Living the Dream Kirk & Laura's Misadventures tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-04-15:/blog/?domain=livingthedream 2007-11-12T17:56:10Z MorrisAK1 img/travel-blog-feed.png penang me. tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-11-04:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=29&entryid=84470 2007-11-12T17:32:34Z 2007-11-12T17:32:34Z [map=24004 lat=8.82352941176471 lon=97.7647058823529 zoom=7.65] to us, malaysia was like a more tropical version of south korea in many ways... polluted, rife with quickly slapped up and half finished concrete apartment buildings, garbage strewn just about everywhere, a general lack of paint on everything, extensive construction and deforestation, and 'vacation' destinations that were tragic examples of overdevelopment and commercialization ruining locations that were probably not really that scenic to begin with. [img=http://www.travellerspoint. ...

See the itinerary of this trip, and details about each destination.

to us, malaysia was like a more tropical version of south korea in many ways... polluted, rife with quickly slapped up and half finished concrete apartment buildings, garbage strewn just about everywhere, a general lack of paint on everything, extensive construction and deforestation, and 'vacation' destinations that were tragic examples of overdevelopment and commercialization ruining locations that were probably not really that scenic to begin with.

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however, malaysia differed from korea in one major way -- the food was amazing. the multiple ethnic groups living on the malaysian penninsula (indian, malay, chinese, and british) served up a wide variety of excellent cuisines, and we enjoyed tandoori chicken, chinese chicken-rice, satay, curries, even tea and scones, as we traveled south along the penninsula from penang, to the cameron highlands in the central mountains, and south through kuala lumpur to singapore, loving every single meal. we found the blend of so many distinct cultures in such close proximity fascinating - frequently visiting a buddhist temple, hindu temple, mosque, and church all within a few city blocks.

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]]> the final countdown tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-11-12:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=30&entryid=85933 2007-11-12T17:27:36Z 2007-11-12T17:27:36Z Singapore wins our (highly coveted…) best all-around city in the universe award. Like a real-life Asia Disneyland with monorails, cable cars, massive sparkling shopping centers, beautifully maintained temples, impeccably dressed residents, tons of great ethnic restaurants, and a subtle british-colonial-jungle-explorer feel, the city was just a 5 hour bus ride from our last stop in kuala lumpur, but seemed like it was on a completely different continent than the rest of s.e. asia. it was probably a little ... Singapore wins our (highly coveted…) best all-around city in the universe award. Like a real-life Asia Disneyland with monorails, cable cars, massive sparkling shopping centers, beautifully maintained temples, impeccably dressed residents, tons of great ethnic restaurants, and a subtle british-colonial-jungle-explorer feel, the city was just a 5 hour bus ride from our last stop in kuala lumpur, but seemed like it was on a completely different continent than the rest of s.e. asia. it was probably a little too perfect and orderly to warrant anything but a few day stop and we didn’t want to get too comfortable and accidentally spit in public, chew gum, drink water on the metro, or… urinate in an elevator – (yes, urination in an elevator is specifically forbidden by singapore law) – and wind up in jail with a caning sentence, but it was great place to spend the last few days of our round-the-world-in-150-days adventure. Next stop – Chipotles - Denver.
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]]> How do you like me laos? tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-10-30:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=28&entryid=84444 2007-11-12T17:56:10Z 2007-10-31T03:02:06Z I hope loas (note: the 's' is silent...why? ask the french!) loved us as much as we loved this beautiful SE asian country. Every day we had a blast in this baclpacker's paradise. Because everything was so incredibly cheap in laos, and we heard the phrase "same-same, but different" more often here than anywhere else (although we got it a lot everywhere we went in this part of the world), we finally bought our obligator ... I hope loas (note: the 's' is silent...why? ask the french!) loved us as much as we loved this beautiful SE asian country. Every day we had a blast in this baclpacker's paradise.

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Because everything was so incredibly cheap in laos, and we heard the phrase "same-same, but different" more often here than anywhere else (although we got it a lot everywhere we went in this part of the world), we finally bought our obligatory south east asia backpacker t-shirts. said by shopkeepers, guides, drivers, and hustlers alike… it basically means ‘even though you want this product / service / transportation, I’m going to give you this other one that is same-same… until you find out that it is lower quality / not available / more expensive / slower / leaves an hour later… and then I’ll clarify that it is really same-same… but different’.

