Kelly & Brian's Honeymoon Adventure

2009-04-06T04:39:00.000-07:00

Hey! We're going to Fiji tomorrow... Just wanted to catch up before heading out of NZ. We have absolutely loved this country! Excited to get to Fiji to relax in the sun and get certified scuba. Only 3 weeks until we are in the states. We are looking forward to seeing everyone in CA and AZ and can't believe we will be home in Chicago in 5 weeks. Love you all and thanks for taking this amazing journey with us! Love you!Publish Post

2009-04-06T03:05:00.000-07:00

These are the Karekare black sand beaches. Not only was Xena: The Warrior Princess filmed here, and the Oscar winning "The Piano", but Eddie Vetter almost died in the monster rip of the surf while visiting. I'm not sure if he wrote "Black" because of this, but one can dream.
Kelly hitting one of her first golf balls in 17 years. The form is nearly perfect... nearly.
The Bridal Veil Falls near Raglan
Auckland from a distance
Our residence for the night
The Running of the Sheep, a very big deal in Te Kuiti. This was hilarious... it was the big event of the year, supposed to be 2,000 sheep pounding the streets like The Running of the Bulls. However, most of the sheep found an escape route leaving a mere 250 to run the streets for our enjoyment.

These are the dolphins at the Bay of Islands in the very north of NZ

The "Hole in the Rock" Aptly named if you ask me.
Two idiots

These are the Hot Sand Beaches. If you are a geology buff, ask me some ?'s about this one. If not, just know that hot water rises through the sand every day, both 2 hours before and after low tide and it is damn hot!
I took a picture of this guy's ass. So sue me
This is gonna be a bumpy ride

WE LIVE !!!!!!!!!

This one is fun because this is the big picture in those people's experience, but I was excited and therefore make up the background of their photo. I'm not sorry!

Kelly loves the taste of fresh mountain river water... especially in her nostrils

Mt. Doom, from a whole other side. This is the view from the Tongariro National Park, one of our recent Great Walks
The Emerald Pools, aptly named as well. One of the highlight of the walk
The Red Crater

2009-03-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

Hello all! It feels so good to finally be caught up with blogging. Sorry it's been so long but wifi has been a bit hard to come by. We just arrived in the North island yesterday and are staying in the most fabulous place ever! Tomorrow we plan on heading to do another Great Walk and then hope to do a class 5 white water rafting trip in Rotorua. We have been having a great time in New Zealand. The bungy in Queenstown was the biggest rush ever. We had such a great time visiting with our friends Naomi and Michael in Chirstchurch. Thank you so much to them for their hospitality and delicious meals! We also throughly enjoyed our wwoofing experience with Dave, Kirsty and Jessie May. The people of Little Wanganui and Karamea were so welcoming and so much fun. It was truly our home far away from home for a couple weeks. We are leaving for Fiji on April 7th and then head back to the states on April 26th. We are really looking forward to seeing all of our friends and family in California and Arizona before heading to Mexico for Molly and Trevor's wedding. This has truly been an absolutely amazing trip and we feel really blessed to have been able to experience this all.

Also, Momma, I know this is a little belated, but we can't possibly thank you enough for everything while you were here. We had such an amazing time with you and Eddie! Thank you! Love you!

2009-03-26T17:52:00.001-07:00

Abel Tasman

Kayaking in the Abel Tasman National Park

Bird sunning itself
The scenery was beautiful
The Split Apple Rock
Our rental car/bed
Bri still sleeping in the morning... looks comfortable, huh?

Milford Sound

Sleeping seals
Double waterfalls at Milford Sound
Our cruise ship that took us on a hour and a half tour of the sound

Queenstown

After our 134 m bungy jump (over 400 feet). In the background is the hanging tin box that we jumped from
Oh God Oh God Oh God
Preparations
The point of no return
Made it back in safely
Getting ready to jump, peering over that ledge is insane!
I think he's ready. This is the only time in my life that Brian has admitted to be nervous about anything. I was freaking out

Little Wanganui

Our last day at the Little Wanganui Hotel where we wwoofed (willing workers on organic farms). I worked behind the bar with Kirsty while Bri worked in the kitchen with Dave. Our duties included housework, feeding the chickens and pigs, collecting eggs and minding their 4 year-old, Jessie May, who's pictured with us above
Jessie May drinking a beer
Partying with Dave
Helping Eugene tend bar

Takaka

Bri recovering after our 80 k Heaphy Track. Notice the best Jenga ever in front of him
The sunset in Takaka, where we finished the walk

The Heaphy Track, the longest of New Zealand's Great Walks

This is what I thought of the Heaphy. I'm wearing a garbage bag to try and protect myself from the freezing rain. It could have been a beautiful walk but it was cold, wet and windy about 70k of it! Plus we did it in 2 1/2 days instead of the recommended 5 days. We literally limped to the end
Bri found a cave
Crossing one of the many swing bridges on the trek

Little Wanganui... again

Back at Little Wanganui, after a night of fishing We are eating the snapper we caught sashimi style, raw with wasabi and soy
Dave cutting up the fish
4 of the 8 snapper caught that night
Al sending out the fishing buoy. There are 26 lines with hook and bait attached. They send the torpedo out for about an hour, then bring it in and see what was caught.
Our clothes have never had a better view!
The sunset at Little Wanganui
Jessie May was our tour guide to the caves and arches at the Oparara Basin
Bri and Jessie May in one of the big cave
I took a good picture
The Little Wanganui Pub
Bri built me a cake for my b-day...sharing it with Dave and Kirsty
Bri's BIG gift for me on my bday. It was really sweet. Inside was an assortment of cheeses, wine, razors, peanut butter, tim tams (the best chocolate treat) and a celebrity magazine.
Our neighbor, Tony, had a bit of a fishing accident
Playing on the beach with Jessie May and Sami, their puppy.

2009-02-24T22:25:00.000-08:00

Fiji

The resort restaurant, where we indulged in a 9 course chef's creation meal. Luckily, three of the courses were dessert so I only barfed once. It was delicious.
Eddie and I wearing a traditional Fiji garb, called a Sulu. Looking at this picture now I think we should have gone with less of an embrace.
Pool scuba came complimentary... awesome!

Pool dive competition. Kelly had trouble achieving "air"
The walk home after the thirty shot challenge. You heard me, the thirty shot challenge. Nobody was in any pain at this moment.
Or here
These are the last ten of the thirty shots. Two of us blew chunks. Guess which ones.
Kel took this. Great job Kel.
Shot # 8. No problem.
The first step toward immortality. How could we pass up the opportunity to be the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Americans to make the board ever. They had to send the board away for engraving our names, so unfortunately we don't have the final picture yet.
Island hopping
Dirty Dancing anyone?

A traditional Fijian show before dinner.

North Island of New Zealand

A Maori show in Rotorua, New Zealand at the Whakarewarewa Living Thermal Village
One of the thermal springs that is essential to the local Maori population. They cook in it, bath in it, and sell tickets to tourists to come look at it.
The corn that was cooked in the hot spring. It was really good.
See how hot it was?
Hey C! I think you did a great job driving... I don't know why Eddie and Kelly wouldn't come with
Huka Falls
Mt. Doom!
In case they are casting for the fourth Lord of the Rings movies. We could play Orcs... or dorks.
The ferry from the South Island to the North Island.

South Island of New Zealand

The Pancake Rocks.
Collecting rocks from the Franz Josef glacier.
The Franz Joseph
Thunder Creek Falls
Fan Tail Falls
Us building our own rock formation

The chairlift that takes you to the Cart Luge track. That's Queenstown behind C and Eddie
C gearing up for the race
The view over Queenstown

Australia

The perfect little "Carolyn Kit" A mini bottle of wine with it's own plastic glass attached
Chilling at the Wharf in Sydney
Manly Beach
The ferry ride from Sydney to Manly
A good crew for a night of drinking on the balcony in Sydney
Koala and baby. They are actually awake which is exciting. The baby's not ready to come out of the pouch yet but it was so hot it had to come out for some air
A huge Croc with a chunk of Kangaroo on his head. It fell off the feeding stick and sat there until they pulled it off and fed it to him.
A super venomous snake trying to eliminate his handler
Two Tasmanian Devils ripping apart a giant white rabbit

The night we went to the Sydney Opera House and saw an Island Drum Show

Darling Harbour on our first night together

2009-02-12T00:13:00.000-08:00

Bondi Cliff Walk

Yea! Eddie and my mom are here! We haven't had the best weather :( but still having lots of fun. Here we are doing the Bondi cliff walk. Not too bad of a view.

