A Clean, Safe City...

Tokyo, Japan

January 31, 2008
N 35°40.360
E 139°46.600

Tokyo has been a great experience for us and we’re very happy we made the stop. We had a great time with Mr. and Mrs. Ito and their hospitality was far beyond our expectations. They became our friends, or tomodachis, and we enjoyed all of our time with them in Japan.

Our time in Japan was very quick, but we were able to soak in many of the sites over the last few days, eat sushi and visit with our new friends. We even had the opportunity to connect with a few of my old colleagues from Openwave who work in Japan.

Tokyo is by far the cleanest and safest city we have visited during our journey, especially since there are over 12 million people living in Tokyo proper.

It’s incredible, there aren’t any garbage cans on the streets, but no one would ever think of throwing a wrapper or piece of paper on the ground. Smoking is only allowed in designated areas on the streets and cigarette butts are always tossed into the designated receptacles. Little girls, with their book bags, ride the crowded subways alone, laughing, chattering and never worrying about their safety. Everyone seemingly works together, taking pride in the city; keeping it how they want it—safe and clean.

Now on to the best of the best… the toilets. The toilets in Japan are amongst the most sophisticated in the world. You practically need an owner’s manual to operate them. In some places the seats are heated, they play “etiquette” music to avoid others hearing bodily functions, and they have several different bidet options. Marc loves the warm water, warm air and comfy warm seat so much; he wants to install a Toto toilet at home. We’ll see…

And of course the people in Japan are incredibly polite. It’s against the rules to use your phone on the train, and when you’re sitting next to “priority” seats designated for the elderly your phone needs to be off all together. This cuts down on the noise on the train and allows people to relax on their way to or from work.

Overall, we had a great stop in Tokyo and it was a perfect last stop for us before we re-enter society.

Over the next week or so, look for a final wrap-up, more Top 5 lists and possibly a public picture viewing at Giordano Brothers for those interested.

Best Beaches

1. Koh Phi Phi Don, Thailand
2. Montanita, Ecuador
3. Sandfly Beach, New Zealand
4. Positano, Italy
5. Barcelona, Spain

Friendliest People

1. Cambodia
2. Thailand
3. New Zealand
4. Japan
5. Australia

Worst Traffic

1. Bangkok
2. Saigon
3. Rome
4. Mumbai
5. Delhi

Best Public Transportation System

1. Barcelona, Spain
2. Prague, Czech Republic
3. Tokyo, Japan
4. Berlin, Germany
5. Sydney, Australia

Time for Fresh Fish...

Tokyo, Japan

January 29, 2008
N 35°40.360
E 139°46.600

After Ko Phi Phi we made a quick stop in Bangkok. When I say quick, I mean quick… 12 hours after arriving in Bangkok we were back on a plane on our way to Japan.

Our 6:00 AM flight got us into Tokyo in the early afternoon and we were able to head out and get some local cuisine. Japanese fare is one of the main reasons we decided to tack Tokyo onto the end of our journey—we had dreams of fresh sushi, shabu-shabu, yakitori, tempura and of course more sushi.

After a dinner of yakitori at a dark and smoky little Japanese pub, or Izakaya, we headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep. We had a big day ahead of us with Mr. Mamoru Ito and his wife; they scheduled a full day tour of Tokyo for us, a perfect way to see Tokyo and celebrate our one year milestone.

Let me explain how we “know” Mr. Ito, or Ito-san. We didn’t find him and his wife in the smoky little Izakaya; we were actually referred to Ito by Marc’s dad, Randy. Randy is a retired high school superintendent, but still finds time to travel and perform accreditations of overseas American schools. The schools are normally attended by children of US ex-pats. Ito works at one of the schools Randy visited in Japan and then became good friends with Ito when he had the opportunity to guide Ito around the San Francisco Bay Area a few years later.

Okay, back to our one-year milestone…it has been exactly one year since we left San Francisco bound for Ecuador. It has been an amazing journey with a lot of ups and not many downs. We’ll spend the last few days in Tokyo making the most of our time and enjoying the company of our new friends, Mr. and Mrs. Ito.

The best part is, since there so many great sites to see in Tokyo, and food to eat, we haven’t had much time to think about the fact that we’ll be home for good in a mere three days. We’ll do our best to keep up the blogging, in the meantime, check out a few more Top 5 Lists.