But despite the transportation and bargaining shenanigans, Laos surprised and delighted us with beautifully preserved buddhist wats and resident monks who seemed genuinely interested in sharing their lives and practicing their english with us, an endless number of outdoor adventures including trekking, kayaking, tubing, climbing, and caving in the tropical forest, and cheaper prices for food, lodging, gifts, and everything else than anywhere we'd been on the trip.

We spent a few days visiting the temples and waterfalls in the ancient capital city of luang prabang, before heading out on a two day trek with our guide, Chuare, through 5 hmong and khmer hill tribe villages several hours north of the city. We hiked about 7 hours into the mountains passing through rice fields, fording 4ft deep rivers, tasting local herbs and produce grown in the fields (kirk enjoyed the sugarcane) and exploring villages all along the way.

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Since it was just the two of us and Chuare, who spoke the various languages of the different peoples we visited had grown up in an isolated hmong village, himself, we were able to really interact with the local people more than we had at any other point on the trip. We played a soccer / volleyball variation with the kids, played cards and drank laos moonshine whisky with the old men, took a bath down at the river with the ladies, slept and ate on the floor of a single room smaller than our florida bedroom with 3 generations of local family – grandpa was quite the snorer -- and woke up at 3:30 in the morning with the roosters, pigs, chicken, goats and villagers getting ready for their day. we trekked and kayaked back to luang prabang the next day arriving dirty, exhausted, and very satisfied witih the adventure that was one of the most fascinating and authentic we've experienced. we rewarded ourselves by checking into a guesthouse with hot showers (a rarity) and got relaxing 3-dollar facials in town. we even had a tv in our room, but got a little taste of our lives back in the real world as we caught the final minutes of the movie apollo 13 and also watched the rockies win game 3 of the nlcs, reminding us that our amazing journey is coming to an end within the month and we'll be back to powerpoint before we know it.

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After a dramatic 7 hr drive (dramatic both because of the amazing scenery and the speed at which the minibus passed trucks on blind curves at 60 kph) south to Vang Vieng, we felt like we’d arrived at a surreal backpacker summer camp. Nights were spent watching Friends reruns in our choice of about 9 restaurants that played them continuously (and all served the same mediocre, but very cheap, ‘western’ food) on the main road in town. Days were spent floating down the Nam Song river, stopping off to explore temples and caves (we went tubing through one) nestled in the surrounding limestone cliffs, and visiting one or more of about a dozen makeshift restaurant / bars constructed from boards and bamboo, packed full of backpackers playing volleyball, sunbathing, swimming, and watching each other jump off platforms and ropeswings extending 40 feet or so over the river. Everyone we met was staying longer than they’d planned, some extending a 2 day visit to 10 days or more -- sadly we could only stay 1 extra day without missing our flight back to Bangkok…

