7 Weeks in Europe

Phinneas

2008-05-27T06:58:00.000-07:00

We got a new puppy at IKEA. Okay, well it was in the IKEA parking lot. There was a man with a truck with hot pink signs that said "Tiny Puppies for Sale"

So we got ourselves a tiny puppy! 3.14 lbs, male, half chihuahua, half mini schnauzer, alll cute!

New Orleans

2008-05-06T18:43:00.000-07:00

Today was way super duper. So many super duper things happened, that this might be a really rambly entry! Maybe I will list. Listing always is more concise. Yes, let’s list…maybe a rambly list…

#1 awesome thing:
We have this super high tech system. I have a blackberry, and I have a laptop. And now I have a USB cable that lets my computer get online via my blackberry* We went online in our car in the Walmart parking lot and googled “coffee shop in Mobile” about 10 things came up, and only one wasn’t a Starbucks. It was Carpe Diem Coffee and it was awesome. The drive there took us through some beautiful mansions, and the Spring Hill University Campus (Alabama’s first institution of higher learning). We bought coffee and took an incredibly pleasant morning stroll through the campus.

*I also have a modified Verizon account to facilitate this.

#2 awesome thing:
We went to a small car place to get our oil changed. They found our transmission fluid filter thing needed to be changed as well, which they did for pennies. During that time, we talked to some locals and got a welcomed earful from them. We learned that it gets cold two weeks a year there. How cold? 50 degrees. Sigh.

#3 awesome thing:
We walked around downtown Mobile, a scenic little town. We stumbled into a Gallery, where we were apparently like their first customers ever. It was their opening day. They lavished us with southerness and wine and chitterchatter. It was hilarious and awesome.

#4 awesome thing:
We finally found someone on Couchsurfing.com who agreed to host us!!! (we tried several people in Europe with no luck, but hadn’t tried on domestic soil yet) Dan from New Orleans called in response to my housing request and agreed to put us up for two nights in N’Orleans. Sweet!!!! We really want to shower.

#5 awesome thing:
We got to Dan’s house and he was super chill and cool. Phew.

#6 awesome thing:
We walked from Dan’s to the French Quarter, and all down Bourbon and Royal Streets. It was a fantastic walk, and great to experience the many faces of New Orleans we saw in that 6 or so mile walk alone. Tomorrow we will explore some of the more impoverished areas affected by Katrina.

Honk Snooze

2008-05-06T18:40:00.000-07:00

We began our day at the same coffee shop we ended the previous on at. After several hours of coffee shop-ing, we wandered the city…the parks, a cemetery, and some residential streets.

After that, we headed on out for what would be a long, and terribly boring day of driving. We expected some beautiful coastal view on our alleged “scenic route” but were disappointed to find unremarkable town after town, and not a single water view.

We altered our intended route a bit as a result of the mind-numbing boredom, deciding to head to Florida and get on I-10 asap.

We spent the rest of the day driving, with a short leg stretch at the Okeefenokee Swamp in southern Georgia.

We ended our boring day in Mobile, Alabama, at, where else..but…a 24 hour Walmart.

Savannah GEE OH GEE A

2008-05-06T18:39:00.000-07:00

Leaving Charlotte, we headed straight for Savannah, Georgia. We arrived in the early evening, but since it was Sunday, the town was sleepy.

For the first several hours, we walked around largely unimpressed. It was a tourist trap, and we hadn’t found anything that had grabbed either one of us. I remembered Savannah as being a beautiful city from my visit several years ago, and knew there was so much more then what we were experiencing.

As the sun set, we walked farther and farther, and began to realize that a huge percentage of the intersections are large green spaces with beautiful stone sculptures or fountains. Savannah has an enormous amount of green space and towering weepy trees methodically shading every street. The architecture is old and beautiful, often complimented by brick or cobblestone streets and sidewalks.

After several aimless hours, we asked a bike taxi-man if there was a coffee shop that wasn’t Starbucks. (We have solidified our distaste for the chain joints on this trip – Starbucks on the top of that list). They directed us two blocks away, to what was one of the highlights of Savannah for us.

We spent the rest of the night in the coffee shop – probably the only non art school kids there (SCAD – Savannah College of Art and Design has a huge presence in the city.)

We parked on a quite street, pinned up our curtains, and slept right in downtown Savannah, careful to set our alarm for just before the meter maids start work for the day. Oh how I love our travel motel.

Charleston

2008-05-05T05:41:00.001-07:00

Charleston is a fantastic city from the outsider-touristy point of view. It is beautifully architected, clean, pleasant and has an art gallery or museum every 5 feet.

