Greece – Ullan Adventures

Interview with Beckett – A Year of Travel Wrap-up

Kirsten / June 5, 2014

Interview with Beckett at the end of our year of traveling (age 7)

Q: Have you enjoyed traveling this past year?
Beckett: Yes. I’ve enjoyed traveling because you can go a lot of fun places like Turkey and Thailand.

Q: What do you like most about traveling?
Beckett: That I get to do fun activities like paragliding and ziplining and stuff. And elephant camp.

Riding an elephant in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Q: What did you like least about traveling?
Beckett: I have to pack and unpack my bag. And as soon as I find somewhere fun, I have to leave.

Q: What toys/games are you happy you brought with you?
Beckett: Stuffies! Stuffies is like everything I brought.

Q: What were your favorite places? Why?
Beckett: Thailand because we went to an elephant camp and took care of elephants for a day and cleaned it, checked the poo, ate lunch then bathed it. And I also went ziplining through the trees in a jungle. We saw gibbons through the trees.

Turkey because I went paragliding and they have delicious pancakes – yum yum. The paragliding was so fun – you were 6000’ up – but the drive was really scary.

Santorini because we went ATV-ing. And Morocco because we went ATV-ing out in the desert and because of the cobra show.

Watching a cobra in the Medina in Marrakech, Morocco

Q: What were your least favorite places? Why?
Beckett: Istanbul. There was just nothing really good to see there. And Spain, there was just nothing really good to do around.

Q: What were your favorite experiences?
Beckett: Ziplining. Taking care of elephants for a day. Paragliding! ATV-ing. Going up the Eiffel Tower. Walking on the Great Wall of China and taking the toboggan down. Ice cream show in Turkey. Yee Peng. Tigers. Turkish Bath.

Beck and Mara running on the Great Wall of China

Q: What were your least favorite experiences?
Beckett: My least favorite experience was trying new foods. The ferry from Rhodes to Turkey – I hate that. I did not like Pamukkale. The scary drive up the mountain to paraglide. Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace in Istanbul were boring.

Q: Did you enjoy being homeschooled?
Beckett: Uhhhhh… don’t know. It was ok.

Q: What was your favorite homeschool subject?
Beckett: Science

Q: What was your least favorite homeschool subject?
Beckett: Writing

Q: What have you learned from your travels so far?
Beckett: That traveling can be fun but also not fun. How bad the ferry from Rhodes to Turkey was. How boring plane rides are. How fun ATVs are. How fun paragliding and taking care of an elephant is. How fun ziplining is.

Q: What were some of your favorite foods?
Beckett: Turkish pancakes. Crepes. Mac n’ cheese from Hotel Letoon in Fethiye, Turkey. Baguettes. Food-go-round. MK in Thailand.

Eating Gözleme (Turkish pancakes) in Calis Beach, Turkey

Q: What do you miss the most about the USA?
Beckett: Having a house and not having to pack your bags every once in a while. And unpack them. Finding friends and not having to leave them.

Q: What will you miss the most about traveling?
Beckett: Going fun places and doing once in a lifetime experiences.

Q: Where do you want to travel next?
Beckett: Go on African safari.

007 — Me-O Veterinary Clinic in Kidzania in Bangkok

118 — Making curry paste at Sammy’s Cooking School in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Washing MaeBonChon in the river at Patara Elephant Camp in Thailand

416 — Feeding a baby tiger at the Night Safari in Chiang Mai, Thailand

FC Barcelona futbol game at Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain

Beckett and his magic genie lamp in Marrakech, Morocco

467 — Loi Krathong festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand

228 — Crossing the Mekong River in a longtail boat from Thailand to Laos

063 — Going Viking at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway

Fresh squeezed OJ from #63 in Marrakech, Morocco — Fresh squeezed OJ from stall #63 in Marrakech, Morocco

Feeding pigeons at Tha Pae Gate in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Tree "snow" in Paris — Tree “snow” in Paris

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Interview with Mara – A Year of Travel Wrap-up

Kirsten / June 5, 2014

Interview with Mara at the end of our year of traveling (age 9)

116 — MaeKwan at Patara Elephant Camp in Thailand

Q: Have you enjoyed traveling this past year?
Mara: Well… it’s fun at times. But sometimes I miss just having a house. But it’s great – I love traveling the world and it’s amazing!

Q: What do you like most about traveling?
Mara: Going new places and experiencing new cultures. And I love to try the different foods. And the different treats are always fun.

