Ryan and Laurie's Sabbatical 2007 summary

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Trip Start May 18, 2007 Previous
Entry Trip End Jul 18, 2007

  Seattle, Washington
Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Hi everyone:
Our flight from Miami, FL to Seattle was uneventful, and we arrived on time at 10:27am.
We grabbed a bite to eat before we took our separate flights to Phoenix and Portland. It would be the first time we had not been together in over 60 days - wow!

It was a very strange feeling to say good bye to each other after being connected 24x7 after such an incredible time together! The only time we spent alone was, seriously, in the bathroom, but that time did not add up to much! It was an uncomfortable experience to walk away, alone for the first time in a long time, down the terminal, going to different directions - very weird and not nice at all! Not many people can travel together for such a long time, let alone HAVE FUN and laugh so much, every day! We did and would do it all over again together!

We would like to thank all of you who remained dedicated to reading and responding to our blogs and posting comments daily! We really appreciated it and looked forward to hearing from you as we spent lots of time taking the time to take special pictures and write our adventures in real time for you all. We truly feel that we had you all traveling along with us in every city which was so awesome!

We took some extra time to summarize our journey, which was not an easy task! We have done so much in what seems like such a short time but here is our best attempt at pulling together for you the best, the worst, important side notes and just plain fun stuff:

Countries: We entered 11 countries in 60 days, some countries more than once depending upon where the train tracks took us. Our journey: Great Britain, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, Monaco (yes, they are an independent country), Croatia and Greece, covering 4% of the world! 

Cities: We visited 77 cities, villages and towns in 62 months.

Trains:  We traveled on over 80 trains, not including too many painful platform transfers up and down 6 flights of stairs (Question of the century: why don't they build more escalators or elevators in these train stations? This stair climb in between platforms is the single cause of stress and exhaustion with travelers and we are not alone on this topic- everyone commiserates on this!). Ryan was a real gem and gentleman and was always happy to help Laurie with her luggage every time we had to run to a different platform. Ryan would see the stairs, grab one handle with Laurie on the other end of the bag, grab his own bag and together we would make the nasty climb or descent on those wicked stairs - and he never batted an eye. Laurie thinks she was able to thank Ryan properly for all his muscle work!

Stairs: Oh my goodness! We stopped counting but we averaged 3 flights UP and 3 flights DOWN in each railway station until we hit Croatia and then all the stairs in between - we know we walked several thousand steps during our journey (we counted in St. Michel and it was over 600 and that was just one outing!)

Miles walked: 305 miles! WOW, we are not too surprised at this number because we did not have any transportation except our 4-wheeler in Greece and one day in a rental car in Avignon. We made our way UP some serious goat trails and DOWN some extremely technical trails and valleys and our legs are that much stronger as a result!

Longest walk: 13 miles, the wonderful trek from Juan Les Pins to Antibes and back, enjoying all the lovely yachts in the harbor along the way.

Ferries/boat rides: Boat travel is definitely the wave of the future because we had the luxury of dragging our sorry-ass luggage up and down RAMPS with ease and hardly broke a sweat! On a couple of occasions we actually had the boat "porters" help us with our bags where Laurie was ready for a nice tip and appreciative of the help, Ryan too! We LOVED the boat rides and on several occasions took a bus in one direction and switched gears after the horrific bus experience and hopped on board the boat for our journey home. We sat comfortably on 22 different boat rides and out of those we had 3 out-of-the-ordinary, hair-raising, absolutely horrible and exhausting gut-rolling-chanting-in-the-bunk-praying-not-to-puke experiences that most people would hug the white porcelain over! We happily survived it all and welcome another boat/ferry ride!