Worst Travel Days

1. Ecuador Bus Ride (What a Pisser!)
2. SFO-Koh Phi Phi Don (40 hours of travel)
3. Vietnam Six Pack with Bob, Teddy and Elise
4. You Go Pak Beng? I Go Pak Beng...
5. The Journey Back to Bombay...

Natural Beauty

1. Halong Bay, Vietnam
2. New Zealand—ALL of it!
3. Patagonia, Argentina/Chile
4. Great Barrier Reef, Australia
5. Iguazu Falls, Argentina/Brazil

Favorite Cities, excluding San Francisco (Marc)

1. New York
2. Amsterdam
3. Rome
4. Prague
5. Barcelona

Favorite Cities, excluding San Francisco (Laura)

1. Barcelona
2. New York
3. Rome
4. Prague
5. Tokyo

It Will Never Be the Same...

Koh Phi Phi Don, Thailand

January 27, 2008
N 07°44.128
E 098°46.795

My mother-in-law, Teddy, told me a story about Marc when we were in Vietnam. The story was based on a trip to Disneyland when Marc was eleven, his sister nine and his brother was three. The three siblings had a great trip visiting the Mouse. In the car, getting ready to leave the parking lot of Disneyland, Teddy looked in the backseat. Marc’s eyes were welled up, replaying the trip in his head. Teddy quickly asked, “Marc, what's wrong?”

Today, we're standing on the side of the ferry, looking back at the beautiful, lush green island of Koh Phi Phi, reflecting on our visit to the island. We had a great time relaxing on the beach, eating great Thai food and chicken at Tuks and staring off of our balcony into the crystal blue waters. We looked back one more time, looked at each other, eyes glossy as the ferry pulled away towards Krabi and the mainland. I looked over at Marc and said, “What's wrong?”

Both of the stories ended the same. When Marc was eleven, a child who analyzed everything, he knew as he grew older Disneyland would change for him. “It will never be the same,” he told Teddy while choking back tears. “The experience will never be the same for me again.” Teddy turned forward and fought back her own tears; knowing her oldest son was growing-up and was no longer a little boy.

Fast forwarding to present day, as we pulled away from Koh Phi Phi, an island that changed tremendously in the five months since we were there last, Marc smiled and said, “It will never be the same.” This time his words had a tone of happiness, he's happy for the Thai people and their ability to continue to rebuild the island and their lives. At the same time, he had regret because he knows if we have the opportunity to visit Koh Phi Phi again the island will continue to evolve into a hot tourist destination, losing some of its character

Koh Phi Phi is an island where you tell time by the ferries and where they're coming from; an island where a local gives you a smile and its really a smile; an island where toddlers run freely in dusty alleys from dawn 'til dusk; an island where you can still find a secluded beach; an island where roosters run through your legs as you walk to dinner.

Marc is probably right, the experience for us on Koh Phi Phi will never be the same; however, we have a lot of great memories and pictures to last a lifetime. We wish all the local people on the island a lot of happiness and, of course, Good Luck.

A few more Top 5 Lists…

Worst Insects

1. Sand Flies (New Zealand)
2. Bed Bugs (Port Douglas, Australia
3. Malaria Mosquitoes (Montanita, Ecuador)
4. Cockroaches (South East Asia)
5. Mosquitoes (Laos)

Best Food

1. HoiAn, Vietnam
2. Florence, Italy
3. Buenos Aires, Argentina
4. Bilbao/San Sebastian/Barcelona, Spain
5. Prague, Czech Republic

Best Beer

1. Czech Republic
2. Belgium
3. Argentina
4. New Zealand
5. Holland

Best Wine

1. Spain
2. Argentina
3. Italy
4. France
5. New Zealand

Unveiling a Few Top 5 Lists...

Koh Phi Phi Don, Thailand

January 25, 2008
N 07°44.128
E 098°46.795

It took us two days of walking the island, asking locals and following our noses to find Tuk’s.

Normally, we make our way down the beach to town in the evening, but stalls where Tuks used to be are dark and full of debris, there aren’t a lot of people to ask where Tuk may have gone. We decided if we really wanted to find the best BBQ on Phi Phi Island, then we better get down to the village during the day and find some locals that could help.