Sydney Opera House
Where we saw the drum/orchestra show
Sam, Bri and Iain hanging at 'our place' in Coogee
Our first pie! Yummy! Bri had a minced, bacon and cheese one and I had minced and veggies. They were delicious!
Nambucca Heads. Do you see Bri at the top of the rock? We had a great show with about 20 dolphins swimming and flipping in the ocean
Nambucca heads again. That's a huge sand bar in the middle. Our view from right outside of camper van park
Wading in the river right before Dangar Falls on Waterfall Way
Ebor Falls on Waterfall way
The inside of our home for 25 days. The benches push together to make a bed
Beautiful Byron Bay...our second trip
Glass House Mountains
Swimming in Tea Tree lake. This was in Byron Bay and one of the coolest colored lakes we've ever seen

The Great Barrier Reef
Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef off the Capricorn Coast. See all the fish swimming under me?

Not the best picture of the reef, we have better ones on our underwater camera. This was taken while in a submarine

The view off of Lady Musgrave Island right on the reef
Could the water be any bluer?

Fraser Island
Swimming in Lake McKenzie on Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. The water was crystal clear
Lake McKenize
The Maheno shipwreck, a passenger liner that was blown ashore by a cyclone in 1935
The Pinnacles colored sand cliffs
The enormous trees in Central Station
The super long beach of Fraser Island. Too bad the current is too strong to swim, not to mention it is extremely shark infested

2009-01-29T18:41:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody! We really, really tried to do a full blog, but this wi-fi is too slow and keeps kicking us out, so we thought we would just write something and then finish it up later. That's the way things are done here in Australia, real laid back. If at first you don't succeed, give up and have a schooner of Toohey's New. So that's what we are doing. The next blog will include pictures and stories from such things as Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world, the Great Barrier Reef, and Byron Bay (the second visit). We are heading south back down the coast now, and are really excited to have C and Eddie visit us one week from today. We have until May 5th to go 700 or so kilometers, so we are doing it at a snail's pace and loving it. Hopefully we will be able to blog in the next few days. For anyone who doesn't know yet, we will be home on May 17th, which oddly enough is our one year wedding anniversary and my Mom's birthday. We only have two weeks left in Australia and then it's off to New Zealand. Then it's off to Fiji, and then back to New Zealand. Then back to Fiji, jeez... when you put it all in writing it seems like we have it so rough, doesn't it? Love you all and miss you!

2009-01-23T21:27:00.000-08:00

Australia Zoo

This is a beautiful Ball Python

Kelly and the American Alligator, "we came all this way for an American alligator?"
The two most gigantic tortoises we have ever seen, the one they had before died in 2006, and was born in 1830, do the math
"Maybe the dingo ate your baby!" This was the first dingo Kelly or I had ever seen, later that day we saw two black dingoes in the wild, very cool
This was the famous "Crocoseum" where Steve Irwin did his amazing Croc Shows. We were treated by his whole family, his wife Terry, his daughter Bindi and his little son Bob doing the show in his stead. It wasn't the same without him, but it was still a thrill
A wombat!

Kelly got up-close-and-personal with this Koala, I named him Stinky Pete

A Fierce Snake, the most venomous snake in the world, ounce for ounce. One bite has enough venom to kill 100 people. If you are bitten by one, unless you have a jar of anti-venom in your pocket, you ain't gonna make it!
Ouch

Baby alligator

Traveling in the camper

N ot in the zoo this time, just in the backyard. I put that stick in his mouth
Having a few pints with our new friend Katie, we will be hanging out with her on our way back down the coast too
This was fun, Kelly went to the beach and I snuck away to play nine holes for nine bucks (and Aussie bucks too, so really $5.75)
I asked Kelly to do her best impression of my Dad's impression of a gorilla. This is what she came up with. What do you think Dad?
The Moms wanted to see what the bed bugs can do. This is not even a great picture of them, and there were probably 30 or 40 more in various places
The lighthouse in Myall National Park in Seal Rocks
Every once in a while, you wander down the side of a cliff and the sea is bursting in through a crack in the mountain. Then, you can't help but climb up a jagged rock into the middle and hope you don't die. Totally worth it
A little boxed wine in the camper, anyone?
The Three Sisters in the background, at the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney
The Three Sisters without us in the way
Hey Mom, look, we use your leftover method in the camper
The Penguin Parade on Phillip Island, a chance to watch thousands of Little Penguins make their way from the sea to their burrows every night. Pictures were not allowed so these ones were done guerrilla style and didn't come out so great

The Pyramid Rock on Philip Island
The London Bridge, and it actually did fall down in the middle, with two people stranded on the other side

The Arc in Port Campbell

2009-01-12T04:00:00.000-08:00

The sunset outside our campsite in Port Campbell, Victoria, Australia

An earlier version of the same sunset at The Twelve Apostles, an oceanic natural monument
Just a few minutes prior to the sunset, absolutely stunning. These formations are on the Great Ocean Road, an Aussie version of Rt. 66
Some more angles
Starting to feel like the Cliffs of Moher yet Dad?
The twelve Apostles again
A beautiful view from our camper on our way to the Twelve Apostles
Just a view from the Great Ocean Road again
OK, now this was a treat! We thought it was a regular occurrence to see a Koala in the wild, but after we took these pictures, we ran into a couple Aussie girls who have lived here their whole lives and they explained to us that in 40 years, neither of them had ever seen one in the wild. We actually saw 4 of them, but this was the only guy who was not napping. It truly was a one-in-a-million experience, no joke!
Pretty
Not the best shot, but it will do. This was the first time we jumped in for this leg of our adventure
Kelly at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne, we spent the day reading in the park
Luna Park, the Aussie version of Great America. Quite famous in Australia
In front of the St. Paul Cathedral in Melbourne
I have no explanation for this one, but the guy is a statue, I swear!
The sunset at St. Kilda in Melbourne
Oh No!!!!!!! Kelly was bitten by an insane amount of bedbugs. They hate me, though, not one bite!
Federation Square in downtown Melbourne, where all the museums are
Molly, you should love this one! remember how you needed the measurements for the bridesmaid dresses? Well, this is how cheap we've become. We "borrowed" this carpenter's tape measure for a few minutes and got the job done. Surprisingly accurate, huh?
Gotta have some fun too

2009-01-06T19:28:00.000-08:00

So we are back and traveling! It has been a relaxing month off, but it was time to get moving once again. We want to thank Dave so much for letting us stay with him for a whole month. It was a great time and we appreciate being able to stay in one place... It was like having a home away from home. We just arrived in Melbourne and will spend six days here before we pick up our camper van and head up the coast for 25 days. We are really excited to explore Australia, and even more excited that Kelly's Mom is coming on february 6th!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo hoo!!!!!! We will also be scouting the coast for the must-see places when C arrives. Apparently the camper van is the very best way to see it all. We should get some amazing pictures from the coast, so our next blog should be pretty darn good. We miss you all and love you, and we hope everyone had a great holiday season. See you soon!

2009-01-06T18:32:00.000-08:00

Sydney, Australia

This is our bed for the last month at Dave's house in Sydney. All of our belongings are hidden in a secret compartment under Kelly. Shhh... don't tell anyone. A special huge thanks to Dave for letting us stay with him for so long. We love you dude!
This is Fluffy, Dave's fish. He is a Japanese Fighting Fish, and he rules the tank
Sweet
The amazing fireworks show at Sydney Harbour on New Year's Eve
This is me with a pink beard and a bottle of scotch taped to my back. It was the only way to sneak it in past security. How old am I again?
Waverly beach, we came across it on our 5k cliff run from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach.

This is a "homeless" person's "house". He put up some tarps around a jut in the cliff and seemingly lives there undeterred. Some people pay millions for his view.
Bondi Beach in the background. If you look closely you can see a helicopter in the sky. That is shark-patrol, and this day was particularly "sharky'.
Me driving on the right side of the car. Not the correct side, but the right side. You know what I mean.
Super Dave learns to bowl, and gets a wicked strike. Stunner!
Walking across the Harbour Bridge, with the Sydney Opera House in the background.
The Harbour Bridge. Basically the opposite view from the previous picture.
The Opera House at night. I took this one from the ferry heading back to Manly Beach.
The horse races on Boxing Day (Dec. 26th). We won 250$ on the 5 horse in our first race and decided to quit while we were ahead.
Christmas Eve with Kelly, Me, Dave and his brother Matt.
This is me with Kel, Maggie (Dave's Mom), Ken (Dave's stepdad), and Dave. Thanks so much to Mags and Ken for making us feel so much at home while being so far away.
This is our Christmas tree. Oh Tannenbaum, oh Tannenbaum.
This is where we worked for the past month. On the beach in Manly. This is Christmas day, a little overcast, but I still worked without my shirt. We rented lounge chairs, deck chairs, surfboards, bodyboards, flippers and snorkel sets, wetsuits, towels, rashies, and generally gave fake advice about the best places to surf, etc. Special thanks to Pete for hooking us up with such a cool job and generally being a great dude.
The view of Manly Beach from our work tent.
Dave wanted to make us feel at home. But instead of snow he came at me with a bag of flour. Pretty close. A little more sticky, though.
Dave's brother Matt doing an impression of his alter ego.
My birthday... Kelly made it very special and we went out for Japanese Teppinyaki. It was great fun!
Look how excited I am about turning 23!!!!!
This is us at the Japanese restaurant. Our British friends who traveled with us through all of Southeast Asia, Sam and Iain, made it out and even brought me a bottle of Scotch. I love them!

