Epilogue: The best and the worst of going around the world

As we travelled, we had lots of adventures. Some good, others not so good. We have put together some factoids from our travels that we thought might be interesting.

Best local cuisine:
1. Sushi in Tokyo
2. Tea and scones in Ireland
3. Rice pudding in Egypt


Best good luck:
1. Making Bejing-Tokyo flight despite being 45 minutes late
2. Upgraded seats on London-Bejing flight
3. Finding granpa Marino's farm in Raccuja


Worst meal:
1. Roadside cous-cous in Morocco
2. First meal in China
3. Ryokan meal


Best meal:
1. Four Seasons italian in Cairo
2. Carbonara in Athens
3. Tepanyaki in Kyoto


Best breakfast:
1. Ashford Castle
2. Four Seasons Cairo
3. The Grange B&B in Scotland


Most incongruous cicumstance:
1. Chinese model with Metallica as ringtone
2. Highly fashionable people w/designer clothes in rundown Moroccan airport
3. McDonald's in Cusco (ancient Inca capital)


Scariest taxi ride:
1. 100+ mph ride from Rome airport
2. Hitchiking in Fez
3. Being questioned about religion by taxi driver in Cairo


Best hike:
1. Pingo river hike in Torres del Paine
2. Coromandel Costal hike in New Zealand
3. Inca Trail


Best Dive:
1. Kuru-Kuru in Uepi
2. Pixie gardens at Great Barrier Reef
3. Elbow point in Uepi


Best Archeological site:
1. Macchu Picchu
2. Pyramids
3. Roman Forum/Collesium


Worst health concern:
1. Food poisoning in Peru
2. Knee problems on Inca Trail
3. busted toenail in Uepi


Worst night of sleep
1. Sandstorm in Sahara
2. 3 am wakeup for Macchu Picchu
3. Freezing cold night camping in New Zealand


Best mistranslations
1. "Passengers who have not oblterated their ticket will be considered without a ticket and obliged to pay a penalty." (Train staion in Italy)
2. "The luminous light of Buddah can get people." (Restaurant in China)
3. "A beefsteak. I wore roasted meat sauce." (Menu item in Japan)


Country with the best traditional music
1. Ireland
2. Peru
3. China


Highest point - Dead Woman's pass - Peru 13,500 feet

Lowest point - Diving bottom of Uepi channel - 110 feet below sea level

Furthest away from home - Sydney, Australia - 8,998.5 Miles

Total distance flown (not including driving and trains) - 54,044 miles

Highest Latitude - Ben Nevis, Scotland - 56 degrees, 47 minutes North

Lowest Latitude - Ushuaia, Argentina - 54 degrees, 47 minutes South

Closest to the equator - Standing on it! Quito, Ecuador

Well, that's it. That is our trip around the world. Anna and I hope you have enjoyed reading about our travels. Thank you very much for coming with us. It was nice to feel like we had our friends and family along with us while we were out there. Now that we are home, we hope to see many of you very soon. For those of you who we met on the road, it was great meeting you, and perhaps we will meet again, in another part of the world.

Since we have returned, we have realized how much we missed being home. Travel always helps us remember how lucky we are to live where we do. We wanted to leave you with a quote by George Moore, an Irish novelist and poet.

"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it." George Moore (1929)