Welcome to New Zealand!

Auckland, Karekare and Piha
January 19- January 21

Shaun with Karekare Falls behind him. About an hour outside Auckland, New Zealand

After our quick side trip to the Cook Islands, we were off to New Zealand for a month. The flights from the Cook Islands are a bit bizzare. The flight we were on left Rarotonga at 1:30 in the morning, which was strange in itself. But you also cross the international date line, so even though we left at 1:30AM on the 18th of January and took a 3.5 hour flight, we landed at 5AM on January 19th! Luckily we knew this beforehand so we booked the correct dates for our B&B!

One of the Air New Zealand Koru Clubs. Star Alliance Gold gets you access. The spread they put out is unbelievable. Love these airlines!

When we were planning the trip during December, we had the great fortune of spending an evening with two native New Zealander's, Lincoln and Therese Tubbs. My friend Jackie has been friends with Lincoln and Therese for years, and we were super fortunate that they came to visit Jackie and Carl over the Christmas Holidays. We went to dinner at Jackie's and spent much of the evening poring over the New Zealand guidebook and getting advice on how to spend our month. We were landing in NZ in the middle of the summer holiday season when the kids were all out of school, so one of the best tips was to start south and work our way north.The South Island would be much less crowded during January and by the time we got to the North in early February, school would be back in session so the North Island would be less crazy.
By the time we left Jackie's the next morning, we felt like we had a great skeleton plan for this part of the trip.

They didn't just hook us up with advice though. We were talking about camping and how we were going to have to purchase equipment when we arrived in NZ and that's where they totally hooked us up! Their best friends from home, Todd and Sarah Flashman live in Auckland and have been avid campers for years. They used to camp as a couple but now they have two little girls so they have moved on to family camping gear. Lincoln was positive that they wouldn't mind loaning us a tent and whatever other random items we needed so we didn't have to buy a bunch of equipment. He e-mailed Todd and within a few days we had a plan in place. We would fly into Auckland, meet up with "the Flashes" and pick up the camping equipment and then take a little puddle jumper flight down to Queenstown on the South Island to start the grand tour of New Zealand.

So we arrived in Auckland very early in the morning on the 19th exhausted but well prepared. Since we were arriving in Auckland and departing from there as well in February, Lincoln had suggested spending some time outside the city at the beaches. Shaun found a really cool B&B called the Lone Kauri Lodge that was about about an hour outside Auckland but a world away geographically. To get to Lone Kauri Lodge we first traveled the highway from the airport, then the main streets of Green Bay and Titirangi (home of the Flash's), then the scenic "Piha Road" and finally, down Lone Kauri road, which consisted of crazy winding switchbacks through tropical overhang on roads that could barely fit two cars. If you've ever driven the Road to Hana in Hawaii, it's very similar to that road, just on a much smaller scale.

The view from Lone Kauri Lodge. Worth every heart-stopping moment of the drive!

Brushing your teeth becomes a real treat when this is the view from your bathroom window!

When we arrived at Lone Kauri Lodge though, it was all worth it! The lodge was literally in the middle of the jungle overlooking the ocean. They only had two guest rooms and when we arrived (at 11AM- very early) the previous night's guests has just vacated the room we had booked. We thought we would need to drop our bags and make ourselves scarce, but Anne was so gracious! She set us up with hot tea and some fresh baked muffins which we ate in the lounge area and then 30 minutes later told us our room was all set. We were absolutely exhausted so we unpacked a few things, pulled the shades and fell fast asleep. By the time we woke up it was late afternoon. We had just enough time to wake up, shower and change our clothes before we headed into Titirangi to meet up with the Flashman's!

Our visit with the Flashman's was wonderful. Todd and Sarah made us feel so at home even though they were leaving the next day for a family camping trip! They ordered in some fabulous pizza from a local place called Hell and we opened up some wine and just got to talking. Their two daughters, Lily and Piper, were as beautiful as they were charming. They even gave us our own hand-painted ceramic mermaids to take on the trip! Not to be outdone, Todd and Sarah hooked us up with a tent, a rain shield, sleeping mats, a set of pots, a non-stick skillet, a set of plates, cutlery and mugs. By the time we left there we were all set with with everything we could need for camping and even better, some new friends! We are looking forward to our return trip to Auckland when we will meet again!