This is our authentic Asian chef named Steve. On the right is our friend Ian with Dave. On the left is me, the English Iain, and Sam.
ready for the flying bowl of rice. I'm really good at it.
Kelly is not really good at it
Before we went out to dinner
Super Dave can fly, but only when he is fueled by alcohol
Shopping... What?

Koh Chang, Thailand

This was our hangout spot, where all the hammocks were.
Our little bungalow at Paradise Cottages. On the right is our bathroom with no roof, we loved it.
Not a bad view around sunset
Another one
Our car allowed us to scan the whole island

2 of the 6 cutest puppies on the island
Cliffside view

2008-12-12T21:39:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!!! Well, we finally made it to Sydney, and it is fantastic! The weather was a bit dodgy ( Aussie lingo) for the first few days but it is bright and beautiful today. We still have some things to blog, such as Ko Chang, which is extremely beautiful, and our 3rd trip to Bangkok. We will get to it soon. Other than that, we are just trying to find work, because we need to make some extra cash if we are going to stay out until May. We are planning on renting a camper-van for the last month and a half, or maybe only the last month, depending on dough. I have found some part time work with Dave (our friend who is letting us stay with him) at the beach, renting surfboards and bodyboards for a week, but I'm still looking for something at night. Kelly starts the jobhunt on Monday. Our next blog should be a good one, but then it will probably be until after the new year for our next update. Just wanted to let you all know. We really appreciate all the nice comments, it always makes our day when we hear from our friends and family. We will be thinking about all of you on Christmas (don't be sad Mama) and soaking up the sun. Actually, I will be working, but it's still a day at the beach!

2008-12-01T02:32:00.000-08:00

Hello! Bri and I are now in the fabulous town of Siem Reap, Cambodia which is about 10 minutes from the Angkor temples. For anyone who isn't familiar with Angkor (I know I wasn't) let me give a little history lesson and quote from "Ancient Angkor", which is the book we bought from one of the many many children working and begging around the temples. "The Khmer civilization centered on Angkor was one of the most remarkable to flourish in Southeast Asia. Between the 8th and the 13th century, a succession of Hindu and Buddhist kings created magnificent temples in stone. Their elaborate carvings and intricate architecture amazed the first Europeans who visited in the 19th century and continue to fascinate today". This place was absolutely amazing. The people in Cambodia are extremely friendly and the town of Siem Reap has a great deal of bars and restaurants serving fabulous Western food. Interestingly enough, Siem Reap uses American money. There currency is the riel, but when you go to the ATM, US dollar spits out!

We traveled from Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam to Siem Reap on a 12 hour bus, which really isn't bad at all for us! We loved Vietnam but were definitely ready to move on. Ho Chi Minh was a bit larger of a city than we prefer, very similar to the chaos of Hanoi. It was a very interesting and educating experience going to the tunnels. Let's just say it was a bit awkward for us. The film we watched was made in the 60s and was very anti-American. I have lots more pictures of us crawling through the tunnels on my digital...it was too dark to use the iPhone which has no flash. We were sad to see Sam and Iain go but we know we will see them in Australia.

Bri and I are leaving for Koh Chang, Thailand tomorrow. We were originally suppose to fly from Bangkok to Sydney on the 2nd of December, but there are huge protests going on in the Bangkok airport which has stopped all planes for the last 4 days. So we have a few days to kill, but we figure there are worse places we could be stuck. We hope it will all clear up by Dec. 7th when we are scheduled to fly out. That's it for now. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We miss and love you!

2008-12-01T00:52:00.000-08:00

Angkor, Cambodia

Prasat Kravan- built in 921, this temple is the only known example of its type in Khmer art...it was the last temple we went to and we were exhausted by this time

Srah Srang-built in the mid 10th century and remodeled in the late 12th century. The lake has retained its water for more than nine centuries

Ta Prohm-built in the late 12th century. This is where the movie "Tomb Raider" was filmed. This was probably our favorite of all the temples. The temple was chosen to be left in its 'natural state' as an example of how most of Angkor looked on its discovery by Europeans in the 19th century. It shows the significant amount of work that must be done to prevent further collapsing.

James (from Australia) and I being part of the tree in Ta Prohm

Bri reenacting Tomb Raider in Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm

Me being a dork as usual

Ta Prohm

Ta Keo-built in the late 10th century. This temple mountain was never finished because it was struck by lightning and thought to be bad luck. It's one of the only temples that isn't covered in carvings which all tell a story. It's a lot higher than it looks

Ta Keo again

Chao Say Tevoda-built in the middle 12th century

Bri in front of Thommanon-built in the 12th century

The Bayon-built in the 12th century, but construction probably started around 1200. Bri's climbing to the top

The Bayon again-this was another one of our favorites. The temple has tons of faces carved into the stone, so his subjects would always feel they were being watched

Bri couldn't help himself

Ceremonial Khmer garb

"It's really big"

One of the many faces at The Bayon

You can see the faces in the top of the tower

Bri and James outside the Bayon

Lee, our tuk-tuk driver. He took us around the temples all day (5 am-3 pm, yes, we actually got up at 5!) for $15.

Guardian heads outside the south gate of Angkor Thom

The south gate of Angkor Thom

Angkor Wat at sunrise- built between 1113-1150. The name means 'the city which became a pagoda'. It was the grandest of all Khmer temples and considered a city in itself. Very impressive

Bri and I are sleepy but happy we got our butts out of bed so early

There are tons of monkeys around Angkor Wat. This is a mohawked one who wasn't afraid to get close. We also some got some great footage on video

Inside Angkor Wat

Showing the size of Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat

Us missing Sam and Iain

The sun's up now

Carvings

Bri posing with an invisible Sam

Trying to show the enormous size of Angkor Wat, it goes on forever!

With James (Australia) and Alex (Austria) after touring Angkor Wat

2008-11-30T05:30:00.000-08:00

Cambodia

The sunset outside our bus window on our way from Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam to Siem Reap, Cambodia. The ride was a bit like one at an amusement park.

You can't see it that well, we have a better picture on my digital, but those ladies are selling cockroaches and tarantulas in the bowls on top of the buckets for food. Yum Yum give me some!

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (Saigon)

Iain, Sam and Bri having a Thanksgiving dinner of New Zealand steaks and mashed potatoes. No turkey :(

Thanksgiving...see the Christmas tree in the background?

Getting ready for Christmas in Vietnam

Bri and Santa outside a mall

Cu Chi Tunnels

Shooting an M16

Bri's turn. It cost 10,000 dong per bullet, we bought 10 and shot 2 each on single-fire, and sprayed the last three... Awesome!!!!!!!

These were the types of photos they had displayed by the different styles of traps

This is the most deadly and painful trap the Viet Cong used, apparently the spikes would lodge under your armpits and leave you hanging there suffering. Difficult to look at.

This was a U.S. tank that was blown up by a mine. The mine was made from materials taken from a U.S. bomb that did not explode.

Kelly using the "door" to the tunnels, impossible to see when the cover was on

Almost closed

She's out!!

This was a swinging door pitfall. Either side you stepped on was deadly

Mui Ne, Vietnam

The White Dunes

Kelly sliding down the dune. It looks like she is going fast, but trust me, she's barely moving.

The sliding gang... Kelly, Char, Iain, Sam, and Alex. A solid crew.

Kelly even looks sexy in a dorky helmet.

Gassing up the "hogs"

A lazy "dog day afternoon"

Nha Trang, Vietnam

Sleeper buses... I won't miss these

Seeing this picture inspired me to trim the beard. I think it also made the owner's wall of fame.

Lunch with Charles, the owner, and the rest of the gang.

