Wedding of Wonders – The Blog

So, as you could probably tell from our last entry, our trip to Cairo did not exactly start off on the right foot.  We arrived at the international terminal to dozens of hecklers attempting to coax us over to their various storefronts so that they could rip us off with tours, hotel shuttles, etc.  We did our best to ignore their aggressive tactics and finally found the Budget Rent A Car “office” hidden in the far corner of the arrivals area.  Our rental experience was pretty much the most atrocious thing we have ever encountered since the rental “agent” was chain smoking and talking on his cell phone throughout the entire transaction and made us wait around for nearly an hour while he took his good old time preparing our rental forms (there was no computer, printer or modern technology anywhere in sight, so everything had to be written out by hand).  Once our paperwork was complete, the agent locked the “office” and took us to the airport shuttle so that we could ride 10 minutes to a shady off-site parking lot where the car was parked.  It was completely unnecessary to note the existing damage to the car aside from simply noting that it was the biggest piece of crap on the road.  Since the agent did not have any maps available for customers and laughed at us when we asked if he had a GPS, he offered to have 2 of his friends accompany us for the first part of our drive until we reached the main road that leads to Giza.  We agreed since we did not have much of a choice and watched as two grown Egyptian men squeezed into the one remaining back seat.  Although they were rather friendly, we were beyond frustrated at this point since you really shouldn’t have to bring random strangers with you in order to find your way in a car that you just paid over $200 for.  After about 20 minutes, we dropped off the men in the middle of the highway (as they requested) and continued to our hotel.  The drive was absolutely ridiculous (to say the least) since the highway was a virtual free-for-all between the non-existent driving rules and pedestrians attempting to cross the sprawling lanes of traffic regardless of the various medians and barriers erected to prevent such activity in the first place. 

We finally made it to our hotel, but there was no sense of relief as we had hoped for.  We were greeted by armed guards and bomb-sniffing dogs who had to search our vehicle before we could enter the premises.  Luckily there were no drugs or weapons hidden in our 2003 Daewoo POS and we were ushered past the main gate.  Once inside the hotel, another checkpoint with a metal detector stood between us and the check-in desk, but luckily we made it through without incident.  We checked into the hotel and finally got on the elevator that would finally take us up to a clean, quiet place to decompress.  Or not. 

Although we were placed on a non-smoking floor of the hotel, they must have made the switch fairly recently since our entire room smelled like an ashtray.  Not only that, but the furniture and carpeting appeared to have been purchased from a third world thrift store more than 2 decades  ago and probably hadn’t been washed since.  I looked at Mike (who also looked shocked that Le Meridien would put their name on such a dump) and finally broke down.  Not only did I feel completely vulnerable since we had arrived at the airport, but our hotel  did not offer any amount of calm or comfort to improve the situation.  Mike quickly got on the phone and called Star Alliance.  If there was any possible way to get out of Cairo, we would do it.  Fast. 

After almost an hour on the phone, Mike had us on a flight to Rome the next morning and notified the hotel that we would be checking out early.  I was already having major anxiety about the drive back to the airport the next morning, but I didn’t care.  I just wanted out of Cairo as soon as possible. 

Unfortunately, there was one slight problem with our new plan.  Since it was after 4:00pm, the pyramids were already closed for the day and they would not open until 8:00am the next morning.  There was no way for us to take our wedding photos at the pyramids.  We went down to the Concierge and asked if there was any way to get close to the pyramids that night or early the next morning.  He told us that there were 3 “Light and Sound” shows each night (1 each in English, German and French), but that they did not begin until after sunset.  We decided to book the earliest show (which was in German, to Mike’s delight) and keep our fingers crossed that there would be enough light to get our photos.  At 7:45pm, we met the bus in front of the hotel and made our way to the pyramids with our wedding outfits in tow.  Unfortunately, we made it to the pyramids slightly too late and there was not enough light to capture the shots before the show began.  We hoped that the pyramids would remain lit after the show so that we could try to snap some shots of us in the dark, but they turned the lights off immediately after the show.  Bummer. 

