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!)

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