Fun with the Flashman family! Todd, Sarah and the girls, Lily and Piper

The next day we made the most of our time at Lone Kauri. We woke up to a wonderful continental breakfast of coffee, yogurt, toast, homemade jams and tons of fresh fruit. When we finished breakfast, Anne even packed up the leftover fruit into a tupperware for our hike. After consulting with Keith for a while on different walks, we decided to split the day between Karekare beach and Piha beach. We packed up our day packs and we were off.

The drive down to Karekare was just as crazy as the drive to Lone Kauri. There were lots of crazy hairpin turns and one lane bridges. At least the roads are clearly marked so you always know which driver has the right of way!

We took the short trek to Karekare Falls before heading to the beach






First stop was Karekare. To get to the beach you have to cross a small stream. Shaun found a spot with rocks to cross, but I decided to just take off my hiking boots and walk through. After you cross the stream its all sand for what seemed like half a mile. The surf here is deadly so even though there were only about 5 people on the beach, there were two lifeguards and two signposts that indicated the 20 foot area where you were allowed to swim. It was pretty cold out so neither of us wanted to swim yet, so we continued exploring the beach. We ended up spending a good amount of time climbing the jetty at the end of the beach which was the home of lots of sea creatures like crabs and starfish, and had spectacular views on the other side.

Karekare beach. Please swim between the cones!

Next up was Piha beach. Like Karekare, Piha beach has deadly rip currents, so much so that it now has it's own reality show called Piha Rescue! At Piha we walked the length of the gorgeous beach which went on for close to two miles. At the end was a huge natural breakwater filled with tidal pools. There were crabs everywhere! We spent a while exploring the breakwater before making our way over to the brush where there was a trailhead. We walked the well groomed but steep trail for about 20 minutes until it opened up onto a gorgeous view of the secluded bay below. After taking some photos and catching our breath, we headed back down the trail and across the beach to the life-guarded section of Piha. Shaun took a quick swim while I soaked up the sun on the beautiful beach.

Piha Beach- those rocks are very far away

One of zillions of crabs we saw that day

Shaun starting the trek up the trailhead at Piha

By now, it was getting late in the day and we needed to get supplies for dinner so we headed back into Titirangi. An hour later we were grilling up some steak and veggies on the gas grill at Lone Kauri Lodge. When we finished up dinner, Keith brought us both some homemade vanilla ice cream topped with fresh strawberries. What a perfect ending to this perfect day!

The next morning we had another great breakfast at Lone Kauri Lodge and then packed up our backpacks and camping equipment into our duffel bags, making sure to distribute the weight evenly so neither duffel weighed more than 44 pounds. (The weight limit for a checked bag). We were flying from Auckland on the North Island to Queenstown on the southern part of the South Island. We were picking up a car in Queenstown which we would have for just under a month. That would allow us to explore at our leisure and easily transport all our camping equipment. But first we had to get there, so it was back to Auckland Airport and the Air New Zealand terminal. We really enjoyed our first few nights in New Zealand and we were even more excited for what awaited us on the South Island! Next stop, Queenstown!

Sunset on the drive out from Auckland to Lone Kauri Lodge. Sigh.

36 Hours in Raro

Rarotonga, Cook Islands
January 16-18

The beach just down the path from our B&B in Rarotonga, Cooks Island

The Cook Islands are a small island chain in the middle of the Pacific Ocean about three quarters of the way to New Zealand. If you aren't from the Asia/Pacific area you may have never heard of them. So how on earth did we end up spending 36 hours on a small island called Rarotonga, you may be wondering? Well, lets go back a few weeks to late December when we were booking this leg of the trip!

If you've never done a journey like this, then you may never have heard of a Round the World ticket (RTW for short) or a Regional fare, but they are actually quite common for trips of this nature. The way these fares work is fairly simple. Most major airlines have an alliance with other international airlines. For example, we fly United, which is part of the Star Alliance and includes Air New Zealand, Thai Airways and Singapore Airlines among others. So if you want to book an RTW ticket or a regional ticket using these carriers, they have a mileage based fare that allows you to buy one ticket that includes stops in many countries on multiple airlines. The fare is based only on how many miles you travel and the lowest tier is 22,000 miles, which is what we wanted.

We had a basic outline of where we wanted to go and when, so we started out looking at a Circle Pacific ticket that went from LA to New Zealand to Australia to Vietnam, Bangkok and then back to LA. This included lots of long flight, but the ones at the beginning and end of the trip were particularly ugly; they were 15-18 hours long! We were still under 22,000 miles so after a few hours of planning and a few calls with United we basically realized we could make a stop in an Island Paradise on the way to New Zealand and make a stop in Hong Kong on the way home from Southeast Asia without increasing the price of the ticket at all! We booked the ticket on December 29th and flew out of LA on Sunday January 15th at 10:45PM. We were back on the road!

