We're back from the desert, sore from camel riding with odd burn marks on our bodies. Somehow being back in Marrakesh feels like home which makes zero sense. But our hostel is so amazing that we had to come back to swim in the pool and sleep in a real bed.
We left Marakesh a few days ago and traveled by bus to Zagora. I've heard people recount their stories of terrifying bus rides and I always think that it can't be that bad. This was that bad. The bus kept going up and up through the Atlas mountains and we kept looking down and down. The bus driver honks once before going around a turn, as though thats going to do anything if there is another car, walker (people walk up this) or donkey. The honk is just information that we will hit you. Hey, watch out, we are about to plow through you. On the trip to and from, there were people throwing up. Totally normal to the bus driver. And once one starts... Everywhere, gross, yuck. AND STILL there were people lying on the floor of the bus. Just snoozing. No biggie.
We made it to Zagora and were brought to our hotel by the Kazbah. Its very different from Marakesh. These houses are made up brick, clay and hay? Its the desert and looks like the desert. I still don't totally understand what a Kazbah is. Antoine, the owner of the hotel, gave us a tour and showed us maps. It was interesting though the kids throwing rocks at us were a little unnerving.
The next day we prepared ourselves for the desert, buying wraps for our heads and lathering on sunscreen. How does one pack for the desert? No idea. We met our guides, Mustafa and Achmed at the front of the hotel with three camels just sitting in the shade. We couldn't have been whiter or more UN-Moroccan (see pictures), but we did it. Our guides were hilarious and knew more about America than we did. This seems to be a theme with all the people we meet, but for guys who didn't go to school and trek through the desert 355 days a year, it's pretty amazing. Mustafa and Achmed cooked for us and sang songs. They slept in the sand. We slept outside on tiny mattresses with our blankets over our heads because of my fear of snakes and stories of Jackels they told us. Not to mention the beatles that were the size of my hand. In the middle of the night the moon was so bright and the three camels were just hanging out grunting next to us. It was pretty amazing. I almost forgot about the snakes. Almost.
Our last stop in Zagora was the rug shop that we had promised (never promise anything) to come back to. Anthony haggled for rugs successfully. It was impressive to watch. "But I am just a teacher..." The flies were everywhere and we were drinking extremely sugary tea that I am convinced was making me want to buy more and more silver jewelry that I didn't need. We ended up with two small rugs and some little things that we can barely fit in our bags. Anthony is a prized haggler, so much that I think he should keep it up in Turkey. He says otherwise.
It's our last day in Morocco; we leave for Casablanca today to get our flight to Israel. We're about to start our super fast trip through the Middle East. More later. Love, Michelle and Anthony
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Bar-tha-lona
Hola!
Me llamo Amanda, and I will be your guest blogger for the day.
I’d first like to report how great AJ and Michelle look! It was so great spending time with them and seeing them in their new super-traveler mode.
When I met up with them, they had rented an apartment in a cute residential neighborhood of Barcelona. There, they were able to do laundry, cook and veg out a bit, as Carlos (whose apartment they were renting) had a living room with comfy couches and an impressive collection of American movies, most notably the Godfather, which AJ patiently reminded Michelle and me every 14 seconds who each character was.
After a few days at Carlos’, we stayed at a hotel on the bustling Las Ramblas Street, which was right in the middle of shops, restaurants, cafes, bars, etc. Until about 3 am each morning, you could hear the activity on the street, as well as musicians (usually alternating between Spanish and Beatles tunes).
I can officially report that we conquered Barcelona, primarily by foot and subway – from the Picasso museum to the site of the 1992 Olympics. The city is a great walking city, and man, did we walk it! There was an incredible market with fresh fish (some still alive…yikes), meats and fruits and veggies that we visited daily. Some of the city’s most impressive sites are those architected by Antoni Gaudi, who’s pretty much the Betty White of Barcelona – he’s a HUGE deal and basically all they talk about. His signature piece of work is the Segrada Familia, a cathedral that they’ve been building since 1882. It’s a stunning place that they’re hoping to wrap up in 16 years (which will mark 100 years since Gaudi’s death). I’m not too sure they can hit their deadline, but my first suggestion would be to have the workers stop smoking on the job. One guy working on the altar had a hammer in one hand and a cig in another…nice touch. Another cool Gaudi project is the Park Guell – a huge park that looks very Alice in Wonderland on one side with gingerbread houses and stunning mosaics, while the other side resembles a nature preserve with trails and hills (and stunning views of the city).
On the last night, we attended a Barcelona soccer game (thanks, Kevin, for the amazing tickets!). If there’s anything Barcelonans love more than Gaudi, tapas and smoking, it’s soccer. The energy was heart-racing, and what seems like forever when you’re watching it on TV, went by in no time when you’re viewing live.
