To summarise the 5 weeks of our return from Vancouver to Auckland is like reading the blurb of a good book and saying that's that. So here's my blurb.
Actually, a blurb may not be necessary, 3 words is all I need. New. York. City. Arrival into NYC was perfection. Perfection. Everything imaginable. Crushing heat, whizzing yellow cabs, streaming people, flashing neon and unlimited possiblity. Many a guide book will say New York can never be comprehensively explored in lifetime, but we tried our best in a few days. Rockafeller, Empire, Ground Zero, Central Park, Times Square, Natural History Museum, subways, Brooklyn, the movie sets. We did it all. We loved it. Even a long island iced tea, in long island. New York is not the cradle of civilisation, but when it ends (civilisation) New York with be the resting place.
But there's nothing quite like ending an action packed 5 days with a red-eye overnight flight to Iceland. Landing in this most bizarre of lands the rising sun was saying "get up!" but my body was saying "sleep!". Cruising around this budget busting landscape it is best described as unique and like nowhere else I've ever been. 24 hours, and $500 later we flew to Paris.
Ah Paris. It smells. Its dirty. Yet it holds some magical illusion of beauty and romance. At Sacre Couer I gave Shona a little bit of jewellery and we headed to EuroDisney. That place is quite the enigma. Its Disney. But its French. Kind of like a salad from McDonald's I guess. Enjoying a quiet beer in a Jumanji themed restuarant the reality of "Oh shit. Now I have to plan a wedding" hit Shona. We spent the afternoon chasing down a Disney princess, with beer on our breath.
We found our way to Slovakia. And the food. Err. Umm. Fried or umm fried. These are the culinary options. Carbohydrates, meat and fat are the only 3 food groups found here. But the 63 cent beer was a nice antidote.
The city of Florence was next on our list, with a little detour through Pisa. I never liked Italy, but Florence changed my mind. I thought I'd eaten the finest gelato in the city shortly after arriving, only to find the next day truly the finest ice-cream on the planet. The knee buckling divinity of the flavours had my pupils dilating.
Rome was conquered next. It reminded my why I didn't like Italy in the first place.
Moving on, quick keep up, its Barcelona. Celebrar! No Joshua, that horrendous piece of Spanish you're trying to spit out is not being understood, because a) you mangled it and b) Catalan is the native language here. Officially the coolest city in Europe. The place, littered with architectural gems by their beloved Antoni Gaudi is inspirational. I could rattle off a few more adjectives to begin to express how I feel about the place, but what it did was stoke the fires of my travel fuelled heart at a time I thought I needed a bit of a rest. That's how great the place is. Wandering through Gaudi's magnificent park Shona wondered what he must have been taking to envision such fantastic creations.
We enjoyed our time in London, with a huge dose of familiarity sweeping over us. Wallowing in nostalgia we spent a frantic few days hurtling ourselves around both the city and countryside. Even the schedule shattering delays of the London Underground didn't prevent us from falling back in love with the place, such was the bias of our rose tinted glasses. Plus the scones with jam and cream at The Ritz were the finest baked good I've ever devoured.
This meant only one thing left to do. Get on a plane and head to Oz. Each with our own flights, I had a few hours in Brunei and Shona enjoyed a stop in Singapore airport. Arriving in an exhausted heap, the familiar feeling of "new place = new adventure" once again revitalised my body and with more than a few things to do we had another hectic adventure in Brisbane.
Now I rest in Auckland. No more time zone changes. No more flights. I sit bewildered by what we accomplished.The adventure has ended.
Fortunately another has just began. How exactly do you plan a wedding?
Josh and Shona.
