I have entered a different world...

I am now in Fez, Morocco. No pics on this blog as I don't have too much time. Might not be till I leave Morocco as there are not many places with WiFi here (shocking, I know). But first, pick up from last time:

Barcelona was a lot of fun, wish I could have stayed there longer. Roxanne and I took an overnight bus from there to Madrid (saved money for a hostel that night). I didn't sleep much though as the bus was jam packed and my legs are too long to get comfortable. We stayed at a hostel in Madrid that was very nice, rated best hostel in the world a few years back. I really enjoyed the food in Madrid. There were places where you could buy a beer and get free tapas (Spanish appetizers, basically). Some places the beer was only 1 or 2 euros and you get a huge plate of good food. We explored the city a bit and saw an Egyptian temple. That night, our hostel served free paella (famous Spanish rice dish with seafood and chicken). I met some Brazilian friends from our room and went with them to a club. It was very expensive but huge. 7 floors of people! Biggest club I have ever been to, played mostly techno and pop.

The next day was Roxanne's last day. I hope she had a lot of fun! She saw a lot of places in two weeks, and I think it was a good trip. We went to the airport, then after she left I waited around for about 5 hours. My dad's flight was delayed. He eventually got in and we headed back into Madrid. We didn't plan on staying there long at all so we found a room and bought our train tickets for the following morning. There was some confusion, though, and apparently we were at the wrong train stationt! The next morning we had to run to make our train on the other side of Madrid. The train took quite awhile without many views, but we made it to Algeciras in the very south of Spain. There we read we could just 'hop on' a ferry as they run all the time. We waited two hours for the first ferry until the port guys determined the large hole we could see in the side of the ferry might be a problem. What a joke, people were really pissed off after waiting so long. We waited more until another ferry was ready. We got on and it didn't leave for another hour. Some girl got heat stroke and her father went beserk. It was a really chaotic ferry ride.

Later that night, we got to Tangier. It is really interesting city as people speak Arabic, French, Spanish, and English (many people speak all 4!). The city is full of hustlers and scammers, though supposedly it's better than it used to be. It is the first Arab city that I have ever been to, and it was hard to know what to expect. Along the street, 98% of the people are Arab, but they are all used to seeing tourists. Tangier has a long history of Westerners arriving into Morocco. We found a very nice hotel and had a good Moroccan dinner. The next day we went walking in the medina. The medina is the old part of town, every Moroccan town seems to have the old city and the new city. The medina is an absolute maze, the streets are extremely narrow and there are people everywhere trying to sell you stuff. There are fake guides and hustlers everywhere too. It can be pretty overwhelming at times. People sell everything from meat and vegetables to handmade goods, carpets, fake American branded stuff, and candy. Then came the real scary part: I got pickpocketed.

We were walking down a narrow street and these two guys were walking toward. A car was behind them. In the space of about 1 second, the car honked its horn for the guys to move, only one of them moved and forced me to split between them. The road was so narrow they both rubbed up on either side of me. I was very aware of what was happening and knew they got way too close to me. My wallet is always in my right front pocket, but unfortunately I had my camera in my right hand at the time. I reached for my pocket as they slid around me but the guy was so close to me I couldn't get my hand down. As they passed I sensed something was very wrong and reached in my pocket as I turned around towards them. Of course, wallet gone. I yelled really loud and ran back a few steps and got right in the guy's face who passed on my right side. The other guy had turned and was now walking away from me. I screamed in the guy's face to give it back and he seemed scared, but kinda gave a blank look. I was about to punch him in the face, which may not have been the best idea. When I screamed at him though, I saw the friend turn out of the corned of my eye and held my wallet out and came back to me. I suspect the first guy handed it off to the other one as I was turning. Anyway I ran to him and grabbed my wallet back. He acted like it was somebody else down the street who had taken it and he was being nice and returning it to me. I knew it was bullshit, but the whole situation happened in about 4 seconds and my heart was racing. I made the guy stand there, lifted up his shirt, counted the money in my wallet, etc. I looked again and again, but could not see anything missing in my wallet. The other guy had walked away at this point. I still wasn't exactly sure what to do, if I went to the cops up the street, not sure what I would tell them as the guy would deny it was him, and there also didn't seem to be anything missing. So I pretty much walked away and our day continued...