Leaving Anthony and Michelle was incredibly hard, but seeing their enthusiasm for the rest of their trip was inspiring and impressive. It was so much fun seeing them, enjoying Barcelona’s beautiful sites, tapas, sangria, etc….did I mention the tapas?
Amanda
Thank you, Amanda! Your quality travel writing is matched only by your tremendous love and consumption of "patatas bravas" (spicy, fried potatoes.) You were a great travel partner, with a wonderful sense of spirit and adventure. Note: if you ever decide to do a trip like this, having periodic visits with people you know is definitely a great way to rejuvinate along the road. We've been lucky to visit some old friends and to have a visit from a family member thus far (with a few more to come!) We could have had a great time hanging with Amanda in a bucket - but we did not stop her from volunteering to use some of her points to stay in a ballin' hotel for a few days. King size bed? Sure! Bathrobe? OK! Slippers with your robe? Porque no? It was a definite step up from some of the other places we've stayed.
And we're now in Marrakesh - we took a ferry from Spain through the Mediterranean to the Moroccan city of Tanger, then an overnight train from there to Marrakesh. We've only been here for a day, but it's a beautiful, mysterious, and pretty intense city. We've had to haggle for about most everything, which is not something that Micelle and I are particularly good at. But we've enjoyed some delicous local food, visited one of the largest mosques in the Muslim world, and spent time at an enormous market full of small stands, story-tellers, snake charmers, musicians, etc. It's definitely a change from where we've been so far in terms of climate, culture, and lifestyle.
We miss you all and hope that everyone is doing well. And by the looks of it, my worry of possibly missing a Notre Dame football championship season by going on this trip didn't take too long to disappear.
Love,
Anthony and Michelle
Me llamo Amanda, and I will be your guest blogger for the day.
I’d first like to report how great AJ and Michelle look! It was so great spending time with them and seeing them in their new super-traveler mode.
When I met up with them, they had rented an apartment in a cute residential neighborhood of Barcelona. There, they were able to do laundry, cook and veg out a bit, as Carlos (whose apartment they were renting) had a living room with comfy couches and an impressive collection of American movies, most notably the Godfather, which AJ patiently reminded Michelle and me every 14 seconds who each character was.
After a few days at Carlos’, we stayed at a hotel on the bustling Las Ramblas Street, which was right in the middle of shops, restaurants, cafes, bars, etc. Until about 3 am each morning, you could hear the activity on the street, as well as musicians (usually alternating between Spanish and Beatles tunes).
I can officially report that we conquered Barcelona, primarily by foot and subway – from the Picasso museum to the site of the 1992 Olympics. The city is a great walking city, and man, did we walk it! There was an incredible market with fresh fish (some still alive…yikes), meats and fruits and veggies that we visited daily. Some of the city’s most impressive sites are those architected by Antoni Gaudi, who’s pretty much the Betty White of Barcelona – he’s a HUGE deal and basically all they talk about. His signature piece of work is the Segrada Familia, a cathedral that they’ve been building since 1882. It’s a stunning place that they’re hoping to wrap up in 16 years (which will mark 100 years since Gaudi’s death). I’m not too sure they can hit their deadline, but my first suggestion would be to have the workers stop smoking on the job. One guy working on the altar had a hammer in one hand and a cig in another…nice touch. Another cool Gaudi project is the Park Guell – a huge park that looks very Alice in Wonderland on one side with gingerbread houses and stunning mosaics, while the other side resembles a nature preserve with trails and hills (and stunning views of the city).
On the last night, we attended a Barcelona soccer game (thanks, Kevin, for the amazing tickets!). If there’s anything Barcelonans love more than Gaudi, tapas and smoking, it’s soccer. The energy was heart-racing, and what seems like forever when you’re watching it on TV, went by in no time when you’re viewing live.
Leaving Anthony and Michelle was incredibly hard, but seeing their enthusiasm for the rest of their trip was inspiring and impressive. It was so much fun seeing them, enjoying Barcelona’s beautiful sites, tapas, sangria, etc….did I mention the tapas?
Amanda
Thank you, Amanda! Your quality travel writing is matched only by your tremendous love and consumption of "patatas bravas" (spicy, fried potatoes.) You were a great travel partner, with a wonderful sense of spirit and adventure. Note: if you ever decide to do a trip like this, having periodic visits with people you know is definitely a great way to rejuvinate along the road. We've been lucky to visit some old friends and to have a visit from a family member thus far (with a few more to come!) We could have had a great time hanging with Amanda in a bucket - but we did not stop her from volunteering to use some of her points to stay in a ballin' hotel for a few days. King size bed? Sure! Bathrobe? OK! Slippers with your robe? Porque no? It was a definite step up from some of the other places we've stayed.