We sauntered through the blue tarp maze of the local market; hoping to find Tuk’s coal grills, large beer fridge, and plastic tables and chairs. First we stopped at a fruit bar and chatted with the local lady that blended smoothies and serving Chiang after Chiang to three Aussies; she didn’t even know Tuk closed—how could she not know? Doesn’t she eat the perfectly crisp chicken at least three times a week like us? We felt defeated and headed back to our place, slowly walking by the area where Tuk’s once stood when I saw a couple of local girls nearby.

“Excuse me,” I said politely, “you know Tuk?” as I pointed to the rubble of where Tuk’s once stood. They looked at me a little confused so I tried again… “Tuk, you know where he go?” Ah, their eyes light up, “yes, yes Tuk move.” We are finally getting somewhere. They tell me, “walk back towards town, and turn right and walk, walk, walk, walk.” Okay, it isn’t much, but we know he still exists.

With a new found determination we quickly went back to our room to get ready for dinner at Tuk’s. We jumped in the shower in an effort to remove at least one layer of sunscreen and bug spray, before we headed back out to complete our mission.

We followed the directions, even though we didn’t know how far “walk, walk, walk, walk” really was. At first we saw a crowd of people clogging pedestrian traffic along the narrow sidewalk of shops. Next we saw smoke, not a lot, but enough to let us know there was a coal barbeque ahead. Then, in front of us, stood the crisp grilled chicken, corn and fish we have come to love. Dinner was served, we found Tuks.

After dinner we decided to stay up for the eleven o’clock fire show at Hippies. We took-in Carpe Diem’s fire show a few days ago, but found it to be “amateur-hour” compared to the solid fire dancing talent at Hippies. When we arrived a young Thai kid was singing and playing guitar. He covered artists such as Damien Rice, Ray LaMontagne, Howie Day, John Mayer, Jason Mraz and Gomez, one of Marc’s favorite new artists from the trip (see “Likely to Being Playing on our iPOD” T5 List below). The live music was a nice warm-up for the fire show.

The fire show didn’t disappoint. Marc always enjoys watching the small Thai women dance, using both hands to twirl chains with orbs of fire on the end. He finds it very sexy and was mesmerized by the two beautiful women who performed for us. The guys are good too, but the women are more disciplined in their calculated movements as fire is being thrown all around them.

The evening was perfect: our mystery surrounding Tuk was solved, we enjoyed some live music, and a wonderful fire show.

Top 5 Lists—over the past week or so we sat down and created Top 5 Lists from the trip. For example, what is our most memorable day, worst travel day, etc. Over the next several days we will post a few of the lists on the blog. Please note these are not in any particular order.

Most Memorable Days

1. Snow Day in Camp Britanico (Torres del Paine, Chile)
2. Mail Delivery for Roger to Ban Na Village in Laos
3. The rainbows, butterflies and the incredible Iguazu Falls in Argentina
4. Boat and Motorcycle Gang in Hue with Teddy, Bob and Elise (Hue, Vietnam)
5. You go to Pak Beng? Yes, this is a travel day, but it was a great story. (Pak Beng, Laos)
   

Who’s Most Likely to be Playing on Our iPOD on a Travel Day? Marc

1. Death Cab for Cutie
2. Ben Harper
3. Gomez
4. ALO
5. Joseph Arthur

Who’s Most Likely to be Playing on Our iPOD on a Travel Day? Laura

1. Joseph Arthur
2. Ben Harper
3. Kings of Leon
4. Guster
5. ALO
   

Mixing with Locals

1. Sana’s Birthday Party (Mumbai, India)
2. Ceremonial dinner in Ban Na after delivering package for Roger (Bah Na Village, Laos)
3. Marc and Bob playing pool with the locals in Dalat, Vietnam
4. Dinner with Jef and Irna at the casino on the North Sea (Brugge, Belgium)
5. Catching up with Ana, my college friend, and her boyfriend Kyler (Barcelona, Spain)

A Change on Koh Phi Phi Don...

Koh Phi Phi Don, Thailand

January 23, 2008
N 07°44.128
E 098°46.795

Our life on the island was stirred up a bit over the past few days. Our favorite street BBQ joint disappeared overnight, literally. We walked by on Sunday night after we went to our newly discovered Thai place, but on Monday evening about half-a-dozen little shops along the waterfront were gone… including Tuk’s BBQ. What will we do without Tuk’s?

Like I said, the whole row of shops are gone. Nothing left except a few empty beer bottles rolling around, plastic bags full of garbage and filthy cinder block walls that used to provide a barrier between the little stores selling “pirated” DVD’s/CD’s, swim suits and of course the best BBQ on the island.