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]]> hi buy song, got yao noi tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-10-11:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=27&entryid=82204 2007-10-14T12:15:49Z 2007-10-11T13:34:54Z Still not sure of the literal translation, but this is the phrase we memorized as we paddled around the limestone islands off the coast of phuket, searching for fishermen to tow us back the hour or so back to shore… the 90 minute paddle out to the amazing islands of the ao phang-nga national park earlier in the day didn’t seem that taxing – and when we got to the islands we were met by incredibly clear blue ... P9290590.jpg
Still not sure of the literal translation, but this is the phrase we memorized as we paddled around the limestone islands off the coast of phuket, searching for fishermen to tow us back the hour or so back to shore… the 90 minute paddle out to the amazing islands of the ao phang-nga national park earlier in the day didn’t seem that taxing – and when we got to the islands we were met by incredibly clear blue water and bright white sand pristine beaches fringing the sheer 600 foot cliffs of the islands. there were caves, lagoons, and beaches to explore and so maybe we didn’t realize soon enough that the slight wind that had brought us to the islands had picked up substantially and we no longer could paddle against it (in our super-wide, super-heavy piece of plastic passed off to us as an actual kayak…pretty much the only one on the island where we were staying) when it was time to go home… a passing power boat towed us to the marine patrol station on one of the islands, but our hopes of getting back anytime soon were dashed when we finally worked out from the ‘ranger’ (a guy in a wife-beater t-shirt and shorts) through a ridiculous series of hand-signals that the ‘marine patrol’ boat was… not running right now. but we did get him to tell us the phrase we needed and point us in the direction of some other islands (even further from shore) where we might be able to pay some fishermen to take us back. So we paddled out, repeating ‘hi buy song, got yao noi’ (please take us to yao noi island… we think…) every 4 seconds or so so we wouldn’t forget it. It took quite a while of pointie-talkie with the fishermen, and then two liters of gasoline poured out of reused coke bottles and the equivalent of 3 us dollars, for them to load us and the kayak onto their tiny wooden long-tail boat and drive us the hour or so back to shore. but… the kayaking in Thailand was some of the best we have ever done so it was all worth it…
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If you’ve ever tried something you’re really anxious about already and then had your instructor yell at you in the first 30 seconds of class (and be entirely wrong) and then every 30 seconds thereafter, then you know how we felt in our open water scuba certification class. we took our 4-day course with an extremely high strung german lady on the beautiful island of ko tao in the gulf of thailand… not super-relaxing but at least we now have our dive tables memorized forwards and backwards! we followed up the ‘academic’ portion of our trip with 3 very chill days on the nearby island of ko samui – stayed in an awesome ocean front bungalow, did some more kayaking and visited the islands’s water falls, hiking trails, and…we’re ashamed to admit, in order to satisfy our western chain restaurant fix... the island's mcdonalds and starbucks…
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]]> wat's happening... tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-10-11:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=26&entryid=82201 2007-10-11T13:29:52Z 2007-10-11T13:29:52Z since our one year anniversary was celebrated via a webcam to korea and laura working a gps launch, before the trip, we agreed to celebreate our 2 year anniversary in a once in a lifetime place -- visiting ankgor wat in cambodia was perfect. we spent 4 days climbing around the intricately carved and absolutely massive temples, pyramids, and towers that make up the vast complex of ankor wat and the surrounding ancient city ruins and temples. ... since our one year anniversary was celebrated via a webcam to korea and laura working a gps launch, before the trip, we agreed to celebreate our 2 year anniversary in a once in a lifetime place -- visiting ankgor wat in cambodia was perfect. we spent 4 days climbing around the intricately carved and absolutely massive temples, pyramids, and towers that make up the vast complex of ankor wat and the surrounding ancient city ruins and temples. we also stayed in a super super super fancy hotel, layed by the pool, took a bubble bath in our in-room hottub, ordered room service... and stole all the free soaps... we chuckled at how far we'd come since our business travel in the air force where air conditioning AND a tv were not considered ultimate luxury...

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]]> now its istanbul not constantinople tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-10-01:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=25&entryid=81031 2007-10-15T06:03:19Z 2007-10-01T14:49:00Z [map=24004 lat=41.4117647058824 lon=33.5294117647059 zoom=7.65] we couldn't get the they 'they might be giants' song out of our heads during our two weeks exploring western turkey, and we had some very memorable experiences... some for how great they were and others... well... someday we'll look back and laugh i'm sure. we spent 4 days sailing down the mediterranean coastline of turkey, visiting ancient ruins, tiny villages, secluded bays, and reminscing about laura's glory days of study abroad in sydney with ...

See the itinerary of this trip, and details about each destination.
we couldn't get the they 'they might be giants' song out of our heads during our two weeks exploring western turkey, and we had some very memorable experiences... some for how great they were and others... well... someday we'll look back and laugh i'm sure. we spent 4 days sailing down the mediterranean coastline of turkey, visiting ancient ruins, tiny villages, secluded bays, and reminscing about laura's glory days of study abroad in sydney with the fun group of australians that were also on board our 'sailboat'... (that never actually sailed... but i guess you can't have everything...)

