Oliver’s Capstone

Introduction

This is a capstone based on our 2017-2018 seven-month trip around the world. In many ways, this trip changed how I see the world and I’d like to share this experience with you. In this capstone, you will learn about my top three favorite countries, cities, one-day experiences, worldwide airlines, and foods. I had the opportunity to witness so many amazing things.  We met so many nice people along the way too.  After you read this I hope it encourages you to do the things I got to experience. I learned so many things even though we were not in school. For school, we had a website online but towards the end of the trip, I wrote this whole capstone you are about to read. We got to see thirteen countries, many rich cultures, exotic plants and animals and much more. Also, keep in mind that these topics are not in any particular order. I hope you enjoy…

Favorite Countries

 New Zealand

New Zealand is such a beautiful country and one of my favorites mainly because of its nature. It has jungles, rainforests, lakes, beaches, mountains, farmland, hills, and so much more.   Everywhere you look it is absolutely gorgeous! Unfortunately, we didn’t end up in the North Island but we cruised around in a camper van for 3 weeks on the South Island. There are so many beautiful sights like lavender fields and my favorite was at night looking up at the beautiful stars, which are different constellations than we have at home. New Zealand is in the southern hemisphere so in our winter it is their summer. I suggest going there during their summer unless you want to ski because in the winter it is very cold and in the summer it is perfect. I guarantee it is worth the long flight. Sadly the glaciers in the mountains are rapidly melting due to climate change so see them while you can. The hikes are so beautiful and we got to hike to a glacier lake full of icebergs and I picked up a small one! New Zealand is a gorgeous country and I would love to come back.

Nepal

Nepal is such a beautiful country due to its snowy white mountains and tall green hills. The main trekking town is called Pokhara. It’s a small town right on a lake where you can rent boats. We went on a 5-day trek in the foothills of the Himalayas. Every day we hiked about 2-6 hours and stayed in what they call teahouses. Every morning you wake up and go outside to look at the view. On the green hillsides and valleys, we saw a lot of terraced farming where they grow rice, vegetables, tea plants, and millet. The mountains are so big and white it’s absolutely beautiful. Nepal is such a beautiful and peaceful country and that is why I love it.

Holy fishtail

 

South-east Asia

Although South-east Asia isn’t a country I chose it because it included so many countries I loved, like Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. We stayed in Thailand for just less than a month. We first met some friends from my hometown of Pacifica and my aunt, Jill in Krabi, which is a beautiful beach town. We had a blast swimming in pools, beaches, and getting massages every day. We got to climb giant rock formations and go kayaking and paddle boarding! Unfortunately, we all got very sick at the end. We then made our way up to Bangkok. Many people don’t like Bangkok but we happened to love it so much. We planned on staying for ten days but ended up staying for three weeks! It was great having my cousin Roble to show us all the little secrets. Cambodia is also very nice but we were only there for three days. We stayed in a beautiful villa with a pool. We then went on to Vietnam. We stayed for two weeks and loved it. Ha Noi, which is the capital was very nice and quaint. Ho Chi Min city wasn’t very nice and we didn’t enjoy it that much but we really loved a big town called Hoi An. We stayed at a little hotel with a lot of kids from Aussie so we got to hang out with them. The food there was absolutely delicious! South-East Asia is so beautiful I really hope I can go back soon.

Favorite Cities

Paris

Out of all the cities in the world, my top two would be London and Paris. Unfortunately, we didn’t go to London on this tip but we went to Paris. Paris is the only place in the world where I wake thinking, “I need to write in a Café”. Whenever I visit, however long I’m there for it’s never enough. Paris has its own beauty unlike anywhere else in the world like the architecture in parks, buildings, and houses. The weather isn’t always great unlike South France but it can’t ruin your visit. I would consider Paris to be a walking city because you usually walk around to see everything. The art museums like the Louvre the Musee d’Orsay and the Picasso museum are spectacular, which is saying something because I hate art museums. We got extremely lucky that we got to see the final stage of the 2017 Tour de France as the bikers circled the Arc de Triumph and military jets sprayed the colors of the French flag in the sky. You will enjoy the best pastries of your life like croissants, macaroons, mini cakes, pain au chocolate, fruit tarts, etc. I would 100% recommend Paris whether you have or haven’t been.

