1 Week Later

I have been home for a week now. Everyone said to expect a little culture shock - I didn't think I would - and I'm not. Well, kind of. It hits a strange times. There are moments in the last week where I would give anything to be back and other moments that I'm so happy to be home.

Things I miss about London:

- Never being bored (there was always something to do, close by)
- Not driving (I hate looking at the gas tank drop - maybe some of this has to do with the fact that i'm not driving my lovely car - but seriously, I hate putting gas in a car)
- Low cost healthy food at the store that looks fresh.....seriously I don't want preservatives.
- Public transport - but that goes with the whole car thing
- Ethnic food (maybe that's because I live in Muncie)
- Pastry
- Culture
- Affordable art/music/dance
- Walking everywhere

Things I'm glad to have back:

- Nathan (maybe I should just take him to London)
- My cell phone with a keyboard
- The ability to call my family whenever I want
- Fast Internet
- Street signs/road names that you can read - in other words, I don't have to get lost because the road names are posted on some buildings.

Morocco in Photos

It's been almost a week since my adventures in Morocco and I can honestly say, it was the best of my three side trips. I loved Dublin for it's familiarity and size, I love Prague for it's richness of culture and history, but I loved Morocco for it's smells, the people, the culture, the weather, the history, and so much more.

Marrakesh, Morocco was like unlike anywhere I have ever been. In many ways it reminded me of Istanbul and in other ways it reminded me of the smaller cities in Kenya. But, the winding alley ways, the markets, the square, the museums, the riads, and the mosques were totally unique (at least compared to my tiny experience).

I could probably go on forever describing every detail of our trip (ask Nathan, I talked non stop for at least a half hour before he could get a single word in) but I'll just share some photos with you instead.

We tried to find the Palmerie but ended up at the Jardin Majorelle.

I love the detail in design.

We found the Palmerie, but not the camels.

So we hailed a taxi back to the square.

And went to a museum of caftans instead!

And then to an old Koranic school.

And then hung out in the square

And watched some snake charming.

 The day we went mountain climbing in the Ourika Valley...

Traditional Moroccan plant based medicine.

These bridges are everywhere across this river.

I made it!

After the bridge.

Pointing us in the right direction

The small waterfall.

Half way to our destination.

Brandon at the top of the second waterfall.

At the second waterfall.

Our camel ride in the rain!

Brandon eating snails in the market. You could still see the eyes, so I graciously declined!

Our hostel, a converted riad. Riads are the old mansions in the cities. Many of them have been converted into hotels and bed and breakfasts, but many are still owned by locals and foreign transplants. 

They all look kind of grimy from the outside. Generally, wealthy Moroccans don't want people to know how much money they have, so they keep the outside of their property looking run down and then have exquisite interior design. This became a little more clear to us when we stood on the terrace of our hostel and looked around at all of the surrounding private terraces. 

Our room was in the bottom left hand corner.

One of the hostel sitting areas.

From on top of our hostel.

For those of you who think I can't pack light....mom.... this is all I took!

The backpack and purse not all the stuff in the background!

d

I can pack light!

Waterfalls and Camels

It is only 8 and I am totally zonked so short post today long post to follow.

We left the hostel about 9 and drove out to the Ourika Valley. We were with a very interesting (to put it poltely) group of tourists! We drove and stopped along the way to get fabulous view of the Morrocan country side. We scaled a moutain (in the High Atlas) to see stunning waterfalls, crossed a rickety bridge and rode camels in the rain. That's right. We rode in the rain. I though it was a touch funny to be riding a desert animal while it was raining. I had the camel with the most personality and almost got bucked off a few times - but it was totally worth it.

We shopped a little and now I'm going to get in bed and read. We are going sight seeing in the morning and then back to London for the last week. Eek!

More to follow... and pictures!

I have way too many thoughts

I promise that photos will follow there is just too much to document to wait until I get back.

