I just read the previous post to try and figure out where I left off ... San Sebastian?!? Honestly, that seems like FOREVER ago, but I guess that's what happens with traveling -- so much seeing and doing and moving that things that happened yesterday feel like they occurred in a different lifetime. For brevity's sake, I'll write a few sentences about the various locations we have been since the last time I wrote.
First up after San Sebastian was Madrid: went and visited all sorts of good cultural things that one should see while in Spain -- The Prado and La Reina Sofia Museums (got to see a lot of Velazquez, Picasso and Miró, not to mention many of the other non-Spanish, big name artists that even non-artistic folks such as ourselves recognized), the Palacio Real (residence of the Royal Family) a bullfight (well, actually only Mom and Dad went), etc. etc. Overall, a good stop-over, but nobody's favorite city.
Valencia: By the time we got the car rented, packed, and drove all the way to Valencia, and, ahem, FOUND where our hotel was located in the city, we were left with less time than we originally planned. However, we did get to do all the basics: eat delicious paella, go to the beach and walk around the old Historical District of the city. Mom and Dad especially liked Valencia, although Colleen isn't entirely certain as to why...
Granada: Colleen's personal favorite, so she's a little biased when writing about Granada. FINALLY delving into Andalucía (clearly the best region in Spain), Granada is a city right next door to the Sierra Nevada mountain range and is home to La Alhambra (ancient Moorish fortress/palace), the Albazyn (funky neighborhood on the hillside with narrow, twisty streets and a fair amount of teterías (think cafés, but specializing in teas) and artesanía/handicraft shops. It is also home to one of Spain's largest universities, probably 96% of all of Spain's hippy population, and also has an out-of-the-way Roma (Gypsy) neighborhood who live in cave-like houses (this is all according to Dad's Rick Steves guide book --, it was kind of out-of-the-way to get to and we didn't see it ourselves). Anyway, we did get to go to the Alhambra and walk around the gardens, forts and royal chambers and patios, go to the chapel adjacent to Granada's cathedral and check out the mausoleum for los Reyes Católicos, eat chocolate con churros, watch the sunset from Mirador San Nicolas, and soak up the city's unique vibe.
Cádiz: Again, this whole trip is something of a whirlwind. We got here Saturday afternoon, went to the beach with 93% of the population of Cádiz (soooo crowded), got up the next morning and walked along the Paseo Marítimo and in the Casco Antiguo, took a bus to Arcos de la Frontera in the early afternoon, explored one of the typical Pueblos Blancos of Andalucía, nearly melted due to the intense heat, nearly didn't make it back from Arcos (that's a story for later), got back to Cádiz around 10:30, had dinner and went to bed. PS I totally realize that was one of the longest run-on sentences I've ever written, but that's pretty much what the day felt like. Anyway. Later today we're driving to Sevilla (where we're likely to finish melting from the heat), spending a few days there, and then on THURSDAY yours truly will be rejoining you all in the US and the parental unit will continue on to Portugal. Whew, complicated stuff. Okay, well that's all for now, hasta luego!!
06 July 2009
26 June 2009
Brief Update...
Hey all,
We've been spending the last few days up North in the Basque region of Spain, more specifically, the city of San Sebastian -- also called Donostia, depending on with whom you are speaking. Allow me explain: the País Vasco region of Spain is one of the three regions in the country that has its own language they prefer to use instead of Spanish. In fact, if a certain percentage of the Basque population had things their way, they wouldn't even be part of Spain, and instead form its own little nation.
The city of San Sebastian is much smaller than Barcelona and located right on the water -- a nice break from the big city. Since it's so close to France, we've noticed a good number of French vacationers in addition to the myriad of other Europeans walking around the narrow pedestrian streets of the old town, soaking up the sun on the beaches, and enjoying gelato and coffee at the many local cafes -- pretty much the same activities that we've been doing the last few days. Tomorrow we're off to Madrid to hit up another big city, wish us luck in Spain's capital! Hasta luego!
Photos:
We've been spending the last few days up North in the Basque region of Spain, more specifically, the city of San Sebastian -- also called Donostia, depending on with whom you are speaking. Allow me explain: the País Vasco region of Spain is one of the three regions in the country that has its own language they prefer to use instead of Spanish. In fact, if a certain percentage of the Basque population had things their way, they wouldn't even be part of Spain, and instead form its own little nation.
The city of San Sebastian is much smaller than Barcelona and located right on the water -- a nice break from the big city. Since it's so close to France, we've noticed a good number of French vacationers in addition to the myriad of other Europeans walking around the narrow pedestrian streets of the old town, soaking up the sun on the beaches, and enjoying gelato and coffee at the many local cafes -- pretty much the same activities that we've been doing the last few days. Tomorrow we're off to Madrid to hit up another big city, wish us luck in Spain's capital! Hasta luego!
Photos:
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| Barcelona y San Sebastian |
21 June 2009
Gx3
Remember that one time last November when I wrote about going to Barcelona? That time there was only G (as in Godfrey) running around the city. Now I'm back there again, but this time the G power has tripled with the arrival of two fantastic individuals -- yes, that's right, I'm finally getting to see my parents after more than 8 months of being a continent and an ocean away!