Unfortunately the shops were in an area that was hit hard by the tsunami. It appears the shops were make-shift set-ups (tarpaulin roofs and gas generators for electricity) to get businesses up and running as quickly as possible. However, now that three years have passed it appears it may be time to put up some permanent, safer digs. We looked and smelled for Tuk on other parts of the island, but it seems it was the perfect time for him to take a vacation.

After the disappearance of Tuk’s, and the other shops, it reminded us how quickly the island changes. We mentioned some of the changes since we were here in August, including large bungalows, larger shops and the local’s market. I guess we better brace ourselves for significant changes during our next visit, especially since we don’t know when that will be.

One thing here stays the same, the natural beauty, friendly people and incredible beaches. We wake up every morning, look out our window at the turquoise water and blue sky, and know we are in an ever evolving, special place. We hope others have the opportunity to enjoy this paradise.

Other Notes: Rich Powers let us know that Koh Phi Phi Don was featured in Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle Travel Section. We immediately went on sfgate.com to see what the article had to say about our little slice of paradise. The article, very well written of course, did an excellent job describing the beauty of the island, the need for tourists and the re-building efforts post-tsunami; most of which we have touched upon. We can only hope others will be encouraged to visit this beautiful part of the world.

Tasty Thai...

Koh Phi Phi Don, Thailand

January 21, 2008
N 07°44.128
E 098°46.795

One would think that you can get the best Thai food in Thailand. Yes, this is true if you hit the markets and other places where the locals eat, but on an island catering to tourists it can be very difficult. The dishes lack the hot and spicy flavor that melds together the other distinct South East Asian ingredients; making Thai food one of our favorite cuisines. In other words, the food is dumbed-down for the Western audience, something we Westerners don’t approve of.

On our first night we strolled across to the other half of the island. We hit a Thai restaurant that had adequate food on our last visit. We ordered our favorite dishes including chicken green curry, mixed vegetables and pad thai, and even encouraged the dishes to be spicy. “We like spicy,” we told the young waitress no less than three times. Again, the dishes tasted watered down and lacked the spicy flavor—I didn’t have a bead of sweat or even a drip of perspiration on my upper lip.

My craving for good Thai food hadn’t been quenched. Instead, we’ve been visiting the local BBQ joint located along the shoreline/street; knowing the chicken is fresh and tasty, and we’re never disappointed. However, after a few nights away I wanted, no I needed, Thai food and it had better be good!

Last night we wandered through the back streets of the island where the local’s market is located. We moved through a maze of businesses illuminated by hanging light bulbs. Weathered blue tarpaulin roofs covered the make-shift stands where fruits and vegetables, salt-dried fish, fish nets, eggs, bread and other essentials are sold.

We remembered on our last visit that the majority of this section of the island was covered with garbage, rubble, and the skeletons of a few fruit-stands—reminders of the tsunami. It was heartwarming to see that the island market was once again a thriving business.

As we walked through the newly found section, we wandered down an aisle of restaurants. A place packed with locals and a young woman standing over a smoking hot wok, frantically whipping up food, stopped us in our tracks. A couple rules about eating while traveling: 1) If you can see your food being cooked you’ll be safe, 2) If the place is full of locals then it must be good.

The locals shot us a few strange glances, but when we smiled at them and gave our best Sawadeeka, we were all smiling. The curious looks continued while we watched Thai karaoke music videos, waited for our food and enjoyed a cool beverage.

There was a moment of pause when the food arrived at our table. We ordered basil chili chicken, mixed vegetables and the ever so telling green curry. Before we even tasted the food we added extra chilies to the vegetables and didn’t combust. The guys at the table next to us seemed to be mildly entertained by the fact that we enjoyed the kick; plus they had six empty large bottles of beer in front of them. I looked over at them, gave a thumbs-up and pointed at the chilies—we like, very good. They smiled and laughed, seemingly proud to share such good food with us.

When the green curry arrived we were unsure if it would live up to expectations since we didn’t see any familiar red Thai chilies floating in the green liquid mixture. I decided I wouldn’t add any more spice until I tasted it. It was a good thing! The curry was the star of the show; the perfect blend of coconut milk, chunks of chicken, green curry paste, a couple of hot chilies, and kaffir lime leaves. The green curry paste, where the majority of the spicy-hot comes from, is made in large quantities, and had the perfect amount of heat. We sat there, very happy, savoring every bite of the curry with an ever so slight perspiration moustache, regularly cooled with a sip of Singha.