2008-11-17T21:46:00.000-08:00

Hoi An, Vietnam

Sam, looking beautiful in Bri's swim trunks

Bri, Sam, Iain and I riding on the scooter Vietnamese style
The boys
The scooter gang. That's Naomi and Michael (from New Zealand) on the right
Cua Dai Beach
Sam and Bri playing in the waves
Our million dong bill...really only $60, not too bad for 6 people eating really great food and drinking
Our favorite restaurant/bar in Hoi An, Before & Now. The chef studied in Milan for 2 years. This is the best food we've had in Southeast Asia.
The scooter gang again
Snake wine...see the cobra inside
Sam is like the little brother I never had. This is on the sleeper bus going from Hanoi to Hoi An. I'm smiling pretty for the camera while Sam is antagonizing me
"Sam, stop it!"
"Brian! Sam's picking on me!"
Bri's awesome beard

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Floating village, people really live here and raise fish
Sam, Iain and I getting rowed back to our boat by a 70 year old lady after our trek on Cat Ba Island
Crossing a "bridge" while trekking in Cat Ba
In front of a fish farm
The boys on their honeymoon enjoying the beautiful view

The "Surprising Cave", I was definitely surprised to see this red rocket formation amongst the rocks

On the boat starting our 3 day journey on Halong Bay. We spent a night on the boat and a night in a hotel on Cat Ba Island. The scenery was breathtaking
Fighting Cock Island

Hanoi, Vietnam

Bri in the shackles at the Hanoi Hilton (Hoa Lo Prison)

Sam harassing me again
John McCain's pilot suit. He spent time at the prison after his plane was shot down during the war
We purchased 16 H Noi beers since we had a fridge in our room and could keep them cold. Didn't realize they would be the worst beer ever! They tasted like mud. This is Sam crying about them
Iain is disgusted
"It's so bad, do I really have to drink it?"
"Noooo!"
Bri, Sam, Iain and my bracelets that were forcefully put on us by kids in one of the village during our trek in Chiang Mai. We still all have them on
Eating at a little street side "restaurant". We found out later that we actually were eating dog. I thought it was beef. So, yeah, I ate dog...it really wasn't that bad! Gross!
The craziness of Hanoi streets
One of Bri's wounds. I think you can still see Sam's teeth marks
Sam (on the left) posing with a bunch of Chinese tourists
Iain, Sam, and I in front of Ngoc Son Temple
At Hoan Kiem Lake (

Our view from the bus on the way to Hanoi, all the water is flooding

Vang Vieng, Laos
At our hotel...this is where Bri and I stayed up all night watching the election :)
Don't know if you can see but my left wrist is a bit swollen. A tubing accident. We all got a little injured. Bri hurt his ribs
I'm a millionaire....in Laos
Iain's injury
The beautiful scenery in Laos

This monkey was guarding the bathroom at one of our bus stops
This is what I get for rooming with 3 boys...thanks Sam!
The Mekong
The slow boat were took for 2 days down the Mekong

We docked and a bunch of little kids jumped on the boat trying to sell us stuff. Very interesting!

Chiang Mai, Thailand (trek)

Bri's wound, he trekked for three days with it, but it's almost healed now
Vikki, Char, and Iain on the back elephant... Karen, Bri, and I on the front
Tom Cruise (our guide) riding the baby
The whole gang
Tom Cruise drunk and dancing
Iain dancing with the village girls, they put on a show for us
This is where we all slept during the trek

The village kids discover the iPhone

Hello from Hanoi

2008-11-11T08:44:00.000-08:00

Hello! So sorry it's been a long time since our last blog. We have so many pictures on the iphone, and the wifi in our hotel is really weak, that it would literally take me 3 hours to post pictures. So I figured I'd at least say hi and tell you where we've been and where we are going and post pictures later. Here it goes: We left (with our 2 friends, Sam and Iain from England) Chaing Mai the day after returning from the trek to go to Laos. After a long bus journey and a 2 day slow boat ride down the Mekong River (don't worry, we stopped for the night in a little town) we arrived in Laung Prabung (I totally spelled that wrong). It is a really small but beautiful town right on the Mekong. From there we traveled by very bumpy road to Vang Vieng. This place has the most amazing tubing ever! You basically float down this beautiful river surrounded by cliffs and get pulled in to different bars. Every bar comes equipped with different rope swings, slides, and zip lines into the river. It was so fun we had to stay a few extra days to do it again. Laos is seriously one of the most beautiful places ever. Bri says the most beautiful, but I think it's tied with Railay Beach in Krabi, Thailand. From there we took a 31 hour bus trip from hell to get from Vang Vieng to Hanoi, Vietnam. It was a very interesting experience, considering we (Bri, Sam, Iain and I) were the only Westerners on the bus. Plus, the Vietnam border was really crazy and chaotic. We leave Hanoi tomorrow for a 3 day tour of Halong Bay and then take a bus south to Hoi An. We're very excited to get to the beach again. We are doing great and having an amazing time. That's it for now. I promise there will be lots of pictures in the next blog. Moms, I swear we will call as soon as we find a call center. Love you and miss you all!

Chaing Mai-Trekking

2008-10-31T03:30:00.000-07:00

Hello! We are in a big hurry and can't comment on any of these pictures. They are from our trek in Chiang Mai. We will add comments and explain when we blog again. Going to Laos tonight with two of our friends. Love you all and Happy Halloween!

Blog from Chiang Mai

2008-10-26T23:05:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone, it's Brian again. Kelly took the reigns on the blogging for a while because she is much more patient than I am. The pix look good, I think, but remember there are hours of video and hundreds of pix on our other camera. As soon as we figure that stuff out, this blog (and our facebook pages) could get even more interesting. We arrived in Chiang Mai today and I am extremely excited, because tomorrow morning we walk into the jungle with minimal equipment for three days and nights. We do have a guide and a few other travelers going with us, let's hope they all make it back with us. Just kidding, it's really safe. We've already come across rats, fire ants, snakes, elephants, and tigers. What else could be waiting for us? Oh yeah, we are staying with mountain tribes in the jungle of Pai, who have little contact with tourists, or anyone for that matter. No electricity, no bikes, no ATV's, all on foot. The only way to see the jungle as far as I am concerned. Kelly is really excited too. Me Tarzan, she Tarzanette. There is no Jane here! Much love to all, don't worry. We will blog some really cool pictures in three days time, but then we have to make a run into Burma to renew our visas. That's a pretty cool trip too! We'll blog soon, stay classy San Diego!

2008-10-26T22:05:00.000-07:00

Bangkok, Thailand...second time

Making offerings at a Buddhist Temple. Notice the scarf covering my shoulders. It is considered very disrespectful for women to show their shoulders and knees at Temple. Also, women are forbidden to touch any monks, though men are allowed

More offerings to a large Buddha statue, asking for blessings of safe travels
A monk...the are tons of Chinese tourists outside this window snapping pictures of him. This is his pose
The monk and Buddha
The pool table and restaurant at the D & D Hotel. This is our second stay at this place...I believe the last picture here included some Irish lads who got a bit rowdy by the end of the night
The pool at our hotel
The view of Bangkok from the pool
Khao San Road, where our hotel was located. This place is crazy...people trying to sell you things every second
Another temple

Thai's giving their offerings
This is a place to give offerings that was actually outside a 7-11. Oddly enough there are 7-11's all over Thailand. These structures are in many houses and outside businesses. Notice the offerings of food and drink under it

Koh Phi Phi Don

Me in Phi Phi
The island as we were leaving to head back to the mainland
Brian on our get away boat. Notice his beard no longer fits in the picture

The beach I spent most my time (when it wasn't raining). This is a Westerner with his rent-a-girlfriend, aka prostitute. The rules are different here. It's not just a one night thing. It could be weeks or months.

Brian and his umbrella. He's been carrying that thing around since Nice. We finally ditched it....passing it along to some of our girlfriends.
Stacy and Tash, the umbrella recipients. Our friends we first met in Koh Phangan from Tazmania (or Tasmania to everyone else). We had a hell of a time this night. Good to see you girls! Much love and see you in Melbourne.

Love you guys!

2008-10-20T06:09:00.000-07:00

Hello! We are now on the beautiful Koh Phi Phi. This area was hit hard by the tsunami, so there is still a lot of rebuilding. The place is absolutely gorgeous! We had a great time in Koh Phangan and met some really great people. Actually, two of our friends, Tash and Stacy from Tazmania, who we met in Koh Phangan, are coming here tomorrow. We are excited to get to hang with them again. It was very nice to get to Railay, where we stayed in a really nice place which came equipped with a TV, western toilet, AC, and a fridge! It was really living in luxury for us! I spent a lot of time in the sun and Bri spent a lot of time writing. We also had a great day of hiking which was absolutely amazing! We finally have wi-fi in our room (which is not as expensive as Railay but still really nice...no rats) so we will be able to email and blog (and facebook) a lot in the next couple of days. Next we are heading to Chiang Mai and then to Laos. We have to be out of Thailand by the 30th since that is the date stamped in our passports. You are only allowed 30 days but then you can come back in no problem. We are still waiting to hear back from the orphanage...starting to get the feeling they don't want us! We can make more plans once we find out about that for sure. That's it for now...love and miss you all so much! Thanks so much to everyone that commented on the last blog-Momma C & G, Bruce, Court, Stacia, and the Schueller's...you don't know how much we like to hear from you. We are dorks, but it really did make our day! Much love to you all and hope everyone is well!