My parents arrived in Barcy (don't know if that's an official nickname for the city, just mine) yesterday morning, and after packing all my wordly junk into a couple of backpacks and a monster suitcase and dragging it through some trains and airports and subways, I joined them too. (sidenote: I'm sure I looked absolutely ridiculous and many people judged me, thinking I was some dumb tourist who packed her entire closet for a two week European vacation. NO PEOPLE, this is actually everything I own thankyouverymuch. I'm a little self conscious about the whole thing, if you couldn't tell already...)
Anyway, enough ranting and on to more exciting topics. Like updating you about what we did today, the first full day of our trip.
Well, first we walked from our comfy little apartment Mom so cleverly reserved online to La Plaza Catalunya, one of the main squares in the city center -- actually a bit of a walk, especially since we took a rather indirect route in getting there. After taking a moment to orient ourselves/drink some cafe con leches on the plaza, we hit up the following areas:
1) Las Ramblas
Las Ramblas is a big bustling street dominated by hordes of wandering pedestrians, creepily costumed street entertainers, street vendors offering to sell you various things -- postcards, newspapers, maps, flowers, parakeets. You know, the usual. Lots of things just kind of to look at, but not much that makes you want to stop and spend a lot of time observing.
2) Barri Gotica
The Gothic Neighborhood. True to its name, has a lot of Gothic architecture and a lot of pedestrian only streets and alleyways. It's also where the Cathedral of Barcelona is located (see #3) and where Mom got pooped on by a bird.
3) Cathedral of Barcelona
Probably the main reason we went in the cathedral is because it has a restroom where shat-upon Mom was able to clean up her hair a bit. I mean, it's a cool cathedral, has really ornate altars, a pretty interior patio with geese, a sarcophagus of a 13 year old martyr from back when the Romans were hanging out in Spain... but I think if you asked her, Mom would still say the best part was that bathroom.
4) Picasso Museum
Next up on the list was the Picasso Museum, also in the Gothic part of town. I had been there before, so I don't really have a whole lot to say about it -- there's a lot of cool artwork there, I'd say the majority of the pieces are from earlier on in his career (i.e. pre-Cubism), so there's actually a lot less crazy abstract looking things than you might imagine. Also, since it was Sunday and after 3pm, we got in for free (yesss!) but then again, so did the other 100+ tourists who were waiting in line ahead of us. So much for thinking we were being clever tourists for knowing which hours the museum is free of charge...
5) La Pedrera
Our last stop for the day, La Pedrera is a building designed by the architect Antoni Gaudí. It was originally designed to be an apartment building, but of course, Gaudí designed it with his usual flair (lots of shapes from nature, a perfect compromise of practical functionality and mind-blowing aesthetics) so now it's mainly just another stop on the tourist trail. Again, this is somewhere I had been on my first trip, but surprisingly, I enjoyed it even more the second time around. Gaudí's work is just so incredibly unique and interesting to look at.
After all that, we trekked on back to the apartment -- a full day of walking and sight-seeing (not to mention jet lag for 2/3 of us) has left us pretty tired!
Well, that's all for now -- further entries and pictures will follow in the next few days, so stay tuned...
My parents arrived in Barcy (don't know if that's an official nickname for the city, just mine) yesterday morning, and after packing all my wordly junk into a couple of backpacks and a monster suitcase and dragging it through some trains and airports and subways, I joined them too. (sidenote: I'm sure I looked absolutely ridiculous and many people judged me, thinking I was some dumb tourist who packed her entire closet for a two week European vacation. NO PEOPLE, this is actually everything I own thankyouverymuch. I'm a little self conscious about the whole thing, if you couldn't tell already...)
Anyway, enough ranting and on to more exciting topics. Like updating you about what we did today, the first full day of our trip.
Well, first we walked from our comfy little apartment Mom so cleverly reserved online to La Plaza Catalunya, one of the main squares in the city center -- actually a bit of a walk, especially since we took a rather indirect route in getting there. After taking a moment to orient ourselves/drink some cafe con leches on the plaza, we hit up the following areas:
1) Las Ramblas
Las Ramblas is a big bustling street dominated by hordes of wandering pedestrians, creepily costumed street entertainers, street vendors offering to sell you various things -- postcards, newspapers, maps, flowers, parakeets. You know, the usual. Lots of things just kind of to look at, but not much that makes you want to stop and spend a lot of time observing.
2) Barri Gotica
The Gothic Neighborhood. True to its name, has a lot of Gothic architecture and a lot of pedestrian only streets and alleyways. It's also where the Cathedral of Barcelona is located (see #3) and where Mom got pooped on by a bird.
3) Cathedral of Barcelona
Probably the main reason we went in the cathedral is because it has a restroom where shat-upon Mom was able to clean up her hair a bit. I mean, it's a cool cathedral, has really ornate altars, a pretty interior patio with geese, a sarcophagus of a 13 year old martyr from back when the Romans were hanging out in Spain... but I think if you asked her, Mom would still say the best part was that bathroom.
