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Competitours Europe 2026
  • Sarah McCabe
  • Sarah McCabe

Competitours Europe 2026

Russell and Sarah traveling Europe on a Magical Mystery Tour Read more
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  • Trip start
    July 25, 2026
    Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe
    Team introduction video
    Team introduction video

    Who? What? Where? When? WHY???

    July 23 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    Russell and I are heading off on a Competitours.com adventure. We did this 10 years ago, and had an absolute blast, so we are looking forward to this immensely.

    This is a 10 day trip around Europe. We know the city we are starting in, and we know the ending city, but everything else will only be revealed en route. We are paired in teams of two and will compete with the other teams on tasks each day.

    One of the other teams is Alex & Adrian, Russell's brother and nephew. So expect some sibling rivalry!

    I plan to start adding travel content this weekend, so check back then to see the fun. To tide you over until then, you can watch the video we made to introduce our team name and mascot. Let's just say, we don't understand what a mascot is supposed to be, and leave it at that.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe
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    Leaving SFO

    July 25 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    In an effort to speed up my adjustment to jet lag, I woke up at 4 am for our 5:30 PM flight to Dublin, Ireland.  My goal was to be so sleepy by the time we boarded that I would just sleep the entire way.  

    Plus this gave me plenty of time to actually pack, as opposed to just thinking about packing, as I had done all week. 

    Russell and I were tasked with coming up with a logo for our team.  And with our team’s superpower.  And with making a short video introducing those. 

    Since we had plenty of time at the airport, we did all of those tasks while sitting in an airport bar.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe
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    Dublin: Historic home and street scenes

    July 26 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    The flight was somewhat empty so Russell and I ended up in 4 seats between the two of us. Which made it possible for me to relax and stretch out and actually get some sleep.  Russell however spent the entire trip watching videos.  

    So after we made our way to the hotel and found some lunch and checked in, Russell and Adrian zonked out while Alex and I went off to tour this historic home (14 Henrietta). It was built as a wealthy aristocrat’s town house in the 1700s and then in the 1800s was converted to a tenement house. They have restored some of the rooms to match what the looked like.  I found it very cool, except I kept nodding off due to jet lag. 

    Then we wandered off back to our hotel, with a quick stop in a pub with live music.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Nametag challenge

    July 26 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    We had one last task before we start the Competitours part of the trip and that was to come up with name tags that identified us as individuals and our team. It didn’t take long before we came up with the idea of using those cardboard coasters that they give away in every pub.  Done!Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Dublin last day

    July 27 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    We are both still fighting jet lag so we didn’t wake up until 10:30.  It was noon by the time we checked out, far too late to get a traditional “full Irish breakfast.”  So Alex, Adrian, and I headed off to a pub for lunch and then off to do a little sightseeing.

    Russell rented a city bike and biked off to the Google office for the day.   He got there eventually and had lunch before a getting some work done. 

    Alex and I saw the inside of the Guinness tasting room where they sample their experimental flavors.   Then we went to see the inside of a whiskey tasting room. 

    Then it was back to the hotel to meet up, pick up our luggage and off to the train station to catch the train to Kilkenny.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Day 1: Kilkenny (Kilkenny Castle)

    July 28 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    After another very bad night’s sleep, we woke late and barely had time to get coffee and stumble down to the hotel lobby for the official start of Competitours Europe 2026.  

    Ari (our fearless leader and mastermind of all we will endure) and Steve his mentor/henchman led us off to a short walk to Kilkenny Castle.  Our first challenge was a brief scavenger hunt that was just to ease us into the game. Russell and I teamed up with Lauren, whose teammate had to drop out at the last minute, so she is running solo.

    After the scavenger hunt we gathered at a pub where the owner, Tommy, fed us Irish stew made from his dad’s recipe.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Day 1: Kilkenny (Hurling)

    July 28 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    After lunch, Tommy led us on a short and leisurely (neither) stroll (hike) to a hurling field (pitch?).  There we were introduced to the Irish sport of hurling. This is similar to lacrosse or field hockey, in that you are trying to move a ball around on a field with a stick. 

    We learned some basic moves and then had a challenge to demonstrate our proficiency in those moves. The first move was to use the bat (“hurley”) to get the ball (“slioter” pronounced “slitter”) off the ground and into our hands. As you can see from the video, Russell was a machine, but he wasn't good enough to overcome my incompetence. 

