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Koh Tao aka Turtle Island
Last January, I had the opportunity to get scuba certified in Zanzibar. At that time, I told myself it was to be prepared to dive the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, however, saving it for just that one country seemed silly when there are so many other places to dive as well! Kaitlyn was not certified, but decided that she too wanted to learn how to dive, so we did some searching on where the best place to learn was. The number one place that popped up was Koh Tao, so we made arrangements to go! We took an overnight bus down to a port somewhere and then a two…
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One Night in Bangkok
I can’t tell you how many times that song has gotten stuck in my head since deciding to go to Bangkok, and I am sure this just makes me an annoying American tourist but I’m okay with that. Towards the end of last school year, when Cheryl and David decided on moving to Bangkok for a new teaching job, we immediately added Bangkok to our list of destinations. (Actually, it may have already been there, but this just confirmed it!) They live in a house in a suburb of the city, which was actually kind of nice to be removed from the chaos but we still have been easily able…
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Biking Backroads and Dining with Friends
On our first venture into the heart of Bangkok, we signed up to do a free bike tour with Cand Bike Bangkok Tours. This was a company started by a young man who had taught himself English and just wanted to do what he loved: bike and show people his city. He took us through alleyways and down streets that we would have never seen if we’d have stayed on the typical tourist track. It was a fantastic experience and one I recommend to anyone who travels to Bangkok. What made this experience even more special was this little 8 year old boy in the picture. Our guide, Prayuth, told…
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Mueang Boran aka Ancient City
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Greek Food and Drink
We didn’t indulge in as much Greek food as we probably should have because we were trying to conserve our money supply as much as possible. In fact, the food we ate the most of here was probably cereal, but here is a glimpse of some of the things we did try.
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It’s All Greek To Me
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Milos, the island of cats
One cannot go to Greece and not check out one of the islands. Even though it is October and the end of tourist season, we still wanted to avoid the more touristy islands of Santorini or Mykonos, so we opted for the island of Milos. This island boasts several beautiful, rocky beaches, amazing views from above, lots of tiny churches and thousands of stray cats. We ended up renting a car to get around and were able to go explore all the island’s nooks and crannies. Though the lack of tourists was a definite plus, it is very windy here in October which kind of was a damper, but the…
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Acropolis and Other Ancient Sites
As any history buff knows, this is the place to go to see old stuff. There are many options when it comes to admissions into these sites, one of which offers you entry into seven different locations for 30 euro. We decided, however, to spend our 30 euro on just the Acropolis entry and entry into the Acropolis Museum. The rest of the stuff you can get a decent enough view of just by walking past it so we didn’t think it was necessary to go inside. I will start by saying that the Acropolis is AMAZING! To stand in front of the Parthenon and be surrounded by these monuments…
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Athens Walking Tour
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It’s All Greek To Me
After making the initial plan to start our adventure in Istanbul, I did a quick flight search to see how much it would cost to hop over to Greece from there. At just over $100, I just couldn’t justify NOT making the stop. Of course, the surprise stop in Romania changed things a bit, but because it was already in our minds that we were going to Greece, we still came to Greece. We are splitting our time between Athens and the island of Milos. It’s the off season so temps are a bit cooler, it’s much windier but, best of all, there are far fewer people here! I’m splitting…
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Greek Food and Drink
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Athens Walking Tour
On our first day in Athens, we decided to ease in and do a free walking tour. I didn’t really know these were a thing until we found the one in Bucharest and now I will never not check to see if a city has one of these to offer. They are fantastic! Our guide was Andrew from Australia who has been a tour guide all around Europe, but in Greece for the last 8 years. Here is what he showed us… Hadrian’s Arch – The Greeks love Hadrian. When under the power of the Roman Empire, earlier emperors had basically just let Greece fall to crap, but when Hadrian…
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Acropolis and Other Ancient Sites
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Bucharest
Wow! What a weird city this is! We only were in the heart of the city long enough to do a walking tour, but even that short bit was plenty to get a glimpse of the layers of history at work here. Here are some highlights of what we saw… Parliament Square Fountain Saint Anthony Square In this little square, you can really see the layers of history. Photo 1 – Saint Anthony Church dates back to the 1550s. Our guide told us that on Tuesdays, women will go there to pray to find a husband. I guess I should be staying here until Tuesday… Photos 2-5 – A hotel…
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Peles Castle, Brasov Old Town and Bran Castle
We took a day trip into the Carpathian Mountains to the land of folklore and mystery, Transylvania. This place was beautiful! It was so nice to see the changing colors of leaves after three years of not experiencing fall. We stopped at two castles and the city (I thought this was just a small town, boy was I wrong!) of Brasov. Peles Castle Peles Castle is located in Sinaia, Romania (not technically Transylvania, but close to it). It was built as a summer home for King Carol I and Queen Elizabeth between 1873-1914. The intricate detail in the woodwork and the sheer beauty of this castle and its location made…
