Bratislava, Slovakia

We hopped on the train and in only an hour we made the trip from Vienna to Bratislava, Slovakia. I'm starting to learn that you cannot judge a city by it's train station. No matter what city you are in, the train and/or bus station will be the worst place in town. Bratislava was a good example. Once we caught a bus into the old town, we found a beautiful cobblestone center, a "mini-Prague" as the guidebooks would say.

This bridge is known locally as the "UFO Bridge" due to the revolving restuarant at the top of the span. It crosses the Danube and divides the picturesque old town from the massive soviet style apartment blocks of the new town. Bratislava became the capital of the newly independent Slovakia in 1993, following their "Velvet Divorce" from the Czech Republic.

We had an adventure finding our lodging here. We opted to rent a private apartment for the first time. We found the building easy enough, but the front door was locked with a big panel of buzzer buttons next to it. We had no idea what button was the one, so we tried several. We got a few polite "wrong number" smiles, and finally one old lady really chewed us out for dragging her out of her apartment. We sat on the stoop in dejection and were about to give up, when I noticed a button off of the main panel in big letters APARTMENT MUZEJNA. We got in and the place was excellent.

We had a fun night in some of Bratislava's pubs and found the cheapest beer of the trip; 97 cents for Budvar.

Vienna, Austria

Today we slept in and then caught a minibus to Austria. Actually, since we were the only people on the minibus, it was more of a taxi. We got a ride through beautiful, green Czech countryside to the Austrian city of Linz. I recall that Linz was Hitler's favorite city. Hmmmm. From Linz we caught a train into Vienna.

We spent two chilly days in Vienna. The renaissance architecture here is really fantastic. There are so many huge ornate buildings, even the 50th best building in Vienna would be noteworthy in any other city. Above is the Hofburg Palace.

The one tour we did was the Schloss Schonbrunn. This palace is simply MASSSIVE. Franz Josef the First, last of the Habsburg monarchs, reigned here during the end of the great Austrian empire. He lived here and was the big guy in charge for 68 years! Ruling from 1848 to 1916, he passed on before seeing his empire be dismantled after picking the wrong side in WWI. Seeing how these people lived was quite fascinating.

In contrast to the Schloss Schonbrunn; our Vienna hotel was the smallest room considered fit for human habitation Ive ever seen. I've seen bigger walk-in closets. Vienna is a beauty, though we wouldnt rank Austrians as the most friendly people in Europe. We were ready to move on back into Eastern Europe for cheaper prices and better weather.

Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

Today we travelled via bus to the tiny town of Cesky Krumlov. We heard it had the 2nd biggest castle in the Czech Republic (next to Prague's) and since we love castles, we had to go.

Here is the view from the top of the castle. It was sizeable and we got an informative tour from a Scottish educated Czech man with a very difficult Czech-Scottish accent.

Ahhhhhh Budvar. If you don't know, Budvar is the original Budweiser. The Anheuser Busch company stole the name, slapped it on it's crappy beer, and sold it like gangbusters in America. Now the original (begun in 1265) must sell its beer as "Czechvar" in America. Budvar dark is like a lighter version of Guinness. My personal favorite beer on earth.

The best part of our visit her was staying in this 14th century tower! We had a cozy room at the top, for just $55! I love eastern Europe.

Prague, Czech Republic

Typical Czech house address sign.

The Prague Metro has some great modern art. We rode it all over.

The Czechs were more or less given away to Hitler by the French and the British in 1939. The Nazi's swept in and had control of the country practically overnight. With no support from the soon-to-be allied forces, they had no chance and it was a bloodless takeover. Luckily for us today, that means all of the gothic achitecture of Prague still stands, unlike so much of Europe which was devestated in the war.

Prague is truly magical. It is our consensus favorite city we've seen.