Brandon and I went trekking today - kind of - by accident. We left the hostel and tried to find these 2 museums that we wanted to see. Our hostel is near the Souks - the marketplace made up of winding alleys, the map made it look like we needed to walk one way so we did. WRONG. we got to see the real Marrakech this morning. We stopped some French people to ask if they knew how to get there, they didn't, we asked a shop keeper and he didn't, we got stopped by a man on the streets who spoke about 4 different languages and he offered to have US take HIM to lunch and he would tell us where to go. When we refused he kindly told us that we weren't anywhere close. So, we went back to the square, had a snack and ventured out.

Let me tell you, guide books are fantastic most of the time. Apparently not the one I have. It told us to take the #1 bus to get to "La Palmerie," Well folks, it doesn't go that far. We got the end of the line and the driver felt bad for us so he pointed us in the direction of "le Jardin Marjorelle." It was well worth it. It is a stunning botanical garden with bamboo and palm tress, foutains, little ponds and tres jolie flowers.

After purusing the garden, we decided to walk to "la palmerie" becuase according to my guide book there were supposed to be camel rides there. WRONG. Perhaps during high tourist seasonm but certainly not now. We were a good 2 miles away from the tourist part of town. We finally came accross a taxi stand and paid a little extra to get the taxi to take us back to town. We finally found the museums that we had originally been looking for.

It's super hard reading signs in the museums in French, but everything was great to look at! We had dinner at on of the pop up restaurants and and now just taking a break until we go out exploring once again this evening.

A few side notes...

1. I'm not kidding when i say the streets in the souk are windy. Here are the directions we used to get to our hostel....

DIRECTIONS: From Djemaa el-Fnaa: The easiest way to get to the hostel is from the famous Djemaa el-Fnaa square. Ask your cab driver to leave you at what is popularly known as "Café Argana" although the canopy reads "Restaurant Argana". The name "Argana" is written in large letters on the roof of the premises. If you arrive by bus, or the square is closed to cars, look for this cafe, or ask someone to show you the way to it. It's located on one of the corners of the square. Facing the cafe, take the street immediately to the left. Very soon you will get to an open space. Cross this taking the street on your left under the archway. Pass through the arch and you'll be in Mouassine street. This is a fairly wide street (for the Medina standards), with shops left and right. Walk straight down this street. Soon on your right you'll see a small corner shop called 'Fnaque Berber' followed by another arch, walk directly through it. After approximately 100 meters you'll get to a small open space (or a place where the street widens), once you enter this area you will find a small arch behind and to your right. This is a slight u-turn but do not worry as our street starts there! You can read its name at the top of the arch: 'Derb Laghnaiz Lamouassine'. Pass through the arch and walk down three steps. You're almost there. This street has no shops and in most parts is roofed. Walk and don't leave the wall on your left. After 50-60 meters of walking down this winding street, you'll find a door with our name on it: 'Equity Point'. Welcome!!

2. While walking past a shop a man came up behind us and said "want to come in the back, and smoke. Hashish?" Totaly un-pc but this man resembled and sounded like Jafar from Aladin.

First Impressions

This weekend, I am exploring Marrakech Moracco with Brandon! We are staying in this absolutely stunning hostel with free internet and computers so, even though I don't have a way to post pictures while I'm here, I figure I may as well update you guys on this trip.

We landed in at the airport and passed through customs. We only had one minor snaffu- but hopefull it will be the only one of the trip. Stupidly we forgot that we can't use our debit cards outside of Europe. Luckily bBrandon had a different ATM card on him and withdrew enough cash for the both of us! I'll Just have to pay him back when we get home!

We found a cheap bus instead of a taxi that dropped us off in an excellent location. We are staying right off the main sauqre (Jemma El Fna) in the Medina. The sqaure was bustling with little food stands, dried fruit stands, and shops. We almost had the wool pulled over our eyes at one restaurant but a nice French lady pointed out a discrepency on the menue to us and we were fine. So in otherwords, I may actually get to use those 6 years of French after all! The food was delicious we had chicken and lamb kebabs and bread and veggies.