4) Picasso Museum
Next up on the list was the Picasso Museum, also in the Gothic part of town. I had been there before, so I don't really have a whole lot to say about it -- there's a lot of cool artwork there, I'd say the majority of the pieces are from earlier on in his career (i.e. pre-Cubism), so there's actually a lot less crazy abstract looking things than you might imagine. Also, since it was Sunday and after 3pm, we got in for free (yesss!) but then again, so did the other 100+ tourists who were waiting in line ahead of us. So much for thinking we were being clever tourists for knowing which hours the museum is free of charge...
5) La Pedrera
Our last stop for the day, La Pedrera is a building designed by the architect Antoni Gaudí. It was originally designed to be an apartment building, but of course, Gaudí designed it with his usual flair (lots of shapes from nature, a perfect compromise of practical functionality and mind-blowing aesthetics) so now it's mainly just another stop on the tourist trail. Again, this is somewhere I had been on my first trip, but surprisingly, I enjoyed it even more the second time around. Gaudí's work is just so incredibly unique and interesting to look at.
After all that, we trekked on back to the apartment -- a full day of walking and sight-seeing (not to mention jet lag for 2/3 of us) has left us pretty tired!
Well, that's all for now -- further entries and pictures will follow in the next few days, so stay tuned...
18 June 2009
Un Viajito Más
Hey all! So I'm a bit belated on getting this post and its accompanying photos up, but now that I'm officially unemployed, living at the beach, and have literally no responsibilities, I'm finding it much too difficult to do anything that might have any chance o being categorized as "productive".
Anyway, last week I took way too many buses and 1 train to see a bit more of the Iberian Peninsula before I head over to Barcelona in a couple of days to meet my parents!!!! On this trip I made it to Santiago de Compostela, Fisterra, Porto and Lisbon. I started out the journey alone, but met a few really great people at the hostels I stayed at along the way! I was glad that I did because I'm finding more and more that I get really bored and unmotivated to do anything at all if I'm just by myself, even if I am in a really cool place surrounded by a lot of cool things!
I'll give you all a quick summary of the places and then post some pics, as per usual:
Santiago de Compostela: Santiago's a small town with a huge reputation, located up North in the region of Spain called Galicia (right on top of Portugal). It's the end of a long journey taken by many pilgrims who start their journey near the Spain/France boarder and essentially walk across the entire country along the path called el Camino de Santiago. Many people do it for spiritual and/or religious reasons, but it's also popular with a lot of adventure travelers just because it is a really arduous journey and you get to see a ton of really great landscape.
Galicia itself is absolutely gorgeous -- all of its vegetation is clearly on steroids. There are lots of trees, plants, shrubs, etc all really green and all very dense. Unfortunately, the reason behind its aforementioned greenness is because is RAINS LIKE CRAZY there. I never went anywhere without my raincoat and had to hang up my clothes every night so they could dry, but I figure I probably deserve a little torrential downpour in my life, since I've been avoiding it for so long.
While in Santiago, I also went to an even smaller town nearby called Fisterra. In some places I saw it written as "Finisterra", which I actually like better because the name then explains what it essentially is: el "Fin de Tierra" or the "End of Earth". It's the western-most point in all of Europe and, for some pilgrims, the true end of the Camino. There's not really a whole lot to do there, but I walked from the town center where the bus dropped me off out to the lighthouse that marks the "true" end of the Camino. I thought it was pretty cool and the sun even made a rare (temporary) appearance so that I could take some decent pictures!
Porto: Porto's located in Northern Portugal right on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean and next to the Douro River. It's a nice old town with interesting old architecture and lots of bodegas that produce port wine. My new German friend Manuela and I took a tour at one of the bodegas, partially for the free samples at the end, partially to avoid becoming human sponges by absorbing all of the Porto rainfall. Unfortunately for me, we went later on in the afternoon and there was only one more tour happening that day -- presented in German. Fortunately, Manuela obligingly translated everything for me and I still got to see the wine cellars and try some Sandeman port at the end of our journey.
After a couple of rainy days in Porto, it was time to go further south to Lisbon....
Lisbon is Portugal's capital and really old a overall a pretty great city. Lots of things like castles (okay I actually just visited the one), more interesting architecture, and LOTS of azulejos, or decorative blue tiling found on many walls throughout the city. I really enjoyed just walking around the streets randomly looking at things that I happened upon and then ducking in a cafe for something cool to drink when I got too unbearably hot (which happened to happen a lot, especially in the afternoons... I was constantly sweating). It is also really hilly there, so I walked up and down a lot and got some great views of the city and the water. Interestingly, what with the city being close to water, its use of trams/trolleys as public transport aforementioned hilliness and a certain bridge, it reminded me some of San Francisco... I'll let you guys be the judge though, so make sure to check out the pics!
