Findlay’s mid-trip thoughts

I am having so much fun on this amazing trip! All of the places we have been to have been such incredible experiences.

One of my favorite memories was when we were on the safari and we stopped at the Maasai village. They had such a different living style from us! I loved seeing the dancing and all of the kids in the school. My favorite part was seeing the little kids, one by one, go up to the chalkboard up in the front of the classroom and say the letters of the alphabet and the numbers 1-10 while the other kids would repeat after him/her. Sadly, in the village, we passed a couple of little kids playing outside with dozens of flies crawling all over them even on their faces, but it looked like they didn’t mind. Later, I asked Peter about it and he said it’s a sign of wealth showing that their family has plenty of food. I thought that was really surprising and interesting. When our driver, Peter, described the village to us beforehand and said we would be stopping there, I was not sure I would like it there but it wound up being one of my favorite stops.

Another fun memory was swimming with my brothers in the Aegean Sea in Naxos, Greece. It was so fun! We could swim out really far because the water was so shallow. The scenery was also incredible with the town to the right and other islands in the distance.

I also really loved the Segway tour in Kraków.  We got to ride on Segways to Kazimierz, the Jewish Quarter, and all over the Old Town. Our tour guide led us around and would stop and teach us about where we were. I liked learning about the city’s history but it was very sad.

My favorite cities have been:

Zagreb (Croatia)

All around Italy

Kenmare (Ireland)

London

Zagreb is so lively and beautiful. There are a lot of people there and they all seem so happy. Italy was also a big highlight. I loved learning about the Roman ruins and the culture and I loved the food! Another city that was incredible was Kenmare (Ireland)! The pretty houses and streets with lively pubs and music drifting out onto the street were really cool. It feels like it would be so easy to live there and I hope I can go back someday. London may be my all time favorite place so far. We saw so many cool sights there. We saw the Tower of London, the London Eye, Big Ben, the Imperial War Museum, and so many other things. We also got together with my friend Poppy and her family which was really fun. 

My favorite food on the trip was in Kraków. We found a delicious Asian noodle restaurant called Ku Ku Noodles. It was so so good!! I hope that there will be soup as good as that in the Asian countries that we are going to. A food that my dad and I are really looking forward to is tom ka gai, a spicy and sour soup in Thailand.

I am also really excited to take the slow boat in Laos. We will be on it for two days and will stay overnight in Pakbeng, a village in Laos on the Mekong River. When we get off the boat we will be in Luang Prabang, which is also in Laos. I am really excited about the boat ride because it will be really relaxing and pretty to see the villages along the river.

I’m hoping to spend my birthday money on snorkeling while we are in Asia. I think that would be really neat. Vietnam will be amazing with the food and getting to meet up with our friends the Moes and Mr Cox.

I have decided that I really want to study abroad in Zagreb. The city is beautiful, it would be really fun to learn Croatian, and there are shops that sell Lindt chocolate. 😁 This trip is inspiring me to keep traveling when I am older.