I’m sure we’ll visit the restaurant stall a few more times while we’re on the island. With great prices, even better food and a name like Coconut & Cream (Tasty), exactly like that, who wouldn’t want to come back for more?

Makin' a List...

Koh Phi Phi Don, Thailand

January 19-20, 2008
N 07°44.128
E 098°46.795

After one day of overcast skies and brief showers, the weather on the island has been perfect—blue skies, sunny and relatively low humidity. We’ve been taking advantage of the sun and hitting the beach every day and, more importantly, we’re doing what we planned to do on the island—relax.

For me the first few days were tough, not only because of the problems in our rooms, but because I had a taste of home. A quick taste, yes, but it did something to me I can’t really describe. I guess my anxiety about coming home really peaked and thoughts churned in my head, or should I say lists of what needs to be done to get our lives back to “normal.” I didn’t want to be thinking about home while I was on this beautiful island and it took a few days for the formations of lists to go away.

Now instead of making lists of things we need to take-care-of when we get home, we’re making Top 5 Lists of moments during our trip. For example, Top 5 Worst Travel Days, or T5 Most Memorable Days, or T5 Places for Natural Beauty, T5 People We Met that Enriched Our Journey, etc.

A full post of all our T5 Lists will be on our blog within the next couple weeks. However, we’re pretty busy right now with our daily routine—breakfast, apply sunscreen, relax on beach, relax on balcony, beer, enjoy view of bay, enjoy sunset, shower, apply bug spray, go to dinner, relax on balcony and go to bed.

I don’t think I could tire of the view from the balcony, of the crystal blue, multi-dimensional water and rocky, volcanic hills covered in greenery in the distance. The long tail boats crisscross on the bay in front, birds land on the rail of our balcony and serenade us while hummingbirds feast on the blossoming flowers surrounding our balcony. It is quiet a site.

We haven’t stayed out late enough yet to catch a fire show at Hippies, but we’ve watched the multicolored lights of the fishing boats dance across the bay at night from our balcony. I’m sure we’ll rally in the next couple nights and catch at least one fire show, maybe tonight.

We’re very happy we came back to Koh Phi Phi; it really is the definition of paradise in our minds.

Other Notes: The leak in our bathroom has subsided a bit. A guy came a few days ago, looked at the leak and told us he would be back “tomorrow”. We have yet to see him again...

Coming Clean...

Koh Phi Phi Don, Thailand

January 18, 2008
N 07°44.128
E 098°46.795

Our first day on Koh Phi Phi wasn’t as perfect as I made it sound and Marc said I better come clean with the whole story. Well, since I can look back at it and laugh, I guess I will do just that.

After we checked into our room at Bayview Resorts, the same place we stayed on our last visit, we instantly noticed the picture perfect view of the bay; even better than last time. “Wow, this great,” we both exclaimed, before turning our eyes on the beds. Yes, two twin beds.

There have been several places during our trip where we have slept in twin beds, but since we were going to be staying for ten nights we decided to call the front desk and ask to change rooms, especially since our reservation guaranteed a double bed.

How should I put this gently… customer service is not a well developed skill-set in Thailand, and after being in Europe and the US for the last four months, we both got a little soft and forgot about the good ol’ days in South East Asia. They insisted there weren’t any more rooms with double beds, but we could upgrade to a higher level room.

It took a few minutes for the lady to realize we weren’t going for the upgrade, nor were we getting off the phone without yes for an answer. They miraculously found us a bungalow with a double bed just two doors down. Perfect, or so we thought…

The view from our new room was just as spectacular, but when we went into the bathroom we found a medium sized puddle of water coming from the wall. I called back this time, got the same story about no other rooms and of course we could upgrade. I politely told the young lady a leak in their bathroom is not our problem and I would expect them to upgrade us or fix it. I was assured they would send an engineer to fix the problem as soon as possible. I forgot that as soon as possible in Thailand could mean tomorrow, the next day or never.

We waited at least an hour for the engineer before we decided to go out and grab dinner. When we got back to our room we weren’t shocked to find out that the engineer never showed up. However, the puddle of water didn’t grow in size; it seemed to be evaporating nearly as quickly as it was dripping. Still grumpy from our 40 hour trip I got back on the phone and told them nobody came to our room to fix the leak… of course they would send someone shortly.