Sydney

While Paris and London are my top two favorite cities, Sydney is my third. Sydney is so beautiful and very different from many cities I’ve been to. It has fantastic architecture such as the Sydney Opera House, the Harbor Bridge, and the old clock tower. It has a really good public transportation system called the Opel system. Opel cards give you access to trains, buses, and ferries all around Sydney. We got to see the Sydney Lyric Orchestra back-up several great singers doing Beatles songs at the Opera House, which was absolutely amazing. The suburb where we stayed was nice and quiet and the houses were beautiful as well. So many restaurants have all types of food, such as Cambodian, Indian and Italian and they are delicious. The beaches are really pretty but unfortunately they have dangerous jellyfish and strong currents, but fortunately, they have saltwater pools at almost every beach. These pools take in water from fresh the ocean but there are no jellyfish or big waves. Sydney is such a beautiful city and I would love to go back someday.

Madrid

On our way from NYC to Delhi, India, we had a slight visa issue and ended up flying to Madrid, Spain, where we spent two nights. Madrid was such an exotic city due to how mellow it is during the day and how crazy it is during the night. I thought the eating times were really strange and especially hard to follow, for example, breakfast is at ten-ish, lunch is at three-ish and dinner isn’t until nine or ten at night. All the food was so good, such as the meat, olives, and pickles, and the people are so nice (as well as everywhere else we visited). We went on a tour of the Real Madrid football (soccer) stadium. Real Madrid is also my favorite team. The stadium is huge and had lots of stairs ready to be climbed. There are so many beautiful parks in the city. Madrid had that “European city” feel to it. It is very hot but beautiful. I would totally recommend it.

One-day Experiences

Canyoning

While in South France our friends Xavier, Bineta, and Alain took us canyoning. We started by going to a sporting goods store and renting all of the gear. We then took a long drive up to a massive canyon and hiked all the way down to the river below. We then had a delicious picnic of baguette, ham, cheese and cornichon pickles. We got our wetsuit, booties, and helmet on and then put on big water-hiking boots. We also strapped on belay harnesses, which would come in handy later. We made our way down the rushing river by sliding down natural rockslides, jumping off of huge rocks and belaying down rocks that you can’t slide or jump off of. With all of the gear, you feel like you’re in a space suit while floating in the water. This might have been my favorite day of the whole trip because I love nature and thrill. If you love these two things, you would love canyoning too.

Coffee Plantation

While under Mount Kilimanjaro in a town called Moshi, Tanzania, we went on a trip to a coffee plantation. We set off in a taxi and met our wonderful guide Matise. We then began our hike. Everywhere we looked we saw farms and we smelled and heard pigs, goats, and cows. We eventually made it to an 80-meter waterfall and cold mist hit our faces as we walked through the damp soil. Eventually, we made it to a small hut where we had a feast of soup, beans, rice, veggies, and meat. We then walked to the coffee bean trees and picked the beans. We brought the beans back to the hut and began a process to make the coffee. First, we shelled, peeled and roasted the beans. We then put them in a mortar and ground them with a pestle. Then we brewed the coffee. I took a sip and gagged. I reached for the sugar and added seven spoonfuls. That was better! We then walked down to a local bar, which was actually just a hut and got sodas. My mom and aunt Nancy got homemade banana beer and fruit wine, which had ten and eleven percent alcohol. We then took a local bus back to our hotel, which was supposed to hold eleven people, even though there were 27! We then got back to the hotel and took a swim after hot and long day.

Italy

The great thing about the South of France is that you can take a one-hour train ride to Italy. One day in France we decided to take a day trip to Italy. We drove to the train station and took the train. Our friend Gaspar brought a French card game, which we played the whole time. On the train ride, we went through the small country of Monaco and saw the turquoise Mediterranean Sea from three different countries! We eventually got off the train and went to find some lunch. We ordered fresh Italian soda and breadsticks, and then ordered margarita pizza, pesto pasta, seafood pasta and carbonara pasta. It was the best Italian food I’ve ever tasted. We then got tiramisu and my dad got an Italian espresso because if he didn’t he’d be cranky all day. We then walked around the streets so that my mom could shop and so that we could buy gelato. We walked to the beautiful Mediterranean beach and took a refreshing dip. We had to run all the way back to the station so that we wouldn’t miss the train, but we made it back just in time and got the train back to Nice. We then met Gaspar’s family for dinner in Antibes. This was an amazing experience and next time I hope to go to Italy for a longer period.

Airlines Around the World

The reason I’m writing about airlines is that I really love airplanes and air travel. This is because we have flown so much and never get sick of flying. Each time we fly I get excited and am fascinated by the whole experience. One day I hope to start training to be a pilot. So, I decided I would write about my top three favorite airlines on the trip. The following will be mini-reviews of my top airlines.

Qatar Airways

We flew Qatar Airways from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to Doha, Qatar on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and then flew from Doha to New York City on a Boeing 777. Qatar is a really nice airline for many reasons. First, the seats are very comfortable and it comes with great amenities, like toothpaste, toothbrush, eye mask, blanket, socks, and earphones. The movie selection was really good and the food had to be the best airline food I’ve ever tasted. We had the choice of chicken and veggies or lamb chops and veggies. I had the chicken and it was great. Overall everything about it was great and I would love to fly it again.

