Ollantaytambo

Did I mention that Ollantay had breathtaking views?

Ollantaytambo

Ollantaytambo (Ollantay), Sacred Valley, Peru: amazingly cool ruins, breathtaking views, and a great prelude to Machu Picchu. Ollanty was a very small, dusty town filled with a hundred restaurants and shops serving and selling the exact same thing as one another. One could spend days deciding were to eat breakfast if one were the indecisive type. Thankfully we are not so indecisive, we had decided where to eat breakfast by dinner time. We stayed in the first hostel we looked at--the cheapest one of course--of the one's we researched online. It was super cheap with no frills at all, but had beds and hot water. Hot water, yeah, if you know how to use it. the water is heated by coils in the shower head, and like silly Americans, we turned the water on full blast and frowned when we found they were all out of hot water. Whoops!! Half way through the coldest--I'm talking 31 degrees cold--shower ever, the maintenance guy yelled in to us that he could fix it (granted that conversation took about five minutes through the door while I stood there naked trying to speak Quechua-Spanish). Pickle and I finally crammed into the little toilet room next to the shower and the guy came in, turned down the water pressure, and eureka, we had the best hottest lowest-pressure drizzle shower ever. Silly Americans!!

Funkie Flight

The third leg in our 4-flight, 48-hour trek from Durango, CO to Cuzco, Peru. We were in row 30, the last set of seats on the plane. Thankfully, we did not have any children behind us to kick the backs of our seats the whole way. However, the toilets were directly behind us, and I'm not sure if it was the food in Mexico City or the in-flight snack, but there was a line for those toilets at least three people deep for the entire 6 hour flight. The beer and tequila were coming from the galley behind the toilets and at one point the back of the plane was transformed into a nightclub. A big group-line waiting for liquor and toilet, and swaying and bopping so much from all of the turbulence it looked as though they were line dancing.

LAX

If you are ever in LAX with a very long overnight layover and NOT in the Tom Brad[le]y Int'l Terminal (TBIT-pronounced"tee-bit"), go there. We were unable to check in for our 7am flight to Mexico City last night and the service rep recommended we sleep on the floor by the baggage claim for maximum comfort. But after a little exploring, we found the "teebit" with cushy sleeping banquets and, although we didn't see any celebrities, we did sleep with Julia Roberts.

Pizza Chef

I don't have a photo, but I had to mention how much it meant to me to get to have lunch at the Chef with Nikki, my Mom, and my Dad.

Durango

During our week and a half in Durango, it seemed like we did everything but go down the river: we ate at favorite local joints, saw softball games, ate at favorite local joints, took a hike, got old west photos, ate at favorite local joints... But our original intention was to float the Animas River everyday, strange how that happens. We had an awesome time regardless, and the trip ended up being about seeing old friends and family, which I'll take over the river any day.

The whole time there, the only pictures I took were at the wedding, but I shot about 300 pics that day. I will spare you the bulk and show only a couple of my favorites. We'll be posting most of them on facebook if anyone is interested seeing them.

Burlington

Again, we let the camera take a nap in Burlington, but had a great time seeing ol Ba, Nicky, Kate, Trav, Liam, and Finn. And whadayaknow, Brian-o showed up. That was pretty cool, pretty cool indeed. And I've gotta give big props to the camper. Oh, and the fish-n-chips at Ri Ra(s), I recommend 'em!!

Windsor

All in all, I would not say that we had a stinky visit back in New England. However, it was a bit pungent at times;-)

Gorgeous!!

Need I say more?!

Boston

So we docked in Boston, had one last Brokmeyer meal together (those were all very fun), and made our way up to Windsor. Regrettably, we left the camera in the purse in Beantown, but snapped a few picks of Elvis in Chelsea when we went back for Bob's wicked awesome short stage productions the following week.

Cruisin'

Every night was a party, and every night our cabin boy made us a new towel animal. These are a few notable nights and towels.

Bah Hahbah

Another slightly interesting fact: Bar Harbor was the only port at which we needed to tender to shore, which just means to take a small boat from the big boat to land. Another first for both as well as a mini-adventure.

Bah Hahbah

Funny thing, I always thought that I had been to Bar Harbor before because I've been saying Bah Hahbah for so many years. But, alas this was my first visit. Which was perfect, because we love firsts together. The town was definitely a tourist trappy type place, but very cute with fun shops and parks. A woman from one of the shops said that the little town has only two days from Memorial Day to Labor Day when there is not at least one cruise ship at port. Interesting.

Nova Scotia

We also had the opportunity to stop at two different places in Nova Scotia, Halifax and Sydney. Neither place was much to write home about although there were some noteworthy museums and views. We learned that the Titanic sank within 200 miles of the Nova Scotian coast. It was also a bit odd to run into a Boston pizza joint.

Prince Edward Island

While we're being arrogant, one of the other great parts of the cruise was getting to go to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (PEI). To be honest, Charlottetown was cutesy, but nothing special, you know, nothing special beyond being the birthplace of Anne of Green Gables. Actually the coolest part of PEI is the fact that we now have the pleasure of saying, "we've been there!" As a side note, the people were very nice in Charlottetown (by people, I mean the operator of a liquor store and the owner of a comic book store), and they said "eh" frequently, which made us smile.

I'm not saying that it's all Patrick's fault, but he is totally to blame!

Kebek

Add the Chateau Frontenac, with all it's splendor and cutesy tour guides, to the Quebec visit, and you've got an event even the most generous relatives couldn't spoil.

Kebek

Quebec, or as I kwikly kaim to noow it as, Kebek, was the highlight of all of the ports of call that we visited, including Baa Haabaa. The small, short, cutesy township--compared to the completely fortified, sky-mote secured, small, tall, upper township--made for a really cool visit.

Montreal

Montreal was not much to shake a stick at, but decent public transit (airport shuttle was very misconceiving as far as timing goes), a sweet hostel near the harbor (three blocks-whatwhat), and the fact that "Old Town" was cool as poodle, made up for whatever complaints we could shake a complainy-pants stick at. We stayed at the Auberge Alternative and ate at the Restaurant Les Pyrenees. I recommend both highly though the Pyr is slightly $$ and is run by two brothers, one that cooks, and one that will not leave you alone:-)

The Carsley brief of the Brokmeyer fun was that we:

Went to Montreal because Pickle's Gramma Sandy hailed all for a great time to celebrate Grampa Don's being 75 years young, way young, and we were way there. Don and Sandy kick mucho nalgas, thanks so much to both of you, it was Awesome!!

The Beginning

The craziest thing, I feel like such an asshole when I talk about going on a cruise. I've never been on a cruise, d0n't think there's anything wrong with going on a cruise, and will probably go on another cruise in the future. But, there is a sinking, undeniable assholyishness about saying, "I just quit my job to go on a backpacking tour of South America, and I'm starting with a seven day cruise of the North Atlantic."

Asshole or not, we had an awesome time and it was just the beginning of what is sure to be, and has already been, an amazing trip and life experience.