Later on in my room, I counted the money again and again, and I *think*, though cannot say for sure, the guy swiped 200 durhims from my wallet (about $25). I don't know for certain how many I had in my wallet, but adding up what I spent it seems like one note was missing. That would also explain why he turned around and gave me my wallet back like nothing was wrong. Oh well, I had dollars, euros, and durhims in my wallet totalling about $600, plus my debit card. So if $25 was taken, that's not the worst that could have happened. I am just glad I was pretty vigilant about it and very aware of what was happening. I am now super paranoid about it and generally walk with a hand in my pocket.

So after Tangier, we took a train down to Fez. Fez is a very old medeival Muslim city. It is the artistic, spiritual, and intellectual capital of Morocco. It has the oldest university in the world. I think we got very lucky on the train ride down as we sat next to our new friend Amine. Amine works in the tourist office of Tangier, but was born and raised in Fez. He speaks perfect English, as well as Arabic, Berber, Spanish, French, and Italian. I thought he was about 35 at first, but is only 26. 10 years ago, he had a serious heart condition and got sponsored by a bunch of charities and the Rotary Club to come to New York for surgery and recovery. I guess he feels he owes America a lot, and he has basically been our guide in Fez for free! He made several cell phone calls from the train and we had a driver when we arrived, a room at a guesthouse (not quite a hotel) booked and everything taken care of. We are seeing things in Fez that we never would have found on our own. He led us into the Medina last night, which was larger and had even narrower streets than Tangier's. The sights and smells are unlike anything I have ever experienced. We drank Moroccan scotch (joke name, it's mint tea, no alcohol) and went to a restaurant that is in a 500 year old home. Amine knows people everywhere we go, and gets us good deals. Our room was 50% off! And at dinner we got free salads (not American salads, think huge plates of appetizers) and free dessert. I ate a chicken, lemon, and olive dish which was very tasty.

We walk a lot here, but also take some taxis as they are extremely cheap (under $2 across town). The people here drive like psychos, there are few traffic signs and roundabouts everywhere that are just free-for-alls. Nobody wears a seatbelt, there aren't any in the back of cabs. Oh, and it is hot. Really hot. But actually not quite unbearably hot. I prepared myself for the worst as someone told me it gets to 48 or 50 degrees sometimes here (120F!) It isn't nearly that bad. Range seems to be 95-105 or so, and very, very dry. Our room has air conditioning, but when we are outside we sweat all day long. Even most of the Arab people who are used to it sweat a lot. We drink lots of water, probably 5-6 liters a day each! My dad bought a couple of Moroccan carpets today from a government run co-op. They were each made by poor women, usually widows who are supported by the government, they took over two years to make! There are about 1 million knots per square meter of carpet, all made by hand. Unbelievable... He will probably keep one rug and try to sell the other, maybe at an art show in Seattle. You can sell them in the U.S. for hopefully about 5-6 times what you buy them for in Morocco because the government does not allow them to be exported. The buyer must actually arrive in person, pay for it, and have it shipped home.

