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.

Apple tea is not for me!

Apple tea is the equivalent to an espresso with equal amounts of sugar added, afternoon tea with one fresh lemon squeezed and simple syrup added, or a super fattening, super sweet, extra sugar with vanilla syrup extra hot latte. Dean loves apple tea, I can not even stand one sip. Turkish people love apple tea and I endured several while touring the country, of course I am always polite and would never refuse this rather yucky drink.
Other than the horrible flavour what I dislike even more is that it is served in a tiny glass that is too hot to touch let alone hold in your hand. So you are forced to either burn yourself or wait for about 45 minutes while the glass cools down in order to savour the now cooled sugary drink referred to as tea in Turkey. The cooling time is not helpful when you are trying to make a subtle yet quick exit from, let's say a carpet shop you have no intention of purchasing a carpet in or a restaurant you have chosen not to order food in. Turkish hospitality is superb, I just wish it didn't involve apple tea. Thumbs down Turkey - this is not a highlight!

Merhaba Turkey!

For those that have been to Turkey I hope you went the extra mile to get to Cappadocia. Cappadocia is one of the strangest and most mind-blowing places I have ever been to, so enchanting and so much history to take in. We stayed 4 or 5 days and I could have stayed a little longer, I could have easily made it a week but keep in mind I really like to linger when I have the time...now which way to go first?

H*A*P*P*Y B*I*R*T*H*D*A*Y to me from Istanbul!

Headed to Bocas del Toro, Panama.

Dean boarding flight for Bocas del Toro

The runway may have been flooded and completely unsafe for passengers to walk on but the crew somehow convinced everyone that is was safe, perhaps that is because most of the passengers couldn’t speak a word of Spanish. By the time the plane was airborne a lake of water had pooled on the runway and it didn’t feel safe. As the plane accelerated and Dean was lost in thought about runway drainage systems, I quietly regretted seeing the Queen’s head land face up only days before, maybe coin toss is not the best way to make decisions. Once we were in the air and I knew all was well, I quickly disposed of all regret about having won the coin toss, a win is a win after all and what could possibly go wrong in Panama?

First Class with Air Panama

Bocas Del Toro, Panama

We love islands and really love island time so Panama was just what we needed. A proper trip packed with adventure and a lot of island time. Stilt houses built on the water, dutch pirates, boat taxis, huge stingrays, torrential rain, crisp cold beer and endless reggae music blasting out of every hut. I won the coin toss to decide all domestic transport while in Panama and booked us two first class tickets to Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean Sea, just south of the border with Costa Rica.

the navy dinner jacket

Dean with Steve

Living in remote Patagonia could be tough at times and so we had to invent ways to amuse ourselves. Dean found humour in fashion, sporting this navy dinner jacket while hiking in rugged Patagonia. Most of the Canadian crew battled culture shock and the challenges of working in isolation on a daily basis, so when a local stray dog started hanging around it wasn't long before she was named Steve....poor little thing. Steve was the name of their boss at the time, knowing Steve the man made the very sight of Steve the dog an excellent way to laugh off the days frustrations. To Steve the man, if you ever read this, I am sorry that you heard it from me first buddy.

life as it used to be...

As all of my 8 followers are aware, Dean and I have been doing some travelling in 2010 and 2011. The next several posts will be short anecdotes accompanied with pics celebrating my time as a former traveller. I say former traveller because I am now a stay at home girlfriend and do not currently travel abroad because we decided to move abroad instead. More on the new home country coming to you soon....

MLTRP investment for the avid traveller that simply doesn't feel like working for a while.

It has been a long time since my last update. I have lived in roughly 9 different homes located throughout South America, Central America, Canada and parts of Europe while enjoying MLTRP, "Mid-Life Temporary Retirement Plan", not a part of your standard retirement savings plan, however is highly recommended by the McBryants.

Paso Agua Negra with blue cheese and trail mix

Who attempts to cross the highest pass in the Andes with only blue cheese, trail mix, one pear and a can of coke? Oh I forgot to mention that we did this in a KIA. None of the restaurants in the sleepy town of Pisco Elqui serve breakfast before...um lunch. So if we wanted to cross the border before sunset we had to hit the road on an empty stomach. It seemed like the more I read about Paso Agua Negra the less I knew, I mean no one crosses this pass. None of the travel sites have anything to say about Paso Agua Negra but I can definitely send them an update now. The only thing we knew for certain is that there was definitely a road and that eventually it lead to the border...even if it meant we would reach 4720 meters (in a KIA) and that with a little luck and good weather we would pop out on the other side....Argentina.

Terramotto lemonade

Let's go back to the days before the earthquake rocked Chile, we were in La Serena in northern Chile. We managed to catch the tail end of Chilean summer right before all the students go back to school, so the beaches were packed. The earthquake hit around 3:00 a.m. and to say that we weren't prepared is grossly understating the situation...it's not fair really, how are you supposed to know that you shouldn't enjoy a couple bottles of wine with the owner of the restaurant on a beautiful beach in Chile until 3:00 a.m. right before an earthquake! I mean of course you are supposed to "help" the owner close the restaurant, it would have been rude to refuse his generous hospitality but can I just say that the earthquake detection research centre just found itself a new supporter. Some warning may have been helpful, even if it was just to swig some water and brace myself, oh and perhaps run up hill from the beach!
The airports were damaged and we found ourselves stranded but when life hands you lemons....so we rented a KIA and decided to take a road trip (mmm lemonade), maybe a little more than your average road trip because we decided to drive to Argentina via the Elqui Valley and of course let's no forget that the Andes are sort of in the way too.

Rocky days in Chile

The last night of our holiday in LaSerena is when the earthquake rocked Chile. It is the days that followed the earthquake that inspired me to finally start blogging, something I have been curious to pursue for many years and yet never seem to have the time to explore.

Exploration is all we seem to do now and figure it is time that we start to share some of the journey.

Posts will be random and staggered at best but you know I will keep it real for all to enjoy.