December 31, 2009 – Day 371 – Koh Samet, Thailand

It’s New Year’s Eve! And what better way to start the last day of the year than with a glorious dose of Thai sunshine and a big breakfast. In case you’re curious, breakfast in Thailand for us consists of omlettes, toast, fresh fruit (watermelon, banana, and pineapple), bacon, and hot tea. That’s the breakfast of champions right there.

Lindsey awaiting breakfast

December 25, 2009 – Day 365 – Bangkok, Thailand

Happy One Year on the Road! We’ve been traveling and blogging for a whole year now and we can’t believe it’s gone by so quickly. Can you? It really has been an amazing year. We have had a thousand memories that we wouldn’t trade the world for. A big thank you to everyone who has donated us money, encourgaed us along the way, and lived this last year with us through the site.

Thanks!

November 26, 2009 – Day 336 – Benaulim Beach, Goa, India

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is a dual-celebration for us. We’re celebrating Thanksgiving and our 8th anniversary! Since we are miles from home, we celebrated in an unusual way. We spent the day on the beach soaking up the sun and warm water of the Arabian Sea. Without a bird in sight, our Thanksgiving feast/anniversary dinner consisted of tuna steak and calamari! It’s hot weather here instead of the usual cool weather we enjoy at home this time of year so we enjoyed a pleasant moonlight stroll along the water’s edge after dinner. What a great way to spend any holiday!

Us!

As close to a bird as it gets

July 12, 2009 – Day 199 – Budapest, Hungary

Last day in Budapest. And what a lucky day! Our favorite bakery was closed (not so lucky) so we had pizza for breakfast(ish) and happened upon a huge music and food festival (very lucky) happening around and across one whole (huge) bridge over the Danube.

On the bridge

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July 4, 2009 – Day 191 – Sarajevo, Bosnia

It’s July 4^th and we’re on a train to Sarajevo, Bosnia. At home, our friends and families are celebrating with cookouts and reunions, enjoying a great American day. Today, we feel a bit homesick and definitely out of the loop of the goings-on in our motherland. For us, there will be no grilled burgers, cold beer or fireworks but it was a good reminder of the cost of freedom to experience July 4th in a land where the scars of war are still so evident.

Out the window and into the world

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July 3, 2009 – Day 190 – Zagreb, Croatia

Wow, Croatian food is not normally a top world cuisine but the pastries here are just out of this world! Definitely stop in at one of the many bakeries and feast on some of the delicious goodies they offer. Our favorites tend to be the blackberry, cherry and chocolate ones. My mouth is watering just imagining them!

Traditional Dancers not dancing

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Day 127: Athens, Greece

Well, we came to experience other cultures not just the sights and restaurants. Today we got quite a bit more than we bargained for. Having grabbed a quick breakfast to go, we crossed the crazy traffic around Omonia Square (which is only filled with sketchy people doing sketchy things or yelling or watching people either to eat them or to rob them, hard to tell because the look is so similar) to eat our sandwiches. Moments after we sat down, two men crossed the square and pissed in the bushes (sorta, they didn’t really try to hide). Immediately after, some other guy goes into a nearby area of the same bushes and digs around in some trash on the ground. And immediately following that, the air is filled not only with the now all too familiar smell of piss but also, mysteriously, of shit. We’re both totally disgusted and simultaneously got up and headed off the square. Read the rest of this entry »

Day 65: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Today was the day to be in Botafogo (a small neighborhood in Rio) and we were lucky enough to be there. Today was the big futbol match between Botafogo and some unworthy opponent. It was a requirement that we go. We headed toward the stadium in a swarm of black and white (Botafogo´s colors). There were fans of the other team there somewhere but they dare not show their faces. Botafogo is one of the largest teams in Rio and thousands of fans had came to see the regional finale. Unfortunately the opposing team was rather small and only had a limited (few hundred) fans show up.

Action at the stadium

As we entered the stadium the crowd was already a buzz. Chants and black and white balloons filled the air. This is the epitome of Rio, futbol on a Sunday in one of the largest stadiums in the world. Read the rest of this entry »

Day 60: Petropolis, Brazil

We walked around the city all day today and spent a while at the Crystal Palace. It started pouring (hurricaning may be a better description) so we sat inside and waited for it to calm down a bit. The Crystal Palace is a huge clear and blue glass building with a nice little garden area all around it. It´s free to get in and there´s nothing inside it but a small felt stage area against the back wall.

Inside Crystal Palace during torrential downpour!

Afterward we went to one of the monstrous churches and admired the decorations in and out. Read the rest of this entry »

We got up really early to go down to our new favorite bakery/restaurant to pick up breakfast for our wonderful hosts Bernardo and Marilia for hosting us an extra 2 days. Everything would´ve been fine, except we had forgotten to take our anti-malarials the night before (too much Carnival fun!) and had to take them this morning asap. Taking them on empty stomachs is a really bad idea, as we discovered! Read the rest of this entry »