It is a conservative and modest city - a majority of the people we saw were dressed in summery dresses and button down shirts, and all the galleries were populated with traditional fine art.

While walking downtown, we spoke with a girl who worked in an art store. She confirmed my thinking that it was a friendly city on the surface, but underneath it was a super conservative, gossipy town, which she personally was ready to leave.

She recommended us to head to Folly Beach, a place she described as more real, and more populated by locals. We did head over there, but were largely bored, as we reconfirmed our usual disinterest with beach culture. Folly had little to offer us, although we did take a pleasant walk down a whitely sanded beach.

Charlotte is currently ranking #2 on our favorite-cities-of-the-trip-list. Boston is still #1.

Our car is a bit more comfortable now, with the loft we built, although with the 18 or so inches of living space, combined with the thick curtains - it gets mighty toasty in there. On the whole though, not too bad!!

We are enjoying our roadtripping immensely, although we are pretty excited to get back to Salt Lake and start business planning.

Congaree

2008-05-05T05:22:00.000-07:00

Congaree National Park is one of the nations newest national parks, one I haven't yet been to. It wasn't the easiest to find, buried in a sleepy neighborhood in super rural South Carolina. Congaree is the largest remnant of old-growth floodplain forest remaining on the continent!

It was a swampy green place, with a pleasant boardwalk through swampy goodness, and several longer offshoots for lengthier hiking opportunity.

We opted for a 4.4 mile hike, which, by the end, felt a lot longer. It was quiet and green and lush and beautiful. The black water was calm and wonderfully reflective..
Parts of it looked like a gnome den, with knotty ground protrusions everywhere, called "knees" in the forestry business.I would definitely recommend a visit if you are in the area.

Charlotte!

2008-05-04T18:04:00.003-07:00

Carborro, NC was short, but excellent. It is a pleasant town near Chapel Hill where my first out-of-dorm roommate (Stephanie Murr) now lives with her son and husband. I hadn't seen her since 1999 - so it was a long awaited reunion. It was super nice to catch up with her, watch her son run around, and then dinner in a diner she has seen John Edwards eat at. We, unfortunately didn't run into him. I was going to tell him he was better looking than Hilary and Obama. And what's up with that. How come we most commonly call her by her first name, and him by his last?

After dinner, we drove to Charlotte, where we spent 2 days on the wrong side of town, with my friend Jon, who lived directly beneath me in our Israeli dorm. He has since downgraded, living in a sketchy furnished motel-looking apartment in the Charlotte ghetto. However, he is cool as hell and we had a blast with him.

Gregg and I took the opportunity as soon as possible to hit up a Home Depot and get a piece of plywood to lay across the back of our car, on top of the wheel wells, and atop the front and back seats. It is a hip urban car loft of sorts.

Apres car renovating, we lollygagged around until evening, when we hit up an artwalk in one of Charlotte’s hipper regions. There were about 5 galleries, 2.5 of them really interesting us. After about 10, the gallery seen dulled, and we headed for some bowling – which was potentially my worst score in my adult life. Such a downer after hitting my lifetime high the last time I bowled. I think my two game average might have been about 48.

While leaving Charlotte, we stopped in the first ever Latino-owned coffee shop I have ever frequented. While there we purchased a Korean made bottle Aloe juice. The verdict? Definitely decent, far too sweet for heavy consumption. Fruity.

Virginia - North Carolina

2008-05-04T17:59:00.001-07:00

We are sitting at Saxby’s coffee shop in downtown Richmond, VA. It was super hard to find a coffee shop that wasn’t Starbucks but low and behold, here we are! Richmond is a far more depressed city than I remember from driving through here several years ago. It originally seemed to be economically divided by a river running on the south side of the city. The southern part was horrendously neglected, falling apart, with mostly abandoned storefronts. The divide seems to extend far enough that we didn’t see one single white person until we crossed the bridge from the south side.

Although the north side was vastly more maintained then the south, it was still a remarkably depressed town.

Moving forward - Today we will enjoy the sunshine while driving from Richmond, VA to Chapel Hill, NC to visit an old roommate from college..and then potentially onto Charlotte, NC to meet up with another old friend from Israel.

Virginia

2008-05-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

Our first stop down the coast was in Fairfax, VA – we visited my childhood friend Aimee deRaismes, and her imported Irish husband. We met in the second grade when we were both sent to the school shrink because we were two of the three kids in our grade with divorced parents. Thanks New Fairfield School system!!!