Koh Phangan and mostly Railay Beach

2008-10-20T05:29:00.000-07:00

Railay, Krabi Province, Thailand

This was actually taken in the longboat on the way to Koh Phi Phi. It is the island they used as the backdrop for the movie "The Beach"

Beautiful Railay, a rock climber's dream

Brian and I doing a bit of our own climbing. It doesn't look like much, there were ropes which were very useful, however, it was quite difficult
Brian admiring the Secret Princess Lagoon. This place was amazing and very hard to get to...Bri almost didn't let me do it because he thought it was too dangerous. Needless to say, we were very sweaty and muddy after the climb down
Looking up from the lagoon.
We had the place all to ourselves. Not many people take the climb down. It was so worth it and the climb up was a piece of cake.
The viewpoint of Railay

You can see Railay West on the left where we stayed and Railay East is on the right. The tide goes out so far that both bodies of water are just sand at night
Yup, we're going up. This was the beginning of the hike.
Railay...don't mind the man in the banana hammock, he's just part of the scenery

Our fabulous little hut. We splurged a bit. After living with ants and rats for a couple of weeks, we needed it. It was like our little honeymoon inside our big honeymoon!
The sunset over Railay West...it could be a postcard, couldn't it?

On our way by longbooat from Koh Phangan to Railay after many other modes of transportation
The boat/floating hostel dorm room that took us from Koh Phangan to the mainland in 7 hours. This was our room for the night, talk about getting to know your neighbors!

Koh Phangan

Our one and only picture from Koh Phangan (with the iphone). I have more on my digital. This was before the full moon party. Imagine this beach with 8,000 drunk people on it dancing and drinking buckets full of vodka and red bull. Fun but absolutely crazy! I think we are getting old.

A note from Koh Tao

2008-10-14T02:04:00.000-07:00

Hello all! We are now in Koh Phangan, Thailand, just south of Koh Tao. It is a bit crazier than Koh Tao. There is the legendary full moon party tonight and then we are off to the west coast to Railey and Phi Phi. We are doing great and are excited to move on and start relaxing again...Koh Phangan focuses more on drinking and partying. Love you all and hope everyone is well. Don't hesitate to comment on the blog, we miss them!

Koh Tao

2008-10-14T01:45:00.000-07:00

Koh Tao, Thailand

Our view docking at the Koh Tao port after 14 hours of travel via bus and boat from Bangkok

Sai Thong Bungalows, our resort
The view from the longboat (our taxi) which we took from the port to Sai Thong

The beautiful beach at our resort
Jimi Fitz, we love you, you crazy fool! Our Irish traveling bud who we hung with for over a week.
Bri and James conversing on a rock at sunset. Probably planning some scary jungle adventure and deciding how to make me go with.
James and I in the middle of the Thai jungle. Thank God for flashlights.
A different view of our beach. There's our trekking jungle in the background where we met our snake, a 9 foot python in the middle of the night. Of course, I thought we were going to die. Bri and James wanted to play with it

A different beach we found on the other end of the island while scooting around

2008-10-07T06:54:00.000-07:00

We are now on the beautiful island on Ko Tao in the southern gulf of Thailand. It is absolutely breathtaking but a bit rustic. Bri is having no problem with it. Let's just say I am adjusting. My biggest issue is coping with the plumbing system, or lack there of. I'm not going to go into total detail, but let's just say there is no flushing and you can't put toilet paper in the toilet. Our resort is very secluded and quiet right on the beach. The views are gorgeous and the weather has been fantastic. I definitely feel like we are in different world and you have to appreciate that! We will add pictures soon of Ko Tao. Love you and miss you all! Peace out!

2008-10-07T06:11:00.000-07:00

Bangkok, Thailand

Some Irish friends we met at the bar of our hotel in Bangkok. One actually ends up trying to strangle his friend at the end of the night...can you guess which one? This is the only Bangkok picture we have but we fly out of there to go to Sydney so eventually there will be more

Kanchanaburi, Thailand

A memorial at the Allied Cemetary where thousands of people who died building the Death Railway are buried
The River Kwai
The Death Railway over the River Kwai was blown up by the Allied troops during World War II. It was built by POWs starting in 1942 and was finished in 1943. 100,000 civilians and 16,000 POWs died, 700 American, while building this railway, mostly from exhaustion
The restaurant we ate at on the River Kwai
Our bamboo raft trip on the river
The super shady bridge we walked across...straight out of Indiana Jones
Feeding our elephant after she rode us around the jungle
Baby monkey
Beautiful waterfall, aka Thai waterpark. See the kid jumping into the water off the cliff?
The Tiger Temple, a monk run refugee for tigers and many other animals. They claim they are not drugged, but man, they are awfully tame

Our new kittens...don't be jealous Lenny!

This one is about to turn on Bri

Finally in Thailand

2008-10-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

Hello! We are officially out of Europe...thank goodness because the Euro was killing us! We had a fabulous time in Scotland! The people were just as friendly as Ireland. We took a great day tour to the Highlands where we learned alot about the Scottish history, including stories about William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and Rob Roy MacGregor (Billy Gregory's ancestor!) Munich was just as amazing as we had hoped. It was so great to see Whitney and her family. A very very special thanks to them for opening their home to us and putting up with us during Oktoberfest. We could not thank you enough, and another big thank you to the girls, Ella and Josette, for giving up their bedroom! As you can see the pictures are about to change...we just wanted to give you a little taste of what is to come. Stay tuned, we will describe the picture above and add more once we get to Koh Tao Island on the 5th. Much love to you all! Also, we have to add that this is our first blog on the fabulous MacBook my mom bought us for Christmas. It has made our lives and blogging experience way easier. Thank you so much! Talk soon! ;)

2008-10-03T07:18:00.000-07:00

Munich, Germany

Christian , one owner of the Huttn Wirt, our favorite bar in Munich

Antje, Christian's wife and the other owner . Two of the sweetest people ever!
Brian eating a brat at Oktoberfest...yummy
Me, Whitney and Ella in front of their house in Munich. A very special thanks to the Kraimer family, Jim, Whitney, Ella, Josette, and Brand for their amazing hospitality!
Me a little buzzed at Oktoberfest...maybe I shouldn't have had another stein
Wild and crazy Oktoberfest!
Ella, Bri, Jostte and I at the Huttn Wirt before our day at Oktoberfest...don't worry that beer in front of Ella is not hers
The mob scene getting off the U Bahn to go up to the fest

Edinburgh, Scotland

Hamish, the hairy cow. We met him during our tour to Glencoe and Loch Ness in the Highlands
Bri searching for Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster. Too bad we didn't catch a glimpse of her.
Loch Ness
Bri in beautiful Glencoe
Glencoe
The Brass Monkey, our favorite bar in Edinburgh. Have you noticed that we always find a favorite watering hole every where we go?
The Edinburgh Castle
Beautiful Edinburgh
Hiking to the top of the national park outside of Edinburgh. Bri made me go up the hard way...the view definitely made it worth it!
See? The view is breathtaking!
Hi Hamish! He snotted all over my hand.

Finally a new post

2008-09-21T10:20:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone!!!! We have not blogged in quite a while. Three weeks to be exact for those of you who check in regularly, we apologize. The only thing we can say is AMSTERDAM. Also, we are getting a computer in six days so you can bet the posts will be more frequent. Thank you so much C, you don't know how helpful this will be. We have been having an amazing time. We are in Scotland now, loving every minute of it! After this we go back to Lucky Lake in Amsterdam and then to Munich for Oktoberfest. Three days of beer and then off to Thailand. We were going to go to Switzerland, but it is unreasonably expensive to get to. Our time is running out, we have been blogging for two hours. However, as soon as we catch up with our computer in Munich, you will be hearing much more from us and seeing pictures of a whole new continent. We love you all and miss you, thanks again Momma "C"!!!!!! Go Cubs, we will be watching all the way!

2008-09-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

Any good Cubs fan can agree with this one. Cubs Woo! Cubs Woo!

Glasgow, Scotland
This is the Glasgow Cathedral

Our favorite restaurant/pub, in fact, the only one we went to. See Kelly's reflection?
We even got to guest bartend there with Thomas, the owner's son.

You've all been saying that we look tired, how about this one?

Brussels, Belgium
Some office building that changed colors all night.

The Palace
Kelly and I disagree on this one. It is the famous fountain of a little boy peeing. They dress it up differently every month. She thought it was funny, I thought it was stupid after all the amazing fountains we have seen.

Bruges, Belgium
They are known for their chocolates, these are pralines, Yum!!
The Kwik-E-Mart, Thank you, come again!