Prague, Czech Republic

Today we hopped on the train to Prague. This was our first experience with train travel in Europe, and it was really enjoyable. The train is more comfortable then a bus or a plane. You can get up and walk around and stretch your legs. You get to look at all the scenery with out having to stare at another vehicle. There are no bumps in the road, just the clackety-clack of the rails. Flying is faster, but you miss everything along the way, and you arrive feeling confused and disconnected with your destination. For me, train travel is the best form of transportation ever made.
This trip was also exciting as it was our first trip across what once was "The Iron Curtain". Intellectually, I knew the Czech republic was part of the EU and NATO, and fully westernized but I still wondered if there would be some strange problems at the border. I would have the same nervousness before each successive border, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey. All would end up being easy transitions, I think you never completely lose that nervousness at borders no matter how much you travel.

Well, The Czech Republic is very pretty, and old town Prague is simply amazing. We had never been to a city with a true old town before, and we really spoiled ourselves by visiting Prague first. Cities all over the world are characterized as "The New Prague" and for good reason. It's brightly painted, perfectly preserved 17th century buildings, surrounding cobblestone squares, linked to the 14th century Charles Bridge makes for a magical place.

Berlin, Germany

We were interested to see how the Germans have memorialized WWII. The Holocaust Memorial was particularly moving. The stone columns of varying size clearly resembled gravestones, but with a beautiful yet haunting simplicity. We spent a while walking among the columns, and found that once you get to the center, they reach heights of over 7 feet, thus completely surrounding you.
Berlin has almost no monuments of any kind mentioning WWII. Germany has outlawed any public denial of the Holocaust, and also the sale of any Nazi memorobilia. It stuck me as a city with no history, as if it just rose from the ashes in 1945, and doesnt want to think about anything that happened before then.

With the fall of the Berlin Wall, all Soviet monuments on the east side of the city have been dismantled as well. That makes East Berlin a city trying to erase 50 years of history.
Checkpoint Charlie still stands and there is even a guy dressed as an East German soldier who will stamp your passport for 2 euros.
It can be difficult to tell where the wall once stood. Since East Berlin was so economically backward under communist rule, it's ugly soviet style concrete apartments have been the first buildings to be demolished and replaced by stylish new architecture. Berlin is still a city spread out among many different neighborhoods with empty space, parks, and loads of graffiti in between. Tiegarten Park was wonderful, probably the best major city park for running Ive ever seen.

Berlin, Germany

We got our first experience with discount airlines today. We flew out of Stansted Airport on Air Berlin for the fantastic price of $60 one way. The down side is that there is no way to get to Stansted airport, 50 miles out of central London, by 6am, other than hiring a taxi. A $90 taxi fare later, we arrived at Stansted. The terminal was littered with backpackers sleeping on benches and on the floor, apparently overnight after getting there on the last bus the previous night. While at Stansted Lindsey's Mastercard would be copied by a shoe store employee, her identity stolen, and $5500 in fraudulent charges rung up within 48 hours. We did not discover this until two weeks later, when on a rainy afternoon in Romania, I decided to check our statement online. Luckily the good people at Citibank refunded us the full amount. Whew!


Blissfully unaware of our credit card problems, we flew to Berlin. While London certainly saw a lot of destruction during the blitz, WWII completely obliterated Berlin. Other than one half-destroyed church left standing as a reminder of the past, every building in Berlin is lass than 60 years old. The giant crane is definitely the official bird of Berlin.

London, UK

Since London is one of the the three most expensive cities on the planet (behind only Tokyo and Osaka, Japan according to the Mercer 2005 survey) we were very fortunate to be able to stay with Josh who has a posh flat on Hyde Park. He braved the pouring rain to see the usual tourist sites with us.

"Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament!"


-Clark Griswold














Later we visited Buckingham Palace. We caught the changing of the guard, but the Queen wasn't home. I think she was busy bailing her grandson Prince Harry out of jail.
It rained most of the day, but we enjoyed seeing the green gardens of Hyde Park and St James Park.
Popped into the British Museum to see the Rosetta Stone. Walked by the Moulin Rouge, 10 Downing Street, Trafalgar Square.