Gregg and I had all the best intentions in the world to go into DC and see the some of the Smithsonians (there is no entrance fee for them!)..but on day one we spent all day lolling around, reading, working with clients, and enjoying free ice cream day at Ben and Jerry’s (and, Gregg had a little key locked in the car mishap, and we had to wait for AAA).

The second day in Fairfax, we attempted to take the Nutley Street / Vienna metro to downtown DC, but throughout 1 parking lot and tow parking garages, found not a single occupiable spot. We scrapped the DC initiative and headed straight for Shenandoah National Park.

NOTE: If you ever go to Fairfax Virginia, find a Wegman's grocery store. It is the best grocery store I have ever seen!!!

Later in the day, Greggy dearest had a second key-locking-in-the-car incident! This time with the lights on, but a park ranger rescued us, and sent us back on our way.

At night, we parked at a 24 hour Walmart and spent about 10 dollars on fabric, pins and scissors, attempting to make curtains for our Forrester. It didn’t work out exactly as planned – and even tho’ it was dark in there, the ridge caused by the backseat folding down was too uncomfortable to sleep well, despite the carpet padding we added on. Additionally, the space is really not large enough to accommodate the both of us. We will need to find a better solution, or else we will be mighty sleep deprived by the end of the trip!

In and out of Connecticut

2008-04-29T06:03:00.000-07:00

It’s been awhile!
We are leaving CT after just over two weeks there. During that time we (in no specific order):

1. Caught up with family – including watching bad lifetime movies and getting the pants beaten off me in Scrabble by ol’ Pops the literary whiz.

2. Purchased a Black ’99 Subaru Forrester, which we got a sweet radio and handsfree phone system for (Thanks Ma!)..and which Gregg did a bit of work on. It may indeed have a sketchy past, but we are crossing our fingers for it’s performance on our road trip.

3. Played with the fuzzy family dog Winston the pug.

4. Visited NYC (saw the Guggenheim and the Met, didn’t love either)

5. Saw my uncle, aunt cousins and cousin’s boyfriend in their beautiful Manhattan apartment (and were provided a tasty repast despite the Passover limitations)

6. Re-tiled the second of my mother’s three bathrooms

7. Visited my friend Lydia at Haaaavard, where she is a PH.d candidate in the Sanskrit department. (and I recently found out she was the only one accepted out of 60-100 potential candidates!)

8. Walked around Boston and remembered how amazingly beautiful the city is. Thought about a more extended visit, possibly in the fall.

9. Visited Salem, Mass, where there is a red line painted on all the sidewalks in town guiding you through the town (Who wants to make those kind of decisions on their own).

10. Met up with an old friend Karl Stevens, who is a fantastic artist.

11. Reunited with an old professor, Tony Apesos from my first art school

12. Worked a ton for clients and setting up my business.

13. Went to synagogue with my mother – the first time in probably over a decade for me, and the first time ever for Gregg. The one prayer that stuck with me in the services says (when translated) something like “Don’t say harsh words to others, say them to God and treat others with kindness”

So now we are off – driving on the New Jersey Turnpike as we speak. It is rainy out, and New Jersey looks like a most unsavory place from this vantage point. We are headed to Fairfax, Virgina, where we will visit Aimee de Raismes, one of my closest childhood friends, who I haven’t seen in probably 7 – 9 years.

In the next 2.5 weeks, we will drive down the eastern seaboard visiting friends, stop in New Orleans (where we may go to Jazz fest), then we will head through Texas, New Mexico, Colorado – and then back to SLC. As usual, any and all of this is subject to change.

Once we get back, it’s nose to the grindstone – time to get my new company built and launched!

Back in Business...

2008-04-11T06:21:00.000-07:00

Gregg went out and about today – but I stayed and worked on the site and plans for the next phase of my business. I had a lovely day to myself – and the hail and rain outside didn’t make me regret my decision one bit!

The business is shaping up, and I believe it will be successful in time. I have been working in custom websites now for a few years – which are costly for the client, and can drag on and on for me. While I enjoy it – It is hard to justify the cost. So I am developing my company into a web template site, where a company would basically pick what they want their site to look like, provide the materials, and we will have it up and ready in 48 hours.

This differs form other sites that offer templates, in that we actually add in the site content, for a super low rate compared to other similar sites. I believe this will benefit me in that it will offer a quick turnaround for a relatively good day’s rate for me – and for the client, it will give them a very inexpensive, professional site, super quickly. Small businesses can’t really afford a custom site, and I want to create a business plan that allows for everyone to afford themselves one of the main resources a business needs nowadays.