The flight to Rarotonga was our longest flight so far, clocking in at 10 hours 30 minutes. Fortunately for us, we had three things working in our favor. First, we had been on the West Coast for about 10 days, so we were at least acclimated to West Coast time. Second, the flight left late at night and landed at 7AM, perfect timing if you can sleep on a plane. I normally can't sleep on a plane though, which made the third thing the most important. One word: Ambien. We both slept for the first six hours of the plane ride! It was definitely a fitful sleep, but it was enough to make both of us feel pretty rested upon arrival in Rarotonga.

We had booked our lodging at a place called the Cooks Oasis which was only about 3 kilometers from the airport. The best reason for booking the Cooks Oasis? Early Check-In. Sure, you have to pay for it, but when you arrive somewhere at 7AM and you only have 36 hours to spend there, it is wonderful to go straight to your B&B and check in! By 10AM that morning we were unpacked, showered and we had eaten the lovely breakfast of yogurt, toast, juice and local fruits like passionfruit and starfruit. We took a walk over to the B&B office to talk to Eric and Roselle and get some help planning our short stay.

Our hosts were great. We explained that we wanted to do some snorkeling, swimming and possibly paddle-boarding. They talked about the best places to do each activity and looked at the tides to help us figure out what times would be best. The island had a bus service on the hour but considering our limited time, Roselle recommended getting a car. There was a service right down the road that would rent a basic beater for 24 hours for 36 NZD (about 28 USD) and they would come and pick us up to get the car. We decided that if we snorkeled off the beach behind the B&B at a place called Black Rock, we could wait until 2PM to get the car which would give us the vehicle for most of the next day as well.

You see these signs everywhere on the Island. You know you are on an island in the middle of the Pacific when there are more tsunami evacuation route signs than street signs!

The B&B was perfect for travelers like us. They supplied beach towels, reef shoes, kayaks, and snorkeling gear, all free of charge. Shaun and I picked out some reef shoes, snorkels and fins and loaded up on sunscreen. Then Eric helped us pick out a two person kayak which he loaded up onto a portable set of wheels. Shaun pulled the kayak down to beach, which was no more than 50 meters down a dirt path. We paddled a little ways down the beach, put the kayak on shore, suited up into our snorkeling gear and dove into the crystal clear waters.

Shaun pulling the kayak down the path to the water.

The beaches are pristine and almost empty. So peaceful.

The snorkeling was excellent. We could see all kinds of crazy little multi-colored fish and other creatures like sea urchins and sea slugs. One of the coolest things we saw was a kind of starfish that was bright blue! The camera I have been using is waterproof, so we actually took it on our snorkeling expedition and tried to capture the things we saw. It was a great way to start our Cook Islands adventure!

Shaun posing for the camera. This is the same camera I've used for all my blog pictures. It's also waterproof. Love it!!

The crazy blue starfish!

After the snorkeling we headed back up to the B&B, ate a little more fruit and toast from breakfast and packed up a bag for the afternoon. The car rental guy pulled up right at 2 and we were in our rental car on the road by about 2:15. First stop was the grocery store! We had decided to cook out on the grill provided by the B&B that evening so we got dinner supplies and a few things for breakfast the next day. We dropped those off back at Cooks Oasis and headed over to the other side of the island to Muri Beach. Muri Beach is a big beautiful lagoon on the southeastern side of the island. The water never gets more than about chest deep, but it is crystal clear and warm and lovely. We swam around the lagoon for a while until we decided that maybe we should take a break from the Sun. We had a beer at Sails restaurant and stopped at the beach rental place next door to ask about Paddle Board rentals before heading back to the B&B.

A post-swim beer at Sails on Muri beach

I love this sign. We are closer to Japan than London. And not a McDonalds in sight!