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we also spent several wonderful days in cappadocian region of central turkey. this was truly one of the highlights of our time in turkey as well as on the entire trip. hiking through the beautiful valleys, rock formations, and entire cities dug out of the rock was like walking through a star wars set. we felt like we were on tatooine in our cave hotel room carved into one of the rock formations.

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we finished off the trip visiting the palaces, mosques, and the grand bazaar of istanbul, picking up the obligatory turkish rug and some souveneirs -- the first we'd really bought on the entire trip.

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can't say much about the turkish food, as either one or both of us were sick for the entire two weeks -- we spent several days lying around in bed recovering... a highlight was kirk vomiting all over laura about 10 minutes into a 4 hour busride across the desert... we were quite a spectacle on the side of the road with the bus driver dousing laura in bottled water while kirk was doubled over in the ditch... we also loved our overnight 'express' bus ride across turkey where we stopped -- literally - 6 times in 8 hours for 20 minute food and bathroom breaks... with the lights on the whole night and a little boy in a boy tie waking us up every 15 minutes to ask us if we wanted any more tea... we were there during ramadan, so all we can figure is they were all trying to catch up with their meals during the night... but we'd go back to turkey in a second. the people were amazingly friendly and there were an infinite amount of things to see and do... it was fantastic.

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]]> baby lets cruise... tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-10-01:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=24&entryid=81025 2007-10-01T13:48:53Z 2007-10-01T13:48:53Z at the start of september, we took a fantastic break from the backpacker lifestyle on a 7 day cruise around the mediterranean with laura's parents. we loved not having to figure out a place to stay or a place to eat or worry about much of anything while floating from country to country and working on our bridge skills and our tans. we introduced jim and joan to kayaking in croatia, climbed around the ancient ruins of ephesus ... at the start of september, we took a fantastic break from the backpacker lifestyle on a 7 day cruise around the mediterranean with laura's parents. we loved not having to figure out a place to stay or a place to eat or worry about much of anything while floating from country to country and working on our bridge skills and our tans. we introduced jim and joan to kayaking in croatia, climbed around the ancient ruins of ephesus in turkey, explored the beaches of santorini, greece, drove a scooter around corfu, and floated down the canals of venice... and we ate a ridiculous amount of delicious food about 6 times a day... adjusting to hostel beds, public transportation, and carrying around our 35 pound packs after the carefree week of luxury has been a challenge.

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]]> theres no place like home tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-09-20:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=23&entryid=79785 2007-09-20T16:47:13Z 2007-09-20T16:44:10Z but seeing lauras parents in germany was a close second. we spent a great week in southern germany, visiting the surrounding castles and villages and just catching up. it was so wonderful to visit with them and comforting to spend a few days around some familiar faces. we loved staying in a real hotel room, riding around in a car, and all of the goodies (everything from board games to toothpaste) they brought. they even baked a ... but seeing lauras parents in germany was a close second. we spent a great week in southern germany, visiting the surrounding castles and villages and just catching up.

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it was so wonderful to visit with them and comforting to spend a few days around some familiar faces. we loved staying in a real hotel room, riding around in a car, and all of the goodies (everything from board games to toothpaste) they brought. they even baked a birthday cake for lauras 30th birthday and checked it on the plane to germany -- we had a great little party with cake, streamers, and party hats.

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we also got jim and joan into the backpacker adventure spirit with some alpine hikes, a few trips down a luge course, and a trip into the salt mines.

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]]> the hills are alive tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-09-20:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=22&entryid=79755 2007-09-20T16:30:25Z 2007-09-20T12:08:19Z we had a great time hiking and exploring the amazing peaks, valleys, waterfalls, glaciers, and mountain huts around innsbruck austria. we spent 4 days, but could have stayed a month as there were dozens and dozens of amazing trails and hiking areas. we also went on a hike to watch the sunrise over innsbruck and the surrounding alps -- seeing our first sunrise on the trip! ... we had a great time hiking and exploring the amazing peaks, valleys, waterfalls, glaciers, and mountain huts around innsbruck austria. we spent 4 days, but could have stayed a month as there were dozens and dozens of amazing trails and hiking areas. we also went on a hike to watch the sunrise over innsbruck and the surrounding alps -- seeing our first sunrise on the trip!