The National Gallery

2008-04-10T06:20:00.000-07:00

The national gallery today was the most amazing museum I have ever been in. Side by side Van Gogh, Manet, Monet, Delacroix , Titian, Raphael, Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, ….

I could have sat there all week learning about all the artwork…

For now at least, it will e the museum by which I compare all other museums….I would return to London solely to see this museum. It differed from the Louvre for me in a few ways. Firstly, the layout was easier to grasp and comprehend. The Louvre’s collection was in several different rooms, areas and floors – and while the National Gallery’s collection was also spread out, the floor plan felt far more linear and organized to the untrained eye. It was easier to move about the Nat. Gallery with a sense of time moving forward and periods shifting before one’s eyes.

Secondly, for me, the recognition was there in the National Gallery, which made it a better starting point. I knew a huge percentage of the paintings from my art history textbook – knew the stories, the artists. While the same artists were largely represented at the Louvre, for me the paintings were more obscure. As a museum novice, seeing painting after painting straight out of a textbook was inspiring of the greatest museum awe I have yet experienced.

We had been underdressed for the drizzly rain walking by the Thames in downtown London, and I was tired of walking and freezing that day. The Tate Modern interested me little, but the National Gallery redeemed the day many times over. It will surely be my first stop in my next visit to London.

Vive Madrid!

2008-04-08T06:19:00.000-07:00

Madrid! What can I say! I love Europe!

We walked miles and miles today, all about the city. To nothing in particular - we walked past elegant architecture, adorned with mythological sculpture, huge urban parks, scruffy dogs, a bull fighting stadium. There weren’t any particular highlights for me, but the day was pleasant, and the city was elegant and easy on the eye.

Tangier to Morocco

2008-04-07T06:19:00.000-07:00

We had a relatively seamless transfer from Tangier to Madrid. We have found everything about Madrid to operate with the utmost efficiency. The trains come without much wait, and we have been impressed with the airport’s swiftiness in both baggage and customs.

It was overcast, and intermittently rainy the entirety of our trip to Madrid, all 48 hours of it that is. We met some college students in the Tangier airport, who were Americans studying in Madrid. They left us with metro directions on how to get to a neighborhood where we would be likely to find a hotel. We were ever so thankful to pay just a few euros and take the metro, rather then another expensive cab ride.

The transition from the airport was smooth, although the one bag we have left is overstuffed and difficult to travel with. Gregg has been the one taking on the burden, and will probably never let me forget it. My deepest apologies to him forevermore.

We went to a Kabob-ery for dinner, and found it was one of the cheapest most delicious meals we had had yet. The had excellent falafel and Pita wraps, for 3-5 Euro (still about 7 or so bucks). The Moroccan food we experienced had been so oily and unhealthy! Our stomachs had been craving some goodness!

Train to Tangier

2008-04-06T06:16:00.000-07:00

They told us 1st and 2nd class were so similar on the train, that it didn’t matter. Take the cheaper fare they said! Bah Tooty!

There were a bunch of us crammed into a seating area on the train – the gentleman next to me was a stinky and neauseating example of the excellent benefits of hygiene and deodorant. Everytime he moved, my stomach moved with him. Thank goodness he didn’t go far, although I am sure he is a lovely person.

He got up and was replaced by a mother and her three little children, one of them who could not stoop chattering and provoking his brothers the entire trip. He was a nightmare, although he did amusingly remarked that Gregg was a girl because he had long hair. His mother occasionally told him to stop, but mostly just slept and occupied herself with her younger child, leaving him to his annoyances.

On top of the lady with three children, none of which had a seat because the area was too small – we were then joined by another lady with two children! We were already cramped, with no room, and we protested her joining our car – but she insisted. Her children were actually angels. I watched old Scrubs episodes on my ipod to escape the annoyance of the antagonistic child – but eventually good mother said some words to bad mother and bad mother left. Hallelujah. It was a long 6 hour train ride.

Oh, and did I mention someone had been playing on the top of the train for some reason, and fell off while it was in motion? Yeah…they stopped the train for awhile – but with the language barrier, we never did get the full story.

Story Moral: On a long train ride in an overpopulated country – upgrade yo’ self to first class. It is probably only an extra 5 dollars.

In the Medina

2008-04-05T21:13:00.000-07:00

We haven’t left the Medina (walled marketplace) all week! When we left to buy our train tickets out, we realized how much more of Fez there is! It is so easy to see just what is in front of you as the entire universe! We won’t have time to explore now, as we leave for Tangier tomorrow – but the taxi ride was a nice reminder of the outside world!