The light show itself pretty much cheapened the whole pyramid experience for us.  It started off with a group of men marching out in traditional outfits, playing the bagpipes until the main show began.

The light and sound show itself was a glorified third grade history lesson involving the story of the pyramids and the kings buried beneath them.

It combined projected images (such as a face on the Sphinx) with colored spotlights and laser lights in order to effectively ruin any ideas of grandeur that our teachers instilled in us about the pyramids during our youth.  Oh, and there was a pack of wild dogs that ran in front of the audience during the show as well – nice touch. Long story short…it sucked.  Luckily, we managed to get some decent pictures of the whole area lit up, but there was no opportunity to get a picture of us in front of the pyramids.  Oh well.

The next morning we debated trying to walk as close as we could to the pyramids to get a photo, but the delayed sunrise and heavy fog quickly quashed that idea.  Instead, we snapped a few shots from our balcony and packed our bags (which took about 2 seconds since we had barely unpacked in the first place). 

Luckily we left ourselves plenty of time since it took the garage nearly an hour to find our car.  After paying off 5 guys who were standing around “helping” us, we got in the car, locked the doors and started the drive to the airport.  Somehow we managed to make it back without incident (even without a map, GPS or 2 Egyptian men in the back seat), but once again, we encountered another bump in the road.  The Budget guy was nowhere to be found.  We had called ahead to let him know that we were leaving 2 days early and would arrive at the airport within in the hour, but once we go the office, the door was locked and no one seemed to know where he had gone.  The agent from the Hertz “office” agreed to accompany us to the shady parking lot and fill out our return paperwork (even though he did not work for Budget and had no affiliation with the company at all) since the Budget guy was not around.  He hopped in the backseat of the car, directed us to the parking lot, jotted down our mileage and rode the shuttle with us back to the terminal to complete the “transaction”.  Once we returned to the Budget “office,” the shady “agent” had returned and was back to “work,” talking on his cellphone and chain-smoking cigarettes.  He looked extremely thrilled to see us (NOT) and almost managed to acknowledge us while he chatted to whatever shady friend he had on the phone.  He once again took his sweet time filling out our paperwork even though he knew that our flight was leaving shortly.  After a good 45 minutes of waiting, we finally made it back onto the airport shuttle so that we could check-in at the international terminal.  Free at last!  Or not. 

Once we made it to the check-in counter, the agent told us that they had no record of our tickets.  Fantastic.  She told us to go to the far end of the terminal and ask the ticket desk for our ticket numbers since her records only showed up as “Paper Tickets”.  We ran across the terminal and got in line behind a 70-year-old Egyptian man who didn’t seem to understand that the agent could not accept his wad of cash (that he pulled out from what appeared to be his undergarments) in exchange for a ticket right there on the spot.  Our anxiety was building at this point since we still had to check-in, make it past security and find our gate in a very limited amount of time.  After we talked to the ticketing agent and got our actual ticket numbers, we ran back across the terminal and handed the numbers to the check-in agent.  Still no luck.  She told us to sit down while she called her boss to come over and resolve the problem.  Another 30 minutes or so of waiting and we finally had 2 tickets out of the chaos. 

We ran to the passport counter and waited another 20-minutes for the agent to figure out what a computer was and finally made it to our gate just in time to wait in line for another 15-minutes to get past security so that we could wait in another line for another 20-minutes in order to board the shuttle to the plane.  Once on the plane with the door shut and the wheels up off the ground, we almost felt a sense of relief.  Until the announcement.  A passenger was ill and needed a doctor.  Any doctors or nurses on board should hit their call button and notify the flight crew immediately.  Crap.  With 3 hours of flight time ahead of us and only 30 minutes behind us, we began to worry that we would have to turn around and head back to Cairo.  Please, no.  There was no doctor or nurse on board, but the crew decided to continue onto Rome.  Thank goodness.  We finally caught a break.  Until the puking began.  The sick passenger began vomiting violently for the last 2 hours of the flight.  Although the crew attempted to clean it up and spray as much air freshener as possible, the stench on the plane became almost unbearable as the flight finally began to descend. 