    The final challenge was to shoot on the goal (with a goalie who wasn't cutting us much slack).  Russell made two impressive shots (for his only two attempts) and carried our team to second place with zero help from me.  

    After the challenges, most of the people played a short game just for fun. I decided that discretion was the better part of valor and named myself official photographer.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Day 1: Kilkenny (Pulling pints)

    July 28 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    After hurling, we had a more leisurely paced walk back to the pub where we had a new challenge!

    This one was testing us on whether we could pull a perfect (or at least pretty good) pint of 3 different types of Irish beer: a lager (Harp), am ale (Smithwicks) and a stout (Guinness). 

    We each got to practice on a half pint of the lager. Practice went well for us. To make the actual lager pour even more difficult, they peppered us with simple math problems while we were pouring in order to simulate the distractions a real bartender would have to endure from inquisitive customers.  We were implacable and poured well.  

    So the next pint they made the pourer (me) wear a blindfold while their teammate (Russell) talked them through the process.  Let's just say that not all our beer went in the glass.  

    Of course that could  have been due to the fact that a whole bunch of practice pints and competition pints had been poured by that point and were just there for the drinking. Russell and I did not abstain. 

    The Guinness pour was the hardest of all. Then we were asked if we knew what it meant to “split the G”. We guessed correctly that it meant to drink the beer down to the middle of the G on the glass labeled Guinness. We weren't quite successful, but we made a pretty good try!

    After a very full day, we went off to a local restaurant and had a good dinner. By the end, we were both sure we would quickly collapse into a good night's sleep.   Spoiler alert, we didn't.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Day 2: Kilkenny (Irish dancing)

    July 29 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    The next morning we had to get up and packed and checked out and breakfasted and luggage dropped off and down to reception by 10 am.  Which wouldn't have been so hard except once again it was 3 am before I could fall asleep and 4 am before Russell could.  

    So we were dragging, and tired (and sore from hurling) so it was a bit rough to discover our next challenge was … Irish dancing!   

    This was a two part challenge.  First we had to learn a line dance as a pair in a group. When you combine my lack of rhythm with my general physical ineptitude with my sore legs, it was guaranteed we would be less than stellar.

    Let's just say even though I was trying to concentrate on the footwork, and ignoring the hopping I was supposed to do, I still looked like a puppet with its strings cut.  Russell, however, wasn't terrible. All those hip-hop dance classes paid off!

    The second part of the dance challenge involved learning and then performing an Irish jig.  Which should have been easier, except the jig was split up into two parts. For the first part they took Russell away and taught him the dance. Then he had to come out and teach it to me.  For the second part, I had to teach my part to him.  

    Then we had to perform it.  Again, I totally sucked.  And that was even after we after they slowed the tempo down significantly. 

    At least we had a lot of fun!    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Day 2: Kilkenny (Irish drumming)

    July 29 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    Our final Irish challenge was an introduction to the bodhran (rhymes with SOW-lawn), which is a handheld Irish drum. Since it is a relatively small instrument, we could each hold one in our laps. 

    We learned two slightly different rhythm patterns and then played along to music with (much slowed tempo). And then we did it again with two more patterns.

    It may sound simple but it was really challenging.  I tried to channel my inner Mom, since she is so proficient on washboard, but it was not to be.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Day 2: Kilkenny to Switzerland

    July 29 in Switzerland ⋅ 🌙 79 °F

    We had to rush the end of the drumming not so much because we were in danger of missing our plane, but rather because the bus driver had someplace to be after dropping us off.  This meant we have no time for lunch after we stopped drumming.   

    We were so sad to leave and a big shout-out to Kate O'Brien and Tommy Hackett for planning and implementing such fun and engaging and challenging events. 

    On the drive to the Dublin airport, they finally told us that we were heading to Switzerland and we had a 2 hour drive from the airport to our hotel.   This means that for those people who managed to find food at the Dublin airport (we did) it had been about 8 hours since breakfast. For those who didn't it was even longer. 

    By the time we landed, and got our luggage, and found some food at the airport (for those who didn't find anything in Dublin), and boarded our bus, it was 11:30. Well we did lose an hour to time zones, but nonetheless, it was late.

    We got to the hotel at 1:30 and even though I kept telling myself we had to be up and on the bus at 8 am, my brain wouldn't listen and I didn't fall asleep until 3 am. 