This time someone knocked on our door within five minutes, took one look at the water, and called down to the front desk. The front desk explained that the engineer couldn’t fix the leak immediately and we should change rooms (again)—they even found us another room with a double bed.

Marc thought we should stay where we were, throw a towel over the water, go to bed and not worry about the puddle. However, I wasn’t in the mood to ignore the puddle and wanted the problem to go away completely so we packed up our stuff once again and moved rooms.

The view wasn’t as spectacular in our third room and it shared a wall with an adjoining bungalow, but it didn’t have a puddle in the bathroom and had a double bed. I was satisfied until four in the morning.

At 4:00 AM a baby in the bungalow next door began to howl and didn’t stop for at least an hour. I never fell back asleep; tossing, turning, regretting my hard-headed decision of changing rooms and blamed it on karma. Marc grumbled at me, something about how much noise the small puddle of water in the bathroom was making right now, rolled over and fell back asleep. I tossed and turned trying to block out the noise.

As I laid there listening to the warbling of the brat next door, I realized getting hung up on something like a puddle of water doesn’t make me happier. I am on a beautiful island with my husband (and best friend) on the final leg of an amazing journey and I should savor every minute.

We’re back in the room with the puddle, with the great view, and a hand towel tossed on the floor soaking up the water—an engineer still hasn’t showed up to look at the leak, but why sweat the small stuff? I know I’m not.

Familiar Territory..

Koh Phi Phi Don, Thailand

January 17, 2008
N 07°44.128
E 098°46.795

A lot of people asked us why we were flying back to Thailand from San Francisco and not going from Europe. Well, our Around the World ticket required us to travel in one direction, and going back to Thailand was simply against the rules of the ticket. Instead, we used the last of my hard earned air-miles to buy our tickets from SFO to BKK; a perfect way to end our trip, on the beach… far from the freezing temperatures in Europe over the past three months!

Our travel days over the two weeks were meticulously planned. We arrived in Washington D.C. just ten days ago. We then spent a couple nights in NYC and then flew to San Francisco; all fairly easy segments. However, getting from San Francisco to the island of Ko Phi Phi had a lot more moving parts.

We flew out of SFO on January 15^th and arrived in Bangkok on January 17^th at 12: 15 AM. We slept for a few hours at the airport hotel in BKK and then hopped on a flight to the small town of Krabi, in southern Thailand, at 9:45 AM. After we arrived in Krabi we took a bus to a ferry and arrived to Koh Phi Phi after a 1 ½ hour cruise. Amazingly, all the pieces fit together and we arrived at our bungalow a mere 40 hours after our departure from SFO. Everything went very well along the way, but there were a couple of tired, hungry people—us!

The island has changed in the five months since we were last here. There are a few new beachside bars and bungalows; however, the numerous barges, bags of concrete and ongoing construction to re-build after the tsunami still remain.

After we made our way from the dock, navigated our way through the construction debris and past new bars, the serene environment quickly reminded us why we came back to Koh Phi Phi Don.

It is a perfect place to decompress, think about our futures and enjoy the last two weeks of our amazing journey.

Coming in for a Landing...

New York City, New York --
San Francisco, CA USA

January 14, 2008

After watching Bret Favre and his Green Bay Packers dismantle the Seattle Seahawks on the Times Square JumboTron we decided to check out the news and the weather for the following day. The big story was the upcoming snow storm that was bearing down on the east coast and dumping 4”-8” of snow by Monday morning—the commute would be a mess and the airports messier. We brushed-it-off, at first, but the more the local weather forcasters talked about it, combined with my history at JFK, we decided to call the airlines and see if we could change our flight. Since we have another flight on Tuesday morning, pre-paid hotel reservations and the island of Koh Phi Phi calling our names, we didn’t want to miss our flight out of New York on Monday and create a domino effect on the final two weeks of our journey.

It was 11:00 PM when I called United Airlines. They could get us on an 11:00 AM flight out of JFK the following day. We jumped out of bed, packed our clothes, and instead of spending another day exploring New York; we would be on our way to San Francisco.

Since I mentioned it, I guess I better come clean. My history at JFK is horrendous. I try to avoid JFK at all costs. At one point I think I missed three straight flights, came close to missing another two and have sat on the tarmac as the snow came down. Marc was used to the panic call during my trips through JFK with my voice quivering, telling him I was going to miss my flight. With this in mind, we didn’t want to take any chances.