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]]> Show Me The Hut! tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-08-24:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=21&entryid=76734 2007-08-28T06:51:00Z 2007-08-24T14:23:20Z our favorite phrase as we raced through the triglav lakes valley on our 4th hour in the freezing, pouring rain... actually it was 'show me the hut' and also 'i really should have brought my rainpants'. turns out the trashbags we were wearing didnt provide too much rain protection. we had a great time hiking hut to hut in triglav national park in the julian alps in slovenia. the hiking was fantastic, and eating and staying ... our favorite phrase as we raced through the triglav lakes valley on our 4th hour in the freezing, pouring rain... actually it was 'show me the hut' and also 'i really should have brought my rainpants'. turns out the trashbags we were wearing didnt provide too much rain protection. we had a great time hiking hut to hut in triglav national park in the julian alps in slovenia. the hiking was fantastic, and eating and staying overnight in the mountain huts was a great experience as we were able to really interact with local slovenians. we got really rained on on the second day of the hike (keeping the percentage of european hikes that we've been rained on solidly at 100%), so were unable to summit mt triglav, slovenias highest peak.

we spent another few days in the lake bohinj and bled regions doing short hikes and swimming and paddling around the alpine lakes. we also went on a fantastic canyoning trip -- loving the waterproof camera.

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]]> off we go... out of the wild blue yonder tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-08-17:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=20&entryid=75989 2007-11-12T17:34:42Z 2007-08-17T16:42:03Z we had to outprocess in the US, so we went to hawaii for a few weeks to finalize all kirks paperwork and celebrate his new-found freedom. kirks wedding ring is still celebrating its freedom somewhere on the bottom of a bay on the north shore of oahu... we stayed right on waikiki beach for a few days and explored oahu and then spent the weekend with our buddy kevin from korea and his family. it was great to meet ... we had to outprocess in the US, so we went to hawaii for a few weeks to finalize all kirks paperwork and celebrate his new-found freedom. kirks wedding ring is still celebrating its freedom somewhere on the bottom of a bay on the north shore of oahu... we stayed right on waikiki beach for a few days and explored oahu and then spent the weekend with our buddy kevin from korea and his family. it was great to meet kevins family and see him again.

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we also spent a few days on kauai, hiking, kayaking and relaxing. we stayed 5 nights in a cottage right on the beach. the longest we have stayed anywhere in 5 months...

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]]> tony perez and the kles tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-08-17:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=19&entryid=75987 2007-08-17T16:29:23Z 2007-08-17T16:29:23Z we had an awesome weekend visiting our buddies keith and katie from vandenberg in vicenza, italy. it was great to catch up with them and hear all about their adventures living in italy and reminisce about the good times at 4425. we hiked in the julian alps and stayed in a refugio for a night with keith and katie and some friends of theirs. hiking in the alps is way different from hiking in the US, in ... we had an awesome weekend visiting our buddies keith and katie from vandenberg in vicenza, italy. it was great to catch up with them and hear all about their adventures living in italy and reminisce about the good times at 4425. we hiked in the julian alps and stayed in a refugio for a night with keith and katie and some friends of theirs. hiking in the alps is way different from hiking in the US, in that they dont really believe in switchbacks, so the traditional 'trail' we think of in the US is usally non-existent. you are generally always climbing straight up the mountain, often with just a series of cables and clips you are supposed to hang onto as you dangle from the cliffs... it was a fantastic challenge and the scenery was amazing.

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]]> czech yourself before you wreck yourself tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-08-17:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=18&entryid=75982 2007-08-29T08:35:23Z 2007-08-17T15:35:18Z we started out our time in the czech republic with a 100 mile / 3 day bikeride through moravia in the southern part of the country. we hadn't ever done a multiple day bike trip before and for sure wont ever again without a gel bicycle seat and padded shorts! but it was a great time, we saw a lot of cool towns and visited some amazing caves in the karst region. partied like it was 1989 ... we started out our time in the czech republic with a 100 mile / 3 day bikeride through moravia in the southern part of the country. we hadn't ever done a multiple day bike trip before and for sure wont ever again without a gel bicycle seat and padded shorts! but it was a great time, we saw a lot of cool towns and visited some amazing caves in the karst region.