    Russell bought a bottle of wine at the airport, but there were no wine glasses in the room. So he decided straight from the bottle was better than paper cups.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe
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    Day 3: Lac Léman (Swiss chocolate making)

    July 30 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

    The next morning I was really dragging due to an entire week of sleep deprivation. 

    However some of that tiredness evaporated when I walked into the breakfast room and saw the stunning view of Lac Léman and the surrounding mountains.  This trip may not be relaxing, but it is worth it!

    It was about a 30 minute bus ride to Maison Callier, the oldest chocolate company in Switzerland. 

    We knew we had to do something chocolate related and we were a bit intimidated when they displayed this beautiful statue, but they were great at guiding and teaching and before long we were molding and assembling pieces like … well, not like pros but like enthusiastic amateurs.  

    Our first lesson of the day, “Chocolate senses fear.”

    We had to build the elements of the statue (cube, ball, tentacles, flower petals) and then assemble them into our vision. Our flower petals set up too flat and so our flower started to fall apart so we decided it was the Empress of Spring who was running away from summer and holding her fallen petals. 

    We thought we were pretty clever with our concept, but we ranked dead last in presentation, so it seems we were the only ones who did.  Oh well, at least we had fun.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Day 3: Lac Léman (Fondue dinner)

    July 30 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    After the chocolate adventure, they drove us to the village of Gruyeres, which is obviously famous for their cheese. 

    We wandered around the little village and ended up at a nice little restaurant with an amazing view.  We had a great fondue and then after dinner we all headed back to the hotel. 

    About half the group then went out for karaoke.  Russell and I skipped that, but the front desk did have some beer and wine for sale so he stocked up there.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Day 4: Lac Léman (Sheep herding)

    July 31 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    The next morning we had to be packed and checked out and on the bus by 8 am (again!). We were warned that we might get dirty but none of us guessed what our activity would be: sheep herding!

    We met this lovely shepherdess named Nathalie and her dog Scotty. Scotty was amazing and so so so enthusiastic. All he wanted to do was watch Nathalie and make her happy. 

    So first Nathalie demonstrated how she and Scotty would move a small flock (6 sheep) and then we were split into groups of 4 and we had to guide these sheep through an obstacle course.  

    We figured out early on that 3 of us needed to be the sheepdogs to pressure the sheep away from us and one of us would be the shepherdess and lead the sheep. We also figured out early that the shepherdess needed to NOT make eye contact with the sheep. Just turn your back and walk slowly where you want them to follow 

    There were 2 flocks and after a few times of working with them, we had to stop and give them a break.  So then we tried using a hand spindle to spin wool into yarn. Our yarn was pretty lumpy, but we did manage to spin a few feet in a short amount of time (5 minutes?). i

    Then we had to do the same course, but we weren't allowed to talk to each other at all.  This was the event that we did the best in.

    After giving the sheep another break, they took the fence down that separated the 2 fields and we had to work with both flocks on the same ground.  They added a new rule that if one of sheep bolted, you were done. I think we lasted less than 30 seconds for each of our two tries. Or maybe it was for both of them combined.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Day 4: Switzerland to France

    July 31 in France ⋅ ☁️ 88 °F

    After our morning of sheepherding we got on the bus and headed to the nearby town of Ouchy.  Alex, Russell, & I joined a father-daughter team for lunch at a restaurant that served mussels.   Russell was in heaven. Until a swarm of bees descended on our table.  And that was the end of lunch!

    Then it was about a 2 hour drive to Annecy, France.  This is a very quaint town where the old town is quite picturesque. 

    Unfortunately, this turned into a very frustrating evening for us.  A bunch of people went out and rented bicycles. Russell tried to join them, but could only find bike shops that were closing.  Meanwhile, I decided to try to walk down to the lake and maybe get some gelato. 

    However, I got twisted around and by the time I realized it, I had been walking for 20 minutes in the wrong direction. By that time I was not too far from the hotel so I decided to just cut my losses and go back. Oh, did I mention that it kept on and off raining?  Well it did. 

    So Russell and I are tired and frustrated (and damp) and can't find a decent place for dinner so we finally ended up at a burger/poutine place by the hotel. Since they didn't serve beer, we took our food back to the hotel. 

    We sat on the public bar area and soon after we finished our food, several more people from our group showed up and the drinks started flowing. I kept sending Russell back to the bar for more drinks. Let's just say mistakes were made.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Day 5: Annecy (Orienteering)

    August 1 in France ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    The next morning I woke up with a sore throat and so groggy from sleep deprivation. And the whiskey. Let's not forget the whiskey.  

