A friend of mine, a 1st generation Turkish American, recently took a trip to Turkey to show her 12 year old daughter their ancestral homeland. Her daughter was curious about her heritage and her grandfather wanted to treat her to this opportunity. I interviewed this Turkish beauty about her very meaningful summer trip.

 

 

 

Why did you visit Turkey this summer and had you ever been before?

I have been to Cyprus and Turkey before. My dad lives in Turkey half the year. He has a summer home in Cesme which is a seasonal place for Turkish people.

It’s in the Aegean Sea. My daughter is 12 years old and we wanted her to see the place of her heritage. 12 years old is a good age for this because I think if she had gone any earlier, she wouldn’t be able to appreciate it.

What were your itinerary highlights? What do you recommend that people do and see in Turkey?

Cesme is a wonderful place. There’s a variety of things to do there from windsurfing to seeing historical places. Cesme is one of the top two places in the world for windsurfing!There is a place on the bay where they served good food. Bodrum was also one of my favorite places. It’s beautiful and reminds me of the pictures you see of Greece. We hired a driver (which is a common thing to do in Turkey) to take us to Bodrum and Ephesus. In Ephesus, we went up a winding road to the house of the Virgin Mary. We lit candles to make a prayer. It was a very spiritual experience. Istanbul was my #1 favorite place. The Blue Mosque is impressive. The Basilica Cistern, near the Blue Mosque, is an ancient water system where they have found two columns held up by Medusa heads.

Topkapi Palace was wonderful. Istanbul had the grand bazaar which had approximately 4,000 stores. Purses, gold, silver, home decor, clothes, etc……There were back stores that they took us, too. It was interesting to see how they spoke to us once they knew we were Turkish. They suddenly offered us discounts.

 

Bosphorus, which is the strait that divides Asia and Europe, is a recommended place to go. It connects the two continents. We ate a meal there at nice restaurant. It is especially nice at night. Bosphorus is pretty amazing. A lot of weddings happen at a restaurant on the Bosphorus, next to the river. There was a Mosque next to us and every few minutes, they let out these pretty lanterns that had a candlelight flame in the air that would fly up and then disintegrate. The restaurant is called Feriye Lokantasi.

If you could describe the perfect Turkish meal, what would it be?

Doner kebab which is the Turkish “gyro”. The fish is prepared differently there and it was very good. They always serve Turkish coffee after every meal and they also serve Raki (a Turkish alcoholic drink).

 

 

 

Turkish meals are big. Borek is a pastry with cheese that we had at a darling garden restaurant that we enjoyed. They had it at the bazaar in an adorable outside garden restaurant where they are made fresh! Describe your Turkish heritage and what it means to you? Are you fluent in Turkish and are you full-Turkish?

 

 

I am 100% Turkish….my whole family is. Yes, I’m fluent. I was so impressed with the hospitality in Turkey. For example, a friend of my parents, who didn’t even know me, was so hospitable to me and my daughter!She took us to the Izmir textiles and treated us so well, simply because she was friends with my parents! We drove to Bodrum to see my 90 year old great uncle and his daughter (my cousin). He is the only one alive on my grandfather’s side of the family. They were so open and generous…..so excited to see us.

Are there any Turkish customs you learned on your trip that you’ve incorporated in your routine back home?

The breakfast every day consisted of bread, cheese, tomatoes, olives and a hard boiled egg and I’ve found myself eating more cheese now.

What was the flight like to Turkey?

It was 12-14 hours I think. We flew to Houston, Istanbul, Izmir and then took a car to Cesme.

Any hotel recommendations?

Conrad Hotel in Istanbul had great security! They even checked under the car! The Four Seasons by the Blue Mosque has a rooftop view that is beautiful!

How did this trip enrich your life?

The hospitality was impressive. I was very proud of the palaces and mosques there. We don’t have the roots here where I live and many of my ancestors are no longer alive so it was important for me to show my daughter how amazing her culture is.

www.fourseasons.com/istanbul/

www.conradhotels3.hilton.com/en/hotels/turkey/conrad-istanbul-bosphorus-ISTHCCI/index.html

www.video.nationalgeographic.com/video/exploreorg/turkey-blue-mosque-eorg

The mountain towns in Greece have a beauty to them that highlights different details from the islands. The architecture varies and takes on influential styles from the settlers of various regions. We focused on chapels, monasteries and monuments while traveling through the mountains.

In 2009, we showed our sons the significance of several mountain towns across Greece.

Our route was fantastic! My husband is wonderful when it comes to navigating these routes.