After dinner we walked around the sqaure we peeked in some shops. It's going to be fun haggling in the markets! I'll keep you all posted! Until then, I'm going to go relax by the pool under the night skym or maybe on the poof chairs in the courtyard, at our hostel that is only costing us 25 dollars a night! Score!

I think I'm going to love it here.

NOT My Fault!

I happened to tell Denise (the director of the program/my mentor/my boss/my mom away from home) that I'd been eying a particular London ducky. I had no intention of buying it, but she did. So, I have yet another PERFECT ducky for my collection!

Duck to protect the rest!

A Circle of Stones, a Giant Bath, and some Wizards

Wednesday the group went to Stonehenge, Bath, and Lacock. Everything had a little element of magic involved! I love excursions with Philippa – our main tour guide and the art history professor. She makes even really boring things come to life.

I really wasn’t all that jazzed about Stonehenge – it’s cool, but not really my thing. Holy Cow – much cooler in person than in photos. I never learned much about it in school – perhaps because the whole thing is an unsolved mystery.

You can’t get very close to the monument because people used to chip little pieces of the stone off. It’s a little bit annoying that you have to pay to walk a giant circle around the thing. It’s stood for over 5,000 years – I don’t think it’s going anywhere any time soon!

I’ve posted a few pictures, but you can’t see some of the really cool things in the pictures. First, the tall standing stones all have little knobs on the top, the ones that lay across in the circle have notches that fit onto the knobs. What’s so cool about that is that the knobs and notches would have been carved with tools made out of bone or wood and maybe bronze towards the end of construction.

No one really knows why it was built. It is perfectly circular and is on a raised patch of grass. The sun rises and sets over one stone. It may have been a seasonal calendar based on the rising and setting of the sun or it may have been a religious site. There are graves scattered all around it on the hillsides. It was pretty neat.

I loved Bath. It’s a big city, but it’s not overwhelming. We didn’t stay long unfortunately so I only got – yet again – a taste. I’ll be going back in my lifetime for sure. We popped into Bath Abbey where the very first coronation of a King took place. Edward the First – maybe. Our main stop was in the Roman Bath. Very cool! Again, I learned nothing of this bath in history, but it was a huge deal. Julius Cesar took baths there. I must say, I find it a touch creepy that people all took Baths together.

You can still see the steam as it rising up from the Baths today – although you can’t get in. The Romans were some of the first people to really value bathing. They even valued massage and oil treatments. Very spa like! 

Bath kind of fell apart over the years and then in the 18^th century had a revival of sorts. All the rich people from London would travel there to relax and unwind in the spas. Jane Austen was a frequent visitor to Bath. There are homes in Bath that are still maintained by the rich and famous and go for about 4 – 5 million pounds….a row house for 4-5 million pounds. I’d at least like my own garden for that kind of money! 

30 row houses - about 4 to 5 million pounds each!

On the way home we stopped in Lacock. It’s a cute little historical town. We didn’t learn much about it other than it was the site of filming for many of the scenes in the first two Harry Potter movies. I had some yummy ice cream and window shopped!

The Simple Things

I've been enjoying the simple things in life a lot recently. Like......


The flower market where I bought beautiful yellow tulips. The Columbia Road Flower Market is only about 2 block long and there are little shops lining the back of it. The flower vendors shout their prices as you walk past their stands. I went with Jordan (one of the girls in my flat) and we just wandered in and out of shops and marveled at the variety of flowers...anyone heard of kangaroo paws?

Kangaroo Paws

My Tulips

Tuesday night Marybeth and I finally made it to ballet! I've been wanting to go this entire trip and Marybeth came along. I got my tush kicked! It was so amazing - I sweat buckets and had rosy cheeks! I'm definitely going to try to go again in the next 20 days that I have left! It's so amazing reconnecting with things that I used to love.

After ballet - all hot and sweaty.