Anyway, last week I took way too many buses and 1 train to see a bit more of the Iberian Peninsula before I head over to Barcelona in a couple of days to meet my parents!!!! On this trip I made it to Santiago de Compostela, Fisterra, Porto and Lisbon. I started out the journey alone, but met a few really great people at the hostels I stayed at along the way! I was glad that I did because I'm finding more and more that I get really bored and unmotivated to do anything at all if I'm just by myself, even if I am in a really cool place surrounded by a lot of cool things!
I'll give you all a quick summary of the places and then post some pics, as per usual:
Santiago de Compostela: Santiago's a small town with a huge reputation, located up North in the region of Spain called Galicia (right on top of Portugal). It's the end of a long journey taken by many pilgrims who start their journey near the Spain/France boarder and essentially walk across the entire country along the path called el Camino de Santiago. Many people do it for spiritual and/or religious reasons, but it's also popular with a lot of adventure travelers just because it is a really arduous journey and you get to see a ton of really great landscape.
Galicia itself is absolutely gorgeous -- all of its vegetation is clearly on steroids. There are lots of trees, plants, shrubs, etc all really green and all very dense. Unfortunately, the reason behind its aforementioned greenness is because is RAINS LIKE CRAZY there. I never went anywhere without my raincoat and had to hang up my clothes every night so they could dry, but I figure I probably deserve a little torrential downpour in my life, since I've been avoiding it for so long.
While in Santiago, I also went to an even smaller town nearby called Fisterra. In some places I saw it written as "Finisterra", which I actually like better because the name then explains what it essentially is: el "Fin de Tierra" or the "End of Earth". It's the western-most point in all of Europe and, for some pilgrims, the true end of the Camino. There's not really a whole lot to do there, but I walked from the town center where the bus dropped me off out to the lighthouse that marks the "true" end of the Camino. I thought it was pretty cool and the sun even made a rare (temporary) appearance so that I could take some decent pictures!
Porto: Porto's located in Northern Portugal right on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean and next to the Douro River. It's a nice old town with interesting old architecture and lots of bodegas that produce port wine. My new German friend Manuela and I took a tour at one of the bodegas, partially for the free samples at the end, partially to avoid becoming human sponges by absorbing all of the Porto rainfall. Unfortunately for me, we went later on in the afternoon and there was only one more tour happening that day -- presented in German. Fortunately, Manuela obligingly translated everything for me and I still got to see the wine cellars and try some Sandeman port at the end of our journey.
After a couple of rainy days in Porto, it was time to go further south to Lisbon....
Lisbon is Portugal's capital and really old a overall a pretty great city. Lots of things like castles (okay I actually just visited the one), more interesting architecture, and LOTS of azulejos, or decorative blue tiling found on many walls throughout the city. I really enjoyed just walking around the streets randomly looking at things that I happened upon and then ducking in a cafe for something cool to drink when I got too unbearably hot (which happened to happen a lot, especially in the afternoons... I was constantly sweating). It is also really hilly there, so I walked up and down a lot and got some great views of the city and the water. Interestingly, what with the city being close to water, its use of trams/trolleys as public transport aforementioned hilliness and a certain bridge, it reminded me some of San Francisco... I'll let you guys be the judge though, so make sure to check out the pics!
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| Galicia y Portugal |
28 May 2009
That’s all, folks.
It’s true, I’m done! I just finished my last day of work as an auxiliar de conversación in CEIP (Centro Educativo Infantil y Primario) La Inmaculada y IES (Instituto Educativo Segundario) Fuerte Cortadura. I don’t think I really believe it yet – that pretty darn soon, everything is going to change quite radically. What’s going to change? Well, let’s see, for one thing I’ll be moving back to the good ol’ US of A in just over a month’s time, where, oddly enough, I’ll be immersed by English-speakers. GASP. Also, I won’t have to light a butane tank to get hot water or climb to the roof terrace to hang dry my clothes (actually kinda going to miss that). And I won’t be a minority. No one’s going to call me “rubia” or “guiri”. I’ll be (oh wait, I guess I am) unemployed. The keyboard I use to type won’t have an ñ key and I won’t have to substitute a ´ for a ’ when writing words with contractions. People won’t try and push ham, sausage and other meat products on me, but restaurants won’t offer me delicious wine for 1.50 or less a glass. Essentially, very soon, I’m going to stop existing in a world where it’s fine to use Spanglish as a primary means of communication and where multiple cultures intersect and learn from/about one another on a daily basis. I’m really going to miss that, as they have been two defining features of my daily life for the last 8 (yeah, I know, that’s 8 as in OCHO, as in EIGHT) months. One of the things I’ll miss most about being here is just how every day is an opportunity to learn and experience something new, whether it’s something annoying and frustratingly dysfunctional that makes your roll your eyes, shake your fist and mutter “oh Spaaaainnnnn!” under your breath, OR it’s something cool and interesting and eye-opening (“huh, Spain…”), OR it’s something charming, endearing and oh so fitting with the local cultural norms (“Aww, Spain…!”) OR – probably most common – downright puzzling but absolutely hilarious and absurd (“uhhh. Spain?”).