It was strange being back in San Francisco, especially for such a short period of time, but it was even more bizarre being back in our place. We walked into our home, but it didn’t really look like our home. We unpacked our stuff, almost like we were in a hotel, and basically moved back in. It was strange washing clothes and putting them away in drawers instead of in our backpacks.

Today was only a small taste of life back in the real world; a life of laundry, cleaning and being responsible. I think we’re ready to get back, but we are both pretty sure we’ll miss it after a few months.

The City is Calling Our Names...

New York, NY, USA

January 12, 2008

Marc claims New York City is the center of the universe as we know it. The world looks to New York for finance, fashion, cuisine, theatre, music, and politics. It’s a true melting pot of humanity; it symbolizes what the United States is all about. There are all walks of life on roaming the streets. Hundreds of languages are spoken; some only understood by the people speaking them. Although we live in San Francisco and feel like it’s a big city, the island of Manhattan alone has 10 times the population. It’s big, not just big it’s freakin’ huge!

We always knew NYC would be on our itinerary, we simply love it. There’s so much happening as you walk through the streets. People exercising, brunching, drinking, screaming, honking, running, loitering, and, overall, enjoying life. If the winters weren’t so bitter and the summers so oppressive, we might be able to live in NY.

We checked into the Marriott Marquis on Times Square; using the last of our Marriott reward points for two free nights. We schmoozed with the guys at the front desk and they were nice enough to upgrade us to a room with a view of Times Square. From our room we looked down in awe at the cornucopia of excitement; swarms of taxis, hordes of pedestrians, massive TV screens, flashing lights, office buildings, advertising and marketing gone mad.

When we were finally able to pull ourselves away from the hypnotic dance of humanity and lights we went downstairs. We could hear New York calling… it was time to answer and dive in.

Tears in My Eyes...

Washington DC, USA

January 10, 2008

N 38°53.375
W 077°02.100

On Ko Phi Phi several months ago we met an Aussie while standing in line for barbecued chicken from a street vendor; we ate dinner and talked with him over a few beers. We explained our plans of visiting Washington DC near the end of our trip and he told us no matter what we did we must visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum. He visited DC two years prior and said it was the most moving of all the museums he visited while in the States.

After traveling through Europe for the past several months, we’ve seen several holocaust museums and memorials; however, none of them compare to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC. The main exhibit is laid out on three floors, well organized and isn’t repetitive in terms of the information it presents. There are heart wrenching exhibits, survivor accounts, and reproductive artifacts from concentration camps—I had tears in my eyes throughout the exhibit, especially during the survivor accounts.

For example, behind a glass case were three shelves approximately 4’x3’, one shelf had a pile of rusty scissors, another shelf had a large pile hairbrushes, and the final shelf contained a giant stack of toothbrushes. Further down the hall was a large room, the floor was covered with thousands of old worn leather shoes, 2-3 feet deep. All of the items belonged to the victims of concentration camps; it was strange, but the items personalized the tragedy. Actually seeing hair brushes and small shoes that once belonged to people brought tears to my eyes.

It took us over three hours, maybe closer to four, to weave our way through the history of the holocaust from the rise of Hitler, to the onset of WWII, to the appalling acts Hitler and his lackeys authorized, to the transport of Jews from all over Europe to concentration camps, to the death marches, to the liberation of the camps by the Russians, British and Americans. We walked slowly, reflected, paid respect and wished, as Americans, we had done more.

Near the end of the memorial was a large movie screen, with stadium seating. We closely listened to the survivors of the holocaust tell their stories. One lady described being liberated by the Americans. She described walking up to the soldier, who wore dark glasses, and told him she was there because she is a Jew. She continued saying the soldier took several moments to respond, and when he did, he responded with sorrow in his voice, “So am I.” She finally realized behind the dark glasses were tears. My tears really started flowing when she said that the same man, who came to her rescue, is now her husband!

By the time we reached the end of the exhibit we were emotionally drained. We decided we couldn’t possibly run through another museum today; instead we headed back to our room to relax and decompress.

Note: Instead of relaxing, I finally passed two good sized kidney stones that have caused me a good amount of pain since Berlin. Now I know how Marc feels when he has one, an experience I could have lived without.

A Day at The Mall...