 

I know the holidays are right around the corner when the citrus in the stores go back to being affordable prices! Today I bought satsumas! Yay for easy peel yummy, seedless goodness!

A Little More Prague

I'm trying not to bombard you too much with long posts..... so I'm splitting things up a bit more.....

Climbed a huge hill to get this view!

Prague is a city with a very rich culture and interesting history. Unfortunately for the residents of Prague this history has often been violent. Prague was once the economic capital of Europe and the heart of the Austrian Empire. It has seen many political and religious occupations and uprisings. Perhaps it is Prague’s history that has turned it into a nation of artistically inclined Atheists. The city is rich with art and architecture and is home to many great musicians.

Old Town Square and the Cathedral

On the first day in Prague, we went on a walking tour of the city. It was a 2 hour tour and only covered one of the districts of Prague. The district is not that big, but it is packed with history and stories. A few of my favorites – for various reasons…

1.     The Astronomical clock was a huge technological feat in it’s day. Prague was so proud of its clock. People would come from all over Europe to see this clock. The people of Prague were so concerned that the clock maker might build another one for a different country that they gouged his eyes out. Well, naturally this guy was a little angry so he decided to get revenge. He committed suicide by throwing himself into the gears of the clock. It took over 200 years to find someone else smart enough to fix the Astronomical clock.

2.     Wenceslas Square, named for St. Wenceslas (however, there are many things in Prague named for King Wenceslas and they should not be confused), is the favorite site for protests. In 1989s demonstrators took to the square and all shook their keys and rid Prague and the rest of the Czech Republic of communism. The jingling of keys is now a universal sign of intimidation.

3.     During German occupation of Prague during WWII, Hitler got word that on top of Rudolfinum Concert Hall (also known as Dvorak Hall) were statues of famous composers. One of those composers was Mahler, a Jewish composer. Hitler ordered workers to remove his statue. When the workers got up to the roof, they had no idea which statue was Mahler so they took down the statue that “looked Jewish.” When they got it to the ground, they found out that it was not Mahler, but in fact it was Wagner! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. They took down Hitler’s absolute favorite GERMAN composer because they thought here looked Jewish. Probably the best “life lesson” story I’ve ever heard.

After the tour, Brandon and I walked along the Vltava (the Moldau) to the New Town. This was a much longer walk than we anticipated. Prague is a small city compared to London but it's still a lot of city to walk! We didn't figure out the public transport until the last day! We walked up a massive hill to see the "High Castle" and cemetery where all of the notable Czechs are buried. Then we walked down the hill to find a pub for dinner. It was delicious - don't know if I was just hungry or if it really was that good!

After dinner, we went to hear the New Prague Radio Symphony. They were actually a string chamber orchestra so I was a little bit disappointed. The concert was in a fabulous church and we got their early enough to sit in the front row so I had a great view. The concert was entirely made up of well known easy to listen to pieces of music. Frustratingly, I was part of the most unintelligent musical audience. No one knew when to applaud and I could see the performers getting frustrated. Oh well, it was still pretty cool to hear music by Czech composers played in Prague where they really are treated as National Heroes. Even though I was clearly at a concert full of tourists, Prague has a huge classical music scene. I’ve felt it here in London, but I could almost taste the excitement for and the respect of classical music all over the city. 

St. Nicholas Church

National Theater. Many of Mozart's operas premiered here.

The rest of Prague to follow!

Yes, It's Official...I'm Crazy

This one was hand carved in the Czech Republic. It's on the end of a pencil.

Prague, just a little taste

It's our last day in Prague. I have an hour to kill before Brandon and I head off to the airport. I'll post again with pictures from the trip, but I am warning you now, they do not do this city justice. Even with my fancy shamcy camera, I cannot capture the magnificence of this city.

Our hostel was right around the corner from the Old Town Square withe Astronomical clock - the one that chimes every hour with these little turning statues. It's a lot of hype by todays standards, but when it was built it was quite a technological feat.

