Tag archives for Halloween
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Hey there readers, how’s it going? This week we were in Dihovo, Macedonia. After 18 months on the road we realize it’s not the places we go but the people we meet that make the journey special. This week we met some pretty fabulous people. The family that ran our bed and breakfast couldn’t have been any more hospitable, friendly and welcoming. We joined them for a traditional lunch one day and met every one from the great aunts to the second cousins. There were even two girls around my age Matea 11 and Alexandra 14. We had a great time together playing cards and eating ice cream. We also did tons of other fun things.
We went on an absolutely, positively, amazing hike in the Baba Mountains. When we got to the top it was pouring rain, we were sopping wet and the wind was howling, but that added to the awesomeness. Our guide taught us a lot about mushrooms and showed us which mushrooms were poisonous and which ones weren’t. If you eat one type of mushroom you will slowly die for two to three years.
Another day we visited the ancient ruins of Heraclea Lyncestis which was founded by Phillip II in 168 B.C. It is the remains of a roman village. There is an amphitheater, church, the foundation of many houses, and beautiful floor mosaics. We also visited the American corner in Bitola. There is a little library area were Americans can go and read. They also have activities and classes offered in English.
For Halloween many American children and some Macedonian children went trick or treating and to a party there. Our last day we went into town and explored the old bazaar which oddly enough was filled with new stuff. The market was full of fruits and vegetables. Apples are in season and so delicious that we decided to get a four pound bag of every kind you can imagine. Another week filled with amazing people and things. Ciao for now, Aubrey.
Hi guys, I hope you had a great week, because mine sure was fantastic. We spent our days on Lake Ohrid, Macedonia which is one of Europe’s deepest and oldest lakes. Do you even know where Macedonia is? You don’t… okay I’ll tell you. It is a little country bordering Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, and Montenegro. We had an amazing time touring the city on the shores of the lake.
Did you know the man Saint Clement who invented the Cyrillic Alphabet was from Ohrid? The Cyrillic Alphabet is used by over 250 million people all over the world. Every single letter of the Cyrillic Alphabet has it on unique sound. We also visited a place called the Bay of Bones which is a recreation of an old Macedonian village dating back to between 1,200 and 700 B.C. At this site they have found artifacts dating back to 2800 B.C. We visited the 2, 500 year old amazing churches filled with the most outstanding frescos (paintings) I have ever seen.
The next day we went on an amazing hike in the beautiful Galichia Mountains. The leaves were just starting to change from green to scarlet, golden, and orange which made it even more gorgeous. We went on a stunning boat ride and saw naked algae… awkward. We also went to their farmers market and saw the biggest cabbage I have ever seen. They were bigger than basketballs. One Macedonian treat that cannot be beat is the baklava. It is a sweet treat swimming in honey.
Something else very special and spooky happened this week… it was Halloween. In Macedonia no one celebrates Halloween so we got a lot of funny looks while we were walking through the village all dressed up in our costumes. I was a mouse with a bow tie…cheese please, Everest was Dracula… I want to suck your blood, Mom was a sheep… baaaa, and Dad was a crayon. We trick or treated at any door my mom could find and got some yummy candy. What’s your favorite type of candy? My favorite might have to be Twix… yumm. It truly was a spectacular week. Until next time Aubrey.
Chandelao Garh, a beautifully restored 300 year old fort, is now an awesome hotel located in a small village in Rajasthan. My mom loves great architecture. I was fortunate enough to have stayed in The Carriage Room where they stored the horses and the carriages years ago.
Next door is a center called Sunder Rang, an arts program that gives the ladies in the village a place to gather and make all sorts of beautiful crafts. Everest and I spent some time there. We made colorful and creative anklets and button necklaces.
We did so many amazing things while we were in Chandelao. We went on a trip to a nearby village where they do the block printing on fabric.
While we were looking for the block printing factory a group of kids started following us. At one point we stopped to look at an adorable baby goat and I saw that about 30 or more children were behind us.
Posted by Halloween is just around the corner. Along with carving pumpkins and trick-or-treating, reading spooky stories is a great way to celebrate.
What’s your favorite spooky story to tell out loud?
Do you have a favorite scary book?
Posted by Photograph courtesy Cotswold Wildlife Park
Did you get some good treats this Halloween? The lemurs and meerkats at the Cotswold Wildlife Park in the United Kingdom did, too! These pictures show some of the park’s critters enjoying carved pumpkins as a tasty snack instead of decorations.
Photograph courtesy Cotswold Wildlife Park
Visit the Cotswold Wildlife Park website.
Get the facts on meerkats in the Creature Feature.
Get the facts on ring-tailed lemurs in the Creature Feature.
Get creative and make your own costumes. Cat Up a Tree, Spaghetti and Meatballs, and Aquarium costumes can be made for less than $20.
Participate in a costume swap with friends or other families in your neighborhood. See if your friends have some costumes they don’t want to use this year.
Avoid Halloween-store makeup kits. Use real eco-friendly makeup that mom can use long after the holiday is over. Zinc oxide is a great option to use in place of white face paint and can be used as the base for a number of costume make-up ideas. Brown, green, grey and blue eyeshadows, and dark eyeliner can be used to create ghastly-looking scars and bruises.
Encourage your family to hand out candy made with organic sugar or fair trade chocolate. Natural foods stores will often carry individually wrapped candies including lollipops, chocolates, and toffee. And it’s still sweet enough to not get tricked for handing it out.
Decorate a pillowcase or reusable canvas shopping bag to carry the trick-or-treating haul. Don’t buy a new plastic pumpkin this year, go old-school and decorate a pillowcase or canvas shopping bag.
Book Series: Horrorland
Author: R.L. Stine
Ready to get spooked? If you haven’t read one of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books yet, it’s time to enter Horrorland. This is a brand-new series that features 12 books. Each one is its own creepy story. In The Scream of the Haunted Mask (pictured), Carly Beth endures a frightful night with a drooling, haunted mask that makes its scary return.
There are great names for the other books, too like Creep from the Deep and Monster Blood for Breakfast. Each one is a perfect pick for Halloween.
Want to know more? Check out this Web site from our sponsor: Click here to visit Horrorland.