• Delphi- to tour the Oracle of Delphi
• Arahova-  the quaint town of wools, embroidery, flokati rugs
• Meteora–the monasteries atop rock pillars
• Metsovo-stone paved streets in a ski village, a one-time Vlach settlement
• Ioanina-capital city of Epirus
• Igoumenitsa-coastal city

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From my journal: “The roads were very steep and the view is breathtaking and unlike any other we’ve seen. Walking up to the monastery at Meteora makes you experience this view and be part of it. Walking through this most peaceful, holy monastery with no tour guide makes it a meditative process. Seeing my sons light candles in this dark chapel is a full circle experience for us as parents, knowing this is why you bring your kids to Greece as Orthodox Christians and Greek children. Leaving the monastery, a guide gives you a loukoumi, probably symbolizing the sweetness of this experience.”  “After some time at Meteora, we drove on to Metsovo with its high roads and hairpin turns. My husband asked me to read something from the Greece guidebook so I would be distracted from the danger. We came upon some tunnels through the mountains that were 3 miles long! Metsovo was quaint and had a German and Austrian feeling to it. The village was full of specialty cheeses, costumes, wines, honey, wool and unique cuisine. The village architects have done an incredible job keeping the integrity here. Men were making a cobblestone road there and we found a haunting, old, moss-covered church set back in a fenced park on a panoramic hilltop.  We ordered kokoretsi from a restaurant where all the locals were–and that is always a good sign! On to Ioannina, we found a fortress Aslan Pasha with Arabic writing on the tombstone, cannonballs, dungeons, ruins, etc. It was an overcast day. We walked by the first lake we’ve seen on this trip and watched boats from a cliff by the fortress. My husband has fond memories of this city from his childhood trip to Greece so it was nice to see hear his memories.”

Follow this lesson plan to build trip itineraries with your family:

Travel Lesson Plan: Integrate the Concepts

© Gina Michalopulos Kingsley

Stories like this can be found in the book, A Magic Carpet Ride. Click on link below to order.
https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Carpet-Ride-Michalopulos-Kingsley/dp/069271393X’

We stayed in Barcelona for 3 nights and 4 days. There’s a Barcelona Pass which is a 2 day Barcelona card that guides you in exploring the city. This electronic s

mart  card offered free admission to many museums and attractions.  A few years ago, some of the options included:

• free access on public transportation,
• the train to and from Barcelona airport,
• a panoramic tour on the shuttle boat “Las Golondrinas”,
• discounts in more than 26 museums,
• the Barcelona Zoo
• the Aquarium
• The Barcelona Walking Tours
• shops, shows, rental cars, etc   Click on the link below to see the updated version of the Barcelona Card:

http://www.viator.com/tours/Barcelona/Barcelona-Card-with-Guidebook/d562-2512bcard

One of the highlights of Greece is the cuisine! The food is marvelous, the ambience of every restaurant is quaint and the presentation and hospitality is authentic. Depending on which islands and regions you visit, the delicacies and local flavor can vary.

For example, on the island of Crete, we discovered a different kind of Greek salad. The usual Greek salads are called horiatiki salata: country (style) salad. But in Crete, they feature the Dakos salad. This was incredible!! The main difference was the crouton-bread on top! This salad was so filling and satisfying, that many times we filled up just on this delicious salad for a “light” lunch and feasted more at night on a bigger dinner. When we came back to America, after the trip, we tried to copy the Dakos salad by finding the big crouton style bread or drying out bread ourselves to add to the salad. It was close—but the major ingredient lacking was the Cretan vibe, the ocean breeze and the vacation feeling of being in Greece! A Dakos Salad recipe I use combined from various recipes:

• 1 loaf rustic bread, cut into chunks
• 1 cup Greek olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• capers (optional)
• dill, oregano or parsley (optional)
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 red onion thinly sliced
• 1-2 English cucumbers diced 2  tomatoes,
• diced 12 ounces creamy (or French style) feta cheese, crumbled

 

Greece offers so much beauty in its views, landscapes, flora, beaches, mountains and picturesque villages. The most common images of Greece are probably the blue and white buildings of the islands. However, there are other colors of Greece that are captivating. The terra cotta buildings and rooftop gardens are charming and bring so much tranquility to the village life. The potted geraniums in Greece must be the happiest flowers in the world! 🙂 What more could a plant need to thrive than Greek sunshine and a loving Greek gardener to care for it?  Sometimes, on our walks or drives, we saw villagers sitting on their balconies in pleasant company with their beautiful plants.                             We could feel their tranquility, vicariously. It was apparent that they valued simplicity and truly applied the philosophy ( that we all should) “Happiness consists not in having what you want, but in wanting what you have.” Gardening to the Greeks is like breathing. They don’t just want beautiful flowers around them, but also useful herbs to garnish their meals. Vegetable gardens for their homemade meals and fruit trees for their preserves and desserts are perfected skills of the Greeks.