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partied like it was 1989 at a prague dance club on 80s night for lauras 30th birthday... it has been ages since we'd heard most of the songs, but kirk danced the 'locomotion' like a rockstar.

also visited cesky krumlov -- our favorite city on the whole trip. a beautiful town that was mostly untouched by the 1970s concrete block architecture that plagues the rest of eastern europe, as it had been abandoned by the germans that lived there after wwII and is just becoming resettled. we went on some awesome hikes and a 35km kayaking trip, dropping through chutes in the many dams on the vlatava river like we were on the logride at disneyland and stopping off in beautiful villages all along the way-- we didnt even have to leave our kayak for pizza and drinks served to us on the water!

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]]> the med... just what the doctor ordered. tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-08-10:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=17&entryid=75310 2007-08-10T16:14:52Z 2007-08-10T16:14:52Z a week of paddling on the med was a welcome break from our fast pace of seeing sights around portugal, italy, and ireland. the water was incredibly clear, blue and glassy -- the swimming and paddling were fantastic. we broke in our new waterproof, shockproof, ninjaproof camera and visited caves, secluded beaches, and awesome restaurants around the dalmation coast near dubrovnik. we also took a trip by scooter to the bay of kotor in montenegro... kirks scooter handling ... a week of paddling on the med was a welcome break from our fast pace of seeing sights around portugal, italy, and ireland. the water was incredibly clear, blue and glassy -- the swimming and paddling were fantastic. we broke in our new waterproof, shockproof, ninjaproof camera and visited caves, secluded beaches, and awesome restaurants around the dalmation coast near dubrovnik.
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we also took a trip by scooter to the bay of kotor in montenegro... kirks scooter handling at 30 mph while being passed by semi trucks and buses going 60 on a narrow two lane road on cliffs overlooking the ocean was flawless.

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]]> living the dream and loving the sausage... tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-08-10:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=16&entryid=75298 2007-08-10T15:57:51Z 2007-08-10T15:35:39Z we spent about 10 days in poland and in that time had about 17 meals of polish sausage... we stayed with some family friends who are starting a church and also have an english language training outreach in opole in the south of poland. we met a ton of people all over the community who invited us into their homes for meals and shared their experiences and lives with us, we also taught the youth sunday school sermon and ... we spent about 10 days in poland and in that time had about 17 meals of polish sausage... we stayed with some family friends who are starting a church and also have an english language training outreach in opole in the south of poland. we met a ton of people all over the community who invited us into their homes for meals and shared their experiences and lives with us, we also taught the youth sunday school sermon and led conversation classes in the evenings at the english school where we met some great people. we really enjoyed hearing about their experiences during 'the communism' and didnt enjoy as much the fact that they all beat us at english scattergories... guess our vocab isnt up to snuff...

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we then visited krakow, a beautiful, and not too touristy city (yet), full of horse drawn carriages, beautiful squares, great restaurants and more churches per acre than anywhere outside rome. in the photo above we trying to fit in in the 'dragons lair,' a network of tunnels under the wavel castle in central krakow...

from krakow we took a daytrip to auschwitz, which was an extremely moving and sad experience. throughout eastern europe, we have visited many similiar museums and memorials depicting the holocaust as well as the following communist dictatorship and oppression faced by poland and its neighbors. the horrors and tragedies the people in this part of the world have faced over the last century are mind-boggling and indescribable.
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living the dream and loving the sausage... remains copyright of the author MorrisAK1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> did you get your tickets? tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-08-08:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=15&entryid=74970 2007-08-17T15:36:52Z 2007-08-08T08:49:29Z laura was reluctant to come back to hungary after her -not so great- experience there with liz in the big post college europe tour. they, along with all tourists to budapest, were constantly harrassed by the subway ticket checkers and even paid a fine once when they hadnt actually ridden a train without a ticket just to avoid being taken to the local station and spending the afternoon arguing... then after standing in line for hours at the ... laura was reluctant to come back to hungary after her -not so great- experience there with liz in the big post college europe tour. they, along with all tourists to budapest, were constantly harrassed by the subway ticket checkers and even paid a fine once when they hadnt actually ridden a train without a ticket just to avoid being taken to the local station and spending the afternoon arguing... then after standing in line for hours at the ticket counter they were told they were too late to buy tickets for a train that was leaving hours later, and made to pay a fine on board the train because they were riding without tickets...