Back at the Cooks Oasis, we did a little napping and then prepped our food for dinner. Things are always expensive on an island but we found a way to keep dinner cheap and even stretch it so it would make a second meal the next day. First we parboiled some red potatoes that we finished in the skillet on the grill. Next we grilled up red peppers, zucchini and spring onions in a little balsamic dressing. Finally, we grilled chicken thighs that had been marinated in the same dressing and boatloads of grated fresh ginger. It all came out great and we were happy to have a simple home cooked meal after our big day. We washed all that down with a couple of cheap local beers called Tui and then took a walk down the beach to watch the Sunset. The Cooks Oasis is on the West side of the island so the Sunsets over the ocean are absolutely gorgeous. We walked along the sand, taking pictures and enjoying our Tui's until the Sun had set and the dusk was creeping in. By that point we were tired and happy so we grabbed a video from the selection in the guest video library (Lord of the Rings, of course!) and curled up in our big cozy bed. By 9PM Shaun was out and I wasn't far after.

Sunset in Rarotonga after a day of swimming and snorkeling. Bliss.

This Hermit Crab was determined to pull this little piece of melon down the beach.

The next morning I was up at 6 but Shaun was still sleeping, so I made some coffee and went for a walk down on the beach. This island is so peaceful. I imagine it is what Kauai, in the Hawaiian islands was like 30 or 40 years ago. The roads have more scooters than cars, the pace is casual and quiet and the beaches are pristine and in many cases, practically empty. On my morning walk, I saw more dogs than people! (Three vs two).

Once we were both up and dressed, we ate some breakfast and then headed over to Muri Beach. The activity for the day was paddle-boarding. Stand Up Paddle-boarding is just what it says. It started with surfers paddling on their surf boards, but now the boards are made specifically for Paddle-boarding. You basically stand in the middle of the board and paddle yourself along, which gives you an amazing birds-eye view of the water down below. Originally Shaun wanted to rent the boards for three hours but the sun in Rarotonga is really strong and even with Sunscreen the day before we ended up getting a little burnt so we opted for the one hour rental instead. We paddled around together for a while, then separately for a while. The lagoon was so beautiful and there were all kinds of fish to see. It was a great experience.

Shaun on the Paddle Board at Muri Beach

After we returned the paddle boards, we swam for a while in the lagoon until we were in need of food. We planned to have a late dinner so we sat on the deck at Sails and ordered an island specialty called Ika Mata to hold us over. It's very similar to ceviche, but with a few tropical twists. Raw yellowfin tuna is marinated in lime juice and tossed with tomatoes, cucumbers, red peppers and red onion, then finished in coconut milk. It was quite delicious and went perfectly with an afternoon beer. Just enough to hold us off until dinner.

Ika Mata- YUMMY!

The rest of the day was quite relaxing. After dropping off the rental car we headed back to Cook's Oasis. They had a great little "cool-off" pool by our room and it was mostly shaded, which was what we were looking for that afternoon. We swam for a while and then settled in on lounge chairs in the shade where I read my book and Shaun napped. As evening rolled around we decided to do a load of laundry since we didn't know when we would get the next opportunity. So while the clothes were washing, we heated up our leftovers from the previous night and started organizing our stuff. Did I mention that our flight to Auckland left Rarotonga at 1:30 in the morning? Yup. Crazy, but it seems to be the norm from Raro.

So we put together our laundry and then took a long walk on the beach to watch the sunset. Finally we packed up our bags and settled in for a little nap. Our taxi was coming at 11:30 and we were in good shape. We had only spent about 36 hours in Rarotonga, but we were both really glad we had chosen to make the stop. It is unlikely that we will ever get here again so we will cherish the time we had and always remember this beautiful Island Paradise.

As they say in the Cook's Islands, Kia Orana! May you live long!

Kia Orana from Rarotonga!

And now, a word from our sponsors...

Winter Break
December 15- January 15

I wanted to pause for a moment and offer a word of thanks to all those who have taken time out from their busy schedules to offer up their hospitality to a couple of vagabonds. We were back in the states for a month and even though we are technically "homeless" we never felt like it. We enjoyed the holidays with family and friends in Massachusetts before heading west to Phoenix and LA and somehow managed to stay in 9 different places!

So here's to Shaun's sister Karen, who took us in for Christmas eve and Christmas night. It was a lovely place to spend the holidays. And to the many "one-night stands" we had as we visited friends and family on the East Coast. Jackie and Carl Schneider, Greg and Amy Hughes, Kathy Pacia and Kevin Fitzpatrick and Gina and Ted Martin all took us in for a night.

Then we headed west to see my family in Arizona. We stayed with my parents in Fountain Hills, John and Doug in Phoenix and Sheila and Joe in Tempe. We had great meals and enjoyed the wonderful Phoenix weather and hiked and walked and ran and swam for ten days. It was a great way to start to acclimate to the western time zones before heading out.