Pictures:  "What's up there?" was a common phrase when we went exploring as our intent throughout the trip was to try to capture the best pictures but also the ones that most people would never find. We hope that we entertained you with our snapshots! We ended up with 10,414 pictures shot in 2 months using 67 gigabytes of space on our laptop. We were very concerned before we left the US that we might hit the 10k mark and wondered what the right equipment would be. We were happy with what we took and that was a HP laptop that Ryan's neighbor let us have and it turned out to be an essential item for our journey. Ryan lugged it around and while it was heavy at 8 lbs, it was well worth the weight as we were able to download our pictures every night and back them up. We took 2 external portable hard drives which were small and light weight, each holding 120 GB, plus our laptop so we had 3 fully backed up copies in case anything got lost or stolen. We would definitely do the laptop again as it made it easy to download our pictures every night and allowed us to email when we wanted to.

Blogging: We loved blogging throughout our trip as it was an excellent way to track our journey but also a way to REMEMBER it all, especially since we were going to so many countries in such a short time, AND doing so darn much at each stop! We posted 365 pictures in 62 entries, traveled 4% of the world and  received 2553 visitors with 170 comments entered by family and friends! We did not have much trouble getting internet connections and having our laptop made it super easy to blog.

Culture: We loved the cultures of Poland, Switzerland, Croatia and Greece, and all for different reasons. The Poles like Americans and are grateful that we come to visit. The Swiss are proud of their Alps and they take such special care of their environment and show you how much they care; The Croatians just love people and work so darn hard (24x7 for 7 months of the year, wearing a big smile!). They always greet you with a warm smile and are helpful and accommodating; Croatia is immaculate and we did not see a spec of litter anywhere. The Greeks are very friendly and talk with lots of emotion and flare and seemed to like Americans. The islands are much different from the mainland as the mainland is quite dirty and crowded where the islands are not as noisy and right on the Aegean Sea.

Food: The best food was the Pierogie's in Poland, Croatia has a great mix of different flavors in their food which we found appealing, the Mozzarella cheese in Italy and apple strudel in Switzerland, Austria and Germany falling closely behind, and the Gelato in Dubrovnik was the BEST! Everyone says got to Italy for gelato but Croatia was amazing! Of course the Greek salads were great but we only found one that was the best, and it was right in our back yard on the island.

Luggage: Oy! We had 2 extra large roller bags from Columbia Sportswear. They did not meet our expectations and will be returned for product review with two brand new bags issued to us both. It was unfortunate that these bags did not hold up better, especially since they only saw the insides of  7 airplanes so the planes can't be put to blame this time! They were tested, no doubt, as we pulled them up and down stairs and over miles of some pretty amazing cobblestones across 11 countries where very little pavement exists. The wheels ended up in fairly good shape while the rest of the bags are pretty much blown out and sadly, they can't even stand up on their own!

Camera gear: We LOVED our Think Tank backpacks which held all our camera gear for the trip.  http://www.thinktankphoto.com/ We commonly wore them upwards of 8 hrs, taking it off only for short rests as 15 pounds on the back requires a break! The comfort level of these bags is amazing and made our trip complete! We agree that we could have left the Macro lens at home as we did not see too many opportunities for macro where our other lenses were sufficient but other than that, we took everything we needed and used it all! We had several people comment on how cool our bags were and we even gave the web site to a couple of folks who asked!

Packing light: This is the hardest element of our journey and one that we may never perfect and we are okay with that! We read all the books about packing light and threw them all out the train window! This arbitrary weight limit the airlines have is absurd and will only get worse. Ryan left Phoenix after weighing his bags at his Aunt Karen's and registered 51 pounds - perfect! When he got to the airport, weight of 54 so he had to pay overweight charges on the very first leg! London to Krakow, Poland on Ryanair cost us an ugly few pounds because while Ryanair has super cheap flights, they nail you on the luggage by dropping the maximum weight to be about 15 pounds under what the US requires - bend over! We fought the weight the entire trip with these bags and by the end of the trip we have a buffed upper body but it cost us in the end as much as we off loaded and divided up our bags, each packing an extra carry on - Ryan got nailed with a 12 pound over weight charge in Miami! Geez, it bit us a little but we learned and will adjust next time!