And we're now in Marrakesh - we took a ferry from Spain through the Mediterranean to the Moroccan city of Tanger, then an overnight train from there to Marrakesh. We've only been here for a day, but it's a beautiful, mysterious, and pretty intense city. We've had to haggle for about most everything, which is not something that Micelle and I are particularly good at. But we've enjoyed some delicous local food, visited one of the largest mosques in the Muslim world, and spent time at an enormous market full of small stands, story-tellers, snake charmers, musicians, etc. It's definitely a change from where we've been so far in terms of climate, culture, and lifestyle.
We miss you all and hope that everyone is doing well. And by the looks of it, my worry of possibly missing a Notre Dame football championship season by going on this trip didn't take too long to disappear.
Love,
Anthony and Michelle
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Scrubbing the Russia off of us
We're a little behind in the blog and I'm not sure where to start. We really enjoyed Scandenavia, especially Stockholm. We may be canal toured out as that has been our go-to in most cities. We decided to take an overnight boat to Finland, and we expected a small, simple ferry ride. What we got was the Love Boat - it was more like a Carnival cruise line with lounge singers and a Vegas-style dance show. I'm not sure why Anthony sat up front and center- it was clear he was going to be used as a prop and he was. We also befriended 3 Russians who convinced us we had to stay with them in St Petersburg. Our thought: Russians are so nice! (but more on that later). Mind you this conversation was going on with a translator, Vodka, and scibbles on paper. Even Russian scribbles and arrows make no sense.
We made it to Finland and met up with an old Parker friend, Mimmu, who took us north to her home where we learned about lakes in Finland (there are over 100,000) the intense pasttime of mushroom-gathering, and saunas. Saunas rule. This is because the Fins sauna every day and you literally pass out afterwards. Saunas don't rule if you in there with strangers. Also you swat at each other with branches- a technique we didn't get to take part in . Too bad. We ate really well and slept great. We had to really rest up for our next stop.
Which brings me to Russia. Sigh. We could not wait for this part of the trip and we had heard so many great things about St Petersburg. Now that we're in Spain and in the sun and clean, I don't feel as strongly about Russia, but there were some scary moments I would rather forget. FIRST of all, there are no street signs or numbers so finding our "hotel" took 2 hours. The drunk Russians from the boat were so nice- the ones we experienced were icy at best. We realized quickly that you either stay in the nicest place possible or you stay in a trash heap (you can tell from our tone that we were in the latter. The place was literally crumbling.) Your options are the Ritz or Roxbury. Everything in the city is like this. Cars are either Massarittis or floorless buggies with their wheels coming off. The food options are caviar and vodka at the Astoria or mystery street meat and a bottle of homebrew vodka hanging over the canal. The only thing that seems to be consistently present
is that the women dress like it's 1982 and the men wear the same exact black leather jackets. If we stayed there any longer we would both have to invest in matching acid washed jeans and start street-racing.
Don't get me wrong. We saw some amazing things: the Hermitage museum, some of the churches' architecture, and the WW II historical elements were outstanding. But the general mistrust on their part (and ours) permeated the whole visit. It's hard to feel comfortable when you know the police will never help you-only ask for your papers while twiddling their batons. Spies Like Us and Rocky 4 were not helpful movies in preparation for Russia.
After a dicey bus ride to the St. Pete airport, we had to go through three different security checks before our flight. And the intensity increased at each subsequent one. The first one was manned by a guy whose uniform resembled someone working the fry-o-lator at McDonalds. He asked to inspect Michelle's bag and then just got too tired to do it. The next check was by a woman talking to a friend on the
phone as she worked the x-Ray machine. And the last one involved a very thorough full-body pat down. We had to connect in Stockholm on the way to Barcelona, and our flight was loaded with fans of the '80's Swedish pop duo Roxette (they had a concert in St. Pete the previous night). We didn't know that anybody still listened to them. Somebody wake up MC Hammer. He's going to be HUGE in Russia next year.
And now we're in Barcelona, enjoying the warmer weather, doing some laundry, and feeling refreshed. We're very excited to explore the city and get our hands on some tapas. Anthony's sister, Amanda, is going to join us for the next week, so you can all expect the next post to be written by her; it will no doubt be funnier and more dramatic, including topics ranging from paella to male thong swimwear (it seems pretty popular here.)
Hope you're all doing well! Adios!
Love,
Anthony & Michelle
Editor's note: Michelle has much more to say about Russia, but she had to be censored for the blog. But she encourages all of you to ask her about it someday. We also hope that we're not coming off as "ugly Americans", especially if the Russian government is reading our blog. We loved it!
