The Best of Blog

So, it’s the end of our trip together. We spent some time thinking about what we liked the best about our trip and from time to time jotted down some highlights.

Before we get into it, I (Tamara) am going to do a special one first…

Best Travel Partner – Daniel. Benny. BigG. DBG. Ben. Travel Partner Extraordinaire. Yep, my travel partner was simply excellent. He is energetic and organized, but also has a wicked sense of humor, and is full of interesting and insightful conversation (you REALLY appreciate that after 90 days with one person). I enjoyed his company very much on this trip.

Ok, now for the rest of the best!

Best City: Paris (yes, we both say so! Stay tuned for Daniel’s blog on it)

Best Airline: Korean Air (They clean the lavatories throughout the flight. Nuff said.)

Best luggage story: We took 21 flights, checked our luggage each time, and never had a single bag lost. And nope, we never missed a flight either.

Best Vineyard: Vynfields in Martinborough, New Zealand

Best Wine: First Place – Vynfields Pinot Noir 2005; Second Place – the cheap white wine we toted into the Serengeti in the back of our Jeep, maybe it was the incredible location, but that was an awesome glass of wine.

Best Brewery Tour: Pilsner Urquell Plant – they had everything short of a roller coaster ride on this 90 min tour.

Best Library: Amsterdam. The internet was frequently free in libraries, so we saw our fair share. Plus, Tamara is a bit of geek, so while Daniel discovered the other delights of the city she enjoyed the cool 7 stories of the Amsterdam library. With new Macs on each floor surrounding an open air atrium, an automated book checkout and renewal (complete with conveyor belts!), an open air cafe on the 7th floor with some of the freshest food ever, and plenty of english language books … well, Tamara almost missed her flight.

Best Shower EVER: After two days on safari – who knew you could get SO dirty?

Best Meal: Alanna Vineyard (Salmon, beef filet, potato fingers, and 2005 Chardonnay and 2006 Pinot Noir) AND Tamara’s Birthday Dinner (Spaghetti Bolognese courtesy Chef Daniel). Runners up: Ali Baba’s Clay Oven in Bombay AND Mango in Hoi An, Vietnam AND Stiggybuck’s in Tanzania

Funniest Sign: Slippery When Frosty

Best Coffee: Kaffe Eis, Wellington, New Zealand

Best Tea: Indian Masala Chai, Dunkin Donuts Green Tea Vanilla Latte, Korea (not sure if that Dunkin Donuts drink was coffee, tea, or straight sugar – but it was delicious!)

Best Maps: Intercontinental Hotel Maps. We found hotels an invaluable source of free information and when looking our best we would go into the most swank places and ask for room rates (always good for a laugh!), restaurant recommendations, and maps. Intercontinental maps not only have the best actual map, but suggest one hour, half day, and full day sight seeing itineraries!

Best Castle: Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic. This was the most detailed and maintained castle, from their frescoes right down to their tablewares. We’re not sure about their tradition of keeping live bears in the moat though…

Most Potent Cocktail: Long Island Ice Tea at DMZ Bar in Hue, Vietnam AND Absinthe cocktails at La Bohemia, Carovy Vary, Czech Rep. Sorry Car-Jack, that’s all we’re saying on a public site.

Best Architecture: Prague

Funniest Moment: Kung Foo Sleep Attack (aka when Daniel thought an intruder was in the hotel room one night and almost beaned Tamara with a lamp as she got a glass of water from the mini-fridge in the dark. Mama Conway you almost lost one!)

Ooh La La- Wrapping up in Paris

It’s done. Our 3 month trip has officially ended! While Tamara continues to enjoy herself in la la land (aka Paris), Daniel has come to the realization that this “vacation” is over and the “real world” is calling. Sitting back in Ann Arbor, I’m:

• happy to not be considered a tourist anymore.
• laughing and smiling at happy hour food/ drink prices
• trying to comprehend how Tamara and I spent less than we had budgeted for
• already craving Vietnamese and Indian food
• etc..

No better way could we have ended our world stone throw than to settle in Paris for a week. I know, most of you are gasping at the idiocy of finishing in one of the most expensive cities in the world. But…it pays to know people. And know people we did, including Tamara’s friend Jeannette, who let us crash at her small (but stylish) apartment in the heart of Paris. This, for the first time all trip, allowed us to call a place home and I can see why Jeannette loves living in the city. Paris has, in my opinion, the best subway system in the world. Tons of stops inside and outside the city, trains come frequently and on-time, the cars are never crowded-even in rush hour, and all types of people use it. And yes, much to Tamara’s chagrin, I do love french food. I mean honestly, who would scoff at crepes filled with Nutella, or some of the world’s best espressos and wine.

Knowing full and well that we had to cut as many corners as possible to recover from the 18 dollar museum entrance fees, we learned how to live like a broke Parisian artist. Walk, walk, and buy tons of food at the local markets. Fresh bread, salami, tomatoes, Dijon mustard, and Bordeaux wine never tasted so good.

We didn’t just see Paris, we experienced it. Yes, we saw the famous sites (climbed up the Eiffel tower, walked the Champs-Elysees, Louvre, etc.) but we also had our share of non-touristy stuff as well. Along with Jeannette, we met other locals including Zoraida R. (Colombian what what!), who showed us the Latin Quarter, met the Croatian mafia, who knocked down a locked door for us and accepted payment in vodka, and went dancing with the Frenchies in a glass palace! Oh and by the way, we spent our last night in style: at the Renaissance Hotel Vendome (compliments of Tamara’s bro Peter!) and ate a wonderful (and expensive) 3 course meal. I left at 3:45am to catch the bus to the airport and proceeded to have a miserably long travel day.

I had such a great time over the last 3 months. Traveling with Tamara has been an absolute joy! She’s adventurous, smart as all hell, full of energy, and a great travel companion (Grandma…she’s just a friend!). I can’t wait to hear of Tamara’s continuing adventures and show each one of you the awesome pics I’ve taken.

This is DBG signing out…