Incidents: We were fortunate and were not victimized by theft or bad injury. Ryan suffered through a bad cold and sea urchin wounds but Nurse Laurie brought him back to life quickly. Laurie had some diarrhea that followed her intermittently from Krakow to Italy but nothing slowed us down. Instead, these little pauses confirmed to us that we were due for a much needed day off! We consider ourselves very lucky to have traveled so long with no situations which required medical or police attention! Theft: Laurie had her whitening toothpaste taken from the bathroom in Paris - go figure but goes without saying, dental hygiene is not a priority in Europe!

Smoking: Be prepared to inhale a few packs of cigarette smoke when traveling abroad because it seems like EVERYONE smokes and not just casual smoking but heavy smokers! There were times after dinner that we had just inhaled a pack during our meal because these people smoke IN BETWEEN bites of food! Several countries passed a law as of July 1st smoking is banned in public places (restaurants, trains, etc). They are up in arms about it but such a wonderful thing for people visiting. Smoking is the most grotesque habit on earth and these Europeans practice it every minute and it is not cheap ($5-6/pack). We swore we would look up the health statistics of lung cancer but that will be another project.

Weather: We experienced 4 big rain showers in 62 days of travel (Bath, Krakow, Hallstatt and Murren) but it was just that - a rain shower that moved through with sunshine behind it. The rain jacket and socks were safely tucked in the suitcase for the rest of the trip as we knew the heat was waiting for us in Italy and beyond. We survived (barely) the extreme heat and high humidity in Sorrento, Italy but we made it manageable by sitting at the beach.

Attitudes: in general, the French and Italians showed some serious attitude and not sure if it was due to the heat or just the way it is but it was not pleasant. Unfortunately, the Italians followed us to Greece but they appeared to be a little better behaved in the islands - duh!

"Dolly" moments: Ryan lovingly remarked one day that he "wants his Dolly happy", which stuck with us throughout the entire trip! By definition it meant that "Dolly" was lacking the essentials of food, water, needed bathroom break, simple rest, along with intense heat followed by the feeling of heat stroke, or unknown steep territory - all requiring a pause in the action for refueling, generally about 1-2 hrs after the stop was actually needed. The Dolly events occurred in the following places: 1) Switzerland: Gimmelwald while hiking DOWN the most incredibly technical trail but early in the hike not really knowing where we were going and Laurie really not sure that Ryan knew where to go but her trusting head just let it go; 2) France: Antibes was our longest walk of 13 miles and toward the end we were both thirsty, starvation, full bladder and hot temperatures and a slight blister; 3) Croatia: Kolocep hike along the beautiful Adriatic Sea and we were following a lovely path until it kind of disappeared and we were on our own trying to find the way out to the main village but it did not seem it would ever come and finally 4) Greece: Oia where we were the only ones shopping, with our 15 pound back packs on and we wondered where everyone was! It was so bloody hot that everyone was either in the swimming pool or sitting inside in the air conditioning but not us - we were walking up and down the steep steps with the white reflections off the stones pounding us with intense heat - all in all not too bad and all with definite reasons for a "Dolly" moment! Laurie learned early on to simply open her mouth and tell Ryan when Dolly needed a break - seems too easy doesn't it? LOL!