In a little while, we are going with Amine to a hammam. It is kind of like a Turkish bath, very traditional here, I am not sure exactly what to expect. Tonight, he is taking us to his family's home where his sister will show us how to cook Moroccan food. And we aren't paying a dime for this! We are going to actually go to the market with his family, pick out food, cook it, and eat it. It sounds like an amazing experience. Tomorrow, we are most likely leaving Fez. We still need to work out a few details, but Amine is arranging a driver who works for a tour company to take us on a 3-4 day adventure through the mountains and the Sahara. We are going to head south and see many small villages. Tomorrow night, we hop on a couple camels, head out to an oasis where we sleep! We will wake before the sun rises and head back to the nearest town. Then our driver will take us to several other cities and some rivers and gorges. Another day or two and he will drop us off in Marakesh, another Imperial city like Fez. Though Fez is more cultural while Marrakesh is more fun and party. From Marakesh we will probably make day trips to Casablanca and other cities on the coast. We each bought plane tickets from Marakesh, so we don't have to hassle with the damn ferry and the train. My dad will fly to Madrid on the 8th of August to catch a flight the next day. I will stay on my own two more nights in Marakesh, then fly to Seville, in southern Spain. It is supposed to be a very interesting and beautiful city. It is close to Portugal as well, so I will take a train there a few days later.

I have so much more I could say about Morocco! It is a really fascinating place, some places beautiful, some very dirty, the people are all interesting and we hardly see other tourists. Most of the women dress fairly modern but not all. You are more likely to see a girl in American designer jeans than a woman with a veil, or burqua. I have only seen two or three women with their complete face covered. Morocco has a huge mix of people from different backgrounds as well. More people speak English than I expected. I have learned a few phrases in Arabic. Almost everyone speaks French too, as there is a huge French influence everywhere from colonial times.

Not sure when I will be able to blog next, very hard to find WiFi here, and very little time as we are constantly doing something! Hopefully when I get to Marakesh I will be able to. And I have taken a lot of pictures! I will try to post them when I get a chance.

No more rain! Barcelona is an amazing place and very hot!

First, Paris pics:

And Versailles and Chartres:

I have a lot more pics of course! They are tough to post next to text, I think I will do a blog soon with only pictures on it, that will be easier. OK, here we go...

I need to post more often, I am seeing so many places and want to write about all of them! So this post will be long...

In Caen, we went to the D-Day Museum and spent almost the whole day there. There was a huge amount of things to see and read about, then two movies which were really cool. The hostel in Caen was very far out of the way, felt like we walked forever in that town. The following day we took a train and then a bus to get out to Omaha Beach. We walked through the American Cemetary where over 10,000 WWII Americans are buried. It was quite a sight, looked like the pictures you see of Arlington. We hiked down to the beach itself and walked around for awhile. You can still see some bunkers and concrete passageways built by the Nazis. There was a little map that showed all the German fortifications in the area, it even named some of the Nazis and which post they were manning the morning of June 6th, 1944.

We took the train back to Paris after Omaha Beach and spent one more night there. We went to (another) cemetary. I am forgetting the name of it right now, but it is the most visited cemetary in the world. There are over 800,000 people buried there, including Oscar Wilde, Chopin, and Jim Morrison. Next, it was time to catch a plane! We made our way to the airport for a relatively cheap flight on Veuling Airlines. I think it was about 100 euros for the ticket, cuz we bought it only two days before. I need to plan better so I can get 10 euro airfare!

Arrived in Barcelona and have now spent 3 nights here! This city is probably my favorite city so far on this trip. The layout is really cool with everything kinda centered on La Rambla, the main walking strip. All of the Gaudi architecture is really amazing too. We saw La Sagrada Familia today, which literally made me saw "WOW" when we turned the corner and saw it. It is a work in progress, so there is a crane and scaffolding everywhere. I guess it won't be done for 20-50 more years, those are peoples' estimates! And they started it in the late 1800s...

Yesterday was beach day! Spent the entire afternoon in the heat on the sand. I think it got to 38 degrees which is near 100 F. The water felt amazing, there were some huge waves, and I got a lot of sun. And all the half-naked girls sure didn't hurt :) We were watching our stuff like hawks, everyone says pick pockets and bag thieves are all over the beach, but I guess this whole city is like that. I haven't had any problems so far though. A guy tried to sell me cocaine on the beach, that was funny. I put sunscreen on all day long too, so no burn, just look really tan now!