The beautiful market square
This is the Madonna and Child, the only of Michaelangelo's works to leave Italy during his lifetime.
We always find weird things in different places. Kelly thinks they are a playground and I think they are art. This one was a tough call.
The Bell Tower in Market Square
Our new Belgian friends that we found after a very long bike ride

Market Square again
Another angle in the Market Square
Ever wonder how they mow the steep sides of a river bank. well, obviously I do. they use a rope. brilliant!
A canal
Outside the Church of Holy Blood where they claim to have a few coagulated drops of Christ's blood

Belgium is the world renound leader in beer and beer variety. We found this pub with over 400 varieties, and we attempted to try them all
The outside of the Chocolate Museum
The fun inside with Kelly and a hot cocoa server
Kelly is sweet. Unfortunately this glob of chocolate looks a little too much like Mr. Hankey

The inside of the Church of Holy Blood, yet another place we weren't allowed to take pictures. Shh! We actually got to touch the vessel that contained the blood

Amsterdam, Holland
Our friends Pearlie and Rafael. She is from Australia and he is from Portugal
Kelly getting dangerously close to a river of green slime on our bike ride
This one speaks for itself

Another playground/art exhibit. I dared her to show me how it was a toy. Doesn't this look fun? No

This is Pearlie with Tiago, Rafael's brother from Portugal as well
The New Church in the heart of the Red Light District
The cow in the background must be well fed because there are no fences here

Kind of a metaphor for our trip
Lounging at the fantastic Lucky Lake Hostel. We are headed back there in three days
Our friend Barry the Giraffe. He was just one of the cool trippy animals on the Lucky Lake
The train station

This was our little home in Lucky Lake for eight magical days. We miss it, it was so relaxing

The local flora
Had a blast with this cool ping pong table that looks like the ocean
The smoking lounge

The view of most of the campground
the outdoor kitchen where we cooked every night and day. Some delicious creations came out of here.

Hamburg, Germany
This was outside St. Nicholas' Church

Take a close look at this one. In the Red Light District in Hamburg. Delicious cake!!
Fusion

Sorry Dad that there are so few pictures from Hamburg. There are more on Kelly's camera and we have some video too!

Berlin, Germany
Typically what we carry everywhere we go

The famous scene of the Michael jackson baby-dangling-out-the-window incident
The Holocaust Memorial
Kelly riding her bike next to the Berlin Wall

Kelly's gear

The television tower. Isn't she strong?
The Reichstag, a very important political building
Less important, but a hell of a good guy
German Brats, small buns

The Victory Column, it used to be in front of the Reichstag but hitler moved it because he was an asshole
The memorial outside the Reichstag for the 96 politicians that opposed Hitler. They were the first people to be put in Concentration Camps
The view from in between the cracks in the Wall. this was how some people saw their friends and families for years at a time
The Tower of terror where the SS had their headquarters. You can see both the foundation of the SS building and the Berlin Wall behind it.

the Bismarck
kelly looking sad next to the Wall
the memorial of all the book burning that Hitler and the Nazis did
The memorial to all those killed trying to get from East Berlin to the West. The most recent was in 1989, just months before the wall came down
The whole view of the Holocaust Memorial

Blog from Berlin

2008-09-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

Hello All! It's finally Kelly... I've been letting Bri do most the writing (though I have been sitting here the whole time and helping him along the way) because he is definitely a better writer than me. Anyway, we have been having an amazing time, though the money is going a little quicker than we would have liked. That's ok, it is officially 2 months that we have been gone and we get to Thailand in 30 days. We have seen some really amazing things and have met some incredible people. We absolutely loved Prague, along with Warsaw. I can't say we loved Oswiecim, however, it was something we both thought we should see because we were so close. We do have pictures to show of Auschwitz, along with video, but didn't feel right putting them on the blog. It was seriously too sad and depressing and that is not what this blog is all about. From Auschwitz, we met our fabulous friends, Anna and Kuba, in Warsaw. In case you forgot, we met them in Rome not too long ago. They are such amazing people and we could never thank them enough for their hospitality. Anna's mother cooked us the most amazing Polish food and Kuba even gave up his very comfortable bed. You will all be able to meet them next summer because we are trying to get them to come to Chicago. So everyone get your best American recipes out of the moth balls because we have a serious cuisine to compete with. We are now in Berlin and have seen sights today. We will hopefully blog about them before we head off to Hamburg since the internet here is free. Just want to say that we love you and miss you lots! Can't wait to talk to the moms and Bruce tonight! Now if you will excuse us...it is burrito night in Berlin!

2008-09-01T11:32:00.000-07:00

Don't worry C, she's fine. Just a minor eyeball wound. She's tough, and has no idea how it happened.
This one looks like a postcard, but in reality, I took it from our iPhone. I know, I am really proud as well. This is in a square where we drank warm wine and ate lard spread on bread. We were with our friends Anna and Kuba, you'll see them soon.

Kelly and Anna showing off their impressive mustaches in the square where the beautiful picture was taken.
Our last night in Warsaw, we had a wonderful drink known as absynth, known for its hallucinogenic properties. Trust us, it only gets you drunk so you think you are hallucinating. The process of drinking it involves a spoonful of sugar (helps the medicine go down) and lighting it, with absynth, on fire, then mixing the spoon in the shot and consume. A fun process.
Anna's adorable kitten Muffin. Don't be jealous Lenny!
Kelly and Anna with Muffin, all three looking cute.
The view from the bridge outside Warsaw. Keep in mind that this entire city was decimated during WWII. They are still rebuilding.
This dog belongs to Anna and her parents. His name is Yogurt and he is one of the coolest boxers in the whole world.
This is one of the two most delicious Polish foods in the world! It is called 'pidgeon' but it is not a bird. It's actually made of cabbage and ground beef and pork and delicious spices. Anna's Mom made this for us as well as pierogi, both of which made our top ten list of all time and will definitely have to become part of our culinary repertoire when we get home.
Yogurt and his favorite toy
Anna, Kuba, and Kelly on the bridge outside Warsaw. We can't thank them enough for their hospitality, we had an amazing time and can't wait for them to visit us in Chicago.
Warsaw
Kelly brushing her teeth after our night train from Prague to Oswiecim, which is the town that Auschwitz is in. It is also the last time either of us smiled for the rest of the day.
This is random, but still in Poland. The good news is that little girls ARE allowed to have lollipops or balloons (we're not sure which) on the streets.
These are the gates leading into Auschwitz. The sign says "Arbeit Macht Frei" in the cruelest deception in human history. The translation is "Work makes you Free" and was as difficult to read as it is to blog about right now. Auschwitz is a place that we needed to see, but we don't feel right blogging about, so here are the three pictures we thought we could post.

On the famous Charles Bridge in Prague.
We went to the Salvador Dali exhibit in prague, it was really cool. Anyone who wants to see more drawings or pictures from him can email me and I will gladly send them to you.
See?
Prague, a fabulous place.
Now this one was fun. It was outside the Prague Castle and everyone was taking pictures with the guard. I'm not sure if you can see it (I think you can), but the guard is smiling ever so slightly. This may or may not be because I was rubbing my arm on his elbow ever-so-gently, just seeing if I could get a reaction. Tell me what you think.
This is the Memorial to the Victims of Communism in Prague. As each step goes down, the sculpture it holds loses a limb, representing the prolonged suffering of the people under Communistic rule. Where's Brian, I don't know?
The St. Nicholas Church in Old Town Prague.
The National Museum is in the background, with a picture of what the scene looked like in 1968. I like it better this time.

Just a few words from Salzburg

2008-08-24T04:20:00.000-07:00

Hello all, we are writing this from Salzburg, Austria. It is a beautiful country, however, we both dveloped a slight cold, and it is cold here, so it limited our ability to really get out and see Austria. But we are getting a bit ahead of ourseleves. Let´s go back to Venice. It was amazing. We met up with our friend Nick, whom we met in Athens, and hung out with in Corfu. We didn´t do any of the touristy things in Venice, we simply walked around the island for a few days and experienced it for ourselves...definitely the way to do it. We did eat a lot as well. Our next stop was Bled, Slovenia, a place we never would have expected to go even three weeks ago, but it came extremely highly recommended by a number of fellow travelers, so we decided to make it there. It completely delivered. We were totally blown away by the natural beauty, as well as the reasonably priced adventure sports. We went canyoning on our second day in Bled (we have a cd with all the pictures, we´ll try to get some on the blog next time) and it was one of the coolest experiences we´ve ever had. Tomorrow morning we are off to Prague, Czech republic and are excited about that. Then off to Poland to meet up with our friends Ania and Kuba whom we met in Rome. We will visit Auschwitz together and then head up to Warsaw and stay with them for the weekend. It will be great to see them, it´s always cool to see someone you met on your travels again. We hope all is well with everyone, and a special CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! goes out to Melanie, Joe, and Abby for welcoming William Joseph Schueller into the world last week. Love you and miss you all.

Pictures from Venice, Bled, and Salzburg

2008-08-24T03:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Nicholas! Yeah...2 years old! Sorry we are late! KaKa loves you!
2 is cool! Happy Birthday buddy, I hope you got some sweet toys!

Next to a canal in Venice...isn´t the reflection cool
The streets of Venice
This was our home for the night on our way from Venice to Bled. That´s not exactly true though...we rolled into Ljubljana, the capitol of Slovenia around 2 a.m. and our train to Bled didn´t leave until 6:15, so we slept outside the train station on the cold ground. Sorry Moms, but it´s true.
This is what happens when you finally get to do some laundry and it decides to terrentially downpour in Venice.
Just couldn´t help ourselves. We think it might be apricot bread or something...Fagottini, yummers!