The BEST and the WORST:

Best Breakfast: Wolf Dietrich Hotel - Salzburg, Austria
Worst Breakfast: Wieners in Krakow, Poland (Laurie)
Best Lunch: Hallstatt, Austria
Worst Lunch: Trummelbach Falls - Switzerland
Best Dessert: Hotel Romance Pushkin - Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic
Best Dinner: Hotel Romance Pushkin - Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic
Worst Dinner: Pizza and Wiener Schnitzel - Salzburg, Austria
Best local food: Pierogies - Krakow, Poland
Best train ride: Salzburg to Switzerland
Worst train ride: Overnight train from Krakow, Poland to Prague, Czech Republic (train stopped every hour for NOTHING with screeching brakes which woke us up hourly).
Best taxi: Salzburg Mercedes
Worst taxi: Extremely stinky man in Pilzen, Czech Republic (We could barely breathe in the back seat - yuck!)
Best city for taxi's: Krakow, Poland
Worst city for taxi's: Sorrento, Italy and Naples, Italy (they drive without meters and make up the fare as they go. The more luggage you have, the more it will cost you!)
Best bus ride: Student coach from Karlovy Vary, CZ to Pilzen - it served us coffee and a movie!
Worst bus ride: Amalfi coast - Amalfi, Italy
Best tour: Auschwitz-Birkenau - Krakow, Poland
Worst tour: Trummelbach Falls- Switzerland; Mt. St. Michel (way too crowded) - Normandy, France
Worst Tourist trap and big hype for nothing: Capri, Italy
Best walk: Karlovy Vary hike - Karlovy Vary, CZ; Murren walk up around the back of the town where we saw the cute old man!
Worst walk: Rhine River walk to St. Goar (Boring!)
Most crowded tour: Mt. St. Michel - Normandy, France
Best people (friendliest): Anna, receptionist in our hotel - Krakow, Poland; Lettie in Bacharach, Germany; Artemis and Anna - Santorini, Greece
Worst people: Bath, UK and France
Best weather: Karlovy Vary, CZ, Murren, Switzerland, Croatia and Santorini, Greece
Worst weather: Salzburg, Austria
Best city to navigate in: Krakow, Poland; Prague, Czech Republic; Croatia and Greece
Best train station: Salzburg, Austria
Worst train station: Krakow, Poland; Prague, Czech Republic and Saarbrucken (no water closet!)
Best coffee: Wolf Dietrich - Salzburg, Austria
Worst coffee: on the train from Salzburg to Zurich; Greece
Best city to meet our expectations: Krakow, Poland; Prague, Czech Republic; Hallstatt, Austria; Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, Croatia and Greece
Worst city to meet our expectations: Bath, UK; Salzburg, Austria; Bacharach, Germany
Best bed: Royal Garden Hotel, near Paddington Station - London, UK
Worst bed: Overnight train sleeper from Krakow, Poland to Prague, CZ; Esther's B&B - Gimmelwald, Switzerland
Best Shower/bathroom: Royal Garden Hotel - London, UK
Worst Shower/bathroom: Overnight train sleeper from Krakow, Poland to Prague, CZ
Best room view: Hotel Ontario Garni - Karlovy Vary, CZ and The Alpenruh - Murren, Switzerland
Worst room view: Dom Casimi - Krakow, Poland; Hotel U Kocku - Prague, CZ
Best place to stay: We can't tell you because we don't want this place to get spoiled by tourists!
Worst place to stay: Wolf Dietrich - Salzburg, Austria (had to climb 4 flights of very steep stairs to get to the room!)
Most expensive meal: Best Western Lounge - Stansted, UK
Least expensive meal: Pierogi's - Krakow, Poland
Best Rick Steve's travel tip: Touring Auschwitz Concentration Camps - Krakow, Poland; Prague sight seeing before 9am to beat the crowds and we were the ONLY ones on the streets for photos without thousands of people - Prague, CZ; 200 meter climb to the Pont du Gard view point - Avignon, France
Worst Rick Steve's travel tip: Touring the Rhine River near Bacharach, Germany - we found it boring and just another busy river with boat traffic
Best items to leave behind: Rick Steve's travel books upon departing France (they are too darn heavy to take any further!)
Best transportation: Student coach - Karlovy Vary, CZ; Trains and gondolas - Murren, Switzerland
Worst transportation: London subways - London, UK; Overnight train from Krakow, Poland to Prague, Czech Republic (no food car, water - plan on not sleeping for 8 hrs)
Best photo opportunities: Schilthorn - Murren, Switzerland; Old town - Dubrovnik, Croatia; Santorini, Greece (particularly Fira and Oia)
Worst photo opportunities: Dedicated travel days; Rhine River - Bacharach, Germany
Best Internet access: Villa Kolocep - Kolocep, Croatia; 24x7 Internet cafe in Fira, Greece
Worst Internet access: Hotel Garni - Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic (we took the internet connection down in the entire hotel with our laptop - whoops!)
Best authentic food: Pierogi - Krakow, Poland; Roesti - Murren, Switzerland; Apple Strudel - Prague, Czech Republic; Goulash and dumplings - Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic
Worst authentic food: Wiener schnitzel - Salzburg, Austria
Best snack: Pumpkin strudel - Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic
Best cultures: Poland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Croatia and Greece
Worst cultures: UK, France, Italy
Best toilets: London, UK
Worst toilets: France (filthy squatters without toilet paper and two small spots to straddle the hole in the ground!), Greece where ALL toilet paper goes into the waste basket
Best and LONGEST street names: Poland and Czech Republic (i.e.Zwierzyniecka, Dunajewskiego, Konopnickiej, and Szczepanski)
Best place where language was not an issue: Poland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Croatia and Greece
Worst place where language was an issue: France, Germany
Best things to bring from home: Kleenex wipies to mop up the sweat and for those many toilets without toilet paper (too many to count!)
Best purchases: Poland, Croatia and Greece
Biggest rip off: Italian taxi drivers
Best bang for our US buck: Poland, Czech Republic, Croatia
Worst hit on our US cash: UK where you can expect to pay 2x the price you do in the US. If we would do it again, we would skip the UK except to fly in and fly out and not exchange any money to the pound.
Most common phrases: "Where does that path lead to?", "Can you believe how blue that water is?", "What day of the week is it?", "What platform do we have to run to and how much time do we have?",  "How many more stairs?",  "What does the pedometer read?" and finally, "How many pictures did we take today?"

