We’re back in the US!!!  After a 12 hour flight from New Zealand and traveling through the International Date Line and a 20 hour time difference, we’ve landed in California! I’m so excited for a few upcoming weddings I’m shooting in Bakersfield and ready to see my fall brides!  I figured we’d be answering a lot of ‘what was your favorite‘ questions….so thought I’d do a quick blog post of things we’ve been trying to remember for our best of/worst of!  Have fun looking through them and we can’t wait to share trip stories in person soon with family and friends!  **Photos from Disneyland Paris, Thailand, New Zealand and Australia will be blogged throught the next few months in between client blogs, so stay tuned!!

Best animal hug: Captain, this Koala Bear

Best Romantic Dinner:  Hotel La Scaletta Florence, Italy

Worst Dinner: New Zealand…couldn’t find any decent food in the entire north island. sorry!

Best meal past 10pm: Barcelona, Spain – man those guys stay up late!

Best Castle: Neuschwanstein, Germany

Best Transportation: Riding on the neck of an elephant in Thailand

Worst Transportation: Overnight train 6 person sleeper car from Salzburg, Austria to Venice, Italy

Most Dangerous Transportation:  Night bike riding through downtown Paris (Fat Tire!) and riding on the back of a scooter in Thailand

Best Adventure: Black Water Rafting, Waitamo Caves, New Zealand  http://www.waitomo.com/caving-adventure.aspx

Best Hotel View: Boat House, Phuket Thailand

Best Outdoor Pool: Marriott Surfer’s Paradise salt water pool

Best Indoor Pool: Ritz Carlton, Dublin Ireland

Best Airline safety video: Air New Zealand!!  (check it out here…it’s incredible!  http://youtu.be/LnM7xuhzjWY)

Worst Airline: Virgin Australia

Best / Friendliest locals: Phuket, Thailand

Least Friendliest locals: London

Best Pasta:  A random to-go place in Rome outside Vatican City with fresh carbonara pasta!

Best Gelato: Ponte Vecchio area of Florence – pistachio and mint chocolate

Best RV Park: Coramandel Peninsula, Hahei Beach

Best Hot Tub:  Natural hot tubs, hand dug with a shovel at Hot Water Beach, New Zealand  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Water_Beach

Best Metro (Easiest): Rome

Worst Metro: The Tube, London

Best hotel room: Ballyseede Castle, Trulee Ireland

Worst hotel room: Monteverde, Costa Rica

Best Boat ride: Phang Na Bay, Thailand

Best water falls: Montezuma, Costa Rica

Best place to see Matt Damon:  Mal Pais, Costa Rica

Best adventure with animals: Currumbin Wildlife Park, Gold Coast, Australia

Best breakfast: Frosties at the Karner house, Munchin

Best volcano: Arenal, Costa Rica with Mount Ngauruhoe volcano in New Zealand (also known as Mordor)

Best Movie Studio tour: The Shire set from the Hobbit, New Zealand (1st), Harry Potter , London (2nd) and Sound of Music, Salzburg (3rd)

Best food (Jessica):  Yellow and Massaman Curry in Thailand!  (and Orange M&M’s in New Zealand)

Best food (Eric): wienerschnitzel & apple strudel in Salzburg, Austria

Worst food: Vegemite in Australia (seriously, awful.)

Best new friends made: Castleconnell, Ireland!!

Best outdoor foot market: Barcelona – La Boqueria

Best anti-witch campaign: Kilkenny, Ireland

Best stew: any pub in Ireland

Best place for you money: Thailand!!!  15$ hour long massage, $5 dinner, amazing friendly people!

Places we can’t wait to visit again: Ireland, Italy, Germany, France, Thailand, New Zealand, Costa Rica…..or all of them!

 

Did we miss anything you’re curious about?! Comment below and I’ll respond!

 

Oh…and here’s an update on the travel beard.  It’s pretty EPIC if  I do say so myself!