Sistories is a podcast about travel hosted by two sisters–Maryam and Nour! https://stonesoup.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Sistories-Ep3.m4a NOUR and MARYAM: Hi, everyone!! Welcome to our podcast Sistories! NOUR: Hi, I’m Nour, and it’s hard to believe, but this is our third episode of Sistories! My sister and I LOVE to travel, and we want to inspire YOU to travel, too! That’s why we host this podcast. MARYAM: Hi! I’m Maryam, the Magnificent! Last month’s episode was about how to pack for an AMAZING trip no matter WHERE you go! Today we want to talk about COOL PLACES TO VISIT! First, we want to tell you about our absolute FAVORITE place on earth to go! It has clear, beautiful blue water. Want to guess? Grenada! Our family goes there because it’s where our dad’s family is from. We’ve only been there once, but we want to go back! Here are some fun facts about Grenada: 1) It is a very small island that is only 21 miles long and 12 miles wide. 2) Another name for Grenada is the Island of Spice! 3) The flag has three colors! Yellow stands for the warmth of its people and also the warmth of its island weather Red symbolizes their bravery Green represents what grows on the island 4) Grenada is home to the first ever underwater garden! It even has sculptures! 5) Hurricane Ivan destroyed a lot of the island in *2004, but when we went, it seemed fine. 6) You can also go see Fort George. It is a place they used for battle, and it had a cannon. The fort was all rock and kind of broken down. It was so high that you could see the town down below. 7) The food is very good in Grenada. We ate roti which is seasoned chicken and potatoes. It’s really really really good. You should try it. 8) The ocean in Grenada is turquoise and the beaches have white sand. The water is so calm. There are no waves, just ripples. NOUR: Hi, it’s Nour. My sister told you some facts about Grenada, and I want to tell you a few more facts along with some stories! As my sister said, Grenada is the Island of Spice, but I’m going to tell you why. It grows the largest percentage of the world’s supply of nutmeg! We brought home a couple of nutmeg kernels. The outer skin is light brown, and when you crack it open, you can see the seeds and it smells really good. The island also supplies cinnamon, mace, cloves, and other spices. June in Grenada is beautiful so you might want to visit in summer. You will eat amazing mango. In the resort where we stayed there were mango trees everywhere! We just picked them off the tree, peeled them, and ate them like apples! There are lots of kinds of mangoes. The small ones are the sweetest; the bigger ones are good for cooking. You will also eat and drink yummy, fresh coconuts! What I mean by eat and drink, is you can drink the coconut water and then eat the meat inside of the coconut. What I like to do is to find a big rock and bang the coconut until it cracks open! Then drink! (You can also just find a guy with a machete to open it for you.) If you like snorkeling or scuba diving, Grenada is the place! You can explore the largest shipwreck in the Carribean, The Bianca C, or see the 65 sculptures in the underwater sculpture garden! We got to go on the underwater tour, and it was so cool! My dad went down and even touched a sculpture. Even if you don’t know how to swim, you can observe everything from the glass-bottomed boat! Grenada is one place favored by many people, including me! It’s truly unique! By the way, you don’t have to visit the places we go! Your family probably has some good ideas, too. You could visit Europe or Africa. You could visit places where your relatives live. Or, you could just look for new places that you haven’t been to before and try them! Where do YOU want to visit? NOUR and MARYAM: Thank you for listening to our podcast Sistories! MARYAM: Next time we are going to talk about another cool place to visit: ITALY! NOUR and MARYAM: Have a great trip!
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Sistories Ep. 2: How to Pack for an Amazing Trip
Sistories is a brand new podcast about travel hosted by two sisters–Maryam and Nour! https://stonesoup.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Sistories-Ep2-1.m4a Hi everyone, welcome to our new podcast, Sistories. My sister and I love to travel and we want to inspire you to travel too. That’s why we are hosting this cool new podcast. Last month we did our first episode about why you should travel. Today, we are going to be talking about how to pack for an amazing trip no matter where you go. I am Maryam, and I will be going first. So, how to pack… Well, first here is what to pack for those those extra bags that you take on the plane or in the car with you. First, you should always bring a device in case you get bored or your parents are sleeping. Second, I recommend you bring a notebook to write stuff in, and don’t forget a great book to entertain you. Traveling can take a lot of hours and you don’t want to just have to sit and do nothing because that’s boring. You might want to bring extra clothes in your bag. We didn’t once, and that didn’t go well. That story is coming up next. So, you’re probably wondering what happened. It started like any normal trip. It felt very exciting because we were going to Italy. We checked our bags, which had a lot of clothes in them because we were going to be gone for two weeks. When we were about to go in the sky, one of the airline attendants made an announcement and said, “We will be taking some luggage off the plane so please see if that was you.” My parents didn’t check because they never thought it would be us; its never us! Sadly, when we landed in Italy, and we got off the plane thinking everything was okay, we sat a long long time at the baggage claim but our luggage did not appear. So, we asked an attendant, but they couldn’t help. They said if they find it they would drop it off at our hotel. We had to buy a lot of clothes in Italy. In the final four days we finally got our luggage, but it was too late. This is why half of our clothes have Italian words on them like “Ciao.” The moral of the story is that you might want to pack some clothes in your carry-on bags. Thanks Maryam. Hi my name is Nour, and I’m going to tell you some other tips for packing. First, you will need to ask your parents some questions like how long you’re going for and what type of trip it will be. My mom used to give us a piece of paper with a list of everything we need to pack, and then we would go to our room and pack it. And then she would check. To be honest, I usually just stuff my clothes in the suitcase, but my sister packs her clothes pretty neatly so yes, there are different styles for packing. Now that my sister and I are older, we usually don’t get a list to check off. All we do now is ask how long we are going and then pack the right number of outfits based on the weather. Obviously, if you are going to the beach where it’s hot, you will pack different clothes than if you were heading to someplace cold and snowing. I also pack some pretty clothes in case we’re going out to dinner or to do something fancy. That’s important because you want to be prepared. For your carry-on bag you might want to bring extra underwear… You heard our Italy story! And I guess that you should bring your own headphones too so that you don’t have to wait on the airplane to get them. You also might want to pack a mask in case you need it since Covid is always around. Last but not least, you should always bring gum or something to chew on for take off and landing. If you have braces and chew gum, you barely have any left at the end because it’s all in your teeth. Most of these tips go for any kind of transportation but here is one thing to know just about cars: First, you can bring a book, but do not read it while you’re in the car. When I do that I get really sick after only 4 or 5 minutes. Thank you for listening to our podcast, Sistories. Come back again to listen to our next topic: Cool Places to Visit. Have a great trip!