TOP picks in no particular order: Switzerland, Croatia and Greece, and all for different reasons:

Switzerland: The clean fresh mountain air, clean white snow adorning the Alps, crystal blue skies, birds chirping outside our room at dawn and dusk, the quiet view of the Monch, Eiger and Jungfrau Alps outside our room and appeared close enough to touch, amazing views and virtually smoke-free environment, yummy Roesti.

Croatia: Upon arrival we immediately said "we are in paradise", as Webster's defines it by a place or state of bliss, felicity, or delight and we truly felt like we were in this place of paradise every day in Croatia! The hotel was perfect, quiet, friendly people, terrific food, immaculate environment and surrounded by the picturesque turquoise of the Adriatic Sea!

Greece: The remoteness of the Island of Santorini, 4 hours south of the bustling city of Athens, brought us warmth, cool Aegean Sea breezes, fun adventure on our only transportation of the trip (4-wheeler), giving us independence to go anywhere on a whim, delicious food, helpful people, world-famous sunsets and thousands of tough steep stairs to climb!

We are still amazed at where our fantastic journey took us and the simple fact that most people don't ever get to spend this much dedicated and quality time together and who love and appreciate each other even more after spending every hour together, 24x7, for 62 days, and looked forward to each new sunrise with excitement to the unknown adventure, exploration, fun and memories to hold onto forever.

We are thrilled to Intel Corporation for providing us with this super cool sabbatical benefit, providing us a 2 month paid "rest" every 7 years as a reward for our extremely hard work! Since we pushed our sabbatical out 3 yrs and are now both celebrating 10 yrs at Intel, we only have a short 4 years left to figure out where to go next...and we welcome that challenge!
We'll be sure to dial you all into our next big adventure and thanks again for tagging along and living vicariously through our travel blog. Until next time...

Love,
Ryan and Laurie

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