We did another pub crawl last night, I think that is my 5th of the trip! And we are probably doing another one tomorrow night in Madrid! They are a lot of fun and a cool way to meet people and go to bars you would never otherwise know about. Except for the one in Paris, that one hardly had any free drinks and was crazy expensive. The one last night had Power Hour, all you drink sangria for one hour. All the food in Barcelona is really good, and can be cheap if you go to the right places. We went to this market today, the main one right on La Rambla. It was amazing to walk through, just the number of shops and all the stuff they sold. Every type of meat and seafood you can imagine, plus fruit and vegetables. But the meats were the most interesting, whole pigs, cow heads, every organ you could think of, it was pretty bazarre. The place was just huge, think Pike Place Market times 100. If I lived in this city and knew how to cook Spanish food I would go there every day.

Also went to the Picasso Museum today, which has over 3,000 Picasso works. It was pretty cool, though most of it was from his early career, not very much cubist stuff which is what I like most. Speaking of Picasso, our first night in Barcelona we went out with some people from our hostel to a bar which Picasso used to go to and drink absinthe, which we did too. In terms of art and museums, Paris definitely wins hands down. But for a budget traveller, the museums in London are the best: every one of them is free!

Tonight we are taking an overnight bus to Madrid so we don't have to pay for a night at a hostel. This hostel in Barcelona is called Hello BCN, it it probably the best hostel of my trip so far. The key you get is a watch and electronically opens all doors and your own luggage/storage locker. There is a bar downstairs with cheap beer and a huge lounge area (where I am right now). All the people that work here are really cool and helpful. And the people staying here are friendly and fun. Roxanne and I will see Madrid all day tomorrow and then she flies out the following morning. I will just hang out at the airport I think, because my dad flies in a few hours later! I am going to figure out how we will get down south so we can catch a ferry to Morocco! I should also read up a bit on Morocco in my book because we will have I think 12 days there so we should see a lot.

I think my plan after Morocco and my dad flies out of Madrid is to head out to Lisbon. I don't know much about Portugal, but Lisbon is supposed to be a really cool city and the hostels are supposedly the best in the world. Then I'm thinking about flying to either Marseilles or Nice, spend some time on the French Riviera before heading to Italy. I am probably going to miss all the rain in the U.K., Ireland, and Paris pretty soon. Barcelona is very hot, you sweat just walking down the street, and it's probably only going to get worse in Morocco! I don't really mind it that much yet. On another note, there is a scale at my hostel here that tells me I weigh 85 kilos (187 lb). That means I have lost about 12 pounds in the month I have been here, crazy! That is also less than what I weighed my senior year of high school. Must be a combination of walking everywhere, often with a pack, and not eating too much cuz I don't want to spend the money. I am not starving myself though, I make good use of the all you can eat breakfasts that most hostels have. And usually at night, sometimes I just drink my dinner :) No one worry, I haven't gotten sick on my trip yet and am staying healthy! I have now been travelling for more than a month, though it doesn't feel like it and I am definitely not tired of it! I have many, many more places to see and people to meet...

A few days in Paris, just arrived in Normandy

I had some more fun exploring London with some new friends, then they took off and I went out to the airport to pick up Roxanne. We spent two nights in London at a pretty decent hostel. It was a 17 bunk dorm with the bunks stacked 3 high, yet each bed had a privacy curtain, it was pretty strange. We went on a free walking tour of the city and saw all the major sights. Then we did a pub crawl on our last night which was pretty fun, but Roxanne managed to leave her debit card at a club. We left for Paris the next day, she is still trying to figure out if she can get her card or have to cancel it. All in all, I spent 6 days in London so I got to see just about every major museum and tourist sight (all free!). After that, we took a 9 hour bus ride to Paris through the Chunnel (much cheaper than the train).