Washington DC, USA

January 9, 2008
N 38°53.375
W 077°02.100

At the beginning of our trip, as we were traveling through South America visiting the capital cities, we reminded each other we had never been to our own country’s capital, so we decided to work a visit into the itinerary. Since New York City was already on the agenda; it would only be a quick hop to DC.

I’m proud to report that we’re not disappointed. In fact, the capital city of the United States of America is the most impressive capital city we’ve visited on our trip.

The weather was unseasonably perfect, in the 70’s and clear, so we decided to take advantage of the sun and spend our day outdoors. We walked and walked and walked some more as we tried to hit as many sites as possible along the The Mall. Our first stop was the White House, and then we visited the Washington Monument, the Reflecting Pool, Lincoln Memorial, World War II Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial and Korean War Memorial.

The impressive World War II Memorial, which was dedicated in 2004, was a perfect way to complete our World War II history tour after our visit of Europe and the Beaches of Normandy. At the same time, after visiting Vietnam in June and gaining a Vietnamese perspective of what they term the “American War”, we were filled with sorrow as we walked by the 58,256 names engraved in the polished black granite of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.

We continued down the mall towards the capitol, passing numerous museums, crossing huge lawns, until we finally came to another large reflecting pool in front of the Capitol Building. We sat in front of the capitol for awhile admiring the massive dome (designed after the Roman Pantheon), watched children feed the ducks and seagulls, before circling around the building, passing the House and Senate offices, until we found ourselves standing on the stairs of the Supreme Court.

We finally made it back to our room, rested for a little while and headed out for a tour of the beautiful neighborhood of Georgetown to buy my much needed jeans. I think we logged at least eight miles for the day, if not more. It was all worth it to see the amazing capital!

It's Good to Be Home...

Washington DC, USA

January 7, 2008
N 38°53.375
W 077°02.100

The plane took off on-time from Frankfurt at 8:20 AM local time. Luckily, the plane was fairly empty and we were able to stretch out across four seats to make the flight a little more comfortable. Eight hours later we touched down at JFK at 10:30 AM local time, grabbed our bags, got through customs and hit the JetBlue counter to get an earlier flight to DC. If we couldn’t get an earlier flight, we would have to get intimate with JFK for the next six hours, extending our travel day even more.

Again we got lucky and were able to hop a flight that left in thirty minutes and we were on our way to DC. The short flight to DC got us in around 1:00 PM and, after a short ride to our hotel, we finally finished our travel day a mere 15 hours after we started it—not too bad.

Even though we were pretty beat, we knew we had to stay awake until at least 10:00 PM to avoid a serious case of jetlag. Good thing there was a college football game on TV. Well, not just a football game, but the BCS title game. What a perfect way to spend our first day back in the United States!

We found a local sports bar, watched the game, and ate a few Buffalo wings, a plate of nachos, and a few beers… an all American meal. It’s good to be home.

Skating On Ice...

Frankfurt, Germany

January 6, 2008
N50°06.613
E008°35.755

We knew the weather in Berlin would be cold, but when we caught a glimpse of the sun yesterday we thought we may get a reprieve from the biting wind and finger numbing weather. We should have known it was too good to be true, we’re able to walk several miles across the city before the rain started. Not snow, but a cold rain, at times sleet, which quickly turned the sidewalks and cobblestones to paths of ice.

The streets were so slick we literally had to slide our way from one place to another to avoid falling on our butts, or faces. We skated our way to dinner last night, and again on our way to the airport shuttle this morning. The skating was novel, at first, but simply walking and stepping on and off curbs became flat-out dangerous. I kept thinking... “Shit, we made it all the way around the world without any major accidents and now I’m going to crack my head open on an icy sidewalk!”

When we got off the bus at the Berlin Airport, the rain started coming down again. I looked out on the tarmac after we checked in and saw beautiful white flakes falling. Of course snow is the last thing you want to see before boarding a plane, but after a quick de-icing we made it to Frankfurt with only a one hour delay.

Tonight, in Frankfurt, is our last night in Europe. We arrived in the Czech Republic on August 27th and after nearly four months of traveling across the continent (mostly overland) we feel like we’ve seen Europe. Of course we haven’t seen everything, but we’ve accomplished a great deal and we’re ready to move on. However, we’re still a little melancholy knowing we only have a few weeks of our incredible journey left.

Tomorrow we head to our nation’s capital (Washington D.C.) with plans to watch the BCS Championship Bowl game; the first step of our re-entry process. We’ll let you know how it goes...