London, UK

Indeed this trip would mark some changed priorities for us. We had cancelled a planned trip to Italy in 2004 due to Lindsey's acceptance to Business School. Then we cancelled a purchased trip to New Zealand due to our move to Hawaii. At long last though, after 2 new jobs, a 4000 mile move, and an MBA, we were finally embarking on our trip to Europe. We were long overdue for an extended vacation.
They do have Starbucks in London (though a frappucino runs about $7) and we desperately needed it after some 28 hours of travel from Maui to LA to DC to London. Lindo had to survive a double redeye, while I managed to get some sleep in a Dallas motel in between flights.

Alaska

St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada

While visiting my parents cabin in Maine, we took a trip over the border to Canada to St. Andrews. This old cannon is pointed at the American coastline, it was a relic from the war of 1812, which pitted Canada (via the Brits) versus the U.S.

St Andrews is a quaint, sleepy little town of 2,000 on Passamaquoddy Bay off of the Bay of Fundy.

Above is the view of the Canadian coastline at sunset as seen from our cabin across the bay in the USA.

Paris, France

Costa Rica

Malolo Lailai Island, Fiji

After a week long drive from Boulder to Los Angeles, Lindso and I had tickets o Air Pacific to Fiji for our honeymoon. We arrived at LAX and checked in for our eleven pm flight, only to find that due to mechanical problems, it was delayed until one. Agghh, a 2 hour delay? We were tired already and were dreading this 10 hour flight, not being used to red eye overnight flights. The we saw people packing up and leaving the terminal, and when we looked again we realized the flight was delayed until 1pm tomorrow afternoon! I was outraged. I told the attendant that this was ridiculous and they needed to just get another plane. She smiled and said "Yes, we are getting another plane. It is flying here from Australia right now. We have no other planes in America."
They put us up in the Furama hotel for free, and we got on the plane the next day. Upon arrival in Nadi, the main city of Fiji, we had also missed the last boat to our destination island. No problem, they put us up in a decent hotel, and got us on the first boat the next day.
We arrived on little Malolo Lailai island, only 2.5 miles long and a half mile wide, at the Musket Cove resort. Upon arrival we were met by a friendly Fijian on a golf cart. She said we could have our choice of bure (cabin). I explained that we had opted for the cheapest lodging option the "Garden View" bure. She just smiled and said that the resort had some cancellations and we could have our pick of bure's. Cool! Oceanfront it is then. We settled into our spacious little bungalow located just fifty feet from the South Pacific.

We knew how we had gotten such luck. Fiji's government had been endangered by a civilian coup attempt just a few months earlier. This type of thing tends to scare off American tourists. But not Lindso and I! I researched the coup and found that it was relatively non-violent and limited to inter-government squabbling, there was no impending civil war, and the country was peaceful. So we took advantage of the post-coup discount and flew to Fiji!

Fiji was idyllic. I snorkled for the first time in my life and was shocked by the multitudes of colorful fish. We dove three times and saw some sharks. We drank Fiji Bitter at a circular bar that looked just like the one Tom Cruise worked at in Cocktail. We met retirees who lived aboard thier sailboats and sailed the world. I sipped real Kava with some locals on a tiny island next to ours. Loved it.