Why January is the Best Time to Visit Disney World
Disney World. Disneyland on steroids, 4 separate parks, an entire transportation hub and system, multiple resorts within 33,100 acres of land, and the hot and humid Florida climate add up to an impressive paradise. The rides are astoundingly themed and the thrill rides have just the right amount of thrill, so no matter your fear level, you can bear it. The scenery is beautiful and is just as grand and majestic as in the stories and movies, and every single park has their specialty must-go show: a live performance, one with fireworks, a parade, or even a light-show! Each park has its own unique feature that will keep you playing or watching until the park closes. Or maybe even after that, with the after-hour tickets! The only fault to this seemingly flawless paradise are the crowds. I can easily state that even on weekdays which are not holidays, there are swarms of people in the park. The most popular rides are jam-packed, as are the shows. I can tell you this: If you don’t go to a show early, you may not be able to get into the theater. And all of the roller coaster rides’ wait times are sure to be more than one hour if you don’t go early in the morning or late at night. But on holidays, there is no avail. Hordes of people clog the park, and you won’t stand a chance to catch multiple rides. You would be lucky to get 3 a day. But if you travel at the right time, you might stand a chance. According to an anonymous local Uber driver, January and February are just the right months to go. Since it’s after Christmas, those large swarms of people are not likely to come back so early. Also, the relentless Florida heat lets go during this time. A helpful tip for any of the lands you may visit is to download the My Disney Experience app, which helps you check ride times and lines remotely, which can prove vital in planning your day. Finally, staying at either Disney Hotel Swan or Dolphin will grant you one hour of early access, allowing you to get to the rides that you want ahead of the crowd. So, with the vacation month planned, it’s time to explore the parks. Hollywood Studios has been the most recent park to get an update, with Black Spire Outpost, or as I like to say, Star Wars Land. There are two new attractions, Smugglers Run and Rise of the Resistance. I recommend Rise of the Resistance first thing in the morning, and Smuggler’s Run later, but you should request for the role of pilot, or else the simulator ride is no fun. I also recommend Toy Story Mania, which is an extremely fun arcade shooter game. The Rock and Roll Roller Coaster is also a scary G-force roller coaster that goes upside down at some parts, and finally the Hollywood Tower of Terror, which is a drop tower. As a pedestrian in the Hollywood Studios said: “It feels like you’re one of those cartoon characters in those comedy shows, falling from [the sky] as the floor disappears!” And it certainly does! As for the shows over there, the best by far is Fantasia, which is a live show involving fire on water, Mickey Mouse, and all of the Disney classics characters and sing-alongs. Another great show is Indiana Jones. You see how they made some of the most iconic scenes in the movies. Be sure to come 15-20 minutes early though, or else you might be left with limited-view seating, or even not be let in! Finally, Slinky Dog Dash is a ride that I do not recommend for 100+ minute wait times. This ride’s line can be deceiving, with me personally spending roughly over 3 hours in the line of this ride. However, to avoid this disaster from occurring, you should try the longer wait-time rides at night, especially the popular ones such as Slinky Dog Dash, Toy Story Mania, Rise of the Resistance, and the Hollywood Tower of Terror. This can enable you to avoid the unreasonably long wait times of the midday and still enjoy some of the best attractions in the park. The second theme park I’m featuring is Animal Kingdom, which in my opinion, is highly underrated. The reason I’m saying this is really because most kids, or people, don’t really appreciate the beauty of the natural world, which this park amplifies. This park, somewhat like EPCOT, is based on the sights, sounds, smells and feels of the park. Not exactly its rides. But I’m not saying that its rides are bad either! For a truly natural ride, you should take the Kilimanjaro Safari! It has a relatively short wait time in the morning, and its tour of the African Savannah is a good chance to take photos as well as educational because of its tour guide’s commentary. Another great one is DINOSAUR, which is the highlight of Dinoland U.S.A. It is an open ended roller-coaster-type ride, so if you have any bags, you better hold them tight! Luckily, it doesn’t go that fast, it rather just shakes you left to right. However, the crown jewel of the entire park, or in my opinion, the entire Disney World! Avatar: Flight of Passage! This ride is a thrilling 4D simulator that puts you on a banshee, or a flying animal in Pandora, the imaginary world of Avatar. You ride on it as you explore the wonders of Pandora! Nothing can prepare you for this ride. The sights, smells and sounds make it a truly 4D experience. The queue is dotted with all sorts of scenery that will keep you captivated during the wait. Do this nearer to the end of the day, because even in the morning, the wait times exceed 75 minutes. But remember. This ride is a must-go. Now, with Animal Kingdom, there aren’t really any nighttime shows, but