Once we landed in Rome, we parked as far as possible from the terminal and waited for another bus to shuttle us to freedom.  As the passengers loaded onto the bus, things were fairly calm until Queen Pukes A Lot decided it would be a good idea to join us.  Quickly, the same stench that had haunted us for most of the flight filled the shuttle and caused a near riot.  The other passengers, already furious that the flight had been such a disaster, began shouting at the sick woman in Italian, asking her to get off of the bus and take her puke smell with her.  No luck.  Another 15 minutes of the horrible odor and we were at the terminal.  Free at last. 

We made it through customs in record time, collected our luggage, hopped in a cab and arrived at the St. Regis Grand Rome in less than an hour.  Although the hotel is absolutely gorgeous, I didn’t even care at this point.  There was no shady rental car to deal with, no metal detector, no bomb-sniffing dogs and no cigarette smell in our hotel room.  We had clean sheets, a shower without stains from wall-to-wall and finally felt safe in our surroundings.  I love Rome already.

In true Katie and Mike fashion, our trip to China started off with quite a bit of excitement.  Since we knew that there was a problem with my entire around the world ticket, we made sure to arrive at the airport as early as possible just in case there were any major issues at check-in.  We arrived at the Air China counter at 6:51AM (3 hours and 4 minutes before our 9:55AM flight) and waited for a check-in attendant to acknowledge us.  After a few minutes, a rather obnoxious woman told us that check-in did not begin until 3 hours prior to boarding.  Mike glanced at his watch, noted the time of 6:53AM and replied “so, in 2 minutes, then?” and smiled at the woman behind the desk.  She responded with “yes, 2 minutes” and proceeded to flirt with the male attendant behind the desk for the full 2 minutes until she was officially on the clock.  After a (thankfully) uneventful check-in process, we made our way to the airport lounge so that we could grab some breakfast (the automatic pancake making machine was pretty awesome) and take advantage of the free wireless for the next 2.5 hours until our plane was scheduled to board.

While boarding our 10-hour flight to Shanghai (en route to Beijing) from Sydney, we watched as the people in front of us were stopped by crew members and scanned with infrared “guns” on their foreheads.  It was incredibly confusing at first, but apparently this is standard practice in China so that they are able to monitor each passenger’s temperature and check for sickness (H1N1/Swine Flu in particular) before allowing each person on the plane.  We too were subjected to the scanning process as we approached the airplane door and tried our best not to laugh at how ridiculous the entire process appeared since the infrared gun looked almost like bar-code scanners at the grocery store checkout.  After it was determined that we were not in fact attempting to smuggle the next big pandemic on-board, we were permitted to make our way to our seats and prepare for the extremely long flight ahead of us.  I must say, even with the language barrier between us and the Air China crew (some announcements were made in both English and Chinese while others were made in only the latter), the service was absolutely fantastic and the flight crew made us feel at home for the entire flight (the warm towels scented with cucumber were a nice touch before and after meals).

Upon landing in Shanghai, we were told that the H1N1 Hazmat Crew (not actually what they were called, but the name seemed rather appropriate to us) would come on board and take every passenger’s temperature once again before allowing us to leave the plane.  We parked at the gate and watched as 3 men wearing full biohazard suits entered the plane with the same infrared guns we had seen when we boarded the plane in Sydney.  They proceeded to test the pilots and flight crew before moving onto the passengers.  After scanning the passengers sitting in the rows before us, they finally moved on to Mike.  He got the all clear.  Then it was my turn.  After scanning my head with the infrared gun, the Hazmat Crew looked at each other and called out to their partner who had the regular thermometer.  Crap.  This hadn’t happened to anyone else before us.  The entire Business Class section of the plane was now staring at me as if I was diseased.  The Hazmat worker with the thermometer made his way over to me and told me that I had not passed the infrared test and that he would have to perform the second test just to make sure I was okay.  (Aside from the fact that the plane was 100 degrees, I felt totally fine.)  After a minute or two of panic, they decided that I was not an incubator of plague and moved onto the next potential pandemic-carrying passenger.  After about 30 minutes of waiting, the Hazmat Crew found a potential problem in the back of the plane.  Everyone in our section was pointing, staring and gossiping about what was happening in the back, but we could not see what was going on or understand what everyone was saying.  After another 15 or so minutes, they decided to let the Business Class section exit the plane, but kept the entire Coach section for further testing.