    We rode a bus out to a forest on a mountaintop and discovered that our activity for today is orienteering.  First we did a little practice run to learn how to use their maps and to spot the orange markers. Then we were turned loose on the full course. 

    Russell figured out pretty quickly there was no way we could get all the markers, so we needed to focus on a strategy that optimized points, even if that meant walking right by some that were low hanging fruit.  

    My job was to look at the ground to make sure I didn’t trip and to follow Russell.  Every so often, I could spare some attention to look up and help spot the little orange flags. 

    Due to Russell’s strategic planning, and my not tripping we ended up finishing in second place, by a wide margin. Woohoo!

    There was one flag location (that we weren't allowed to skip) that was a long-ish hike, but led to an absolutely amazing view of Lake Annesy and the mountains. 

    I didn't feel any better by the end of the hike, but I didn't feel much worse either, so yay?

    They had a toilet with running water, but when I saw the interior of the facilities, I decided I could hold it.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Day 5: Annecy (Lunch & Raft Building)

    August 1 in France ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    Our next stop was a restaurant right by the beach. Ari treated us all to lunch and we had a lovely time resting up for the afternoon challenge. 

    After lunch it was time to get dressed for the next challenge where we promised we might get wet (and dirty). 

    We were divided up into 3 groups of 4, 4, and 6. Fortunately we were in the group of 6, so it wasn't bad that I sat out most of the challenge. 

    What was the challenge?  Raft Building!  First we had to do a bunch of short challenges, ring toss, build a tower out of Jenga blocks, etc. The results of those challenges gave us one of three raft kits. The best kit (the Red Team - us - had all you needed - and more). The second kit (Yellow Team) had fewer construction elements and the final kit (Blue Team) had a minimal set. 

    We then had 30 minutes to assemble a raft that was seaworthy and then to paddle it out in the water in two races. I opted out of the paddling. Which turned into a bit of a problem when one of our teammates slipped on the algae-covered boat ramp and went down hard. She was padded by her life vest and hair bun, but just to be certain, Steve escorted her off to urgent care (she was fine) but we were down a paddler. 

    Did I volunteer to help out?  No I did not.  So Ari stepped up to help out for the second race for our team.  In the first round Blue Team's raft disintegrated but the lake was pretty shallow so they just took two pontoons and lashed them together with a pole and walked/swam it through the course. 

    I think Ari took a dive for us, because somehow we came in behind the pontoon pair.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Day 5: Annecy (Visiting The French Laundry)

    August 1 in France ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    I was exhausted so as soon as we got back to the room I assembled the dirty laundry, passed off to Russell and headed to bed. 

    He took it off to the nearby laundromat.  Soon he was joined by several others from our group.  David remarked that they were literally visiting the French Laundry. 

    After he dropped off the clean laundry he headed off toward the lake where the largest firework display (ever?) was about to start. It was evidently really amazing with drones and water spouts and it lasted over 45 minutes.  By gradually moving through the crowd, he eventually got a really great viewing spot. 

    I saw none of it, but I did hear a few pops in my sleep, if that counts.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Day 6: Annecy (Via Ferrata)

    August 2 in France ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    I woke up feeling better.  We didn't have to meet the bus until 10 am.  Then it was about a one hour ride out to another mountain.  Today is the Via Ferrata day!  

    The Via Ferrata is a way to make mountain climbing safer and somewhat easier. You are strapped into a cable/rope system which is firmly attached to the side of the mountain, so you can't fall off. They have installed iron rails in places where there are no good footholds. But even with all that, you fundamentally have to move your body weight up a semi vertical space. 

    If we didn't want to do the VF, we had an option of doing a hike instead, but I decided to at least go up the mountain and see what it looks like. 

    It was a pretty long hike to the bottom of the VF.  I (along with several others) circumvented much of the hike by riding in the back of the pickup. Russell, Alex, and Adrian all hiked. The hikers showed up pretty hot and tired.  

    The initial 20 feet of the VF was intimidating, so I opted out.  Steve stayed behind with me while everyone else clipped in and climbed up. After they were gone, he convinced me to give it a shot. We went up maybe 40-50 feet, [I have been reliably informed we went close to 100 ft, so, Yay me!] which included some horizontal (easy) bits as well. 

    Then we turned around and hiked all the way down the mountain. 

