese sandwiches, toast with butter and jam, and half of a good night's sleep.
After the kids were in bed, Kate went out and took the opportunity to try the Mexican restaurant we had seen that advertised 'burritos as big as your head'. Well, they weren't lying. We could have shared one, but we didn't. We watched some of the London World Championship races and then went to bed. It had been a long day for sure. Stuart was back at his mum's and would just have to wait to see us the following day.
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