Q: What did you like least about traveling?
Mara: I don’t get to have much stuff and it’s kind of hard to make friends when you know you’re going to be leaving soon. Sometimes I just miss having friends and having a real house and being able to decorate it.

Q: What toys/games are you happy you brought with you?
Mara: Well, I’m happy I brought my stuffed animals. Or some of my stuffed animals. And I’m happy I brought my Barbies. That’s pretty much all I brought.

Q: What were your favorite places? Why?
Mara: I loved Thailand because there were so many adventures and there are lots of crazy markets. I loved Paris because I wanted to go there all my life and I SO LOVED going up the Eiffel Tower. And I loved Hong Kong because there was a restaurant we called “Noodle Girl” and it was soooo yum! Santorini was AM-AZ-ING!

Me in front of the Eiffel Tower for the first time!

Q: What were your least favorite places? Why?
Mara: Well, that’s kind of hard but Spain was the worst place we went. But it was still pretty darn good. And in Istanbul, all the restaurants served Turkish food which got boring. Plus the Grand Bazaar was just ok. There are so many stray cats and dogs which got scary.

Q: What were your favorite experiences?
Mara: I loved the elephant camp in Thailand. It was UNBELIEVABLY cool! And I also loved the crazy markets. I liked the Noodle Girl restaurant in Hong Kong – it makes me so hungry for grilled steak. Yee Peng was amazing! Great Wall of China! Marrakech ATVs were awesome! Seeing my family paraglide was neat. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France was amazing! It was so cool. And there were lights on it that blinked and made it looked like it sparkled.

All smiles while warming up after the Forbidden City

Q: What were your least favorite experiences?
Mara: Pamukkale (in Turkey) was ok. And Tiger Kingdom was ok. I really disliked the Louvre, Notre Dame, and La Sagrada Familia. The Alcazar (in Seville, Spain) was bor-ing. The Parthenon was boring. I disliked the ferry from Rhodes to Turkey because the sea was so rocky and wavy and over half the people threw up. Climbing up the Kotor wall was just so long and boring.

Q: Did you enjoy being homeschooled?
Mara: Yes because less school hours. And I don’t have to wake up early, early, early. I have the nicest teacher in the world. I also liked the way she taught multiplication and division.

Q: What was your favorite homeschool subject?
Mara: I don’t have one. I do like multiplication.

Q: What was your least favorite homeschool subject?
Mara: My least favorite was spelling.

Learning about Ancient Greece and hosting our own Olympics

Q: What have you learned from your travels so far?
Mara: A lot about how boring planes are. And how rocky and wavy ferries can be. And how annoying it is to wake up early. I also learned a lot about geography. I also learned how to negotiate. And how fun tuk tuks are. And I learned how annoying it is to have everything you own fit into a suitcase. And that elephants are fun and amazing creatures.

Q: What were some of your favorite foods?
Mara: Pizza in Fethiye, Turkey at Nil Bar. Steak at “Noodle Girl” in the Hong Kong airport. And Nic’s in Chiang Mai, Thailand had great meatballs and pizza. The baguettes we had in Spain were AMAZING! Mint tea in Marrakech. Mmm mmm. The crepes and macarons in Paris – yum! The gyros in Santorini and the olives in Athens were good. I also liked sushi and coconut milk straight from the coconut in Thailand.

I did NOT like the orange hot dog under the Eiffel Tower. Blahhhh.

Q: What do you miss the most about the USA?
Mara: I miss being able to talk to kids in English. And I miss English TV. I miss going to swim team. Girl Scouts! Toy stores!

Q: What will you miss the most about traveling?
Mara: I’m going to miss the food and the cultures and going new places.

Q: Where do you want to travel next?
Mara: Egypt to see the Pyramids. And Russia – I like snow.

139 — Cooking Thai food at Sammy’s Cooking School in Chiang Mai, Thailand

454 — Loi Krathong festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand

224 — Longtail boat trip on the Mekong from Thailand to Laos

Riding a bull at a carnival in La Herradura, Spain

Europe Greece

5 Days in Gorgeous Santorini

Chuck Ullan / April 17, 2014

In short, WE LOVE SANTORINI!

Subtle enough? We’d heard of the sapphire-blue waters, cute white villages, and breathtaking cliffs along the crescent of the caldera, and it all lived up to the promise (and then some!) Easily one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever been.

On our first day, we just laid low and poked around Fira a bit. Though Fira is the hub of the island, it’s still really small and only takes a few minutes to walk around.

We were blown away with both the views and all the cute houses, walkways, and almost everything else. It really does ooze charm and romance!

020 — First impression: holy crap, this is gorgeous!!