Even a grapevine serves a multi-purpose need. The leaves can be picked and brined for stuffed grape leaves (dolmathes) and the vine itself serves as a pergola for Greeks to sit under for shade. Grapevine pergolas are probably one of my favorite visions of Greece because for me, they symbolize a gathering place, togetherness and a way of making something natural into something architectural! 

© Gina Michalopulos Kingsley

Homeschooling is a common term. Worldschooling is fairly new term that I’ve come across recently. I am thrilled with this concept because it gave a name to what many families are attempting through educational family traveling!
Worldschooling is when the “world” is your “school”. Your learning happens via traveling. I remember my mother telling our teachers that we were going to be absent from school for a few days or a week due to a trip. My teachers were always supportive of this because they agreed that travel is an education in itself. Sometimes, they just asked us to prepare a report or summary of our trip or share an oral report with the class about our trip. Sometimes, our teachers didn’t bother with having us turn in “make-up work” in lieu of this report. That was a long time ago and things have changed. I’m grateful that my mother put the time and energy into our trips. Of course, a way to avoid absences from school or make up work is to plan ahead so that your trips happen during breaks from school. Summer, Fall Break, Thanksgiving Break, Christmas Break and Spring Break are plenty of opportunities to travel. With organized pre-planning, you can make it happen! Long-range plans with research, consultations with a travel agent or even studying the tips on social media, Pinterest, blogs, etc. can help you plan an amazing trip for your family. So, don’t wait — jump in! 🙂 and do some world schooling now while your kids are growing up. Show them the world but more importantly, see the world from their eyes, too! It’s a family bonding experience like no other. You won’t remember the things you acquire,  but you will remember the memories, experiences, adventures, feelings and global awareness you grew from while traveling and “world schooling.” When kids travel from a young age, their psyches develop an awareness, adaptability, understanding and tolerance for global differences. They become a child of the world and not just their locality. They also learn to appreciate their native citizenship–the amenities, privileges and values. The perfect combo!

© Gina Michalopulos Kingsley

Link to my book:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/069271393X/ref=cm_sw_su_dp

Travel Lesson Plan: Integrate the Concepts

Tangier Port, Morocco was by far the most educational travel destination we’ve experienced as an entire family. It was the most exotic location we visited together and the epiphanies we encountered during a globally- political time in 2010 spanned spiritual, historical, and cultural natures.

We took a ferry boat from Tariffa, Spain to Tangiers Port, Morocco; a mere 35 minute ride. Our tour guide met us with his van driver and I recommend doing this same format if you go to this wonderful country in Northwest Africa. He was able to get us to the front of the line at the restaurants, bazaars, caves, etc…and even got us in the “fast lane” on the ferry boarding later dealing with our passports, etc. The vocabulary, mythology, history, factoids and cultural lessons we learned that day made our heads spin. My teenage son took this photo just as the divers were in action. The shape of this cave opening happens to be the mirror image of Africa with Madagascar next to it! Ironic!!

The cave of Hercules overlooking the Atlantic ocean and Mediterranean Sea had non-stop visual details. Greek mythology was incorporated in this thrilling cave which also had markets inside of it! Our Moroccan multi-course meal at the famous restaurant, Popeye’s, was unforgettable and we still talk about it! Popeye’s had a line around the block full of customers waiting to get in. After hours of sightseeing, this meal break was exactly what we needed and it gave our tour guide time for his afternoon prayers. Smoked almonds, salsa, swordfish, figs, dessert w/ honey, melon and a non-alcoholic fruit drink was just some of the gastronomic extravaganza!

Moroccan food is flavorful and full of spices but interestingly enough, without salt and pepper and without alcohol. We embraced every detail of it!

heavenly dessert with honey almonds, sauce and dates swordfish and shark delicious figs naan bread. …the best! melon with knives. Otherwise; no utensils!

The farmers market taught us so much—we ate cactus pear from the food booth of Berber village women.

The Berber women’s hats have pompons on them, similar to the South American style; probably due to the nomadic traveling the explorers did across the continents bringing back styles from foreign places.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The word “Morocco” means “the West” (and it’s in Northwestern Africa).  Morocco has both Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea coastlines. The Cave of Hercules that we went into overlooks where the Atlantic and the Mediterranean meet. This picture was on the cave.

 

The cactus pear fruit we ate at the farmers market came right out of a cactus. The Berber women who come down from the mountains worked at the farmers market. Berber people inhabit the Rif Mountains and Atlas Mountains. The official languages in Morocco are Berber, Arabic, Moroccan Arabic and French.

Wherever we went, our tour guide, Said (Saw-eed), and others greeted each other with “Salam Alaikum”. It translates to “peace to you.” People use it as freely as other cultures use “goodbye”, “hello”, “Shalom” or “Peace.” People respond with “Wa-alaikum salam”-(“peace unto you.”) We asked Said, “what is that greeting?”. He explained to us in detail about how peace is at the core of his religion. He asked us what our culture’s equivalent might be and we answered, “God be with you.”