We made our way to customs at the Shanghai airport and up to the customs official.  After thumbing through Mike’s passport for a few moments, the official noticed the Mexico stamp towards the back.  He looked up at us, looked back at the passport and asked Mike “When go to Mexico?”  Thankfully we had scrapped our Mexico plans for this trip and were able to diminish the fears of the official by letting him know that it had been more than 3 years since Mike had last been to Mexico City and thus was not subjected to the recent H1N1 outbreak.  We made it past customs and back to our gate (and back to our same plane) to wait for our 2-hour flight to Beijing.  The back of the plane (which had been left behind for further testing and possible quarantine) was still waiting for the results of the H1N1 testing and had been given masks to wear while remaining in the jet-way so that the crew could prepare the plane for the second leg of the journey.  After more than an hour of waiting, they were finally cleared and were permitted to make their way to customs as well.  Phew.  We weren’t all going to die of the Swine Flu after all.

Our second flight was somewhat uneventful.  Mike and I slept most of the way and woke up just before landing in Beijing.  No more infrared scanning this time around, so we quickly made it off the plane and into the Beijing International Airport to retrieve our bags.  After a quick baggage scare (we didn’t know that we had to get our baggage from the opposite side of the terminal), we finally made our way into a cab.  We had the information desk at the airport translate the hotel address into Chinese, but our cab driver still did not understand where we needed to go.  A quick call to the hotel (so that the hotel staff could give the driver directions in Chinese) and we were finally on our way after an exceptionally long day.

Stay tuned for more from China!!!

We’ve made it to Sydney! Normally the biggest challenge crossing the Pacific Ocean and the Equator simultaneously is simply the flight time, but in true Katie and Mike fashion, we decided to make it a little more difficult on ourselves. For those of you wanting to travel to Australia from the US, you do, in fact, need a visa. In all of the planning and preparation, I had thought I had everything under control and we were completely prepared to enter every country on the list — but apparently I hadn’t been completely thorough. I had entirely forgotten to get Katie and I Australian visas and there we were, standing at the United check-in line without permission to enter the country we had tickets to fly to… yep, really smart of me…

Fortunately for us, we had the most helpful airline attendant EVER, Colette Wallace (if you’re reading this, thank you so much!), who quickly managed to get us visas as we were standing there about to check in. We then realized that US Airways (again, the worst airline ever) booked Katie’s entire ticket (all 16 flights) under the wrong name. Needless to say, without Colette’s help, we probably would not have made it.

But we’re here, and extremely excited for our first international destination of this trip! The flight (albeit long) was actually quite pleasant and relaxing, and everyone we have met here have been tremendously kind. My only complaint thus far has been the weather — it is pretty rainy — but we have a fabulous room that overlooks the Opera House and every once and again a break in the weather gives way to a beautiful rainbow.

Regrettably, we have suffered our second injury on this trip: Katie’s left foot. After traversing the treacherous Yosemite trails completely unscathed, the perils of a suitcase holder in our hotel room got the best of Katie. She accidentally kicked the luggage holder when walking and as a result, has a broken and bruised pinkie-toe. Fortunately we still have the ace bandages from my arm wrap so we’re prepared, and we’ll use this rainy weather as an excuse to rest, recover and for me to take my finals for this term at Duke.

We’ll keep you updated once the weather clears and we make our way out to see what Sydney has to offer. Until then I’m off to bog in some brekkie, drink a tinny with the flies and just be a tall poppy. God, I’m such a figjam. Cheers mates!

