It's been a busy year...

Pat and I are home!  It's hard to believe the whole year has gone by and we're back in the same place that we started. What are the highlights, you ask? We've been thinking about that a lot lately. In some ways it's kind of a hard question to answer because we've had so many really different experiences, that they are hard to compare.  But of course we've had highlights- a lot them actually, which has made this past year pretty great.  Pat and I wrote our Top 5 lists separately and then compared them. Just like those great gameshows where couples try to guess the answers to their partner's questions to find out how well they really know eachother.  Turns out Pat and I are quite compatible. Here are our results.

Top 5 Places - On both of our lists:

1. Getting engaged at the Hahnheide Tower in Hamfelde, Germany.  Ok, this is an obvious one but we really did enjoy Hamfelde, Hamburg, and Berlin in a lovely, blissful state. It was great.  

2. Christmas in Orchha, India.  It was so peaceful here and it was particularly special to be a part of a local family and local community celebrations during Christmas.


3. Hiking in rural Romania.  Quiet, beautiful, mountain views.

Karen 4. Beach Vacation in Koh Phayam, Thailand.  After travelling in India for two months, chilling out in Thailand was amazingly relaxing. Everyone was so friendly, the food was so good, and amenities were so available. And the beaches- so beautiful! 5. Cinque Terre, Italy.  It is so beautiful here! And the food was really great.  Personally, I think it's hard to overstate the food in Italy.  We mostly ate out of grocery stores, buying tomatoes, fresh bread and lots of cheese and cold cuts. And cheap, good wine. You just can't go wrong.

Pat 4. The B n' B that had puppies when we stayed there in the Isle of Skye, Scotland. 5. The Croatian coastline, especially the island of Vis.

Top 5 Meals 

1. Dinner in Zagreb, Croatia.  Our host at our accommodation found us a great little restaurant that had Croatian specialties- lots of meat and potatoes!

Karen 2. Our first meal in Italy, bought from a grocery store. 3. We had an amazing steak dinner in Ljubljana, Slovenia. 4. Fresh fish at a seaside restaurant in Prachuap Kiri Khan, Thailand. 5. Indian food on the rooftop restaurant in our hotel in Bundi, India.

Pat 2. Dinner in Parma, Italy.  Home to Parma procuitto and Parmesan cheese! 3. Lunch in Belgrade, Serbia.  Gourmet food on a patio- amazingly good value for your dollar. 4. Homemade Italian food when we stayed at Castle Galeazza in rural Italy. 5. Food court fare in the fancy Paragon Mall in Bangkok, Thailand.

Top 5 Transit Adventures

Karen 1. Romanian road trip.  Getting on the road that first day- freedom to explore with our own wheels! 2. The toy train up to Shimla, India. 3. Taking the bus along the Croatian coastline, from Biograd south to Dubrovnik 4. The speedboat journey from mainland Thailand to Koh Phayam island. 5. The overnight bus from Ranong to Bangkok, Thailand.

Pat 1. Taking the overnight Sani Bus from Kota Bharu to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2. Our first class train journey from Gaya to Kolkata, India. 3. The boat ride from mainland Croatia to the island Vis. 4. The safari jeep in Kanha National Park, India. 5. The boat ride in Varanasi, India.

Top 5 Worst Moments

1. Getting sick in Udaipur and Pachmarhi, India.

2. While driving around Agra, India, to and from the Taj Mahal, we saw a stray dog with a large open sore on it's back and Pat witnessed a man foaming at the mouth, having a seizure in the middle of the road... everyone kept on driving.

Karen 3. Street kids in Delhi approaching us for change. 4. Missing our train in Timisoara, Romania and unexpectedly having to find a place to stay at around midnight. 5. Arriving late to our hotel in Pachmarhi, India and needing to have the bed linens changed to clean ones and then watching a rat scurry through the hotel restaurant.

Pat 3. Before we had secured work in London, our bank sent us text messages each day reminding us we only had £0.65 left in our account. 4. Having to spend £300 to take the train from London to Glasgow because we forgot to book ahead.  This was before we had work set up in London. 5. Realizing the trip has ended and taking an earlier flight home.

Top 5 Best Moments

1. Getting engaged, of course!

2. Hiking in Vis, Croatia and the Cinque Terre, Italy. 

Karen 3. Arriving in the wonderful apartment we stayed at while we were in Bangkok, Thailand. 4. Going on a safari in Kanha National Park, India. 5. Driving the Dingle Peninsula, Ireland.  Having the independence of travelling by at your own pace through beautiful countyside is awesome. We found quiet beaches, ocean views, and a tucked away picnic spot where we were the only tourists.

Pat 3. Starting the second part of our trip in after finishing work in London, UK. 4. Giving Dorothy away at her and Kalle's wedding. 5. Coming home to see the dogs and our parents.

Anyway, the Grand Adventure continues... in the form of setting up house and jobs again in Vancouver. Thanks for travelling vicariously along with us by following our blog, it's been fun, hasn't it?