When we passed by mosques, I asked him what the significance of the colored tiles were and he explained that the colors are colors of peace. He also expressed that he believes we are all brothers and sisters in paradise. I asked him if that meant, “all paths lead to God?” He thought so, personally.

When we departed that day on our ferry boat and bid the guide farewell, my husband shook his hand and said, “Salam Alaikum” and he responded, “God be with you.” I found this moment transformative for my family, our epiphanies, our journey and our global understanding during this year of 2010 in a time of political turmoil in the world. It was a healing moment for us and good closure to a day that had moments of uncertainty for my husband in particular.

I looked into my travel journal about our Moroccan experience and found these excerpts which reminded me of specific details we learned: Several nations had influence over Morocco at one time. Winston Churchill lived there and liked to paint there. Tangiers very hilly–they call it the “San Francisco of Morocco” or the Rome of Morocco because of the 7 hills. 7 is very lucky for them. There are 7 entrances to the old town. There are 7 stars/points in their star.

We went to a beach area where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean. Jacques Costeau discovered a fresh spring that exists at that point. We rode camels on a hill overlooking this beach. My youngest son’s face was euphoric just standing next to the camel and seeing these creatures for the first time. My husband’s reaction was priceless, too. I had ridden camels before but it was still a thrill. There was a 4 month old baby camel that intrigued us. Many children worked in this area and that made an impression on us. The 2nd language spoken here is French.Our guide took us to the Cave of Hercules where the legend is that Hercules rested here after he did his 7 deeds. Atlas, who held up the world, “named” the Atlantic Ocean and the Atlas Mountains. Tangier was the name of Hercules’s wife, therefore the city is named Tangiers. The cave now has shops in it but at one time the Berber tribes lived there. There’s a spot referred to as “Hercules’s chair” where he watched the sunset through a cave hole. There’s a natural spring source in the cave from mountain water. We watched the divers doing their tricks against the backdrop silhouette.

We ate at the famous restaurant, “Popeye’s Ristorante Popular Mediteraneo”. This cafe was tiny but packed with a line out the door and around the corner of customers waiting to get in. Our guide, when he returned from his afternoon prayers, showed us the room where Popeye makes his herbal juice. It’s a 24 hour boiling process with fruits, herbs and palmetto in it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Popeye is a world famous herbalist. He came over to our table and patted my oldest son on the head. When we asked our son what Popeye told him, he answered, “He blessed me to be a good cook.”

After the Berber farmers market, we went to the Old Town Bazaar! Our guide explained the Jewish Ghetto architecture, alleys, doors, nooks, etc. The details –cultural and historic– and the vocabulary were so in-depth. We learned the meaning of the word “Gibraltar”: “Jabal” means mountain. We learned the symbolism of the colors of their Moroccan tiles: Green= peace (Islamic). Blue= came from Phoenicia. In the bazaar, we bought pottery, vases, tablecloths, etc…and looked at amazing rugs while the boys were happily drinking the sodas they were served.

Morocco was exotic, historic, adventurous and spiritual…

suggested reading:

Welcome to Morocco by Fordyce

The Adventures of Seymour and Hau by Morse and McDade

The Street Cats of Marrakech by Stevenson

www.atelierboemia.com (Moroccan style shopping)

© Gina Michalopulos Kingsley

Stories like this can be found in the book, A Magic Carpet Ride by Gina Michalopulos Kingsley. Proceeds go to various charities.

https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Carpet-Ride-Michalopulos-Kingsley/dp/069271393X

 

Follow this lesson plan to build trip itineraries with your family:

Travel Lesson Plan: Integrate the Concepts

In Southern Spain, we had a scrumptious meal of paella and sangria. Nothing said “welcome to Espana!” quite like the pairing of paella and wine. The presentation of it was perfect. Fresh from the sea and perfectly symmetrical in its design. We were beachfront in Marbella (Mar-bae-ya) with sea breezes and sweet sangria. I have made paella before but I must admit, it’s much better when it’s served to you with a Spanish band strolling nearby!   Paella isn’t impossible to make. It’s just time consuming. Sangria is a refreshing specialty drink to serve at parties. There are so many versions of sangria. When I’ve just experimented on the spot with sangria ingredients, it ironically turns out to be the one my guests will enjoy the most! The paella recipe I made was from a Williams-Sonoma entertainment guide book.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/paella.html

Sangria combinations just depend on my mood. A pitcher of sangria sure looks festive on a buffet table or dinner table. Pair it with chips and guacamole and that’s one colorful appetizer centerpiece going on!

http://wine.about.com/od/redwines/r/Partysangria.htm