We were a little nervous coming into the hostel. All of the reviews online were either glowing or terrible. It was the only one with beds available. No bed bugs here! The walls were a bit thin, but the location was perfect.

I'll give you the history lesson with the photo post later, but here are some travel adventures for you...

We almost missed our shuttle to the London airport, because the London bus driver was being typical and did wait for us to come down the steps from the top levelbut we made it and got through security with no trouble. We landed in Prague and proceeded to try to find our taxi that we had reserved wsince it was about midnight by the time we arrived and knew that we didn't want to attempt public transportation at that hour. We had our first and pretty much last language issue, but finally found the man waiting with our name on a sign.

It was really convienet being able to speak english the entire trip. We found English tours led by American transplants to Prague. Most shop keepers and wait staff speak enough English to serve tourists. It was also a little bit frustrating. We were really looking forward to the adventure of figuring out how to communicate with locals. The only word i have figured out is, dekuju - thank you - just about the only word you need in any foreign country. 

Friday I almost got hit by a car. oops, i looked the wrong way while crossing the street. Czech people drive on the same side as in the US and I crossed as if I were in London. Saturday we went on a pub crawl. Essential we huing out with every American in Prague. Our professor was not joking when he said that Amercians pretty much flock to Prague these days. Just about everywhere we went, we could find the other Americans in the crowed. We went to a Halloween party at a killer night club. I know it's a sterotype - but Czechs really can party. Sunday went off with out a hitch - for us.

The joy (or maybe downside) of hostels are the people you encounter. We shared a room with some Brits who thought it would be funny to lock their buddy out of the room by pushing a bunk bed up against the door. Well, we all fell asleep before he came back. I was the only one sober enough to wake up to him trying to open the door. So, I tried and failed to move the bunk bed with a sleeping man on it. Brandon finally woke up and helped. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep.


More to come later - after I get my piles of backlogged homework finished!

Man vs. City

Clearly I’m a little behind in my blogging! But, I have to catch up as tomorrow I’m off to Prague for the weekend! Be warned, another LONG post

A few weeks ago, I commented on how in love with London I am. Well, Nathan came to visit for a little over a week and gave London a run for her money. I don’t know which I love more….man or city?

City

Man

 vs.

I picked Nathan up from the airport and he endured the 1.5 hour tube ride from Heathrow to my flat on the west side of central London. He thought he could make it a full day without sleeping but totally failed and went to bed early.

We went to Greenwich on Sunday. I’ll spare you the details, mostly because I’ve already told you a lot about Greenwich. But we did enjoy ice cream in the park and we touched a 4.5 billion year old object, a meteorite!

Monday we went with the group to see Billy Elliot. AMAZING. I wanted to dance all the way home. If you haven’t seen it, GO.

Tuesday we went to the Tower of London. I’ve been there before – in high school. All I remember seeing there were the crown jewels. It was a lot more incredible than I remember it being. We went on the Yeomen tour. It’s a free tour given by the Yeomen guards or “beefeaters.” Fun fact, the Yeomen are all retired military who have put in extensive service and won honors. They get to live in Tower with their families and give tours. Pretty cool life if you ask me.  It was almost surreal seeing laundry hanging in the flat courtyards – new clothes hanging in such a traditional household chore. I’m not doing a very good job of explaining….

Henry VII armour. I wish you could see the massive cod piece.

My favorite story from the Tower, however, is the story of a Priest who was imprisoned in the tower. He was able to escape by writing a letter to his friends on the outside. No one suspected anything because he wrote the letter in the juice from an orange. It dried clear, but you could read the message by holding the paper up to a candle. Now, why someone would think to hold a seemingly blank sheet of paper up to a candle I don’t know, but it worked and he managed to escape the tower.

Only part of the Tower of London.