Hanging with a few of my brothers and sisters in Arizona. That's John, me, Brendan and Sheila


Finally we ended in LA, where we stayed with my old boss and mentor, Bill Page and his wife Susan. Bill and Susan's hospitality is legendary and this was no exception. We joined them for a dinner party at the house on Saturday night. The Beef Bourginion was delicious. Then on Sunday morning they hosted a brunch for us so we would have a chance to catch up with old friends. The final touch was when they granted Shaun's "last meal" request by taking us to In and Out Burger for dinner on our last night!

Our last American meal for the next few months was In and Out Burger!

But the biggest thanks has to go to my sister Maura, her husband Tom and their kids Amber and Ted. We have been using their house as our home base during our travels which means they not only gave up Tom's office, but they have been sorting through our mail, keeping my car running, paying stray bills and putting up with our bins of clothes, shoes and other miscellaneous items in their house. We truly could not have done this without all of their help and support. Their kids, Amber and Ted, have also been a great source of entertainment for Shaun and me. We can never get too much Phineas and Ferb!

Since we are pretty much portable beings these days, moving around has become second nature, but there's a difference between a room and a home. So to all of you who have offered up your rooms but made them feel like home, we want to say thank you! We will see when we get back in April for "Spring Break"!

A tale of Two Cities- Our last days in Europe!

Berlin, Germany
December 8-11
Frankfurt, Germany
December 11-13

***My apologies for the lateness of this post. We were having way too much fun with family and friends over the holidays and I simply couldn't tear myself away to finish it even though it was half written when we came home!***

The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin

Here is my advice to you. Do not go second class on the night train from Vienna to Berlin if you are older than 25. It's just not worth the money you save. We opted to take the night train because it is roughly 8-10 hours to Berlin from Vienna and we wanted a full three days in Berlin. We figured by taking the night train we could save on a hotel room and we wouldn't waste a whole day traveling. Unfortunately, I was so beat up from the terrible night of train sleeping that I ended up getting my worst cold of the trip with only 5 days to go! I guess it isn't too bad though when you consider that I only had three minor colds in almost 4 months on the road! At least the train trip was uneventful!

Once we got to Berlin, we made our way across town to the Mercure Hotel where we were staying. We asked about the room and the woman at the desk said "We have one room available, but it is on this level. Is that OK?". Any time you get a response like that it is clearly something to turn down, so we put our bags in the luggage storage area and headed out to find breakfast. The woman at the desk gave us walking directions to Potzdamer Platz, a huge complex of shops and restaurants right down the street. We found a cute little place and ordered breakfast and lingered as long as we could. When we finally left the restaurant, guess what we saw? A Christmas Market! You would think we would both be bored with them by now, but they are all so different and just so cute so we wandered around for a while before heading back.

A Christmas market in the shadow of one of the cathedrals in Berlin. Love Christmas markets!


The room still wasn't ready but the lobby was comfortable so we settled in and worked on our respective blogs until a room became available. Around lunch time we got our room but by this point we were both beat and my cold was really coming on, so we decided to make it a planned "down day". I continued working on my Blog that afternoon while Shaun napped. Later Shaun headed out to find Cross-Fit Berlin, while I napped. It wasn't a very exciting day, but it was certainly what we needed.

The next day we got up early and headed down for Breakfast. We had picked the Mercure because it was way cheaper than most Berlin hotels, but also because it had breakfast included, which can be a big money saver. The buffet was very good, eggs and sausages and fruit and yogurt and breads and coffee. It was a nice start to a great day. We were both feeling refreshed and ready to see Berlin.

After breakfast we headed into town on the subway. Berlin's metro was very easy to navigate and we were on a main line so we were in the city center in no time. We headed over to the Brandenburg Gate where we were meeting up with a free walking tour of Berlin. It was the same group, Sandeman's, that had done the Dublin walking tour and the quality was very good. It lasted about three and a half hours (including a short coffee/snack break) and went all over the city. Even in the freezing cold we both enjoyed ourselves. That's when you know it was a good tour!

