VEGAS Bound!

Months Ago we booked this trip to Vegas to meet Josh and some of his Houston buddies out in the dessert for a fun-filled weekend of O'Shea's, Margaritaville, Fremont Street & the Flamingo !

J's Favorite Spot.....O'Sheas!

J & Me at the Hard Rock Rehab Pool Concert

Bundy, Me, J, Josh...

 

Old Vegas...

The 3 Amigos take on Fremont Street!

Banana Rama= TROUBLE!

Tailgate Time...Let's Go Irish!

Since we had been in Europe for the 1st couple games, this was our 1st ND game of the season....ND v Air Force! It was a beautiful fall day and all of J's family was so sweet to come out to the Tailgate. They even surprised us with a Champaign Toast to our Engagement! Fun times at the Tailgate & Game and ND won 59-33...YAY!



J, Me Ray & Linda

Love!

Cheers!

Tailgate Fun!

IRISH....

Munich...Oktoberfest Time!

Our last but not least stop was Munich Germany. We just so happened to luck out and be in town during the World Famous Oktoberfest!! SO we of course joined in with the locals and took part in the festivities!!

1st Stop in a Biergarten

Liter Time.... Two Hand Hold!

Chug Chug Chug....

Our New Friend...Cheers!

Mrs. Lion

Tent Time...

Loooooooowenbrau....

Cute Cookie!

Fun Times at Oktoberfest!!!

Cheers to Fun Times in Munich & Oktoberfest!!

VENICE- "The City Built on Water"

Our Last Stop in Italy was Venice, "The City Built on Water". The colors of the water were unreal, the cobblestone streets were like something out of a movie and the sunsetsmade us speechless! WOW! We learned that cars are prohibited on the island. So it was amazing the way the only form of transportation was by boat and by foot!

View from our Hotel

Waterway

Date Night at Sunset

San Marco Square

Views from the Pool Deck

Beautiful Sunset on the Water

Next Stop Florence!

The day we got engaged when we left the castle we drove to Florence. Florence is a beautiful city, smaller than Rome...but we loved it. All the main sites to see were within a walkable which made touring the city very easy to do!

Lunchdate at a cafe overlooking all the tourist!0

Statues....

Beautiful Cross

J's favorite purchase in Italy....lol.

Our last night in Florence we met these guys who recommended a restaurant Ciro & Son's. This restaurant was unreal, delicous!! J had this amazing lobster spaghetti and I had pear ravoli. Yum yum!!

Banfi Castle...Yes I'll be Your Princess!!!

On our way from Rome to Florence we planned a trip to visit the Banfi Castle in Tuscany. When I told my dad we were going to Italy, the 1st place he mentioned to visit was the Banfi Castle. I pulled the website up right away and was blown away by the gorgeous views and images on the website... UNREAL!! So my dad was so sweet to plan the day for us to visit the castle, have a tour of the vineward & enjoy a 5-course lunch. So YAYYY the big day was finally here!!! The drive to the Castle was BEAUTIFUL thru the mountains, up and back down a few mountains and we finally found the GORGEOUS castle!

When we arrived we went on a tour of the vineyard & toured he facility where the grapes started on he vine and ended in the bottling line. It was aweosme to be able to see the whole process!

After the tour we went over to the restaurant to be treated to a delicous 5-course lunch with wine pairings for each course. YUM YUM, talk about getting treating like a Prince & Princess! :)


After lunch we went out to talk a walk around the property and take some pictures to try to capture the breath-taking views...which of course non of the pictures give the views justice!! We found a perfect spot to take pictures and sit down on a stone wall over looking the mountainside. I sat down and as I sat down J got down on one knee, grabbed my hands and told me that "I was the most amazing person he had ever met, he loves me more than words could say, I make him the happiest man on earth".....then he pulled a ring out of his pocket and asked "Will you Marry Me?" I  said "Yes I'd love too" and grabbed him and we hugged and smiled and we were both just beaming. Talk about a perfect ending to a perfect day at the Castle!!! I can't wait to start my journey thru life with you J!! You make me the happiest girl in the world and I can't wait to spend forever with you!! :)

Cuteness....We're ENGAGED!! YAYY!!

Bling Bling...

Off to Italy...1st Stop is Rome!

On Tuesday we flew down to Rome. J had been here earlier in the week and warned me about the CRAZY driving and he was not kidding. The taxi flew us to our hotel, luckily somehow in one piece. We checked into the Rome Cavalieri, which had amazing beautiful grounds overlooking Rome.

View from our belcony

Pool View from the Room

Downtown Lunch Date!

The Coliseum

Beautiful Parliament Building

The Vatican

Touring Inside the Vatican

Rome was a very beautiful large city, with lots to explore & see. We were able to visit many of the famous landmarks & take neat tours & of course tons of pictures! There is so much history to learn while touring the Coliseum and Vatican that we could've spent days exploring each of them. In Rome we enjoyed many meals consisting of pasta, pizza, vino & of course ending each meal with gelato...yum yum!

Manchester Time

On Sunday we headed up North to Manchester. The 1st Challenge was for J to learn the UK driving system...Driver sits ont he right side of the car and you drive on the left side of the road (opposite to the driving in the US). This was TOUGH but by the time we arrived after our 3 1/2 hour, and sitting in many "que's" aka "lines" J felt more comfortable in his new driving position.

When we arrived in Manchester we pulled up to our hotel, it was towering over the town of Manchester...

We checked in and then we were off to watch the Manchester United v Chelsea Soccer match at a local pub the White Lion.This was a perfect spot to watch the game and become one of the locals for the night!

The next day we went to see the Manchester United Stadium, which was super neat to see a real futbul stadium!

Cheers to Fun Times in Manchester!

Just Touched Down in London Town

Day 1: Just Touched down in London Town! J met me at the airport when I landed at 6 am. We hopped on the train and headed out to Picadilly Circle to drop off my bags and then off to explore! We saw:

Big Ben

The London Eye

Westminster Abbey

View from the top of our hotel- The Trafalgar

Buckingham Palace

Adorable Telephone Booths

Lion Ride

We LOVED London, so much beautiful old architecture, history, and overall so much to see & do. Can't wait to hopefully go back someday!