itsAlyx: Today it's Edinburgh.... And Hogwarts?

'Ello there!

Hope you all had a fabulous, fun-filled weekend, and I can't wait to come home and read all of your confessions!

Today is our last full day in Scotland. I'm pretty sad about this, but after almost 2 weeks traveling, it will be nice to come home to our tiny apartment and grandma curtains.

On the agenda for today is this beautiful city:

via

I'm so excited to get out there and explore!!!

I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures to share with you when it's all over, but until then, I have a super awesome guest post for you! If you like history or Hogwarts, or just travel in general, you have to read this! I have Christie from Ma Nouvelle Mode here today, and if you don't know her and Natalia, you should! Christie is one of the sweetest people I have ever "met," and I was so happy she agreed to do a guest post for me. Like I have said, all of these posts are from women I love and read on a daily basis, so I'm not afraid to tell you that you should, too! This is a good place to start. Take it away, Christie!
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Hi everyone! My name is Christie and I have recently joined the team over at Ma Nouvelle Mode, making us a solid team of two :) We blog about life, beauty and feeling fabulous no matter what stage in life we are in. One of the very first people to welcome me to this bloggy world (probably the VERY first) was Alyx. Just a few short months later and I feel like she is a good friend and a true kindred spirit. And when she asked me to do a guest post I was really excited! I was even more excited when she asked me to do something on travel.

Now since you all don't know me I just want to give you a quick background. I grew up (and now live) in Southern California. I went to the Philippines when I was 20 and my eyes were opened to this big big world! My husband grew up in Manila, Philippines until he was 18 (no that is not where we met). We now have 2 lovely kids with one on the way and we LOVE to travel as often as our bank account and life allows. Fortunately for us Joe's parents now live in Oxford, England and we have used them as a landing pad for many different adventures.

Second thing you should know about me, I am in LOVE (obsessed) with two things: English History (and Literature) and Harry Potter. Don't worry, I am not weird about it, I hardly ever talk about it, and you may not even know it about me unless you are very observant (my netflix queue is full of British History Documentaries and there is alway one of the Harry Potter books sitting on my nightstand in regular rotation....oh and my 2 year old son knows how to say Avada Kadavra, but that's another story).

Anyways, this last trip that we took was like a dream come true! We didn't plan any of it around my obsessions but my mind was blown with all the amazing stuff we saw and did! Let's just start with the History side of things:

William Wallace Monument

I'll be honest, this may have been my favorite place of the whole trip. And even though I am 100% positive the Mel Gibson's William Wallace was not entirely accurate I couldn't help but yell "FREEEDOOOOOMMMM" every 5-10 minutes.... and btw the field that is directly behind me in the picture above is where so called "Freedom" battle took place!!!

Kendal Castle

This was probably the oldest place we went while traveling around the UK and the only reason I added this photo is because I am specifically obsessed with the Tudor era in British History. And let me just say that I was a fanatic long before The Other Boleyn Girl and The Tudors came out. This castle was the family estate of Catherine Parr's family (Henry VIII's final wife). So I was pretty giddy about getting to see it!

York Minster Abbey

You guys, I totally cried when I got to see the Westminster Abbey. Let me explain, we were able to attend a mass while we were there and I had the pleasure of taking communion. I was unbelievably overwhelmed by the thought that there I was worshiping my God in the same place that many, MANY good and evil rulers had taken communion previously. I was truly speechless for a good while as I processed the magnitude of that place. (And trust me, I am not speechless often). That moment will probably stick with me until the day I die.

Ok so while we are "in York," let me shift over to my other obsession:

The Shambles, York

Doesn't this street look like Diagon Alley??? I have no idea if this place inspired the makers of the Harry Potter movies or not, but I am not kidding when I tell you that I was craving a butterbeer while walking down this street

Alnwick Castle

We decided to visit a famous castle in the area one day without really investigating it, and I was stunned to find myself standing in HOGWARTS! No joke this is the castle that the first two movies were mostly filmed at. I didn't even need someone to tell me that, I could tell the second I saw it.

Flying Lessons at Alnwick Castle

Probably the only time I have actually been jealous of my daughter. She even got to play with a snitch.....

Ok so like I mentioned my in laws live in Oxford so we toured a bunch of the schools that make up the University and I was so excited to go to Christ's Church because......

Christ's Church, Oxford University

This is were the original "Sorting Ceremony" took place! Here my little girly and I are on the steps the "first years" lined up on before they went into the Great Hall.

And Finally, we have the perfect marriage between my two obsessions. Here I am standing in "The Great Hall" in the Harry Potter flicks but it is more importantly the dining hall at Christ's Church. And as you can see directly behind me is a portrait of Henry VIII, Cardinal Wolsey, and Elizabeth I. They had all, at one point, resided at this school! Amazing!

Well thank you for allowing me my silly rantings into your world! I truly enjoyed the opportunity and I hope to see you around our parts some time too! But for now I will leave you with this little gem....