I’ve been lucky to learn so much about a wide variety of temas over the course of my time here – how difficult and rewarding living abroad can be, the importance and value of being able to communicate clearly and speak up for oneself in an effective, appropriate manner, the genius skill of extemporaneous lesson planning/teaching a class with minimal to no preparation time, the balance of negotiating how to be “flexible and open” and “take advantage of cultural experiences” while still doing what makes me happy, the realization of just how virtuous the virtue of patience really is, and most importantly (and most emo-ly) I’ve learned a lot about who I am and the type of person I’d like to become in the future. That last part is so corny I just rolled my eyes at it, but nevertheless it’s true, so I’m keeping it there.
To combat the sickness I’m currently feeling due to previous touchy-feely statements, I’ll share an entertaining incident that happened last Monday when I was working at el Instituto (the older kids' school). I was working with a decently sized group of kids (~12-15 I’d say) in the extra room that’s down the hall from their classroom. I had been given several pages of vocabulary lists with instructions to practice reviewing the words with them. Okay great, so let’s play a game. We’re playing a game that makes them repeat whatever the word is and use it correctly in a sentence, but as these kids are 6th grade-ish and it’s the end of the day, focusing abilities are quite limited. Two of the boys sitting in the back row keep playing some middle school boy "poking/hitting/touching my friend who's sitting next to me and distracting everyone else while the teacher is talking" game, so being the lenient profe that I am, I decide to give them a couple of verbal warnings before I make them do anything drastic like change seats (believe me, it’s a big deal). Two strikes later, they’re still acting like the squirrely pre-teens that they are and I give them their final warning (this time in Spanish, wooooah) to let them know I meant business, but unfortunately I made the following linguistic faux pas:
So grammatically speaking, Spanish uses reflexive verbs, used for when you are doing something to yourself (i.e. putting on your clothes, brushing your teeth, etc.) … unfortunately, in trying to ask the why the heck they wouldn’t stop touching each other, I accidently used “tocandose” (touching oneself) instead of “tocando uno a otro” (touching one another). In short, my attempt to get these two boys to sit still and pay attention resulted in class-wide pandemonium, and I don’t blame them… how many of your middle school teachers ever told you to stop masturbating during class?
….
and to think, I almost got through the whole year without making a fool of myself in front of them, ooops!
I’ve been lucky to learn so much about a wide variety of temas over the course of my time here – how difficult and rewarding living abroad can be, the importance and value of being able to communicate clearly and speak up for oneself in an effective, appropriate manner, the genius skill of extemporaneous lesson planning/teaching a class with minimal to no preparation time, the balance of negotiating how to be “flexible and open” and “take advantage of cultural experiences” while still doing what makes me happy, the realization of just how virtuous the virtue of patience really is, and most importantly (and most emo-ly) I’ve learned a lot about who I am and the type of person I’d like to become in the future. That last part is so corny I just rolled my eyes at it, but nevertheless it’s true, so I’m keeping it there.
To combat the sickness I’m currently feeling due to previous touchy-feely statements, I’ll share an entertaining incident that happened last Monday when I was working at el Instituto (the older kids' school). I was working with a decently sized group of kids (~12-15 I’d say) in the extra room that’s down the hall from their classroom. I had been given several pages of vocabulary lists with instructions to practice reviewing the words with them. Okay great, so let’s play a game. We’re playing a game that makes them repeat whatever the word is and use it correctly in a sentence, but as these kids are 6th grade-ish and it’s the end of the day, focusing abilities are quite limited. Two of the boys sitting in the back row keep playing some middle school boy "poking/hitting/touching my friend who's sitting next to me and distracting everyone else while the teacher is talking" game, so being the lenient profe that I am, I decide to give them a couple of verbal warnings before I make them do anything drastic like change seats (believe me, it’s a big deal). Two strikes later, they’re still acting like the squirrely pre-teens that they are and I give them their final warning (this time in Spanish, wooooah) to let them know I meant business, but unfortunately I made the following linguistic faux pas:
So grammatically speaking, Spanish uses reflexive verbs, used for when you are doing something to yourself (i.e. putting on your clothes, brushing your teeth, etc.) … unfortunately, in trying to ask the why the heck they wouldn’t stop touching each other, I accidently used “tocandose” (touching oneself) instead of “tocando uno a otro” (touching one another). In short, my attempt to get these two boys to sit still and pay attention resulted in class-wide pandemonium, and I don’t blame them… how many of your middle school teachers ever told you to stop masturbating during class?
….
and to think, I almost got through the whole year without making a fool of myself in front of them, ooops!
04 May 2009
On the Road Again....
Well, considering I have an increasingly limited amount of time here in Europe, I decided pretty last minute to tag along with my friends Cat and Lauren and go to Marrakech, Morocco for a long weekend. It consisted of a bus, ferry, taxi, train ride and another taxi to get there (and vice versa to get back), but it was worth the effort! As always, pictures are more exciting than words, so I'll give you guys the link to my pics I took ... I tried to be good and write captions to go along with some of the stuff, so hopefully that will make viewing them a little more interesting.
