Breezing through Country # 3

We're on day 10 of our 2 week trip and time is flying by.  The first half of our trip was designed to be the part that was most off the beaten path with busy days and the most challenging travel.  By design, the second part slows down some and is easier, both in terms of the destinations themselves and in the activities we are doing.  That brings us to country # 3.  This country was a late addition to our itinerary.  We had plans to visit countries one and two and then fly to country four (and five depending on who you ask). In doing the research, we found that to fly from country two to four we needed a layover in country three.  This country has something that Coyle and I both wanted to see and understand so we decided to extend our layover for a couple of days to explore.  We arrived yesterday and enjoyed a day of doing pretty much nothing.  Just some wandering around the neighborhood and relaxing around the hotel to reset for the next part of the trip.  

Today we traveled several hours outside the capital city to the site of another genocide.  We had a guide who walked the site with us for several windy hours and patiently answered a million of Coyle's questions as we tried to wrap our heads around what happened there.  The site we visited was lesser known in history because there are not as many remaining records, but the impact was just as great.  In some ways, it was even more impactful because it was not crawling with tourists like some other places are.  Today we learned about the genocide but tomorrow we focus on the resistance.  We love "dark history" but the most important part for us is not the stories of the horror but rather the stories of resilience and resistance that come out of these moments.  

After a day of painful history we lightened things up with dinner at "the second most musical place Coyle had ever eaten at". 

We finished up our night by buying the "banned in the US kinder surprise egg". Coyle was very excited to eat it but afterwards was a bit disappointed cause he thought it "would feel more triumphant!"  

Clue for the day: despite the name we're not in the southwest.  

On the move again

 It's been another busy couple of days on our adventures.  Yesterday we did a lot more exploring of country number 2. After compiling he guesses on social media, blog comments and texts, we did get a couple of correct guesses for country number 2! Guessing for country number 3 will start tomorrow.  

 Our first visit was to an ancient site where we got to learn about the early history of the country and how the site was rebuilt after a natural disaster.  The views were beautiful and it was a nice morning walk.  

The next activity was probably one our favorites on the trip.  We got the opportunity to go to a traditional home and see a cooking demonstration before we got the chance to taste what we made.  Coyle was right up there helping the ladies cook and we loved what that made.  He has big plans to open a restaurant cooking their national dish at home!   

Finally, we headed back to the city and visited a famous market. Coyle loved all the old ladies giving him free samples and we wandered around looking at the piles of spices, watching the butcher and checking out all of the colorful displays.  Then on to dinner where we ate more of the traditional foods that we made earlier - and some ice cream!  

Clue of the day:  we met lots of people here and not all of them had names that started with "K".   

Highs and lows today.

Today was another busy day in mystery country #2 with both fun experiences and heavier topics.  We started our morning riding the subway to the main square.  Coyle was very amused to hear that the people of this city basically tricked the government into building them a subway line. Then we went to see another mother that I wouldn't want to cross and visited several high points of the city.  We got to experience the public art displays including a very silly statue Coyle fell in love with.     

Coyle's favorite thing today was getting to experience one of the required school subjects in this country.  He held his own among the natives!  Afterwards we went to the market to buy him some supplies to bring home so he can keep working on it.   

After lunch, with ice cream of course, the day got a little heavier   This afternoon's tour was all about the genocide experienced by the people in this region, a people who are also struggling with losing a recent war.  We had the opportunity to tour a museum and memorial and I was very proud of how respectful Coyle was and the thoughtful questions he asked during the experience.  It's something I think will stick with him for a long time.  

Overall, today was a great and meaningful day and we're looking forward to venturing outside the city tomorrow. 

(I promise we didn't just eat everyday - but AI gives away too much info if I post any other pictures! We will share loads of pictures when we get home). 

Clue for the day:  we tried to look for the docking spot of a very famous boat but the weather didn't cooperate.  

New country unlocked!

 Coyle and I made it to country number 2 today after a long day of travel.  Guessing is officially closed for country #1 and we had at least one winner!   I won't share who the winner is until we get home but we have very exciting prizes for them!  Between social media, the blog comments and texts to me there were 42 guesses of various regions, countries and cities. (See below for a cheat sheet of the guesses!)  Lots of fun geographic knowledge out there!  

Today was a long travel day where we crossed a land border to enter country number 2.  This country has limited land borders and it's a somewhat rigorous crossing requiring us to exit one country on foot and carry all of our belongs across a 1/4 mile "no man's land" before entering the other country.  Then it was a long drive to the capital where we will spend the next few day.   The views on the drive were amazing - it's a beautiful country dotted with lots of small villages.  The funniest part of our trip today was that we got trapped in a road shut down in a small refugee village. Apparently there was an accident and construction which had completely closed the roads as the police tried to get the traffic moving.  At the same time there was a wedding procession trying to get through.  With the traffic stopped all the men were out of the cars smoking and trying to figure out what to do.  The police agreed to stop all the traffic to let the wedding procession through and one of the men pulled our driver into the procession so we beat the traffic by pretending to be part of the wedding.  I feel like we should send a gift!  