A "car" going down the "street" in Venice
Our first McBeer, Nick bought them for us, they were McDelicious and McSpensive
This is Kelly and Nick enjoying some strange Venician licorice candy with sweet filling. Strawberry and banana.
This is the beginning of the great Venician Vino Crawl. Normally on a crawl you pop into any number of pubs...we went into exactly zero, but with a bookbag full of bottles of Italian wine, who needs pubs? The whole backpack full of wine maybe cost about 7€, or about ten dollars.
Us cheers-ing our delicious gelato outside San Marcos Square in Venice. The line to get in was about a half mile long, so we snuck in through the exit unseen. It was free anyway, so no biggee, right?

Nick and Kelly, a few bottles deeper into the Vino Crawl, sitting on the Grand Canal
San Marcos Square
Some cool church in Venice. We can´t remember the name, but we remember the story. They let you walk in the door and stand there looking at everything for free, but then charged you just to walk in a little further...I thought it was hilarious
This is the inside of San Marcos Basilica in Venice, yet another place we weren´t allowed to take pictures. Oh well.
Kelly being daring on a "dock" in one of the canals

Here you go Mom, no broken bones, just a nasty burn. Nothing a little Neosporin can´t fix
This dog is wearing a diaper...we thought you could all enjoy this one with us
Beautiful Bled, Slovenia. This is the view from the Bled Castle perched high above Lake Bled
You can see the castle from the last picture in the background above my head...we hiked up there in 9 minutes
It took a while to get the rhythm, but once I did, we zipped right along to the Church of Assumption nestled on a tiny island in the middle of Lake Bled

This picture speaksfor itself...we were on a chairlift heading to tobaggon down a grassy hill. You´ll see.
The waterfall inside the Triglavski National park in Bled. We have some great video of it too, bummer we can´t figure out how to put video on this thing yet.
We walked a lot in Bled...a real lot. This road wound through many villages on our way from the Park back to Bled.
This is the tobaggon, tons of fun, barely even used the brake
Insert comment here

The glacier in the Julian Alps, which was basically the view we had from our hostel
Triglavski National Park again, but a different side
Kelly pointing to the Castle on her left, and the Church on her right.
Hanging out at the waterfall, a typical tuesday
The Church of Assumption,you can´t realy tell that it is an island from here, but trust us, it is.

Two pretty things in one picture
Water
Another one of Bled...I know there are a lot but it was the most beautiful place we have been so far.
The house where Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria. We didn´t go in because it cost money and we were pretty sure it was just a house
The view of the fortress in Salzburg...it´s old

2008-08-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

It was very hot at the Acropolis that day my friends!
St. Peter's Cathedral
The Trevi fountain in Rome, Bernini built it
This was our 'home' in Rome...hey, that rhymes! It had air conditioning and a fridge...we were really living it up!

The beautiful sunset outside our hostel in Corfu, Greece
Kelly modeling in the shadows our the Colossuem
Kelly doing a squat inside Hadrian's Arch in Athens
Michaelangelo made this when he was only twenty four years old. It depicts Mary holding Jesus' body after it was removed from the cross. It is encased in bullet proof glass inside St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome

This is our friends Dave from Australia with Kuba and Anna from Poland on the Spanish Steps in Rome. We are all trying to look "aloof"

The mighty Acropolis in Athens, one of the most important ancient monuments in the western world. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle all walked here

This one is for you Eddie, liquid strength Power- Up!

This is the Holy Door in the entrance of St. Peter's in Rome. It is only opened every twenty five years at the start of the Jubilee year... the next one is Christmas Eve in 2024
Kelly inside the Colisseum, you could actually feel the power of the Roman crowds when you walked in
When you travel enough, injuries are inevitable. The one I have now makes this one look like a papercut
Another shot of the Colosseum, trust me it deems many more
This was our home for a 17 hour journey from Ancona, italy to Greece. Looks comfy, huh?

Kelly in front of the Acropolis
The Trevi Fountain in Rome, absolutely beautiful at night.
The outside of the Colosseum
A good shot from inside the St. Peter's Cathedral
Us in front of the Trevi Fountain, a bit tired but a beautiful scene

Our chariot that took us from Ancona to Greece
The mighty Acropolis
The view from outside the Acropolis
A gorgeous Corfu sunset, a different one than the other one, they are all pretty good

The Spanish Steps in Rome
Our friend Nick on his scooter, he is actually on the ferry we were just on and meeting us in Venice tomorrow
The ancient agora, specifically the Temple of Hephaestus
This is Cannes, France. Watts and Holly drove us there Who knew Brian could fly? Dad, I bet you remember this trick

What's up Dave? See you in Australia
The outside of the Colosseum again
The Temple of the Olympian Zeus, pretty impressive
Ooooh! Saganaki! Yummmm!
The beach in Corfu, this trip isn't all travel and hostels

The ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, shhhh! No cameras allowed!

Kelly drinking wine from a baby bottle in Paris, look familair Brooke and Molly?
Anubis, get in good with him because he ushers you into the afterlife

No pictures yet, but coming soon

2008-08-09T03:29:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, we are in gorgeous Athens, Greece. To get here from Rome we took a 3 hour 15 minute train to Ancona, then waited 5 hours to get aboard a night ferry to Igoumenitsa, Greece which took over seventeen hours. We did not have seats or a room so we slept on the deck because it is the cheapest way to go... sleeping bags come in mighty handy! We then traveled 8 hours by bus on the stinkiest, most uncomfortable piece of crap bus to get to Athens. It will all be worth it when we go to see the Acropolis and the ruins, and Zeus' Temple and many many others. We leave tomorrow night to take a bus back the exact same way we came to catch a short ferry to Corfu. We will be in Corfu for three days, even though Kelly has already been there, in fact we are staying in the exact same hostel. Getting to Greece has been unbelievably expensive and we have learned that it is always worth it to plan as far ahead as possible, while still allowing a little room for spontaneity. Thank you all for your comments, we love reading them. Pics should be up soon, love you all, Kelly and Brian

Paris and Nice

2008-07-29T12:13:00.000-07:00

Hello! Bri and I are just about to leave beautiful Nice...trying to blog some pictures from here, but it is extremely hot in this particular intrnet cafe and we are very excited to spend the next six nights in Rome. We had an amazing time in Paris, but we were happy to get to nice to have some time to relax on the beach. It is interesting to learn the difference between traveling and vacationing, especially when you go back and forth between them. It was so fabulous to spend time with Watts and Hollie in the French Riviera. Special thanks to them for letting us stay in their room; a few nights not paying to sleep can go a long way, and all I can say is "Ftang"! That is all for now, looking forward to seven or eight hours in the train station before we leave for Rome (that's what we get for not planning ahead). We love you and miss you all, the next blog should come near the end of Rome.

Paris

2008-07-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

This is Monet's famous "Water Lilies" at the Museum de Orangerie. This is a twenty foot segment which maybe equals one eighth of th total painting. Tres bien!
This is one of Brian's favorite pictures in the Musum de Orsay in Paris.
This is Kelly feeling some French guy up in the Louvre
This is the Mona Lisa. Big whoop
Venus di Milo, more impressive than the Mona Lisa, but still a big whoop

This is the room of mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. This was the most impressive room in the Palace
The Palace itself; this is about one sixth of the length
Brian having a beer with Jim Morrison
Kelly having a moment in the sun, and a beer with Jim
Jim

The stained glass window inside the Sainte-Chappelle where the Crown of Thorns was supposedly housed.
This is Foucault's pendulum inside the Pantheon in Paris. This is important because it is the site where Foucault convinced the world that the Earth was revolving. Very cool
The Arc de Triomphe, Napoleon's largest symbol of victorious slaughter
Bianca, the sleepy housecat of the Hotel Montpellier where we stayed in Paris

The Hotel Montpellier! Just kidding this is Notre Dame Cathedral.
Hi Stacia, this is us on the Rick Steve's tour through historic Paris.
Two of the hundreds of gargoyles permanently employed to protect the religious treasures in Notre Dame. These two were our favorite.
Brian on top of Notre Dame pointing at the Eiffel Tower. We had already been to the tower so we knew it was actually bigger than this.
This is the stained glass window at the Notre Dame; if you see the man at the bottom he is actually giving a mass

A little closer view
A much better view!
Pretty good view, but not as good as the last one
We climbed as high as they would legally allow us to (it was the cheapest way to the top). This was only the second floor.
Much more dramatic at night, huh?

Ireland posting on July 19th from Paris

2008-07-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

This is from the President of Ireland to JFK in a museum in Galway
This is a burial site in Ireland that is dated around five thousand years ago, the bones of thirty bodies were found inside.
This is the O'brien castle in Ireland, we passed in on our bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher. The family still lives on the property, but in a house next door. We both wondered why he would live next door when he owns a perfectly good castle?