I’ll simply start off by saying that yesterday was probably the craziest day of our lives. As you probably read in Katie’s previous post, we woke up yesterday morning at 4:00AM, drove for 5 hours to Yosemite, took a bus up to the top of Glacier Point, hiked approximately 10 miles (6 hours) to the Yosemite Valley, then got back in our car and drove another 4 hours to Sonoma. …needless to say, it was a long day.

Our early morning drive from Mammoth Lake to Yosemite was absolutely incredible as we weaved our way through the Sierras on Sonora Pass. The diversity of desert, mountain, valley and forest truly speaks to the beauty of California’s Eastern landscape and definitely helps you stay awake when driving on only a few hours of sleep. Miraculously, our time budgeting was accurate and we arrived in Yosemite just a few minutes before our shuttle bus to Glacier Point. The bus ride up gave me a new-found respect for bus drivers as we snaked along narrow cliffs hundreds or thousands of feet above the canyon below (fortunately Katie was sleeping a good portion of the ride because as you may know, she gets a little nervous in ‘dangerous’ situations).

Once at the top, we disembarked from the shuttle and the true adventure began. Early on, hiking was easy, downhill and dry. Katie and I laughed at what terrible shape we are both in for 23-year-olds and we snacked every so often on some trail mix we brought along. All in all, it was a nice walk through the woods, enjoying the landscape and wildlife (including this rattlesnake that crossed the trail in front of us).

The hike continued for about 3 hours as we descended about 8,000 feet, ascended 2,000 feet, crossed a powerful rushing river and made our way Westward toward the Yosemite Valley. Demanding, certainly, but breathtaking and an amazing way to see the beauty and grandeur of the park.

Just as we arrived at Nevada Falls, roughly the half-way point of our hike (and our target destination for our wedding pictures), we noticed some high winds and a large gray cloud above us — not the best thing to see when you’re 5-miles from camp. At first, we thought it was refreshing (as we were both hot and sweaty from hiking) and sat on the rocks enjoying the view of the falls, the valley below and some much-needed wind and drizzle.

Perhaps we were a little naive, or just too tired to make the connection, but gray clouds, high winds and drizzle usually do not come alone and before we knew it, Katie and I found ourselves being pelted by hail. Then the hail accelerated, grew, and the downpour began. Amazed and in awe by the lighting and the echo of thunder throughout the canyon, we ducked between a tree and a rock to take cover and wait it out.

After about 10-15 minutes of very poor cover from the sideways-blowing ice and rain, we realized that waiting was not an option (especially since we had just passed a bobcat taking cover in a cave less than 10 yards away). We sucked it up, grabbed our gear, and started making our way down the steps (this time of year, and during a storm like this, the steps are some steep, slick granite rocks under about 3-4 inches of fast-moving water).

As we were rushing down the treacherous landscape, I fell and landed on my arm. I thought it may have been broken last night and the very nice girl at the pizzeria where we stopped for dinner had her dad take a look since he was a retired EMT who used to work in Yosemite. Fortunately for me, he said that the only potential break was small and if I wake up tomorrow morning and my arm isn’t black and blue, I should be OK (I woke up this morning, and I think all is good).

We kept on pushing and working our way toward the valley. After another 2 hours of hiking (in the rain and hail with somewhat low morale) we found the most impressive sight of our entire journey — Vernal Falls. Vernal Falls is so powerful this time of year that the water gushes over the falls with the force to spray mist everywhere. This makes for an amazing view, but a pretty dangerous climb down mossy, wet rocks.

Eventually, exhausted, battered and relieved, we made it down to the Yosemite Valley and I can honestly say it was the most physically demanding thing I have ever done (running 10 miles is tough, but hiking 10 miles up and down that kind of terrain is an entirely different experience). We got to the car, changed into some dry clothes, and set off for our 4-hour-drive to wine country.