Overall the trip was a success -- not the easiest of traveling I've done, but like I said, definitely worth it. Marrakech is a city conducive to perpetual sensory overload. With so much to see and hear and experience, I'm sure we didn't see every corner of the city, but we definitely got a good flavor of what the city has to offer. Like I said, being in the Medina (the old city) overwhelms the senses, so I don't know exactly where to begin or what to include... maybe I'll just break it down into a few simple categories...
1. Sight
In the Medina, there are tons of vendors everywhere selling a wide variety of carpets, scarves, jewelry, bags, clothing, woodwork, lamps, pots, mirrors, shoes, knives, dried fruit, sweets, pretty much anything and everything imaginable -- there were even a few "dentists" who were selling (false..? maybe...?) teeth!
In addition to the sheer number of things being sold and people selling them, there were so many different bright colors everywhere! Jewelry-wise, silver or metals that were trying to be passed off as silver were popular, but lapis lazuli, turquoise, and tiger's eye were all common elements, not to mention the brightly colored, borderline obnoxiously-large beads that made up a lot of the necklaces and bracelets for sale. Fun fact: the color purple was highly coveted in the past and considered to be a sign of royalty because purple dyes weren't as readily accessible as all of the other colors.
Also, in the plaza Djemma el-Fna, there are lots of "street entertainers" with their pet monkeys on leashes, or snakes or some other exotic animal and lure tourists in, allowing them to watch and take pictures and then insisting on being paid whatever amount they can get... I got mad at these people a lot because their means of earning money seems less than honorable, but I guess everyone has to make a living the best way they know how... moving on...
2. Taste
While decently popular during the day, the plaza Djemma el-Fna was quite a happening place at night. It's been deemed a UNESCO Cultural Heritage site, and for good reason. It's extremely popular with the locals, as there are all sorts of songs performed and stories told (ie 99% of the tourists can't understand what was being said). There are lots of places to eat -- larger stalls offering kebabs, couscous and other traditional fare and other smaller stands -- so much food, not enough space in my stomach... too bad!
One of my favorite things was the mint tea that was inevitably offered at every meal and at any social situation in which consumption of beverages seemed remotely appropriate. We were told that this tea is "Moroccan Whiskey" -- presumably because it is drunk in such high quantities in so many different occasions, plus that whole thing about the religion prohibiting the consumption of actual alcohol. True fact: no where in the Medina of Marrakech sells alcohol -- you have to go into the Ville Nouvelle, the newer part, to find it (if you're really that desperate).
2. Smell
Holy spices, there were so many different spices and combinations of spices being sold! A lot of them I had heard of, some of them I've used before in cooking, but there were even more that seemed unique to these markets. Part of the vendors selling tactics were to offer you a whiff of every single spice they had in their stall... which contributed to the the nasal portion of the sensory overload. In addition to spices for cooking there were teas and incenses, something (conceivably) for everyone...
3. Touch
I know I've said this a million times, but wandering through the marketplace was so crowded that doing things like walking forward, pausing turning around, and breathing could all cause you to bumble into people and things... in some of the more narrow undercover areas complete I-feel-like-a-canned-sardine moments. UGH not a fan.
4. Hearing
Some oft-heard quotes a heard from trip:
"You want to look? You look for free... hey yes, you, looking is for free. Come in my shop"
"Aaah, from America? Big welcome, big welcome.
"Aaah, America? OBAMA! He's a good man..."
"Helloooo Fish and Chips!" (only heard this one when vendors thought we were from England)
"I give you good price, very good price on this, it's handmade"
And one of my faves:
Vendor: "I offer you good price, how much you want for this scarf? I give democratic price. "
Me: 30 dirham [3 euro]?
Vendor: Oh no, no no. 150, democratic price.
Me: "Democratic? So that means I can vote? mmmm I vote 30! *raise my hand and look at Cat*
Cat: Me too! 30! *raises her hand*
Lauren: Me too! 30! *raises her hand*
We all look at the vendor, who starts cracking up.
I so got that scarf for 30 dirham.
And of course, for your viewing pleasure, the pictures:
Overall the trip was a success -- not the easiest of traveling I've done, but like I said, definitely worth it. Marrakech is a city conducive to perpetual sensory overload. With so much to see and hear and experience, I'm sure we didn't see every corner of the city, but we definitely got a good flavor of what the city has to offer. Like I said, being in the Medina (the old city) overwhelms the senses, so I don't know exactly where to begin or what to include... maybe I'll just break it down into a few simple categories...
1. Sight
In the Medina, there are tons of vendors everywhere selling a wide variety of carpets, scarves, jewelry, bags, clothing, woodwork, lamps, pots, mirrors, shoes, knives, dried fruit, sweets, pretty much anything and everything imaginable -- there were even a few "dentists" who were selling (false..? maybe...?) teeth!
In addition to the sheer number of things being sold and people selling them, there were so many different bright colors everywhere! Jewelry-wise, silver or metals that were trying to be passed off as silver were popular, but lapis lazuli, turquoise, and tiger's eye were all common elements, not to mention the brightly colored, borderline obnoxiously-large beads that made up a lot of the necklaces and bracelets for sale. Fun fact: the color purple was highly coveted in the past and considered to be a sign of royalty because purple dyes weren't as readily accessible as all of the other colors.
