The Best of the Best...Europe 2008

1. Best Quote: "Why don't Dubai me a drink?" Logan

2. Best Abstract Artist: Piet Mondrian (various locations)

3. Best Rain: Austria while biking

4. Worst Rain: Dublin (incessant)

5. Best Olympic Moment: Tie: Usain Bolt's 100, 200, and relay records OR Yelena Isinbayeva's pole vault record

6. Hardest Climb: Austrian castle where they kept Richard the Lionheart

7. Worst Hostel: Budapest

8. Worst Bugs: Vilnius (flying ants and other sick things)

9. Best Book Bought: Body and Soul: Photography: Krakow

10. Best Ice Cream: Prague

11. Best Movie Popcorn: Vienna

12. Worst beer: any of that sick citrus beer...like Hoegarden

13. Best Hotel: Hotel Ibis, Budapest

14. Worst Number: 15, 000

15. Best Number: 15, 000

16. Saddest Day: August 24th--had to leave

17. Best Restaurant: Dada, Riga

18. Best Bus Drugs: Fu Manchu

19. Best Fries: Mannekin Pis, Amsterdam

20. Best Gift: Cog's or Collette's (to be based on reaction)

21. Best Beer: St. Norbert (dark), Prague

22. Least Surprising Surprise: Lost Luggage: Day 1, Dublin

23. Best Hostel: Traveller's House, Lisbon

24. Favourite Saint: St. Anthony

25. Best Coffee: Cafe Merced, Bilbao

26. Coolest Building: The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao

27. Best Movie: The Dark Knight

28. Hottest Women: Riga, Latvia

29. Best Book Read: Dubliners by James Joyce

30. Best Drunk: With the English Boys in Lisbon

31. Worst Drunk: No such thing

32. Best Music Moment: "Bobby Jean", Bruce Springsteen, Lisbon

33. Best painting: "The Garden of Earthly Delights" by H. Bosch, Madrid, Spain

34. Worst painting: Anything by Lucio Fontana you talentless hack...

35. Best Dream: The one where one of my students has an affair with Billy Joel and I give her grief because he is obviously too old for her.

36. Worst Touristy Thing: The O Bus Tour in Lisbon

37. Best Touristy Thing: The Salt Mine in Krakow

38. Best Noise: The Hives

39. Worst Noise: The power saw outside my window at 330 AM, Madrid

40. Creepiest Art by a Super Famous Artist: El Greco

41. Worst Architectural Idea: Outside Glass elevators in Madrid at the Sofia Gallery

42. Best Chocolate: The Belgian Chocolate Shop in Trakai, Lithuania

43. Best Brother Moment: Building a Lego Building

44. Best Sister Moment: Engaged in Europe

45. Best Rock: Pena Palace Mountain

46. Best Pun: Buying Amber for Amber, Vilnius

47. Worst Movie: Indiana Jones and the Interdimensional Time Travellers

48. Best Irony: The Nazis helped to find the mass graves of those killed by the Communists in order to lay the blame on the Jews (somehow).

49. Best Day: Tie: Biking with Deanna and Hali; Eating Steak with Logan and Krista

50. Biggest Mistake: Not jumping off the bridge into the lake at Trakai Castle