Berlin is a fascinating city with a history that directly reflects everything that has happened to Germany over the years. The city itself dates back to the 13th century and it was the capital as far back as 1701 when this area was still the Kingdom of Prussia. Berlin was the seat of power and the epicenter of the reign of terror when Hitler came to power and the third Reich began its short lived conquest of Europe. When they lost the war, Berlin was split into two sections, a democratic half and a communist half, just like the country itself. At first the split was more theoretical, along political and geographical borders, but in 1961, with the building of the Berlin wall, the separation became one of concrete and barbed wire. At that time East Berlin became the capital of the communist German Democratic Republic, aka East Germany. (Don't let the name fool you, there was nothing Democratic about the GDR). West Germany in the meantime, made Bonn the provisional capitol. And then there was Allied controlled West Berlin. This section of Berlin, right in the middle of the GDR, became the symbol of hope for those living under communist control, a little island of democracy. For the next 28 years, thousands of East Berliners would die in their attempts to escape to the West. Finally in 1989, when the cold war ended and the wall came down the people of East and West Berlin were united.

It was only one year later, in 1990, that the two parts of Germany were unified. And just one more year before they voted to make Berlin the capital of unified Germany, a move that was completed in 1999. And now, just 22 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, the country is an economic powerhouse, and Berlin is a thriving city and the home of one of the most influential politicians in the European Union, German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The Reichstag in Berlin. The Parliament building now has a dome on top where citizens and tourists can look down over the government while they do their work. It is a symbol of the need for transparency in government.

Even though the country and the city have made a remarkable recovery, the scars are still evident everywhere you go. One of the most prominent scars for years was the Berlin Wall, but that has all but disappeared at this point. There are still tiny stretches visible in areas of the city, but mostly what you will see is a brick line that delineates the place where the wall stood for all those years. If you don't remember much about the Berlin Wall, you may not remember the "death strips" that lead up to the wall. If you were unfortunate enough to live on the East Berlin side, you couldn't even get near the wall without crossing the death strips, which were normally made up of a strip of sand (to make running difficult) an electrified fence before the wall and barbed wire across the top. But more dangerous were the GDR soldiers who would "shoot to kill" anyone crazy enough to approach the death strip. It was only during the discussion of this on the tour that we found out that Potsdamerplatz, the fabulous modern shopping and entertainment complex near our hotel, was once the site of one of the most infamous death strips in Berlin.

The brick pathway that designates where the Berlin Wall used to stand

And the city has not forgotten or tried to cover up the atrocities from WWII either. There are poignant memorials all over the city. The three most affecting for me personally were the Bebelplatz book burning memorial, the Holocaust memorial and the memorial to the fallen German soldiers. They are three very different memorials but they encapsulate three very different perspectives on war.

The book burning memorial at Bebelplatz deals with how the early signs of fascism in Germany were ignored and how that apathy eventually gave rise to the Holocaust. It was in the Bebelplatz plaza in front of Humboldt University in 1933 that Nazi soldiers and German citizens, organized by Joseph Goebbels, burned over 20,000 books from the University that had been deemed "subversive". It was one of the first major acts of intolerance and should have been a giant red flag. The memorial is a not so subtle reminder of where it all led. As you walk across the plaza there is a plexiglass window built into the pavement and the window looks down on an empty room full of empty bookcases. The bookcases have enough room to hold all the books that were burned that day and there is no entrance or exit to the room. Beside the window is a bronze plaque with a quote from a Jewish poet named Heinrich Heine that was written way back in 1820. The prescient quote translates roughly to "Where books are burned, in the end people will burn".

The empty bookshelves

The plaque about book burning. I got chills when the quote was translated.

The second memorial is commonly referred to as the Holocaust memorial, but it's actual name is the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. (Berlin made sure to honor groups very specifically so that no group was forgotten. There is also a memorial to the gay men and women who were murdered and the political murders as well). This particular memorial honoring the murdered Jews was created by Peter Eisenman and it is meant to be a very personal experience. It consists of 2711 grey pieces of concrete. At first it looks like a graveyard of concrete coffins but as you get closer and start to walk through it, you realize that the cobblestone ground is rolling downhill and that the concrete pillars are getting taller and taller. Finally when you are standing in the middle there are concrete pillars towering over you in all directions. It is very isolating and a bit claustrophobic. Peter Eisenman chose not to comment on the meaning of the design so everyone is able to experience it in their own way.

The view of the memorial as you first start walking through it

By the time you get to the middle the concrete slabs tower over you. It feels like you are cut off from the world.