Also, in the plaza Djemma el-Fna, there are lots of "street entertainers" with their pet monkeys on leashes, or snakes or some other exotic animal and lure tourists in, allowing them to watch and take pictures and then insisting on being paid whatever amount they can get... I got mad at these people a lot because their means of earning money seems less than honorable, but I guess everyone has to make a living the best way they know how... moving on...
2. Taste
While decently popular during the day, the plaza Djemma el-Fna was quite a happening place at night. It's been deemed a UNESCO Cultural Heritage site, and for good reason. It's extremely popular with the locals, as there are all sorts of songs performed and stories told (ie 99% of the tourists can't understand what was being said). There are lots of places to eat -- larger stalls offering kebabs, couscous and other traditional fare and other smaller stands -- so much food, not enough space in my stomach... too bad!
One of my favorite things was the mint tea that was inevitably offered at every meal and at any social situation in which consumption of beverages seemed remotely appropriate. We were told that this tea is "Moroccan Whiskey" -- presumably because it is drunk in such high quantities in so many different occasions, plus that whole thing about the religion prohibiting the consumption of actual alcohol. True fact: no where in the Medina of Marrakech sells alcohol -- you have to go into the Ville Nouvelle, the newer part, to find it (if you're really that desperate).
2. Smell
Holy spices, there were so many different spices and combinations of spices being sold! A lot of them I had heard of, some of them I've used before in cooking, but there were even more that seemed unique to these markets. Part of the vendors selling tactics were to offer you a whiff of every single spice they had in their stall... which contributed to the the nasal portion of the sensory overload. In addition to spices for cooking there were teas and incenses, something (conceivably) for everyone...
3. Touch
I know I've said this a million times, but wandering through the marketplace was so crowded that doing things like walking forward, pausing turning around, and breathing could all cause you to bumble into people and things... in some of the more narrow undercover areas complete I-feel-like-a-canned-sardine moments. UGH not a fan.
4. Hearing
Some oft-heard quotes a heard from trip:
"You want to look? You look for free... hey yes, you, looking is for free. Come in my shop"
"Aaah, from America? Big welcome, big welcome.
"Aaah, America? OBAMA! He's a good man..."
"Helloooo Fish and Chips!" (only heard this one when vendors thought we were from England)
"I give you good price, very good price on this, it's handmade"
And one of my faves:
Vendor: "I offer you good price, how much you want for this scarf? I give democratic price. "
Me: 30 dirham [3 euro]?
Vendor: Oh no, no no. 150, democratic price.
Me: "Democratic? So that means I can vote? mmmm I vote 30! *raise my hand and look at Cat*
Cat: Me too! 30! *raises her hand*
Lauren: Me too! 30! *raises her hand*
We all look at the vendor, who starts cracking up.
I so got that scarf for 30 dirham.
And of course, for your viewing pleasure, the pictures:
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| Marrakech |
15 April 2009
More Words.
Okay, here’s the sequel to the last post. Like I said before, we took a night train to from Split to Slovenia and got there without any interesting happening (which really I suppose is a good thing). I guess the one exciting thing is that we got our passports stamped since we were reentering the EU (Croatia hasn’t been allowed in), but even the stamp we got is kind of plain and boring looking. Which is actually the exact opposite of our destination, Ljubljana (pronounced loo-blee-ah-nuh). Even though it’s the country’s largest city, it's actually quite small and can be pretty easily covered by foot, although there were bike lanes everywhere on the sidewalks and lots of bikers, few of whom actually used their designated lane.
I really don’t know how I can describe the city in a unique way, but I’ll give it a try. There’s a castle up on a hilltop looking down on the city, a small tranquil river that cuts through the city, various bridges connecting each side of the city and an abundance of popular outdoor cafes and bars that run along the side of the river. There are also a lot of big green parks where people go to spend the afternoons dog-walking, rollerblading, picnicking and other various wholesome family activities. I loved getting to wander around on some of the foresty tree-filled paths and enjoy some non-beach scenery. Another thing I liked was walking through the daily outdoor market… yeah of course there were overpriced tourist items, but only in one section – the rest of the stalls offered delicious looking and smelling produce, lots of flowers (I think especially b/c we were there the weekend before Easter), some odd looking sausage and meat products, and freshly made cheese. In an odd sort of way I almost felt like I was home (river, farmer’s market, lots of green all around), but at the same time everything was still very European and very clearly not the Pacific Northwest.
One of the days we took a bus to two different lakes a couple hours outside of the city. The first was a place called Bohinj, a lot more secluded than our second destination (Lake Bled), and one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. You’ll have to look at the pictures, but basically we were at a huge lake we pretty blue water with the Alps in the background. There are a lot of different hiking trails you can do from there, but unfortunately we didn’t know that beforehand and didn’t exactly come prepared for that sort of activity, so I very begrudgingly tried to satisfy myself with a short stroll along the lake. After taking pictures and puttering around for a couple hours, we caught another bus to Bled, about 30 minutes back in the direction of Ljubljana. This lake is much more geared towards tourists – there are hotels, cafes, restaurants, boats/canoes for rent, etc etc. Here we did pretty much the same thing – walked around, took pictures, pretty much just enjoyed the great outdoors. I should also mention that Lake Bled has a couple unique features. The first is a tiny island in the middle of the lake with an old church built on it (you can take a boat out to the island, but can’t enter the building), and the second is the castle located on a tall cliff overlooking the lake. We missed out on going in there, but really I wasn’t that heartbroken about it.
