What I Learned & Looking Back & Looking Forward: April 2025

April showers bring May flowers? In my world, it did rain a lot, so bring on the flowers! What about you? Please copy and paste the questions at the end and add your answers to the mix! 

1. What is the name of your last month's chapter or the theme of your last month if you prefer that? 

January: Baguettes and Many Steps

February: In Like Minnesota; Out Like Hawaii

March: Wet and Wild

April: My Life is in Ruins, and Beaches Too

(the old stone kind, not anything psychological)

2. What did you learn last month? 

I learned that the Friday market has the best prices for produce, cheeses, nuts and even eggs. I also learned the Turkish have a cheese just like the Greek haloumi which I love. It's called hellim and it's just as good. I also learned to say a few more words in Turkish and can now say "let's go," "I'm here" and "you're welcome!" I also learned the word for loquats (yenidünya), and they are ripe right now. Also they are known as Malta plums, which I never knew! 

3. What was the weather like where you are? 

It was rainy a lot, but then also was in the 70s/80s, and there was some bad smog for a while. But it ended on a wet note again on the 30th! Make up your mind, weather! 

4. What event last month was your favorite?

I had a fun group hike where I met some interesting people! We saw ruins and the ocean and it was a nice day! 

5. What was the best thing you listened to or watched last month?  

I am going to tell this in book, movie/show, podcast format. 

Book: Crow Mary. Yup, I'm jumping on that bandwagon. 

Movie/Show: nothing. I watched nothing. 

Podcast: I'm binging Stephany's Friendships Paradox! Almost caught up to present day! I love binging and hate having to wait for real time episodes so I am kind of dragging out the catching up! 

6. Tell us one funny recent story. 

This is not necessarily a funny story, but I saw this odd conga line chain of caterpillars attached head to tail all traveling together and I had never seen it before. İt was fascinating. Here's the explanation. 

The pine processionary caterpillar (Thaumetopea pityocampa) is known for traveling in long head-to-tail lines, a behavior that helps them stay together and avoid getting lost while searching for a safe place to pupate. This procession is guided by touch and scent—each caterpillar follows the silk trail and pheromones left by the one in front. Staying in line also protects them from predators, as the group can appear larger and more intimidating. While fascinating, these caterpillars have tiny toxic hairs that can harm humans and animals, so it's best to observe them from a distance.

7. What are you looking forward to this month?

Finishing the hike I'm on, having a hamburger if I can find one, wildflowers, and maybe a little beach time before I head inland. 

APRIL:

1. What is the name of your last month's chapter or the theme of your last month if you prefer that? 

2. What did you learn last month? 

3. What was the weather like where you are? 

4. What event last month was your favorite?

5. What was the best thing you listened to or watched last month?  

6. Tell us one funny recent story. 

MAY: 

7. What are you looking forward to this month?

Bonus question! Have you ever heard of a Malta plum? Or a loquat? 

The Cool Bloggers Walking Club: April 2025

As you may know, every April and October, Elisabeth invites us to join her in walking at least 10 minutes every day of the month. She also kindly compiles and summarizes everyone's walks each week! 

For the month of April, I was in Türkiye. In Antalya, I had a mostly daily routine, where I would walk or run down to Konyaalti beach each morning, which is about 2-2.5 miles (4 km) each way. Some days it was very hazy, or rainy, but rest assured, I have picked only the best photos for you! 

Some of my favorite things to do were: Friday market, where I would get fresh fruit and vegetables for basically less than a dollar a kilo much of the time (0.50/lb.), and it was always fresh, plus it is so fun to just wander around. One of the things that I do know how to say in Turkish is, "bir kilo!" (one kilo) or if you only want half, it is "yarim kilo." This is very important, maybe even more important than how to say bathroom/toilet, which is "tuvalet." 

In case you are wondering, here are a few more handy phrases: 

Hello - merhaba

Good morning - günaydin

Thank you - teşekkürler (pronounced Teh-shek-u-ler)

Let's go (needed when hiking and people are dawdling) - hadi gidelim

Now you are ready for your trip to Türkiye!