Clue for the day:   Coyle is very excited that tomorrow he is going to be learning about one of the required school subjects in this country! 

1. Arab country
2. South Africa 
3. Middle East 
4. Liberia (2)
5. Denmark
6. Luxembourg 
7. Scandinavia 
8. Greece 
9. Japan
10. Tbilisi Georgia 
11. Tibet
12. Gori (Stalin museum)
13. Singapore (2) 
14. Croatia 
15. Nigeria
16. Uzbekistan 
17. Iraq (2)
18. Pakistan
19. India 
20. Turkey
21. Afghanistan 
22. Egypt (2)
23. Istanbul (2)
24. Cambodia
25. Berlin
26. Monrovia 
27. Russia
28. Abu Dhabi 
29. Dubai  
30. Kosovo (2)
31. Morocco
32. Armenia 
33. Kenya
34. Southern Balkans
35. Transylvania
36. China 

Another day on the road.

 Today was another busy day on the road as Coyle and I spent more time exploring country number 1.  No correct guesses yet although a couple of people are getting closer.  This morning we headed to another museum and also got to see a famous train.  While I didn't get to add to my collection of dead dictators whose preserved bodies I have seen, we did get to see the death mask of one. Coyle also did a little time in the clink.  

Then we spent some time learning about mining in a mining community.  It sure didn't look like it does in Minecraft!  

We ended the day in a very old city and had some time to walk around and explore the town. We checked out a local park and fountain and had a nice evening people watching.  

My very worldly and cosmopolitan son wrapped up a day of global travel the way only he can - with dinner at Wendy's and some YouTube!  

Here's a clue for today:   Jason may have had some trouble in this city but we're enjoying it!  

Our first full day!

 Lots of good guesses so far on the blog but no right answers yet!  It was a busy day today exploring our first city.  Coyle and I took a walking tour around to some of the most famous places including a lot of religious spaces from throughout the history of the country (we blurred the background so we don't give away the whole picture!)  

One of the things that Coyle and I are both interested in is "dark history", or the history of oppression, genocide, despotism, colonization and other dark parts of history.  We are not interested in the dark horrible stories but rather in the resilience of the people who pushed back against this dark history and how nations rebuild afterwards.  Much of our trip is based on this interest and today was no exception.  We visited several museums and we also saw some old printing presses. Coyle enjoyed reliving his "Newsies" days checking them out! We also visited a mother that I wouldn't want to cross  

The most interesting part of one museum was that we were given a tour by an older man who didn't speak English.  Our English speaking guide joined us and translated everything he said.  She had never been there before because this place is not usually on the tours but we wanted to see it.    The English guide was getting annoyed with the guide and partway through the tour she started telling us that she wasn't translating everything he said because she didn't agree with what he was saying because he was downplaying the violence this country faced.  It was a really interesting interaction that illustrated the generational differences in beliefs about history.  

We finished up our day with a sunset dinner at a rooftop restaurant.  Coyle said the ice cream was the best part! 

Here's a clue for today: we learned about boiled birds today which made me think twice about my chicken soup for dinner.  

We made it!

After almost 24 hours of travel from my parent's house on Long Island to our city, we made it to the hotel just in time to sample some of the local cuisine before bedtime!

Coyle was a pro all day but I have definitely learned that when it comes to long flights, a frantic run across the airport to catch a flight, needing to run up an escalator that stopped running 3/4 of the way up and slowly started moving backwards and navigating some difficult immigration rules - 50 is not the new 30!  I'm exhausted over here!  

Tomorrow we really start exploring the city but for now we wanted to share how we picked this trip.  When Coyle was 2 I took him to Ireland to see where his name came from.  When he was 3 I took him to China because he wanted to see pandas.  When he was 4 I took him to Kenya because he wanted to see zebras.  Then came Covid and a long hiatus to our travels.  Two years ago we went to Gander to see our favorite musical and the travel bug came back again for both of us.  The trip we're on today isn't the first, or even the second, iteration of our itinerary.  Our first two plans were changed due to the current state of the world - twice we were ready to book a trip and twice we had to pivot due to the air space dangers in the connecting airports.  So here we are.  Rather than a deep dive into one country like we did in the past, this trip is more of a survey.  We're diving into small parts of multiple countries over the next two weeks - who knows, we may fall in love with a place and spend more time here in the future.

Here's a clue for today:  on the way to the hotel we passed a street named after a US president in order to honor him for the special connection he made with this country