My home away from home when I am in Paris. Boucicaut

360 views from Sacre Coeur and this is definitely one of the best spots in the city.

life is beautiful

This is one of the best things I have ever seen. I had just climbed or rather limped to the top of Sacre Coeur. I sat down on a bench to take in the cityscape and there it was.

Sometimes a sick day is just want you need to spend time doing what you love! In this case I get to update my blog after months of neglect. This picture was shot in Barcelona, Spain. I have always been fascinated with graffiti and street art and this is just one a several shots I got while taking in the bustling streets of Barcelona.

Pintxos and txikiteo...aka the tapas crawl!

Tapas, tapas and more tapas or Pintxos pronounced (pinchos), in Basque. I think this is the perfect place to start a trip in Spain. The tapas crawl or (txikiteo in  basque), is the ultimate adventure for foodies and for those that enjoy healthy portions of vino! I have travelled to a lot of fairly cool spots on the globe but I have to say that there is something very special about Basque Country. The next series of posts is my celebration to Basque Country ~ Spain.

Top 10 McBryant moments in Turkey...ahh the memories.

Here are the top 10 McBryant moments in Turkey, as I recall them (Dean made me add the "as I recall them" remark).

1. Turkish dondurma or "ice cream" street vendor teases Dean by publicly feeding him his ice cream.

2. Cara is granted permission to scale wall of a 5000 year old ancient cave house in Cappadoccia, after reaching the top she realises that she has no idea how she plans to get down and others have to scale wall to assist with the descent. And by others I mean a nice American couple and not Dean.

3. Cara has to use secondary air supply to finish a dive so that we can see the grand finale, a giant statue of a shark and the only fish seen during dive. So I brave a potentially life threatening situation to see a underwater statue - yes I took one for the team and he still owes me big time for this!

4. McBryants accidentally get intoxicated the night before a long, very long bus ride and are saved when the bus driver stops in the middle of nowhere and there happens to be a Burger King off the side of the highway. First whopper I have had in a decade!

5. Cara sharing a seat with a woman that had a cockroach on her back. Finally the lady crushed the roach with the weight of her back and I was able to relax for the duration of bus ride. Dean giggled from the comfort of his bug free seat while I squirmed and winced at the horror!

6. The endless and rather ruthless hunt for the perfect leather poufs, this takes weeks to accomplish so start looking as soon as you arrive in Turkey! Oh and try not to haggle so much that the shop owner rips his leather pouf while demonstrating the handcrafted quality and ruins it before you purchase it - BRUTAL and no we did not buy the pouf because we felt bad.

7. Dean bargaining for a Turkish rug, this took 3 weeks and half a day and I couldn't feel my cheeks due to all the disgusting apple tea consumed throughout negotiations!

8. The magical disappearing salt act, there are a lot of magicians in Turkey and they all love Dean. I will post this magic trick with my next entry, it is hilarious!

9. McBryants attend The Whirling Dervish show in Istanbul and can report that watching men achieve a meditative state by endless spinning does in fact put Dean to sleep. I recommend the show after a strong dose of caffeine.

10. Relaxing Kas Itinerary: Day 1, 2 dives. Day 2, 2 dives. Day 3, Cara shops, Dean dives solo because I refuse to dive with him again. Day 4, 40 km mountain bike ride through the Akdag mountain range. Day 5, 15km sea kayak on the Mediterranean Sea. Day 6, Dean dives again and I shop and day drink! Day 7, I agree to be Dean's buddy again and so we dive again, followed by night of heavy drinking and smoking ciggies with locals! Day 8, another hung over travel day - WHY?! 

Cheers from Easter Island

We awoke before dawn and drove the rental to this site just in time to capture the sunrise on Easter Island. Watching the light increase and cast dramatic shadows across the site was breathtaking and one of my fondest memories of our time on Easter Island. We stayed for hours and had a champagne breakfast at this very spot. This ranks as one of the best days of my life. One day I will return.