We made it to Finland and met up with an old Parker friend, Mimmu, who took us north to her home where we learned about lakes in Finland (there are over 100,000) the intense pasttime of mushroom-gathering, and saunas. Saunas rule. This is because the Fins sauna every day and you literally pass out afterwards. Saunas don't rule if you in there with strangers. Also you swat at each other with branches- a technique we didn't get to take part in . Too bad. We ate really well and slept great. We had to really rest up for our next stop.
Which brings me to Russia. Sigh. We could not wait for this part of the trip and we had heard so many great things about St Petersburg. Now that we're in Spain and in the sun and clean, I don't feel as strongly about Russia, but there were some scary moments I would rather forget. FIRST of all, there are no street signs or numbers so finding our "hotel" took 2 hours. The drunk Russians from the boat were so nice- the ones we experienced were icy at best. We realized quickly that you either stay in the nicest place possible or you stay in a trash heap (you can tell from our tone that we were in the latter. The place was literally crumbling.) Your options are the Ritz or Roxbury. Everything in the city is like this. Cars are either Massarittis or floorless buggies with their wheels coming off. The food options are caviar and vodka at the Astoria or mystery street meat and a bottle of homebrew vodka hanging over the canal. The only thing that seems to be consistently present
is that the women dress like it's 1982 and the men wear the same exact black leather jackets. If we stayed there any longer we would both have to invest in matching acid washed jeans and start street-racing.
Don't get me wrong. We saw some amazing things: the Hermitage museum, some of the churches' architecture, and the WW II historical elements were outstanding. But the general mistrust on their part (and ours) permeated the whole visit. It's hard to feel comfortable when you know the police will never help you-only ask for your papers while twiddling their batons. Spies Like Us and Rocky 4 were not helpful movies in preparation for Russia.
After a dicey bus ride to the St. Pete airport, we had to go through three different security checks before our flight. And the intensity increased at each subsequent one. The first one was manned by a guy whose uniform resembled someone working the fry-o-lator at McDonalds. He asked to inspect Michelle's bag and then just got too tired to do it. The next check was by a woman talking to a friend on the
phone as she worked the x-Ray machine. And the last one involved a very thorough full-body pat down. We had to connect in Stockholm on the way to Barcelona, and our flight was loaded with fans of the '80's Swedish pop duo Roxette (they had a concert in St. Pete the previous night). We didn't know that anybody still listened to them. Somebody wake up MC Hammer. He's going to be HUGE in Russia next year.
And now we're in Barcelona, enjoying the warmer weather, doing some laundry, and feeling refreshed. We're very excited to explore the city and get our hands on some tapas. Anthony's sister, Amanda, is going to join us for the next week, so you can all expect the next post to be written by her; it will no doubt be funnier and more dramatic, including topics ranging from paella to male thong swimwear (it seems pretty popular here.)
Hope you're all doing well! Adios!
Love,
Anthony & Michelle
Editor's note: Michelle has much more to say about Russia, but she had to be censored for the blog. But she encourages all of you to ask her about it someday. We also hope that we're not coming off as "ugly Americans", especially if the Russian government is reading our blog. We loved it!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Stockholm
Hi everybody,
Just a quick note to say that we finally got some new photos up. Sorry that it took so long. After a great couple of days with Kevin, Mike, and Greg in Amsterdam, we made it from to the small town of Kirkel, Germany where we visited with Anthony´s German cousins. They were amazing hosts and took us all over the area and to some important family sights. Thankfully, their English was better than our German, so we were able to hear some great family stories and explanations of my roots. From there we went to Berlin to check out the Arcade Fire concert (one of our favorite bands.) We spent a few days in Copenhagen and are now in Stockholm until Monday. We then take a ferry to Finland to visit with Mimmu Hartia-Sloan, our friend from the Parker School who moved back home a few years back. We´re doing well and miss you all. Take care!
Love, Anthony and Michelle
Just a quick note to say that we finally got some new photos up. Sorry that it took so long. After a great couple of days with Kevin, Mike, and Greg in Amsterdam, we made it from to the small town of Kirkel, Germany where we visited with Anthony´s German cousins. They were amazing hosts and took us all over the area and to some important family sights. Thankfully, their English was better than our German, so we were able to hear some great family stories and explanations of my roots. From there we went to Berlin to check out the Arcade Fire concert (one of our favorite bands.) We spent a few days in Copenhagen and are now in Stockholm until Monday. We then take a ferry to Finland to visit with Mimmu Hartia-Sloan, our friend from the Parker School who moved back home a few years back. We´re doing well and miss you all. Take care!
Love, Anthony and Michelle
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