The third memorial, the memorial to the Victims of War and Tyranny, was the most spartan of them all. The building was a former royal guardhouse so it has the look of a neoclassical building with doric columns and a decorated facade from the outside. When you go inside however, you find a big empty concrete room with an opening in the middle of the ceiling. In the center of this otherwise empty room is a statue of a mother holding her dying soldier/son in her arms. It is their way of commemorating all the German soldiers who have died in war. The point was very clear. No matter which side you were fighting on and whether the cause was just, it didn't change the fact that every one of these soldiers was someone's child and that someone was grieving their loss. It was quite poignant.

Just a subtle reminder that every soldier is someone's child.


One of the last things we did on our three days in Berlin was a visit to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. It was considered a "model" camp for those terrible places that came later, like Auchwitz and Dachau. I believe these places need to be experienced rather than narrated, so I didn't take any pictures and I will refrain from commenting on our visit except to note that this "model camp" went from imprisoning Jews, homosexuals and political dissidents under the Nazis to housing East German political dissidents again for the 40 years of communist rule in similar harrowing conditions. It's no wonder this country tries so hard to make sure these things are not forgotten. They know better than anyone how history can repeat itself.

I know it may sound like Berlin is a sad and serious place, but it truly is a vibrant city full of wonderful shops, markets and restaurants. I think you need to experience both parts of the city to really understand how far they have come, and we did experience them both. We wandered the Christmas markets and saw kids tubing on an artificial tubing track in the middle of the city. We went to an incredible museum called the Pergamonmuseum that houses the Ishtar Gate from ancient Babylon and the almost in tact remains of the Altar of Pergamon from ancient Greece. We had some lovely meals there as well, from an Asian place that made fabulous soups to an Argentinean place with excellent meats and salads, to a lovely little wine bar in Potsdamerplatz. The people were friendly and the city was lively and full of Holiday spirit. If you get the chance to visit, take it! I promise you will always remember this incredible city.

The cool tubing hill in the middle of Potzdamerplatz!

When we left Berlin on Sunday morning, we headed to our final stop on this European Extravaganza. Frankfurt, Germany is known more for being the financial capital of Europe than anything else, but that was just fine with us. We had been on the road since August 23rd and we were looking forward to spending a few quiet days in Frankfurt before boarding a place home.

So we boarded the train in Berlin on December 11th for our last long distance train ride in Europe. Four hours later we arrived in at Frankfurt airport and checked into our hotel. We had used the remainder of my Starwood points to book two nights at the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport and we were really happy with our choice. The hotel was literally outside the airport check-in gates, but it also had great transportation into the city. At this point Shaun had gotten my cold as well, so we were both feeling pretty run down. We decided to take advantage of the nice hotel and just relax for that first night.

I was pretty excited for our last train ride!

The next day we headed into Frankfurt for the day. We spent the afternoon exploring the city, walking through the Christmas markets and just enjoying the day. In the evening we decided to seek out a Frankfurt specialty, the Apfelwein Tavern. The place we went to, Fichte Kranzi was just a small place with maybe 15 tables. The specialty, Apfelwein is similar to the hard cider we get in the US, only less sweet. Fichte Kranzi serves their apple wine with fabulous homestyle German cooking. Shaun had Schnitzel with mushroom sauce and spaetzle, while I had ridiculously good pork ribs with braised cabbage. That night there was a beautiful sunset as we walked back over the bridge that crossed the river Main and headed back to the hotel. It was our last night in Europe.

Yet another light meal. We've got some work to do to get back in shape after all this crazy food!

Sunset over the river Main in Frankfurt

The best thing about taking a really long voyage like this is the lack of regret you feel when it ends. When you are trying to build a career, you take one week vacations and spend the first half of the week trying to unwind and the last half worrying about going back to work. Even if you take an amazing trip, you always feel like you are trying to fit too much into too little time. When you take a trip like this, the ending is so different. We had very few regrets and we felt like we saw so many incredible things. But you do start to miss your friends and family and you get a little road weary from living out of a backpack. So we were almost as excited to go home at the end as we had been to take the journey at the start! And best of all we were going home for Christmas, so we would get to see all those friends and family members we had missed!

We boarded our plane home on the morning of December 13th and by 7:30 that night we were back at my sister Maura's house unpacking our bags. We were taking time off from planning and blogging and packing and unpacking but just for a few weeks. The road was calling. So a few days before Christmas we booked the next leg of the journey. On January 15th we start again! Cook Islands, New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Hong Kong are on the agenda. The journey of a lifetime continues!

One last picture as we settled in for our 9 hour flight home!