083 — The volcano rising from the sea in the middle of the caldera

Sunset our first day was really killer!

297 — Fira is gorgeous with the afternoon sun!

On our second day, we hiked a couple miles to the nearby villages of Firostefani and Imerovigli. Beautiful views of buildings and ocean. We loved it so much we decided to add 2 extra days to our trip.

067 — Most of the walk was along a path like this.

171 — Looking back towards Firostefani in the foreground and Fira down below

195 — Cool little stone houses like this are all around.

165 — Mara wanted to pose and I’m not sure if Beckett is mocking or playing along.

After some rest back at the room, we took the bus out to Oia at the Northern tip, which is famous for it’s sunsets. There were a few clouds on the horizon, so it wasn’t as spectactular as the day before (though still very nice!), but the village is really cute and worth a visit just to look around.

330 — Cool view of the moon after sunset

On our last day, we rented ATVs and went around the Southern part of the island. They were in kind of rough shape and it felt like we were taking our lives into our hands at times, but we all had fun and saw some cool stuff!

047 — Loving their trip around the island

042 (2) — A view of Fira, Firostefani, and Imerovigli from the South.

I had been wishing for a break from Greek food, and while we were driving along, we found a Mexican place (amusing name – Senor Zorba). After a little more exploring, we doubled back and ate there for lunch. Good food and a great view!

012 — Cool house we saw while exploring Emporio

013 (2) — Donkeys really are used by the locals, not just for tourism and rides up the cliffs.

Some of these paths are pretty narrow!

Finally, that’s not a sunset, it’s a moonrise over a nearby island, just a few hours before we left.

A final note – if you go to Santorini, I heavily recommend Costa Marina Villas. The rooms are really cool, a short walk from the Fira town square and Marina provided us with such a friendly, helpful experience. She helped us with several recommendations, printed out travel documents for us, and even arranged a little room for us after we’d checked out where we could rest while waiting for the ferry. If you contact her through their website, you can get a better deal than from the booking engines.

Europe Greece World Travels

Medieval Times in Rhodes, Greece

Kirsten / April 16, 2014

You ever walk around and expect Knights on horseback to storm out of a castle?

Me neither, except in Rhodes!

Rhodes Town (on the island of Rhodes) is dominated by walls and castles dating from the 1300s to 1500s, when the presence of Christian Knights was at its peak.

The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site and it really feels like you’re walking back in time. Or like you’re in Monty Python’s “Quest for the Holy Grail”, which is even better!

Castle – check!
Cobblestone streets – check!
Buildings made of stone – check!
Knights who say “Ni!” – Sadly, no

It seems like each little side street is more adorable than the last, and it’s hard to believe it’s really modern underneath the surface.

The funny part about enjoying this so much is that it wasn’t part of any master plan to visit. We had wanted to go to Athens and Santorini, and a stop in Rhodes was needed just so we could catch a ferry to Turkey.

Originally we planned to spend 4 days in Rhodes, but we extended 2 days in Santorini, which cut into our time in Rhodes. We would’ve liked to stay longer in each place, but we ran out of visa days and had to be out on the European Schengen visa zone.

We first fell in love with Rhodes when we arrived at our place inside the old city walls and strolled along the little side streets into the big squares.

Our second day, we explored the medieval castle known as the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes. If you picture “castle” in your mind, this is it!

128 — Uniforms representing what was worn at the time.

There are several mosaics in the castle that have been relocated from other sites.

Outside of the castle is the Street of the Knights:

If you notice in the above picture, the streets are cobblestone but not in the usual way. They put the stones sharp end up instead of flat so they weren’t the most comfortable things to walk on especially in flip flops.

Here are a few pictures from walking around town:

040 — Cars now drive through the old wall gates

029 — There are a few outdoor spots with old mosaics preserved.

Two days in Rhodes was plenty and I really don’t know what we would’ve done with 2 more days. Not that there isn’t anything to go see and do, but after schlepping around Europe for 3 weeks, we were happy to explore the old town, the castle and just wander around. Plus, we were happier to have the 2 days in Santorini rather than here so the trade-off worked out. That said, I was sad to leave Rhodes and Greece and would love to return some day.

Educational Europe Favorite Moments Greece

The Acropolis and Parthenon in Athens, Greece

Kirsten / April 11, 2014

Visiting the the Acropolis and Parthenon was never that high on my priority list. I always figured I’d get there and it’d be cool to see, but it wasn’t a place I just HAD to visit. I definitely got more excited to see it this year as I taught the kids Ancient Greek history. And once our travel plans included Greece, we decided to spend 2 days in Athens mostly just to see the Acropolis and Parthenon.

