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At 12:00 AM, our three racers departed from Miami International Airport (MIA) to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), landing at 2:09 AM, on an American Airlines flight. Upon arrival at JFK, the racers had half an hour to grab something to eat, before their flight at 2:50 AM to Cardiff International Airport (CWL).
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This KLM Airlines flight to Cardiff was ten hours and thirty-five minutes, with served lunch and an hour and forty-five minute stop in Amsterdam to get food. The racers arrived in CWL at 6:25 PM (Cardiff time-zone), and had hailed a taxi by 6:30.
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After check-in, the racers headed to their shared room to get ready for bed, as they had eaten dinner in Amsterdam. It had been an exceptionally long day, and they were due to wake up extremely early the next morning, so the racers had all fallen asleep by 8:00 PM.
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Over a span of seven days, three racers will complete five coffee related challenges in five different countries in four different continents around the world.
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Our racers woke up aat 5:30 AM to get ready for today's challenge. Only a mile away from the Cardiff Marriott, Coffee Barker opened at 6:00 AM. The walk was about fifteen minutes, and they arrived just before a line started forming.
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Each of the three racers ordered a Flat White and breakfast. By 6:30, each of them had received their orders and began to write their poems about the coffee, in English. There were no restrictions on length or type of poem, other than that it was not allowed to be a Haiku or Renku, as the syllable count may differ in Welsh. The racers had finished by 7:15 AM.
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The Cardiff Central Library was only a few blocks away from Coffee Barker, only .3 miles (.4 km). The racers enjoyed the five-minute walk to the library in the brisk, 50 degree Farenheit weather, and the beautiful architecture of the city, particularly the unique structure of the library.
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By 7:30 AM, the racers were inside the library, utilizing every resource available (with the exception of the Internet, of course) to translate their poems. They consulted fluent Welsh speakers with particularly difficult words or phrases and grammar. At 12:00 PM, their time was up, and the racers had completed poetry about coffee in Welsh...just in time for lunch.
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Just across the street from Cardiff Central Library was Wally's Deli, which was known for an excellent lunch. The racers walked over, arriving just after 12:00 PM to order their meals. They ate, posted pictures of their food on Instagram, and then left around 1:00 PM to go back to the hotel.
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The cab ride to the Hilton was about fifteen minutes, and the racers arrived to check in around 12:00 AM. By 12:15, they were in their rooms, ready to wake up at 7:30 AM the the next morning.
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The racers reached the hotel at 1:05 PM, and spent the next half hour getting ready for checkout and to get to their next flight. By 1:45 PM, the racers were at the airport, ready to board their 2:00 PM flight to Athens, Greece.
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At 2:00 PM, KLM flight 1058 left from CWL to Amsterdam. After an hour and thirty minute layover, the three racers departed from AMS to Belgrade, where they ate dinner during the layover. After leaving BEG, they arrived in ATH International Airport at 11:45 PM (time-zone change).
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After the racers woke up, one of the racers had called Creme Royale, a local coffee shop in Kallithea, Athens, oto ask if they could come to the shop and learn to make a Greek-style coffee. At 7:45 AM, the racers caught a cab to Creme Royale. They arrived just after 7:50 AM.
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By 8:00 AM, the racers had ordered breakfast and Greek Coffee, to taste it before they learned to make it. At 8:30 AM, they were ready to learn to make the cup. They were taught by a bilingual barista, who showed them the techniques used in Creme Royale to make their coffee unique. A Creme Royale regular was asked to sample each of the racers' coffees, and at 9:30 AM, their challenge was completed.
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The racers caught a cab to the Hilton at 9:35, after thanking the barista and owner of Creme Royale. By 9:45, they were back in their rooms, packing for their 10:45 flight to Antananarivo, Madagascar.
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The cab ride was about fifteen minutes, and the racers were at the airport by 10:15 AM. They began to board their flight to Antananarivo at 10:30 AM.
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Turkish Airlines flight 1850 to Istanbul departed at 10:45. They arrived an hour and twenty-five minutes later, and after an hour and thirty-five minute layover (where they got lunch), they boarded Turkish Airlines flight 607 to Nairobi. Finally, after an hour and twenty minute layover, the racers board their final plane to Antananarivo: Kenya Airways flight 756.
