Happy New Year everyone! This year has been amazing for both Dee and I. We’ve managed to suspend our jobs (Dee permanently!), got our apartment rented out, possessions all packed and hopped on an airplane to explore the word! We’ve seen and done some pretty frickin awesome things and written about most of it. So here it is, what we think our top 10 things we did this year traveling.

The DVS top 10 of 2009

How could we not include our Tour de France experience in this? While it wasn’t the most enjoyable experience riding 50 km’s, half in the pitch black dark… it was a most memorable experience.


Newgrange was one of the first ancient wonders. that we saw, and they were darn impressive. You could touch the mounds and walk in a wooden henge

Banksy vs Bristol Museum was one of the best museums we’ve been to. Poor Ronald, why are you sitting on the ledge? Feeling guilty of peddling your death fries and enslaving people to crappy food?

AK-47’s and Naughty Squirrels Who doesn’t want to shoot the real thing? The Ak47 we shot was probably held in some scared kids hands during the Cold War.


Thorpe Park This ride is temporarily shut down for an essential clean up.

Oktoberfest The full, Golden liquid cup of beer and friendly Belgium’s.

Guadi and Parc Guelle were amazing. Parc Guelle was probably one of the coolest pieces of art I’ve ever seen.

Roni Size and Get Loaded in the Park. ’nuff said.


Eiffel Tower is on everyone’s list and we drank undercover in front of it. Unfortunately there was one regret.


A week partying on Sardinia with 4 awesome friends and drum’n'bass. What more do you really need in a vacation? Sun and Bass was wicked.

And a special thank you to Dee’s Aunt and Uncle, Barbara and Artur, who live in Baden-Baden  Germany. You welcomed us into your home not once, but twice! Both these times were on short notice and we really appreciate it!

Things have been pretty rough this past week… internet connection is going up and down and up and down to a combination of solar and/or generator power issues and the satellite. So once again we did not get our interview over to the now very infamous Pamplemousse. We’ve been spending our time sitting on a beach, playing cards and meeting new friends.

I can already feel Pamplemousse’s fury of anger from here… please don’t fret! The email is really on it’s way!! We promise!

Okay its not a furry friend, but just wait! Read on!

We were wondering along the romantic cobble stone streets of Riga, Latvia. Going past little old stone building after little old stone building. All of them are built right up next to each other with barely any gaps or greenery between. Suddenly, we came across a big opening that was protected by a very old and rusty gate as seen above. What was beyond this gate looked quite out of place, an old abandoned building that did not match any of the Riga’s beautiful architecture.

Anything look familiar in this picture to you?

Instantly, as Scott and I spied the black and white cat through the gate we both got the feeling we have seen this before… Anyone seen the movie the Animatrix? Remember the one were a girl follows her run away cat into an abandoned building that is claimed to be “haunted” but it’s actually just a glitch in the Matrix that causes all the weird stuff to happen there.

Yup, we meet Uki the cat from the short Animatrix film, “Beyond”, and once again reminded ourselves to think….

Are we really here?

Until next week…. keep your furry friends close and the furrier ones even closer!

Searching online for a hostel to stay at is always a bit of a challenge… Every traveler will have their own set of preferences of what to search for in a hostel. Our list goes as follows:

• Price
• Rating
• Location
• Free Wifi
• Free Breakfast
• Other Bonuses

The very first to appear on our hostelbookers.com search for a hostel in Riga, Lativa was named “The Naughty Squirrel Backpackers”. How can someone not be intrigued by that name? So we eagerly clicked on it. It hit almost all of our personal preferences and more!

• Great prices, even for a private room. ($22.76 CDN per person)
• 95.4% rating (249 out of 260 recommended)
• Located right in the center of Old Riga
• Free Wifi
• The only non-hit on our list was No free breakfast

Almost about to click back on the browser and search for a hostel with breakfast we noticed The Naughty Squirrel’s bonus…

• Rated in the Top 10 worldwide
• Bar with happy hour specials
• Free shots if you call heads or tails correctly
• No communal showers
• Nice common room
• Free walking tours
• Free linen and freshly made beds, etc etc etc….. the list goes on…
• Oh and what’s this… Shoot AK-47’s in a soviet bunker?? Hell yeah!!

Of course Scott was sold… Soviet Bunkers? Guns? How can you go wrong? The next thing we know we are clicking on book now and whipping out the credit card.

And that fast decision became the best hostel booking we have made to date. We will now be comparing all of our hostel experiences to the Naughty Squirrel. If you’re ever in Riga, Latvia you must spend your time there and say hi to the staff for us!

Oh wait… what was that? What about the Ak-47’s?? Well since you asked….

I have never shot a gun in my life. I figured shooting a gun in Eastern Europe in an old soviet bunker sounds like the perfect place to try it… and for 30 Lats each it was hard to refuse! The price got us Eva (a Naughty Squirrel staff member) as a “tour guide”, transportation to the bunker, and then 5 rounds on a handgun, 5 rounds on a AK-47, and 3 rounds on a pump action shot gun. Our tour group was a total of 7 people. With me being the only girl…

Feeling excited we walk down the bunker stairs… it smells old and dank with a soft aroma of burnt something. We get instructions from what sounded to me like an Russian accent gun lover and the next thing I know its my turn.

Probably the most power I have ever felt between my hands… but it sure makes action movies seem even less realistic! It’s not easy to fire a gun, let alone aim it and actually hit your target. Faster then you expect, your out of ammo and your turn is over. Did I even hit the target??? I couldn’t tell, it was too far away in a poorly lit room.

Would I shoot a gun again? On this trip if another unique experience turns up, yes I will for sure. But back home to just go to a firing range, I don’t think so. It wouldn’t be worth the price back home!

Check out the rest of our photos from Riga, Latvia at our flickr gallery. We love comments on our photos… So, if you don’t have a flickr account, spend the minute and sign yourself up!