A little refresher: the Acropolis is the name of the gigantic rock in the middle of the city. The Parthenon is only one of the buildings on top of the Acropolis but clearly the most famous. The Parthenon was started in 447BC as a temple to the Goddess Athena who was the patron of the city of Athens (hence the name). The building and most of the statues and carvings have been destroyed, largely by Christians and Muslims that took over the city in the last 2000 years. The worst damage to the structure itself came from an explosion in 1687.

There is a new museum that contains what is left of the pieces of these statues and also show models of the original Parthenon and what the statue scenes were on the front and back pediments. Both sides told a story: one of Athena winning Athens from Poseidon and the other side shows Athena’s birth from Zeus.

Model of the East pediment of Athena being born from Zeus's head — Model of the East pediment of Athena being born from Zeus’s head

Model of the West pediment showing Athena winning Athens from Poseidon

After visiting the museum, it was time to hike up the Acropolis and check it out. You pass some ruins and this cool amphitheater on the way up. It was a neat little stop off and a great excuse to rest and catch our breath.

Once we got to the top and saw the Parthenon, I have to say I was blown away. The building is impressive even though its missing all of its statues, pediments and friezes and is largely destroyed. But one can just imagine what it must have looked like when it was completed. I so wished I could travel back in time to see it in all its glory. And to see the magnificent statue of Athena that it housed but has sadly been lost. I kept trying to imagine what it would’ve been like to be here 2400 years ago and was so in awe of the buildings.

071 — The pediments were in the triangles at the top of the building

104 — The pediments were in the triangles at the top of the building

And then there are the views of Athens from up top. You get an almost 360 degree view of the city and can even see out to the sea. Chuck and I could’ve sat there for hours just taking in the views.

Another neat building on top of the Acropolis is the Erechtheion or “Old Temple” of Athena.

Lastly, here are some pictures of the The Propylaea which was a monumental gate at the western end of the Acropolis.

Europe Greece World Travels

2 days in Athens, Greece

Kirsten / April 10, 2014

I’ll admit that I hadn’t heard the greatest things about Athens, Greece. Dirty, crime-ridden, crowded and scary were just some of the adjectives I’ve heard over the years. So when we decided to go to Greece, we knew we’d fly into Athens but only allocated about 36 hours in the city. Our idea was to get in, see the Acropolis and Parthenon, and get out.

I didn’t expect to really like it there, but I did! The food, the people, the vibe of the city. It was all great. Our first morning we had breakfast at this little local cafe and tried Greek coffee and had some bizarre “omelette” that wasn’t half bad. But the best part was being surrounded by locals who were enjoying coffees and drinks, smoking and having lively conversations with their friends. It really felt like a community and where people stop what they’re doing to just hang out and be with friends.

First up of course was the Acropolis museum then a visit to the Acropolis. From there we wandered to Monastiraki which is the old flea market area full of little shops and restaurants.

And then it was time to eat! Who knew all 4 of us would LOVE Greek food?!? I was shocked both my picky kids were happy with their meals and Mara has become my little olive eater downing so many we lost count!

Why yes that is me with olives and a local beer!

The square we ate in was great for people watching AND it had a great view of the Acropolis as well.

For some reason, many of the shops around Athens (and a little bit on Rhodes too) sold big, wooden penises. Yes, I said penis. They were generally life-sized although they had mini ones and jumbos at some shops, they came in both black and natural wood and appeared to be keychains?!? I have no clue. Maybe someone from Greece can explain this to me?!? FYI, No, I did not buy one. I’m kind of kicking myself now as I think they would’ve made great Christmas presents 🙂

Get your wooden penis keychains here folks!

Only 2 Euro! Your choice of size and color!

I loved all the different views we got of the Acropolis as we walked around the city.

The next morning we walked over to The Temple of Olympian Zeus which was built in the 6th century BC. Back in the day, it was the largest temple in Greece but so little is left it’s hard to imagine what it looked like in it’s heyday.

Later that afternoon we walked to the Ancient Agora of Athens where Socrates would ask the market-goers the meaning of life! Plato even walked these streets. Aside from walking on the same ground as Socrates and Plato and seeing where Socrates spoke, we found the rest of it pretty underwhelming.

243 — Socrates would speak just outside of this building!

Sadly, then our time was up and it was time to board our ferry to Santorini. After a stressful trip to the ferry port, we set sail through the Greek islands and waved goodbye to Athens.