    Meanwhile, the rest of the group continued about 500 feet up to the top of the mountain and then down, using a different VF path 

    On the way up the mountain, they had the option of doing a zipline or a monkey bridge, both of which are really hard for people who are afraid of heights. 

    Of course Russell picked the more difficult option (the monkey bridge). This is a set of 3 parallel cables arranged in a triangle with a flat top. You put your feet on the lower cable and grasp the other two with your hands and you make your way across a chasm. Kind of like an assisted tight rope walk    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Day 6: France to Italy

    August 2 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    After we all met up back at the bus, we had a long drive into Italy.  We stopped at a rest area to get sandwiches to go.

    The Via Ferrata wore everyone out and even Steve and Ari zonked out on the the bus.

    We had dinner reservations in Tremezzo that we were trying to get to. It was a nice restaurant very close to the hotel and we were hoping to have time to get cleaned up and make ourselves pretty. 

    Unfortunately travel delays (long backup at the border followed by a mandatory stop for the driver) evaporated all our dinner prep time.

    On the plus side, that gave me a lot of time to work on these blog entries. It has been a really exhausting trip and most of my spare time has been spent napping.  Plus I had to have a place with good wifi to get copies of photos other people took.

    So we had about 5 minutes to throw our stuff in our room and head out to the restaurant.  The moment we walked in we were struck by the view of Lake Como.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Day 6: Tremezzo (dinner)

    August 2 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 81 °F

    Dinner was a short walk away to a table on a terrace overlooking Lake Como.  

    An anonymous donor (OK, it was us) wanted to pay for a really nice dinner for the whole group.  The setting was amazing. The food ranged from fair to very good. Russell had fun curating the wine list.

    It was a lovely evening, but once again I was exhausted and had to cut the evening short. Lack of sleep and my lingering sore throat has really depleted my reserves.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe
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    Day 7: Via Ferrata marketing videos

    August 3 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    We didn't win any points for actually doing the Via Ferrata because they don't want to encourage us to even edge up to something unsafe for the sake of points in this competition. So our only points for yesterday came by making a marketing video where we are trying to sell someone on bringing the VF to America.

    Russell and I worked on our video at breakfast and uploaded it literally at the 10 am deadline. We were pretty pleased with our effort and were somewhat disappointed to find out we took third place. Then we saw first and second place and yeah, they were way better.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Day 7: Bellagio (Art)

    August 3 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    The next morning we once again had a relaxed start time (10 am!) and we weren't checking out of the hotel, so we got a decent night's sleep, except I kept waking up in pain every time I swallowed. Advil for the win!

    We walked across the street to the water taxi and then rode across Lake Como to Bellagio. From there it was a short walk to a lovely botanic/sculpture garden on the grounds of a historic building. 

    Our challenges today were all art based.  They were led by the very talented artist in residence. 

    First we had to make blue tempera paint starting with eggs and ground up lapis lazuli stone.  Then we had to paint a water color. Then we had to guess what the artist was drawing. He would get a few squiggles in and would pause and then someone would yell out “porpoise!” or “rose!” and they would be right. Then we had to make a swan out of clay and finally (after a break for refreshments) we had to make a clay sculpture of our own choice and design.  

    Suffice it to say we got zero points for our efforts, but we had a lot of fun.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Day 7: Swimming in Lake Como

    August 3 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F

    It was a hot and sticky day so when Ari suggested heading to a nearby public beach, he had quite a few people wanting to join him. 

    Ironically, Ari got distracted by playing beach volleyball and never joined the swimmers. I stayed in the room for a while and then eventually came to swim, err, wade in the cold water.

    After swimming we headed back to the hotel to change and then most of us headed off to a nearby restaurant for a relaxed dinner.

    I then headed in for an early night, since I was still fighting off that cold.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeCompetitours Europe 2026Sarah McCabe

    Day 8: Tremezzo to Sarnico

    August 4 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 91 °F

    We had to get up and check out again this morning, but wasn't an early departure. We checked out and got on the bus around 10 am and then drove to our next (and final) city: Sarnico.

    We were originally supposed to end in Parma, but logistically it ended up making more sense to end in Sarnico.

    Once we got to the hotel, our rooms were ready, so we checked in and went off to lunch at a restaurant that Adrian found. It was only about a 10 minute walk, but it was technically in another town. Sarnico and Paratico are two small towns separated by a tiny river.  The food was very good and soon it was time to head back to the bus and head off to our next challenge.    Read more