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The racers arrived at TNR International after eating dinner on the flight at 1:55 AM (time-zone change) and took a cab from the airport to the Madagascar Golden Peacock Hotel. At approximately 2:00 AM they arrived at their hotel, and around 2:10 they were in their rooms, ready to go to sleep.
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The racers woke up at 9:00 AM, and caught a cab to the Cookie Shop ten minutes away from their hotel at 9:30 AM.
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At around 9:40 AM, each of the three racers ordered coffee and breakfast. By 9:50 AM they had their orders, and they sat to locate where in Madagascar the beans used in their coffees were grown on a map. By 10:30 they had finished, and were ready to catch a cab back to their hotel to get ready for their next flight.
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The racers caught a cab back to the hotel at 10:30 AM, arriving at approximately 10:45 AM to pack for their next flight to the Philippines.
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The racers called for a cab around 10:55 AM, and arrived at TNR International Airport at 11:00 AM.
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At 11:30 AM, Air Madagascar flight 10 departed TNR International. Lunch was served on the way to Bangkok, where the three racers has an hour and five minute layover. They bought dinner for their next plane, Philippine Airlines flight 731. They landed at 5:00 AM (time-zone change) in Manila.
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Just after 5:00 AM, the racers caught a cab to the Manila Marriott, and, two minutes later, arrived at their destination.
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At around 11:00 AM, the racers woke up to get ready for their day. They took a cab to KSEM Coffee Shop, and about five minutes later, they had arrived to order.
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At 11:05 AM, the racers ordered their coffees and breakfasts. They sat down to eat at around 11:15 AM. At 11:30, they had finished, and were ready for the long drive (and boat ride) to Mindoro.
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The racers' cab drove almost an hour to end of the island, where, at 12:30 PM, they boarded a ferry to take them to Midoro. At approximately 2:00 PM they arrived at Puerto Galera, where they drove another hour by cab to Orange Dutch Cafe.
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At approximately 3:00 PM, the racers arrived at Orange Dutch to order their coffees and lunch. They ate until around 3:45 PM, and checked the Philippines challenge off their lists.
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The racers took another cab back to Puerto Galera, another hour. By 4:00 PM they were boarding the ferry. They arrived back at Batangas at around 5:30 PM, and took another cab back to their hotel, arriving at about 6:30 PM.
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Once the racers arrived back at the hotel, they got ready to leave on their next flight to Vancouver, Canada. They left the hotel by cab at 6:45 PM, and were ready to board the 7:30 flight.
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The Philippine Airlines flight 104 departed from MNL International at 7:30 PM to San Francisco. They ate dinner and breakfast on the plane, and after an hour and twenty-five minute layover, they boarded Air Canada flight 1843 to Vancouver. They arrived at 7:30 PM (time-zone change) in YVR International.
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At around 7:45 PM, the racers caught a cab to the Pinnacle at the Pier. They arrived at approximarely 7:55 PM, where they checked in, and were in their room by 8:00 PM, ready to sleep off a very long day.
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The racers awoke at 9:00 AM. They were ready by 9:15, when they walked across the street to Tim Hortons, a very popular Canadian coffee chain.
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The racers ordered breakfast, and ate until 9:45 AM. Once finished, they asked if they could go behind the counter and get the recipe for the famed Canadian Maple Donut. The workers all agreed, as long as the racers made a batch for the shop, as they were running low. One of the cooks taught the racers how to make a Canadian Maple, and, once they had made a batch successfully, they were given the recipe...and an extra donut.
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The racers finished their challenge at around 11:00 AM, and they walked back to the Pinnacle to complete their journals of the week's events before their evening flight back to Miami.
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The racers were ready to leave the hotel around 7:00 PM, where they caught a cab to get to YVR International. They arrived at around 7:15 PM.
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At 7:45, the racers boarded American Airlines flight 282 to go to the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.
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The racers arrived at 12:45 AM (time-zone change), and had a tight, fifty-two minute layover before their American Airlines flight 2266 to Miami. They reached MIA International at 4:45 AM (time-zone change).