The last destination before heading back to Spain was Venice – a sharp contrast to the other places we visited earlier, but we found a cheap flight home from there and it’s actually a relatively short train ride from Ljubljana to Venice, so it actually made sense in a random sort of way… anyway, we were just there for a day, so we spent as much time as we could walking around the sidewalks and crossing over canals and watching other people pony up the 80 euro it costs to take a gondola ride. We wandered through a lot of different markets (food, fish, jewelry, more touristy trinkets), went to Piazza San Marco, ogled the Basilica there from the outside (a multiple hour wait to get in!), ate delicious gelato… yep, that’s about it. I was glad we were only in Venice for the day – there were too many big crowds and everything there was expensive… not my favorite combination.
Okay, so in regards to picture posting: first off, I’m warning you, there are a lot of them, so if you get bored, no offense taken. I got bored looking through all of them trying to decide which ones were worth sharing and then fighting with my internet to make them load properly. Second, my camera is going through a rebellious phase in its life and while at Lake Bled decided to have some sort of “Lens Error” that won’t go away. I’ve been hoping it would just fix itself, but it’s been days and still no luck. Anyway, this means I’m missing pics of Venice, but I’ll try and post a few of Erin’s just to make things a representative sample of the trip.
That’s all for now, adios!
Photos:
I really don’t know how I can describe the city in a unique way, but I’ll give it a try. There’s a castle up on a hilltop looking down on the city, a small tranquil river that cuts through the city, various bridges connecting each side of the city and an abundance of popular outdoor cafes and bars that run along the side of the river. There are also a lot of big green parks where people go to spend the afternoons dog-walking, rollerblading, picnicking and other various wholesome family activities. I loved getting to wander around on some of the foresty tree-filled paths and enjoy some non-beach scenery. Another thing I liked was walking through the daily outdoor market… yeah of course there were overpriced tourist items, but only in one section – the rest of the stalls offered delicious looking and smelling produce, lots of flowers (I think especially b/c we were there the weekend before Easter), some odd looking sausage and meat products, and freshly made cheese. In an odd sort of way I almost felt like I was home (river, farmer’s market, lots of green all around), but at the same time everything was still very European and very clearly not the Pacific Northwest.
One of the days we took a bus to two different lakes a couple hours outside of the city. The first was a place called Bohinj, a lot more secluded than our second destination (Lake Bled), and one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. You’ll have to look at the pictures, but basically we were at a huge lake we pretty blue water with the Alps in the background. There are a lot of different hiking trails you can do from there, but unfortunately we didn’t know that beforehand and didn’t exactly come prepared for that sort of activity, so I very begrudgingly tried to satisfy myself with a short stroll along the lake. After taking pictures and puttering around for a couple hours, we caught another bus to Bled, about 30 minutes back in the direction of Ljubljana. This lake is much more geared towards tourists – there are hotels, cafes, restaurants, boats/canoes for rent, etc etc. Here we did pretty much the same thing – walked around, took pictures, pretty much just enjoyed the great outdoors. I should also mention that Lake Bled has a couple unique features. The first is a tiny island in the middle of the lake with an old church built on it (you can take a boat out to the island, but can’t enter the building), and the second is the castle located on a tall cliff overlooking the lake. We missed out on going in there, but really I wasn’t that heartbroken about it.
The last destination before heading back to Spain was Venice – a sharp contrast to the other places we visited earlier, but we found a cheap flight home from there and it’s actually a relatively short train ride from Ljubljana to Venice, so it actually made sense in a random sort of way… anyway, we were just there for a day, so we spent as much time as we could walking around the sidewalks and crossing over canals and watching other people pony up the 80 euro it costs to take a gondola ride. We wandered through a lot of different markets (food, fish, jewelry, more touristy trinkets), went to Piazza San Marco, ogled the Basilica there from the outside (a multiple hour wait to get in!), ate delicious gelato… yep, that’s about it. I was glad we were only in Venice for the day – there were too many big crowds and everything there was expensive… not my favorite combination.
Okay, so in regards to picture posting: first off, I’m warning you, there are a lot of them, so if you get bored, no offense taken. I got bored looking through all of them trying to decide which ones were worth sharing and then fighting with my internet to make them load properly. Second, my camera is going through a rebellious phase in its life and while at Lake Bled decided to have some sort of “Lens Error” that won’t go away. I’ve been hoping it would just fix itself, but it’s been days and still no luck. Anyway, this means I’m missing pics of Venice, but I’ll try and post a few of Erin’s just to make things a representative sample of the trip.
That’s all for now, adios!
Photos:
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| Semana Santa |
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