Chihuahua, Mexico

My coach Arturo (to my right) had been invited to speak at a road race in Chihuahua, Mexico, and he was driving down with his friend Gennaro (standing, to my left). I was interested in furnishing my apartment with inexpensive Rustico style furniture, and Arturo brought me along. We spent one night in Jaurez, just across the border from El Paso after a 10 hour drive in our rental truck. There we temporarily traded our truck for Arturo's friend Angel's Mexican-registered old beat-up pickup because one cannot take an American rental car any further than the border towns. Apparently cars cost more in Mexico than in America due to government taxes, and the Federales will not let you bring an American car south as they think you are trying to avoid the tax and sell it in Mexico. Crazy. Anyway, we drove our crappy pickup the further 4 hours to Chihuahua, where we stayed with Gennaro's family. I spent several hours haggling with several furniture store owners, and finally for less than $1000, I had purchased an entire apartments worth of bookshelves, nightstands, armoirs, and cabinets.
The next day we ran a 10k race, and I really sucked. I was tired from the travel, and felt crummy from drinking only Fanta, as I did not trust any Mexican water. I finished a distant 4th, but still won a hundred bucks. Arturo almost caught me!
Afterwards we started the drive back to Jaurez with the creaking old truck loaded with a ton of furniture. It soon died. We sat in the dark on the side of a Mexican highway. Finally someone stopped an offered us a ride in the back of his chicken truck. Arturo stayed with our truck, because if we abandoned it, there would be nothing left but a stripped shell by the time we returned. I think he had a machete under the seat. Gennaro and I hopped in the strangers truck. Somehow we convinced someone to tow it to a locked storage lot owned by a friend of Arturo (Arturo has friends everywhere in Mexico as I would come to find out). We unloaded our precious cargo, and left the truck there, dead. We boarded a bus to Jaurez. I slept the whole bus ride, but Arturo later told me that some M-16 toting Federales came on board the bus at one point to search for illegal aliens. Yes, believe it or not, Mexico has problems with illegal aliens too. Guatemalans, Hondurans, and El Salvadorans are always trying to sneak into Mexico to steal away high paying jobs from Mexican citizens. I guess they took one look at me and decided I probably was not from Central America.
Sometime around dawn we arrived in Juarez. Arturo explained to Angel that his pickup was dead and still in Chihuahua. As I do not understand Spanish, I'm not sure exactly how that conversation went, but it sounded like "Hey bud, your truck is a piece of crap, it died on us, we left it behind, thanks, see ya!". And then, we were off to Colorado in our shiny new rental truck, sans furniture.
It was several months before Arturo and I got back to Chihuahua, and found all our furniture fully intact, though set up in someones house and very much in use. I sensed some resentment from the poor fellow's wife as we unloaded her stuff from my chest and bookshelf, and carried away all of their (borrowed) furnishings. Surely after a couple months they must have thought "Ah, the gringo is never coming back for his stuff." I was sorry to disappoint them.

Manaus, Brazil

Manaus is a city I would not believe exists if I hadn't seen it myself. It is a city of 1.6 million people along the confluence of the Negro and Amazon rivers deep in the Brazilian rain forest.

I was here for the 1998 World Road Relays, my second time on this US team. Though I had been to Mexican border towns, this was my first real Latin American experience, and certainly my first jungle experience. The city is huge, hot, and humid. Along the riverbank I saw hundreds of tin roof huts where some of the poorest people I've ever seen were living. Naked children were jumping in the Amazon, while their older siblings were fishing for piranha by dangling chicken bones from a string. Apparently the piranha don't eat little children after all.

Above is the Teatro Amazonas, an opera house built in 1896. It is a notable landmark of Manaus, reflecting the massive wealth of the turn of the century rubber boom. It was such a shock to find so many people so far from any other civilization. The main form of transportation in and out of Manaus is the river, and via plane. No one would drive here through dense jungle.
The best part of our trip was an excursion up the river in a small flat boat. We stopped at a floating CHEVRON station in the middle of the river to fill up. We saw a pod of pink river dolphins swimming along side us for a bit. As we got over to the side of the huge river, we started turning up smaller and smaller tributaries, until finally the overgrowth of jungle overhead was so thick it seemed that night had fallen. Eventually we pulled alongside a ramshackle floating general store that seemed to be anchored to the trees. Inside were lots of native carvings for sale. I chose a working blowgun adorned with piranha teeth for a few dollars. They offered to sell me the poison to dip the darts in as well, but that seemed like a bit much. As soon as we disembarked at their floating store we were besieged by monkeys. They boarded our boat and commenced digging though purses and knapsacks looking for food, or items to hold hostage. While very cute, the mischievous buggers stole some hats and clothing from our group and retreated into the trees. I have no doubt that they brought the items back to the store after we left and were rewarded with food. Once everyone got over the monkey sneak attack, it was time for the big show. The store owners would dangle some meat hanging from a string tied to a long pole over the water in a large enclosed water pen. At first the pen seemed empty, then a 9 foot crocodile leaped a good six feet into the air to snatch at the meat! It was terrifying. I kept my arms and legs in the boat the whole way home and wondered how many little Brazilian boys disappeared while swimming.