Friday, May 15, 2009

Last Blog!!

At the airport on the way back to LA. Its crazy how fast this trip has flown by, and it seems like yesterday when Dan and I were daydreaming away the details of this trip in his Sansom West apartment. Its been an incredible journey...or more appropriately, a whirlwind adventure filled with lots of random and unexpected twists and turns. There have been lots of great memories, and, of course, some easily forgettable ones (and definitely those that we vow to never talk about again). I've had a really great time exploring new places and experiencing new cultures. It was also really fun to meet random cool people and reconnect with old friends.

I've put together a list of some notable points of our trip:

Favorite buildings:
-Dom (Cologne, Germany)
-Blue mosque (Istanbul, Turkey)
-Alhambra (Granada, Spain)

Best scenic views:
-Sagres (Portugal)
-Yueliang shan in Yangshuo (China)

Epic failures:
-The car in Barcelona
-Regensburg/Munich
-Switzerland (yes, the entire country)
-Shanghai

Food:
-Samgyeopsal (Korea)
-Kro's nest (Beijing)
-Shengjian baos (Shanghai)
-Tongyi Lucha (China)
-Doner Kabobs and Kofta (uhh....everywhere)
-Currywursts (Dusseldorf and Berlin)
-Pasties (UK)
-Francesinha (Porto)
-Bifsteaks (Portugal)
-Iskender kabob (only the one in Selcuk, Turkey)
-Lahmacun (Turkey)

Foreign phrases:
-Mitfahrgelegenheit
-Hauptbahnhopf
-Tschussy
-Inshallah
-Otogar
-Quid
-Kuai

Best Hostels:
-Hongdae Guesthouse (Seoul) -- Mary was the best hostel lady/owner ever!!!
-Brother's Hostel (Cairo) --Muhammed, Mustafa and Ahmed were incredibly nice and awesome....they even bought Dan a birthday cake
-Lisbon hostels: traveler's house and lisbon lounge ...they're like the top ten in the world on hostelworld.com...amazing service, ridiculously clean, great location
-Overnight trains... okay, these don't count, but I did have some of my best night's sleep on these

Worst Hostels:
-one of them in Munich (hella drunk teenage kids running around everywhere)
-all of our Barcelona hostels (lots and lots of elementary school kids running up and down the hallways)
-our Aswan and Luxor hostels (not the cleanest, no hot water)

Least heterosexual moments with each other:
-Night date up to Namsan Mountain
-Dinner and river cruise on the nile
-Bamboo raft ride in Yangshuo
-Sharing beds all around the world
-Moonlight walks

Amazing people we either met or met up with (in chronological order):
Seong eun
Park yoon
Justin
Anthony
Ruby
Chi
Calvin
Tim
Emily
Yin
Jens
Alison
Robin
Anton
Claudia
Julian
Sarah
Phoebe
Chi (again)
Jan
Max
Camilla


So, I'm sad to say this, but this is probably the last blog entry for this site. Its been fun and I hope that all of you out there have also enjoyed your time here!

4 comments:

  1. Sounds like you guys had a great adventure! Round the world travel is the best. Glad you decided to do it while you had a chance right after school.

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  2. Hey Wait! I did not see my name.....

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  3. Because I can't help but correct your German:
    it's Hauptbahnhof und Tschüßi
    :)

    Glad you got to enjoy my adopted home!

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  4. Interesting. I came here to check for any candid reviews on Hostel Brothers, and I'm glad I did.

    I guess, you'd recommend it again, right?

    Interesting trip all the same. I feel very wishful again (went on an all india trip with a song on my lips and little cash - damn the bike engine which seized :( )

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