Emirates Airlines

Everybody thinks of Emirates as a really nice airline, and in reality, it is! We flew an Airbus A380 from Sydney, Australia to Christchurch, New Zealand. They had the most movies, shows, music, and games I’ve ever seen on a plane. They had good navigation apps and cameras so that you could see the plane flying from the outside. The chairs were really big and comfy. It did not come with any amenities because it was only a two-hour flight. Overall it was a really nice airline and I would like to fly it again for a longer flight. Yes, I actually like long flights! Don’t judge me…

Coastal Airlines

We flew Coastal Airlines on a Cessna 208 Caravan from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to Zanzibar, Tanzania. Coastal is not necessarily nice or well known, but it was cool in its own way. It was only a 20-minute flight and the pilot let me sit in the co-pilot seat for the whole flight. It was super cool watching the pilot handle the instrumentation on the plane. I mostly watched a little screen that showed the route and the plane’s position, kind of like a GPS in a car. If you don’t know what a Caravan is, it is a 13-seater plane run by a propeller. It was a really amazing experience and I don’t think I’ll ever have the chance to do that again unless I learn to be a pilot.

Favorite Foods

Black Sesame Soup

While in Vietnam in a town called Hoi An, which I explained earlier in the capstone, we took a food tour by bike for a whole day. My favorite food we had that day was by far the black sesame soup. I usually hate sesame—I hate sesame on burgers, on bagels and I hate Sesame Street! The lady who made the soup was the only person who sold it in all of Hoi An. Her stall had five tiny plastic chairs on a curb on a hidden street. In front of one of the chairs was a big pot simmering on charcoal with a disgusting black tar-like substance inside. The black goop was the soup. She filled a tiny china bowl with the soup and handed it to me. I smelled it but it had no smell. I took a spoonful, getting ready to gag, and put it in my mouth. The flavor took me away! It tasted so delicious and sweet; it didn’t even taste like sesame. I finished and did something I hadn’t dreamed of doing…I asked for seconds! We tried to come back the next day but unfortunately couldn’t find it. Hopefully one day I will try black sesame soup again.

Happiness

On the island of Zanzibar in Tanzania, we found this amazing restaurant that we ate at seven times. The main food in Tanzania is beans, rice, greens, meat and bread called chapatti. The lady who owned the restaurant said her name was Happiness. Her food was absolutely amazing. My parents usually got rice, beans, and greens. My brother and I usually shared chicken curry and rice wrapped in chapatti. I could go on for pages on how good the food was. The restaurant itself was very small and swarming with hundreds upon hundreds of flies. Happiness put empty Coke bottles and stuck a candle on the top to get the flies away. There were plastic tables with tablecloths and plastic chairs. In the corner, she also had a sewing machine with a whole bunch of fabrics, which was another part of her business. I really hope I can go back and eat her food again one day.

Thai Street Food

The food in Bangkok was so good and it was absolutely my favorite part of the city. My cousin Roble who lives there showed us all of the good food. But out of all the food, we ate there, my favorite was the street food, or to be specific, duck soup. My parents went to Bangkok about 15-years ago and said that the street food population has dropped a lot since then. Our favorite place was right next to the apartment we stayed in. It was a small outdoor kitchen covered in a tarp with folding tables and plastic chairs. We would walk up and sit down and the cook would make our soup without taking our order since there was only one item on the menu. When she served it to us we had the choice of going up to a condiment bar to add spices such as chilies, peppers in vinegar, sugar, salt, and fish sauce. The soup was so flavorful and the duck was so tender. All the veggies in it perfected the meal. The soup was truly amazing and I hope to try it again.

Conclusion

After reading this capstone, I hope it encourages you to travel and see some of the things I got to see. Some of the highlights were Cadbury Chocolate Factory in Dunedin, New Zealand, nighttime stargazing in the Southern Hemisphere, Giants vs. Whitesox game in Chicago, the dolphins and waterfalls of Milford Sound, and the cruise around the island of Milos to name a few.  It was challenging at times because it was hard to get along with my family since it was just the four of us,  but it was life-changing because I got to see so many different cultures and ways that people live around the world.  I’m truly thankful that I got to do this and I really hope I continue to travel for the rest of my life. Being away for seven-months is hard at times especially when I felt homesick. But most of the time it was wonderful and now I have a lifetime of happy memories. I’m very excited to go home and see my friends, family, and dog, but I will miss this trip a lot.