April 1st - 7th: Antalya, Türkiye and surrounds

1. Konyaalti beach 2. Ruins of Hierapolis 3. Hadrian's Gate 4. Hadrian's Gate 5. Fresh strawberries at the Friday market 6. Fresh juice (pomegranate, carrot, orange) on the street

April 8th - 14th: Antalya, Türkiye

1. Konyaalti beach 2. Beach day (Konyaalti) 3. Water fountain 4. Wild olive trees on the cliffs 5. Friday market day! 6. I walked to the mall, did not buy McDonalds though

April 15th - 21st: Antalya, Türkiye

1. The kitties are everywhere 2. Beach day 3. Friday market 4. Early morning SUP 5. Trip to IKEA (my 2nd time ever, and I don't need to go back!) 6. No explanation needed

April 22nd - 30th: Lycian Way, Türkiye

Average steps per day: 19,668 (I didn't realize I was so close to 20k! If I did I probably would have tried to do more to get over that bump!) 

Thanks to Elisabeth for hosting this party and I'll see you guys all again in October! 

Where did you walk in April? 

Good Morning!

I was walking along the other day and I said good morning to someone and they responded by saying something that sounded like "Dobre." Afterwards, I was going over in my mind where I thought they were from, as you sometimes do when you are traveling. Do you do that? The "judge the tourist" game, or is that just me? Often you don't ever get the answer but it's fun to guess. For example, two people kissing on two cheeks... They could be French, Italian, Latin American or even African (as well as many others). But what if they kiss on three cheeks? They could be Dutch, or from the southern part of France, the Balkans, or maybe even the Middle East. What if they bump foreheads? They could be Turkish or Maori! In Africa, it's common to see two male friends holding hands and I've seen the same thing in Türkiye. 

But I digress. Going back to the Dobre people, this is a hard one, as there are many languages who say something similar to say good morning or good day. So they could have been Russian or Polish or Czech. My guess was Polish because I have recency bias since I was there a couple of months ago. And I'll never know! 

Some once asked me (Michelle? Kae?) about how I managed languages while traveling. I have a list of phrases and I always check those before I go so I will be ready. I am a firm believer in not just approaching everyone and immediately speaking English to them. If possible , I always ask them in their language, "do you speak English?" and then go from there. If they say no, I either use the point and guesture method, or I whip out Google Translate and type in what I need. Pro tip: download the language so that you can use it offline in case you are not in wifi or your SIM card is not working. 

Unless I have a complicated question, I generally just use baby phrases, like, "bus, Paris?" Instead of trying to ask "where is the bus to Paris and when does it leave and how much is the ticket?" Then we often go back to the point and guesture method. I once was hiking in Slovenia and it was raining and I was coming from the Alps into a very tiny town where I was going to try to catch a bus into a bigger town. A man pulled over asked me sometging in Slovenian and when I said the name of the tiny town he guestured for me to get in. So I did. The car ride was fun because somehow despite neither of us speaking the other language, I learned that the bus to the bigger town was leaving in about an hour and he dropped me off right next to the stop. Luckily the word bus is often similar in other languages, and it is avtobus in Slovenian. 

Some other phrases which are helpful are: yes, no, thank you, bathroom (although often you can say "toilet" and people will know what you mean, or you can make the pee-pee face and cross your legs and they will get the point), bus, and, to bring it back full circle, hello, good morning or good day. 

In many cultures it is rude to just walk up to someone and demand or ask for what you need without first saying hello, good morning or good day. In fact, even in some places in the US this is the case. So, at the very least, I always make sure that this is something I know how to say. Here are some of my favorites! I am going to spell them phonetically so excuse my poor spelling.

In Japanese, you say Ohio! 

In Slovakian, you say Ahoy! 

In Swedish, you say Hey! (Spelled Hej)

Here are a few more casual greetings:

In French instead of Bonjour (formal), you can say Salut!

In German instead of Gluten Tag, you can say Servus! 

I have a list of common words and phrases that I want and usually I just plug it into chatgpt before I go to the country and then I copy and paste the list into my notes app (Google Keep) which will be offline. If I am going to be moving around, I will ask it to do the list for the next five countries all at the same time. 

If I am doing something specific, like hiking, I will have it put together a list with common phrases for that activity like, "Where can I find water/food? Can I camp here? Do you have a room available? How much does it cost?" And of course "bus, bathroom, thank you" still come in handy.

I also like to learn a few numbers, especially if I plan on going to the weekly markets, and then the word for "kilo" or "gram" so that I can buy tomatoes or cheese! So at least "one" or "half" is handy to know. I mean, half a kilo is about a pound and I can eat a pound of most things! 

So that's it, that's what I do as far as languages in other countries. Your turn! 

What do you do regarding language when you are traveling? Do you have a go-to list of phrases? Do you stay in hotels or do tours so that you don't need to worry about it??