When we finally arrived around midnight we grabbed some medical supplies (including the world’s natural painkiller – alcohol) and went to sleep, completely exhausted. I apologize for the lack of blog last night, but we were a tad bit tired. I must say, that as much as I make fun of Katie for always being a spoiled little princess, she was a real trooper and did not complain at all. Every time we found ourselves in a terrible position, she just laughed, said “Really?! Really Mother Nature?!” I’ve really got to hand it to her — I was extremely impressed.

After some much needed sleep, we woke up this morning (at 11:45! Yeah!), had a very healthy breakfast of chardonnay and brie, and just let our bodies tell us never to do that ever again. Naturally the best side effect of this kind of physical activity is hunger — a lot of hunger. Which conveniently will be fulfilled by our dinner tonight at one of the best restaurants in the world, French Laundry! Katie and I are pretty tired, hungry and overall in the mood to drink 4 bottles of wine, eat 25 courses and be complete gluttons for the rest of the evening. Tonight should be incredible.

So to recap, I offer the following equation:

10 miles + 9,000 ft altitude + 1 bobcat + 1 rattlesnake + 1 bear + 3 deer + relentlessness wrath of mother nature = 1 unbelievable day

So it is with that behind us that Katie and I prepare our appetites for an unparalleled culinary experience (French Laundry has tailored their extended menu to our trip around the world and will be incorporating global flavors into our dinners this evening). Check back for our experience at the restaurant and several wedding pictures tomorrow. Thanks for reading and we’ll talk to you then!

Dear Officer Schwartzkopf,

It was great meeting you this morning in your beautiful town of Mammoth, CA.  While our time together was brief, we will certainly remember our impromptu get together.  Thank you very much for deciding to let us go with a warning instead of actually writing us a ticket for going 55 mph in a 35 mph zone.  Although our wedding reception is more than a month away, we appreciate this thoughtful gesture and shall consider it to be our very first wedding gift.  As per your suggestion, we did “slow down and enjoy the scenery,” but please note that the view was equally spectacular at 80mph.  Thanks again.

xoxo,

Katie and Mike

Before some of you panic at the potential loss of the two most amazing people that have ever graced this fabulous earth, no, neither of us have contracted the terrifying Swine Flu. It has, however, created a major problem since Chichén Itzá is now deep in the bowels of what may be the worst disease since Monkeypox (you’ve never heard of it before? Yeah, neither have we — that’s how widespread it was).

Being the responsible people we are, Katie and I have decided it is probably best if we do not make our first stop on a 10 country tour in a place with a contagious disease that we can then spread to the rest of the world (Katie decided really, I’m pretty sure we could handle the Swine Flu). But as badly as I wanted to make some joke pretending that I’m at Chuck Norris’ level of invincibility like “Mike and Katie are not terrified of the pandemic spread of the Swine Flu, the Swine Flu is terrified of the pandemic spread of Mike and Katie”, Katie is probably right and we should pick a new location less Swine Flu-ey.

That being said, HELP!!! We need to find a new destination between Philadelphia and San Francisco to spend approximately 2 days (May 16th – 18th). Obvious precedence goes to any location with a world wonder, and the location should be close enough that we can actually get there, see what we need to see, and get to San Francisco in two and a half days (I was hoping for Machu Picchu, but that is just a little too far away). Though preferred, a world wonder isn’t necessary and we are entertaining ALL potential locations. Thus far some of the suggestions that have been proposed are Niagara Falls, The Grand Canyon, Glacier National Park (Canada) and Las Vegas but I’m sure there are more great locations out there (and no Lux, Cincinnati is not one of them). Panama? Costa Rica? Belize?

So please help us out and post comments to this blog post with your ideas, votes, feelings, etc. Feel free to comment on the comments of others and help us figure out what to do!!! We probably need to make a decision in the next week or so otherwise Katie will have an anxiety attack.

There have been a number of other huge developments so I’ll probably start writing a blog every 2-3 days from here on out (since we leave in about 2 weeks) so check back soon!

Thank you to everyone! We look forward to reading your comments and posting our own over the next few days!