Tag: culture

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In Search of Castle Kiwi

Auckland, NZ

Mount Eden and the Sky Tower, Auckland, New Zealand

Us: “No, mom, really what do you want to do while we’re in New Zealand?”

Mom: “Oh I’ll just do whatever you’re doing”

We’ve been down this road before with Greg’s mom.  She doesn’t want to intrude.  But we didn’t really think that getting eaten by a Sharktopus (Sharktopi?), canoe drag racing, or crawling up volcanoes were much her thing.  As we’ve said before, this “normal tourist” routine is a bit difficult for us to grasp without the aid of a 20 sided die. So this time we insisted.

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The Power of “Go”

Auckland, NZ

We decided to buy vs. rent because the cost of second-hand cars was really cheap and we figured out that by renting we stood to probably spend more than outright buying and the cost of insurance was very low (finally, an upside to being over 30!!).  Most importantly, owning the car we gave us the power of go, which was critical if we were playing host in a foreign country.

20101206 (5) - NZ license plate - dimwit

Really?  Really!? 

Dude, there’s a reason this vanity plate was available.

The power of go was discovered by Greg several years ago.  As Greg never owned a car before his senior year in college, he spent his high school and university years dependent on someone else (friends, buses, and the ever-loyal Cal train) for transportation.  Upon getting a car Greg realized that he no longer needed to have a plan when he wanted to do something, which is what the “power of go” is:

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Boatless Transportation

Auckland, NZ

With Greg’s mom on the way we realized we had a problem we had managed to completely avoid on our journeys until now: how do we get around?

It sounds odd but for the past several years and about 1/3 of the way around the world our method of day to day travel simply was not a concern.  When working on sailing yachts our office also happens to encompass our primary means of locomotion and accommodation.  As we sailed wherever our captain wanted and stayed as long as they wanted to, we didn’t put a lot of thought into where we would be going or how we would get there.  We just took the ship safely wherever we were told when we were told to do it.  Being land bound now we had to face such difficult questions like, “Where will we go?”  and “Where will we sleep when we get there?”  and the most urgent of these, “How will we get there?”

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Grog Files Double Header

Ok so Tonga only has the one beer but really, anything they made after MAKA would have just paled by comparison anyway.  That beer was a-freaking-mazing!

We felt bad though, only having the one drink to share with everyone.  So instead of leaving y’all hanging we’re giving you our wine findings from our honeymoon in Tuscany, Italy.  This includes the wine we like so much we brought enough home to share with our wedding party!

As you can see, Greg’s sister was pretty happy about that.

So from South Pacific to Europe- this month is a grog files double-header of some of the best drinks this planet of ours has to offer!

Kingdom of Tonga

 

 

Italy

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Why Messing with Texas is a BAD Idea!

San Antonio, TX

They also have the Alamo here which almost everyone has heard of but if you’re anything like us you really didn’t realize was in San Antonio or how incredibly epic a display of Early American bad-assery this fortress represents.

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City of om-nom!

San Antonio, TX

When you’re lucky enough to be exposed to a new culture with one of your good friends as a card carrying member, you get to breeze by all the touristy stuff and get a back stage pass to what real people do for a good time.

And what you do in San Antonio, is you eat

And eat…

Continue reading “City of om-nom!”

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Something Worth Going Home For

Enroute San Antonio, TX

A few posts back we posed a question to you: when is it worth it to go home?

We told you there were several reasons why we came back but we didn’t go into a lot of details on our reasons.  Remember we didn’t just fly home from Auckland.  We left in Tonga a guaranteed free ticket to Australia on a private motor yacht to hop a flight to Auckland then onto the United States.  Why the heck did we decide to leave then?

To understand this story, we have to take you back to Bora Bora.  Shouldn’t all good stories ending in San Antonio involve a detour though Bora Bora?  We think so…

Bora Bora Mountain

Remember the Bora Bora business day we had where we made phone calls to, among other people, Greg’s old business partner?  Right well he had a little more than business to discuss.

Michael – “I’m getting married and I was wondering if you wanted to be the best man.”

Greg – “Oh you bastard…”

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So THAT’s where everyone went!

Atlanta, GA

So, as thirtysomethings (oh, now that’s frightening…) we’ve been wondering.  For the past several years actually…

Where the heck did everybody our age go!? Continue reading “So THAT’s where everyone went!”

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Greg stars as “The Nanny!”

Atlanta, GA

One of the reasons we came back was to spend a month with our dear friends.  They had an urgent need for some help with child care for a month so Greg headed over to Atlanta, GA while Tiffany moved on to our next destination a little early to help out one of our friends with his business.

Greg remembers the first time he saw Atlanta.  He was a new ensign in the Coast Guard and by new, we mean he got his commission about a month before and was driving to his first duty station in Florida.  At about midnight he was heading down the I-75 when he crested a hill and the whole city of Atlanta lit on a clear night spread out before him.

Atlanta at nightIt was a sight he’ll never forget but then getting pulled over 30 minutes later by the Atlanta police for speeding stuck in his memory too.   What’s the deal with him and cops?

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Local’s guide to San Jose, CA

San Jose, CA

Last time we looked at the more popular tourist sites of Greg’s home town but really, San Jose does not easily lend itself to tourism outside abject worship of assorted technology businesses.  Only so many people want to drive by Apple HQ.  However, when you know where to look, there are actually quite a lot of good times to be had.  Luckily, Greg has “normal friends” (yeah, that’s always a relative term) who we hung out with around town.  So here’s what we do to have fun – Continue reading “Local’s guide to San Jose, CA”

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