The Kilkenny Castle, we didn't go inside but we hung out in the vast park and read books.
The Spanish Arch in Galway where Columbus came on his way to the West Indies, woops! Oh well, it still worked out o.k.
The profiles of two of Brian's favorite Americans
Our meal while staying in the Galway Hostel. This is where we started cooking many of our meals in the community kitchen to save money. Pay attention, because one of these items will show up in a picture again.
The Kilkenny Castle again, sorry, we are still learning this blog thing.

The beautiful Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, perhaps the most spectacular view in the whole country. 650 feet high and 5 miles long.
Some guy made of stone in the Galway museum
The top of the plaque that resides in the park dedicated to JFK. The park is the center of Galway City where many people come to drink and litter.
This describes the tomb from the picture above.
Another spectacular view from the Cliffs of Moher. Notice the tower at the top; it was one of seventy like it all around Ireland's coast to watch for the Germans during World War II. They never attacked Ireland, but the beautiful towers still exist today.

This is a castle. We can't remember which one because Brian was fighting off motion sickness from a bumpy bus ride. <>
Brian enjoying the authentic Irish cuisine, sweet and sour chicken of course.
Sunny and Tilda; the two dogs that belong to the owner of the Kilkenny Hostel, Ray. They were sweethearts!
Kelly after a long night in the Dublin Airport. We arrived at 8:30 pm and our flight left at 6:30 the next morning for Paris. We killed the time by playing Rummy, and Kelly won; I am pretty sure that she cheated.
This is our room at the Galway hostel. You can't tell from the picture but my hands are two inches from reaching both walls.

A picture of a castle in Wales from the train.
Our other room in Galway; this time we shared with two strangers who were asleep the whole time. Woo-hoo!
The Gravity Bar at the top of the Guinness Brewery.
Kelly enjoying a pint in Fox's Pub in Ireland. The glass is as big as her head.
A self taken shot at the Cliffs

One more
A picture in a bar in Dublin, taken in the mirror.
The castle that we can't remember the name of again
The Cliffs and Kelly's mohawk... it was really windy
Our friend Paddy playing drinking Jenga in Galway. I think we introduced the game to all of Europe. You're welcome Europe.

The tomb again
Brian with JFK. Notice that the beard is coming along nicely.
St. Nicholas Cathedral. We think it is named for Nicholas Haddad, but we're not positive about that.
Another view from the Cliffs
Inside St. Nicholas' Cathedral, despite Brian's hopes Santa did not actually live there in the off season. Get it? St. Nick

"he's such a dork!"

St Nicholas again
Cliffs again
Long view of the Kilkenny Castle
Peanut butter sandwich #2, the peanut butter was literally confiscated at the Dublin airport, and they don't have peanut butter in France. I still miss it.
Told you you would see one of those items again. Did you guess the right one?

Jenga party. Eurobeer. Cave. Castle. How's that for concise?

The biggest swan we've ever seen! It was in Kilkenny Park and believe me, the picture does him no justice.

On the left is a picture of JFK's visit to Galway, a very historic event in the nation's history, the first President to ever visit Ireland during his term. The picture I took is so good that it looks like we were there though, huh?

On the left, Kelly is showing off her mighty stance in front of the famous Galway Bay, like from the song for the old people reading this.

Even lefter; Kelly is walking in the rain to the Dublin train station, doesn't she look cute?

Hello all from gay Paris!!!!!

We arrived in Paris at nine oclock yesterday via RyanAir from Dublin. We had an amazing time in Ireland and were very sad to leave, but also very excited to move on. It proved difficult to make it to an internet cafe to update our blog, I guess Ireland was just too much fun! We met a lot of amazing people and spent too much time in the pubs; the weather was partly to blame for that. We are probably spoiled because the Irish were unbelievably nice. People were constantly apologizing for the weather like it was their fault, and literally blocked traffic to help two lost strangers who simply had a map out and a puzzled look on their faces. However, the French have shown themselves to be extremely nice as well <> Tonight we are off to the Eifel Tower to watch the sun set and follow it with four days of some of the world's best museums. We would type more into this blog, but we have lots of pictures to share and this damn keyboard is all backwards and starting to get frustrating. We love you all and thank you so much for the comments, we really enjoy reading them so keep 'em coming! Next we are off to Nice in the South of France to meet Watts and then to Cinque Terre in Italy. From one of those places we will update again. Ou voire for now!

Scattered pictures, we will improve people I promise

2008-07-08T09:03:00.000-07:00

The safe where they house the secret yeast that makes Guinness.
Parliament
In front of the brewery
Big Ben kids, Parliament. We couldn't get left! (What movie?)
Kelly enjoying a peanut butter sandwich, the breakfast of traveling champions! This one's for you Court
We are still working out the kinks but here are a few pictures. "Pass this way with a pure heart" is found in Holyhead, Wales where we were stuck for the night waiting for our ferry to Dublin.
This is on the trian from NYC to JFK. Only $5 total each to get there opposed to the $50 it would have cost if we took a cab.

This is the very impressive humidor in malcolm's house, eat your heart out Bob, it's full of Cubans!
The perfect pint! From the Guinness brewery

Lenny, pretty cool

Our England post

2008-07-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone|!!!!
This is our first attempt at adding an official blog as well as some videos from England and Ireland, and I think 1 from New York. Instead of rambling from a Cyber-cafe in Dublin, I thought we would simply read from Brian's journal. Here is what he wrote on the 4th of July...This is my first entry in the journal that will document our trip. For those of you who are reading this in our old age or after our passing, I will explain the details. My beautiful bride, Kelly Marie Mack (now Kelly Mack Herkert) and I dreamed of a trip circumnavigating the globe for the four years prior to our marriage. We are now in our second day of said adventure, and have found it to be even more exciting than we had imagined. We first flew from Chicago (Midway) to New York (Islip), where we found ourselves in an 86th and Broadway version of a nice hotel, specifically designed for foreign travelers. It was smaller than the average kitchen, but had all of the amenities of a tent in the middle of the woods.
From New York, where the subway spun through the underbelly of the city (by the way, not one taxi patroned) like a graffitied web of lies and misinformation we made our way to Heathrow Airport in the land of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. We were thankfully and quite surprisingly greeted by Mr Malcolm Clark. He is a longtime friend of Kelly's family, the Lamkins, as well as, from what I have seen, an indispensable asset of the Lamkin Golf Grip Company. Malcolm ushered Kelly and I from the airport to the first hotel of the European stint of our adventure, The Thistle Hotel; a dump by the standards of some, but quite a leg up from our stay in New York. Kelly and I found it to be more than suitable, especially due to a tiny pub known as the White Horse. Built in 1534, the White Horse became the oldest building I had ever stepped foot in, an honor that would live in eternal glory...until the very next day when Malcolm and his wife, Rosemary, brought us to Windsor Castle, truly the home of the Queen. To be fair to the White Horse, it is still the oldest pub I have ever been in.
This day, July the fourth, was made all the better by Malcolm's incessant gratitude for me (I represented America) kicking him (England) out of the United States. "You're Welcome" was teh only fitting response I could muster, with a hearty laugh by all. In a time when both the United States and the United Kingdom face economic peril and social disarray, it was encouraging to have a delicious meal with three of the most wonderful people we are likely to meet during our travels. Malcolm, Rosemary, and their daughter Steph could not have been more welcoming or hospitable. A wonderful meal of filet mignon and English sausage with chips was preceded by a delightful appetizer of olives and Moondance Ale. The only thing more wonderful than the meal and the endless glasses of Glenmorangie that followed was the conversation thereafter and the resonance of the friendship we all had gained. We have made plans to meet with Steph further in our adventure, and I can only hope that we have the chance to return this favor to the entire Clark family. The stories we shared and the time we had will not be soon forgotten.

Blog #2-England and Ireland

2008-07-08T07:55:00.000-07:00

A Midsummer Night's Actuality

2008-06-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

This is our first post; our first entry...the beginning of our adventure as husband and wife. Three hours til we leave, not even completely packed yet but brimming with excitement. Brian wanted to write this but he is working on a masterpiece and it is taking too long. I am getting nervous because we still have tons to do, we aren't home, and Lenny is yet to have a clean litter box.
We hope to be able to post regularly...not sure if we can post pictures without Stacia's help...I think we will figure it out on our way. It wouldn't make sense if we didn't wait until the last minute.
Here's the itinerary: New York-London-all over Europe (Ireland, possibly Scotland, Spain, France, Netherlands, Northern Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Munich (Oktoberfest), Italy, Greece)-Dubai-Thailand-Australia-New Zealand- Fiji-LA (What up Watts, Delaney, Justin, Molly and Trev)-Phoenix (What up AZ kids)- Home.
We will see how it goes. Everything is the unknown at this point. But like I said, it wouldn't be Bri and I if we did it any other way. All we know is that we love each other, we love our friends and family, and we couldn't feel more blessed to have this amazing life experience.
We love you all and hope to stay in touch through this blog and through email! Wish us luck! Happy b-day to Court and Nana! 28 and 78! You are so fabulous!