but kirk wanted to check it out and we were already in the area and surely the city would have cleaned up their tourist extortion act by now... or not... the situation was ridiculously the same, and our tix were checked sometimes three times on the same platform... ticket machines were closed, tourists were constantly being fined.... locals never bought tickets and were never checked... and on the last day out, we missed our train to the czech republic because we had to stand in line for 35 minutes for a metro ticket before standing in line another 20 minutes for a train ticket at which point, the agent refused to sell us the ticket saying we didnt have 'enough time' for the train that was leaving 5 minutes later and was literally 20 steps from the ticket booth...

but we loved visiting the hungarian baths, the history was interesting and the city was beautiful. we also visited the smaller city of eger nearby for a very relaxing few days prior to going to budapest...

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]]> able was i, ere i saw elba tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-08-05:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=14&entryid=74652 2007-08-05T21:36:09Z 2007-08-05T21:36:09Z favorite palindrome of napolean and lutheran high's doc sheaffer... we kayaked around this beautiful island off the coast of tuscany for a few days. the water was amazing and paddling fantastic. italian families and hundreds of their strollers and two year olds swamped the streets (maybe the casting call for the movie 'look who's talking 3?') italian families apparently liked this place more than napolean, who escaped after less than a year. ... favorite palindrome of napolean and lutheran high's doc sheaffer... we kayaked around this beautiful island off the coast of tuscany for a few days. the water was amazing and paddling fantastic. italian families and hundreds of their strollers and two year olds swamped the streets (maybe the casting call for the movie 'look who's talking 3?') italian families apparently liked this place more than napolean, who escaped after less than a year.

able was i, ere i saw elba remains copyright of the author MorrisAK1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> inca, inca, doom-pa-dee-do tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-08-05:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=13&entryid=74645 2007-08-05T21:19:45Z 2007-08-05T21:19:45Z we still cant get this variation of the charlie and the chocolate factory oompa loompa song out of our heads since this trip --- thanks to bob and camile for singing it for four days straight! -- but we had an amazing trip hiking the inca trail to machu picchu with team cornell and friends. celebrated lauras 29th birthday on the trail and learned that kirk doesn't do well with rapid altitude changes after he passed out on the ... we still cant get this variation of the charlie and the chocolate factory oompa loompa song out of our heads since this trip --- thanks to bob and camile for singing it for four days straight! -- but we had an amazing trip hiking the inca trail to machu picchu with team cornell and friends. celebrated lauras 29th birthday on the trail and learned that kirk doesn't do well with rapid altitude changes after he passed out on the back of a chicken bus driving over a 12000 foot pass on our second day in peru. a good time had by all. thanks to beth for planning another awesome trip for the crew!

inca, inca, doom-pa-dee-do remains copyright of the author MorrisAK1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> celebrating tNa in j-hole tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-08-05:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=11&entryid=74642 2007-08-05T21:11:29Z 2007-08-05T21:11:29Z went to travis N adam's fabulous wedding in jackson hole wyoming. river-rafting, shotgun shooting, and shenanigans with team cornell and team australia. we've never seen tNa so organized. ... went to travis N adam's fabulous wedding in jackson hole wyoming. river-rafting, shotgun shooting, and shenanigans with team cornell and team australia. we've never seen tNa so organized.

celebrating tNa in j-hole remains copyright of the author MorrisAK1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> go grande or go home tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-08-05:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=9&entryid=74636 2007-08-05T21:03:36Z 2007-08-05T21:03:36Z hit the palio, an annual horse race run in the piazza of sienna for the last 1000 years or so, with adam and travis -- a fantastic festival in a beautiful city. after almost 4 hours of waiting in the square, and 2 minutes of excitement, the fierce and mighty... goose... neighborhood won. too bad we dont have many pictures since this is the night our camera decided to run away forever with a sienna taxi... ... hit the palio, an annual horse race run in the piazza of sienna for the last 1000 years or so, with adam and travis -- a fantastic festival in a beautiful city. after almost 4 hours of waiting in the square, and 2 minutes of excitement, the fierce and mighty... goose... neighborhood won. too bad we dont have many pictures since this is the night our camera decided to run away forever with a sienna taxi...