Wednesday we went on the group excursion to Oxford. This is an absolutely incredible city. It’s somehow remained practically unchanged for centuries. Most of the buildings are made from sandstone and the roads are primarily cobblestone (I don’t know how women in heels walked around in the old days). We ate lunch in a park and then walked down to the river (honestly I don’t know which one), and got nearly attacked by swans. Most of the tour was spent touring the campus of Oxford University – most of the buildings in the town belong to Oxford University. In the University system here, all students pay the same amount to go to school regardless of the school. You just have to get in.  At Oxford, the students still must come to exams in a cap and gown. Yes, a black gown and a mortar board. We didn’t get to see as much as I would have liked, but we did get to see a lot of Harry Potter sites. Many scenes from the movies were filmed at Oxford. We walked into the “Great Hall” and the room that held the “Goblet of Fire.”

The Great Hall - people actually eat here!

This is where Harry's name comes out of the Goblet of Fire

Attack Swan

Thursday Nathan and I went on another out of London excursion to Maidstone. It’s the town where I was born! If we had been brave enough to rent a car, I would have driven past my old house, but alas, neither of us wanted to attempt to drive a manual car on the wrong side of the road in a strange place. So, we took the train. We spent the day at Leeds Castle. We had read that it is the most romantic castle in England. I’d agree – maybe that’s just because I went with my boyfriend (Just an FYI, you can get married at the castle – DREAM COME TRUE). One of the things I loved most about the castle was its history of ownership. Mostly that the castle always belonged to the wife of the King. She was always in charge of the running of Leeds Castle. It continued to belong to the wife of the monarch even after he died. Eventually the castle became owned by dukes and lords and finally became a private residence. Now it is open to the public and showcases traditional rooms as well as 20 century rooms.

Front of the Castle

Archway over the mote

Back of the Castle

Hedge Maze at Leeds Castle - WAY harder than it looks.

Success!

 We stayed a very cute bed and breakfast in Maidstone. The closest pub was a mile walk away. We went to the “Cock Horse” for dinner – gotta love the names of British Pubs – and decided to stay for the Pub Quiz. A pub quiz is essentially a trivial game played at a pub. Many pubs do them weekly or monthly and at established pubs they get quite rowdy. This pub was new to pub quizzes, so we decided to join in and were then duly dominated by the locals. In the morning we went back to Leeds Castle to play 9 holes of golf. Who ever said that I was a natural clearly didn’t know what they were talking about. Worst game ever. It was absolutely incredible to play golf with the castle in the background so loosing 3 golf balls was well worth it.

The Golfer

The "wannabe" golfer

 

 

 

Friday we went on a night tour of the city – well I took Nathan to Harrods and then around the city by bus and foot at night. I love how London lights up at night even though the streets are eerily quiet by 7:00.

Tourism

Giant toys in Harrods

Clock tower and the London Eye

Houses of Parliament

Saturday we lounged around and then attempted to go to a play. FAIL. But, we ended up touring Chinatown and Covent Garden and then went to a movie in the hip young neighborhood of Camden Town.

Sunday we went to church at Westminster. It’s a sneaky way to see the inside of the church without paying. It was slightly amusing to go, because neither of us is Catholic and we really had no idea what to expect in a Catholic Church service. It was really touching, however, to hear the organ play in their old church and to hear the choir’s voice echo. The head guy (not the priest) at the beginning of the service talked about how we were all worshiping universally. When we looked around, it was clear that there were people from all over the world. I thought it really highlighted one of my favorite aspects of London – diversity.

We went to the V and A museum (Victoria and Albert) in the afternoon followed by the Natural History museum. Two incredible free museums. Lots of art lots of old dead stuff.

T-Rex at the Natural History Museum

We went out for a really romantic dinner Sunday night. 50 % off with my restaurant discount card. We sat at the restaurant for over 2 hours drinking a bottle of wine and savoring delicious Italian food. It was the perfect end to a fantastic week.

I fell more in love with London – and with Nathan. Even though I had been to many of the places in London before, I still discovered new things to do and see in this incredible city. It was really wonderful having someone to share the adventure with.