Paris was the first place on my trip where everyone didn't speak English, and that will probably be true for the rest of my trip! It is definitely a different experience trying to figure out where to go and how to get there. I seem to be recalling quite a bit of French I took from 7th - 9th grade! I can't believe it, I am able to ask basic questions and understand a little when people talk to me. I bet a month alone in this country and I could speak conversational French. We saw most of the major sights in Paris - the Louvre, Notre Dame, Musee D'Orsay, Arc de Triomph, Eiffel Tower, and more. I managed not to spend too much money despite Paris being very expensive. A baguette and some cheese and a bottle of wine, all for about 5 euros!!! The wine is so cheap at the store I can't believe it. I got a glass at a cafe my first night for 4 euros, then the next day I bought a bottle at the supermarket for 1.4 euros! That was the cheapest one they had, but supposedly some of the wines that sell for 50-100 bucks in the U.S. cost about 3-4 euros at a Paris supermarket.

It rained quite a bit in Paris, which I wasn't expecting. There was a freak rainstorm while we were in line at the Eiffel Tower which sent everyone running. We are now in Caen, a city in Normandy. Tomorrow I hope to visit the D-Day museum and see some of the beaches and war memorials. Should be pretty interesting. I will post some pictures when I get a chance. Time for bed!

Back in London after a great trip through Scotland!

After the ferry ride to Scotland, I stayed in Glasgow a couple nights. That city is kind of industrial, not a whole lot of history or culture to speak of. However, the university was really cool and there was one amazing museum. I stayed in this gigantic hostel that has 9 floors and you feel kind of like cattle moving through it. But there was a bar attached which had pints for less than 2 pounds, that was nice. Glasgow does have a really cool music scene. I met a Polish girl named Katia who lives in Glasgow. We went to this gig at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut (I will always remember that name). This is the place where both Oasis and Radiohead got their start. There were about 3 Scottish indie rock bands that were all pretty good. I couldn't believe there was show like that on a Monday night, I had a lot of fun though.

After that I decided to do a Scottish Highlands bus tour. It lasted ALL DAY, I was exhausted and slept a lot on the bus. We went all the way through the Lochs and saw castles and stuff up to Inverness which is in the northern Highlands. It was too far to go on one day though, I wish I had done a shorter tour. There were a lot of stops on the bus where we had 2-3 minutes to snap a picture then had to get back on and keep going! We stopped at Loch Ness of course, and I saw Nessie as you can see in the picture :)

I made it out to Edinburgh after Glasgow which I was really looking forward to as I have heard amazing things. It didn't disappoint, as soon as I got off the bus I was pretty stunned by all the architecture. Every building looks gothic or medeival, not just the museums and castles, but every building! I stayed at a hostel that was dirt cheap, 5.5 pounds! It was a steal, but of course I got what I paid for. I stayed on the 7th floor up a spiral staircase, that was sure a fun hike. In Edinburgh I toured the huge castle and did a walking tour of the town. There is a lot of cool and spooky history in Edinburgh, especially around the graveyards. The last night there I did a pub crawl which was pretty cool. One pub had pints for one pound! I met some cool people, including a few girls who grew up in Galway, my favorite city so far!

The bus ride back to London took 9 hours, ugh! It was just so much cheaper than a train I had to do it. I am at a decent hostel here, though it is kind of pricey. London is horribly expensive so I am trying to get by without wasting too much money. I have a Tube pass which is really handy, I think I have begun to master London's public transportation system. Though the Tube doesn't run past midnight, and the bus system is very confusing. My friend Becki who I met in Galway is in London which is awesome! We have been having a lot of fun together, she is the one in the picture.

Roxanne flies in to London in 2 days. We also have a couple other friends that we are going to meet up with in London. We will spend 2 more days here, then off to France on the 15th! I can't wait!

