After countless photos with Christmas trees, Santas and festive decorations in the month leading up to Christmas, the moment was finally here. It was Christmas morning at last. The children had been looking forward to this day for months. Our family dressed in the special Christmas clothes that we had bought in Greece and gathered …
The Mughals ruled India for nearly 300 years from 1526 to the middle of the 19th century. The height of the empire lasted under 200 years until it was in a state of decline before the British arrived. The Mughals were from Central Asia – Turkey and Persia. The main language of the Mughals was …
Leo’s mom, siblings and their families arrived in New Delhi and our annual 10-day reunion began. It was the first time most of us have been to India so the tour itinerary was designed for first-timers. The tour would cover the Golden Triangle (New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur) with a stop in Ranthambore National Park. …
We’ve seen a show on National Geographic a few years ago called “India’s Mega Kitchens”. The show introduces massive kitchens throughout India, many of them in gurdwara’s (Sikh temples), that produce insane amounts of food. The kitchens are enormous industrial facilities that are manned almost entirely by volunteers. They prepare strictly vegetarian food and the …
With memories of Greece’s endless turquoise sea and golden sunlight still dancing in our heads, we arrived in New Delhi to find ourselves in a place that couldn’t be any more different than the place we just left. We touched down around 8 pm and after customs and baggage, walked out into a hazy, polluted …
We all felt short-changed that we were only able to spend three weeks in Greece instead of the full month because we had plans to meet Leo’s family in India. We could have spent months if not years exploring this beautiful country. The shortened month was always the plan, but Greece was not. Originally, we …
On the morning of our last day in Greece, we took a brisk walk from our Airbnb to the Panathenaic Stadium. It was a glorious morning with the sun rising into a perfect blue sky. The first Panathenaic Stadium was constructed in the 5th century BC in a rectangular shape, which was popular during that …
When we lived in Shanghai, if we couldn’t agree on where to go for dinner, we could always agree on Korean BBQ. It had been more than four months since we had Korean BBQ and we were all missing our favorite neighborhood restaurant in Shanghai, Ya Benjia, that served authentic charcoal Korean BBQ. The owner …
We arrived back in Athens via overnight ferry on a chilly weekday morning. It was only 6 am when our van exited the ferry in the same system of organized chaos that is required when hundreds of cars, motorcycles and people get disembark from a boat in a short amount of time. We were tired, …
Based on the recommendation of the curator that we met at the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, we decided to end our stay in Crete with a visit to the Palace of Phaistos, one hour drive southwest of Knossos. The palace is located on Kastri hill and looks down upon the surrounding area that is now …