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]]> start spreadin the news tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-08-03:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=8&entryid=74274 2007-08-03T20:22:45Z 2007-08-03T20:22:45Z said farewell to the usa for a few months with a great weekend visiting laura in the big apple. met the newest michello and had a great time running around the city looking for famous chefs... got bumped off our flight leaving laguardia so got two free tickets and a two hour earlier arrival into dublin. ... said farewell to the usa for a few months with a great weekend visiting laura in the big apple. met the newest michello and had a great time running around the city looking for famous chefs... got bumped off our flight leaving laguardia so got two free tickets and a two hour earlier arrival into dublin.

start spreadin the news remains copyright of the author MorrisAK1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> stop... hammer time tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-08-03:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=7&entryid=74272 2007-08-17T16:47:41Z 2007-08-03T20:17:42Z had a great time in portugal visiting the algarve beaches, lisbon, and the -made entirely from bones- chapel in evora. we had a fantastic day visiting the castles, underground passages, and caves of sintra outside of lisbon. met up with newlyweds adam and travis for the san juan festival in porto -- little old ladies and two year olds on their dads shoulders all wacking each other with plastic squeaky hammers -- followed by the best fireworks display ... had a great time in portugal visiting the algarve beaches, lisbon, and the -made entirely from bones- chapel in evora. we had a fantastic day visiting the castles, underground passages, and caves of sintra outside of lisbon.

met up with newlyweds adam and travis for the san juan festival in porto -- little old ladies and two year olds on their dads shoulders all wacking each other with plastic squeaky hammers -- followed by the best fireworks display any of us had ever seen. laura even hit a policeman on the head... would love to post the picture, but laura also lost the camera and all the pix from this portion of the trip. kirks nephew is now having fun with the hammer... ask his dad how much the whole family loves being wacked by a squeaky plastic hammer...

stop... hammer time remains copyright of the author MorrisAK1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> guinness is good for you.... tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-08-03:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=6&entryid=74270 2007-11-12T17:53:47Z 2007-08-03T20:12:54Z and kirk and laura and erin... neighbor wilson joined us for some awesome shenanigans around the emerald isle... hiking and biking and guinness, oh my. ... and kirk and laura and erin... neighbor wilson joined us for some awesome shenanigans around the emerald isle... hiking and biking and guinness, oh my.

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guinness is good for you.... remains copyright of the author MorrisAK1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Livin la vida Levoca tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-08-03:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=5&entryid=74268 2007-08-08T09:00:13Z 2007-08-03T20:09:54Z amazing hiking and eastern europes largest castle. we conquered the tatra mountains and climbed a 300 foot vertical ascent on a metal chain... dont look down. [map=24004 lat=42.4705882352941 lon=8.47058823529412 zoom=7.65] ... amazing hiking and eastern europes largest castle. we conquered the tatra mountains and climbed a 300 foot vertical ascent on a metal chain... dont look down.

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See the itinerary of this trip, and details about each destination.

Livin la vida Levoca remains copyright of the author MorrisAK1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> we love star alliance tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-07-11:/blog/?domain=livingthedream&thisblog_entryid=4&entryid=70692 2007-08-08T08:52:55Z 2007-07-11T09:02:19Z we conveniently missed our connection through vienna to croatia and austrian air put us up in a sweet 4star hotel in downtown vienna for the night and gave us a 75 dollar meal voucher for dinner. our favorite part was the room service breakfast delivery... not a bad deal for a ticket that was free to begin with! ... we conveniently missed our connection through vienna to croatia and austrian air put us up in a sweet 4star hotel in downtown vienna for the night and gave us a 75 dollar meal voucher for dinner. our favorite part was the room service breakfast delivery... not a bad deal for a ticket that was free to begin with!

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we love star alliance remains copyright of the author MorrisAK1, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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