Ireland --> Northern Ireland --> Scotland

The last couple days I had in Galway were fantastic! I made a whole bunch of new friends and saw some of the beautiful Irish coast when I went biking in the Aran Islands. I travelled up to Belfast in Northern Ireland after that. I booked a really crappy hostel though for my first night. The staff were really unprofessional and the place was kind of chaotic. The morning I woke up, everything was locked and there was nobody working there. Breakfast was supposed to start at 7:30 and people were trying to check out. The guy woke up at 9 o'clock. He seemed stoned out of his mind and didn't understand why people were upset.

Anyway, the night I got into Belfast was lots of fun! A couple German girls introduced themselves, they were visiting town from Dublin where they work with this group of 7 French people (5 guys and the 2 blond twins in the pic down below). I went out with them to the pubs and they invited me along with them the following day for a drive up the coast! They kind of adopted me for the day, it was pretty cool. All 10 of us drove up in two cars all along the coast to a rope bridge and then to famous Giant's Causeway. It was all a lot of fun and I got to brush up on my French quite a bit. They were heading all the way out west, so they dropped me off in Derry and I caught a bus back to Belfast.

Last night in Belfast was 100 times better than the first hostel. This place was modern and hotel-like. I went to my room and sat my pack down right next to this guy Dave who was in my room at my hostel in Dublin. It was really random, but pretty cool. We explored some of Belfast's pubs with a German guy who was really funny. One crazy thing in Belfast - there is a free food stand type thing on the sidewalk of one of the main roads with the pubs. At first I thought it was for homeless people, but I think it is just for all the drunk people leaving the pubs! I stopped by and got scones, croissants, chocolate bars, and a volunteer served tea and coffee. All completely free!!

This morning I hopped on the ferry over to Scotland. Sounds easy, but the ferry terminal took me over an hour and a half to walk to (I didn't want to pay ten pounds for a cab, no buses run there). But I finally made it and took a really nice ferry to the Scottish coast. A two hour bus ride later and here I am in a giant youth hostel in Glasgow. I am on the 7th floor, this place is really huge. Tomorrow I am thinking about getting up early and going on a bus tour of the Scottish Highlands, which includes some of the Lochs (maybe see Nessie), Stirling Castle, and some other places. If I don't get up early enough, I will do it the following day, before heading over to Edinburgh. I also need to fit laundry in one of these days, since I have already worn every piece of clothing at least twice (some many more, ew).

So far, I think I am under budget! Not including that Ryanair disaster, of course. I have been covering hostel, food, and beer for about 40-50 euros/pounds each day. One day, I think I spent 29 euros total, not bad! Transportation is generally the bigger cost, so far buses work pretty well. Things cost about what I expected, which means if I play my cards right, I won't have to cut my trip short! (or draw extra funds from my super secret back up account). Hope you all had a great 4th of July! I didn't even celebrate it, saw a couple pubs with American flags out but that was it. The Brits must still be bitter, I guess.

Cliffs of Moher! Now off to the North...

I had so much fun in Dublin!! What a cool city with awesome pubs! My last day there I did the Guinness Storehouse tour and then the Jameson Distillery tour right afterwards. That made for a fun afternoon. Especially considering the Guinness tour includes only one free pint, yet they waited till my third pint in the Gravity Bar (7th floor, great views!) to take my ticket!! Then two Japanese girls gave me their nearly full pints. And you can't refuse free beer in Ireland...

I am currently in Galway on the west coast of Ireland! Today I went on a daylong bus tour around several castles and the Irish countryside. Then we saw the 203 meter tall Cliffs of Moher which stretch for 8 km along the coast! We walked right along the edge which was very scary but I got some cool pictures. I went with several fun people I met at my hostel here.

Today is Canada Day and a few Canadians from the hostel demand we all celebrate so we will be going out soon. Tomorrow I will be taking the bus all the way north to Belfast in Northern Ireland. I am using that as a stopping point to take a ferry over to Glasgow. I will hopefully also meet up with my buddy who is interning in Belfast. I can't wait for Scotland, especially Edinburgh as I have heard amazing things!

Take a look at some pics so far