Islay, Scotland

As a last hurrah before all moving away from London, a group of friends made the trek to the island of Islay (pronounced EYE-lah) in Scotland.  It's just across the waterway from Northern Ireland and two hour journey from Glasgow.  It's small, remote, and GORGEOUS.  One of my friend's family owns a vacation home in a small village on the island and we thought it would be the perfect spot for one last getaway. 

The invitations designed and created by my talented friend...check out her website http://joynevada.com/

The drive over was just a sneak peak of the beautiful Scottish country side.  We drove through the highlands and along several lakes.  I'm becoming a huge fan of Scotland.  Not only are the accents amazing but the men are manly enough to wear skirts and the scenery is incredible.

Catching up on some zzz's on the ferry after an overnight bus ride

The island welcomed us with open arms.  When you drive pass someone on the road, everyone waves.  Imagine if every car you pass you waved to--good thing there aren't a lot of people on the island.  It was obvious that we were just visiting as EVERYONE know everyone.  

A church with no corners because that's apparently where the devil hides

We stayed in Port Wemyss which total population is about 25.  It is located next to Portenhaven a thriving metropolis of  50.  Because the villages are so close they share a school, post office and church.  There are no longer school age children in either village.  In fact we were the youngest people by about 60 years.  We attended the local protestant church while we are there.  There are two doors--one for each village.  Depending on the village you are from that is the door you must enter.  We kept our allegiance to Port Wemyss and entered on the right side.  

This is the view from the house.  We were lucky enough to have great weather and rain only started the day we left. 

We spent days going on walks through different villages, playing on the beach, looking for seals, and having deep conversations about life.   

Nights were spent having bonfires on the beach, attending traditional Scottish Ceilidh dance (pronounced KAY-lee), and telling Scottish ghost stories while walking through sleepy villages.

Our neighbor on the island is this old woman named Bessy that has spent the majority of her life on the island.  The water on Islay is so rough and cold so you can't really swim in it.  Bessy never learned to swim growing up but decided at the age of 80 she wanted to learn.  She is now in her late 90s and still swims every week in a local swimming pool.  She spoiled us by making us homemade scones and jam and telling us stories about Islay and its people.

Please forgive our appearance--we got caught in a downpour

Love these friends and it was the perfect last weekend before we all move to Turkey, Ireland, US, and Scotland.  Islay may need to be a reunion place for us in a few years.

A special shout out also goes to my friend's grandma who owns the vacation house and let us stay.  She was instrumental in growing the church in Glasgow.  And the missionary that baptized her was trained by my Grandpa Hague when he served his mission in the UK over 50 years ago.  Small world right?  We stopped in Glasgow on our way back to London and it was so fun to meet her.

Royal Ascot

This summer I met the Queen.  And by met, I mean saw her about 15 feet away. Considering that Will is now taken, my chances of ever meeting her in person are slim so I'll take what I can get.  She did wave at me...and the hundreds of people around me.   

I attended the Royal Ascot which if you've seen My Fair Lady is where Eliza shows her true colors at the horse race.  It's basically a week long of horse racing, betting, and posh people wearing hats.  There is a dress code and a member of the royal family attends each day.  The Queen and her husband attended the day I went.  

Pic my friend took with her iPhone.  We were really close to the action.

While I hate animals, I do not hate opportunities to wear facinators so I was excited to go. We dressed up and brought a picnic and spent the day watching races, placing bets(from what color hat the Queen would wear to which horse would win), and people watching.

The craziest hat I saw.  It was larger then the lady wearing it and had  bees attached to it. 

I wouldn't have been a British event without some rain but overall it was so fun to go and feel posh...even if it was just for the day. 

London Olympics

This was the second time I've lived in a city that hosted the Olympics.  I was living in UT during the SLC 2002 games.  BYU luckily gave us a week off so we hit up an ice hockey game the first week and ditched town to warm AZ the second week.  It was expensive to travel in Europe this summer because of the games so I was stuck in London for the duration of the gamesOlympics.  But it was fun to be here and the city was buzzing with people and team spirit.  London had been preparing for months and it was fun to see it finally all come to fruition.

Country flags on Oxford Street

Olympic rings in St. Pancras train station

Festivities started with the following of the Olympic torch.  It came by our house a few days before the opening ceremony.  I had to bribe my flatmates with homemade waffles to get up and see it with me.  It came by at 6am.  They grumbled the ENTIRE time but later admitted they were happy they went.  However, that was only after they had stuffed themselves with waffles.  But I mean seriously, you can't not go see the Olympic torch when its only a block from your house.  

Then, I invited some classmates over to watch the opening ceremonies on the big screen projector (One plus of living with boys is the AV accessories are always over the top).  We watched the entire show and it was so fun to see the British Isles and their history. I loved watching the Olympics on the BBC because you get background on UK athletes and their perspective on winning is so different from the American one.  If Americans don't get the gold I feel like they are disappointed.  However, the Brits are so humble and gracious and happy to just qualify for the Olympics.  When they win ANY medal, they seem like they've won gold.  Plus the BBC commentators cheer out loud for the athletes (ie: c'mon Liam, c'mon).  I find it so endearing. 

I couldn't live here and not attend any events.  I went to two football (soccer) matches.  One was in Wales which I had only been to once before.  So we went  early and explored Cardiff.  The town is so great and everything is in both English and Welsh.  I loved it.  We saw a women's match between Japan and South Africa.  Since I was with my Japanese-Australian classmate I had to cheer for the Japanese.  They won and went on to win the silver loosing to the US team.

The next match I went to was the men's semi finals football between Mexico and Japan.  I stuck to my Latino roots this time and cheered for Mexico--even sported the team colors.  Mexico won and it was the first time they had made it that far in the Olympics.  I loved the company too--it was just us girls and we had deep talks about boys while watching the game. Isn't that what everyone does at sporting events?

Is this the cutest cheerleader you've every seen sporting her UK shirt??!!  Clearly, she loved rooting for the Brits. 

I watched the closing ceremonies in Scotland where I was on a trip with some friends.  I loved that the closing ceremony was all about London.

This is my favorite pic from the associated press.  It was fun to be here in London and experience the games.    I have to admit I cheered for both the Brits and the Americas.  I'm also happy to admit that summer is over and the city has been returned to its residents after being taken over by tourists.