Chilling in Fez

2008-04-05T12:51:00.000-07:00

So we have been totally laying low in Fez...Spending most of our time lounging around the guesthouse..

We found out Gregg's backpack is being shipped to our home in Salt Lake - nutty!!! Mind you - we still haven't seen it since leaving for this trip! It fell victim to the 15,000+ bags bungled by London's Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 madness. (new terminal, new baggage system..but not enough training for the employees I think). The kicker is they need someone to sign for the baggage back in SLC. Brilliance, pure brilliance. Thank goodness for neighbors. (We hope!)

Despite picking up a few things in Paris, he is still super short on clothing and hygiene products - so we will have to pick up a few more when we get to Madrid and can get receipts for what we buy. (Reimbursement is key).

Here are some picture of the Medina, our guesthouse and Fez in general.

!!! *** You can use the arrows below the thumbnails to scroll through all the images. *** !!!

All is well that ends well...

2008-04-05T12:16:00.001-07:00

Via Blackberry emails, my brother found us a hotel in Fez – which took a good deal of work to find. Eventually we located it in the middle of the Medina – the walled old city market.

Some young boys, begging for a tip, took our luggage and placed it in a cart which they sped down the narrow cobbled streets of the Medina, with us running to keep apace. We hadn’t even considered that the hotel might not have vacancy.

Not only did they not have space, but it wasn’t a hotel! It was a guesthouse owned by an Aussie women! We were super exhausted from the lack of sleep and stress of the long drive and the rough morning. Vacancy was the only word we wanted to hear.

The Aussie guesthouse owner volunteered to call some British friends who owned a neighboring guesthouse. Within 15 minutes, Joe, one of the owners – an early 30’s Brit – came to collect us all, and led us back to his place.

By this point – Joe pretty much felt like an angel to us all. Fez is hectic and loud and crazy and stressful – all of which was gone when we stepped into his home. It was beautiful, spacious, luxurious, authentic and quiet. (with the Bonus feature - Wireless Internet!)

Relief was the word as we joined Joe, his fiancée Claire, and their visitor-friend Dave on the deck for wine, and a fantastic view of Fez. The long stressful day could not have ended any more satisfyingly to any of us. This guesthouse was perfect.

To Fez!

2008-04-05T12:06:00.000-07:00

We opted for a grand taxi for the four of us to Fez - both or the comfort, and because the bus wasn’t scheduled to leave for another 6 hours.

The ride started out all wrong. I was hungry from just eating a small amount of bread hours earlier for breakfast – but was told we would stop in the next town and get lunch. For the first hour and a half the cab kept saying he would stop to eat in 20 minutes, but never did.

He sped around the winding roads, passing everyone. This compounded with our hunger and our language barrier made gave us all a good deal of stress. Three of us were just plain angry at the driver, but it was our fourth, Adan, who suggested we try to buy the driver lunch and appeal to his human side.

Although we found a translator at the café to talk to the driver through, tensions were still high back on the road. Adan sat in the front and the two began to bond over broken French. Before too long, the cabbie was driving prudently, and became much nicer - a great relief to all of us.

Our driver had a long day ahead of him. 6 hours to Fez, and then 6 hours back. On the way, he flagged down a cabbie going the opposite direction, and proposed to him a passenger switch, which meant each driver got to head home immediately while carrying the other’s passengers. A large group exited our new cab – one of them looking deathly frail, with a bandage wrapped around his head. The other men carries his limp body to the new cab – and I felt badly that he had to move. Apparently he had been injured in a small bus accident.

Our new driver was friendly, and drove prudently the remainder of the way to Fez, and I began emailing my brother through my Blackberry requesting the name of a reasonably priced hotel with internet.

Morning time in the Sahara

2008-04-04T13:48:00.000-07:00

Today began early, and felt very long by the time it ended. Three of the four of us hadn’t slept well, which caught up with us by the end of the day.

We arose at 5:30, to climb atop a sand dune and watch the sunrise over the Sahara. There was a chill in the air, but it was quite calm and beautiful out.

Slowly more and more people came out – and we realized how many others there really were around us. Coming in late in the darkness of night had afforded us the feeling of solitude in the desert.

The lifeless desert began to take shape as the glowing sun warmed it up and created the most beautifully endless shapes of the light and shadow.

We descended our dune to a desert breakfast, which actually wound up being just day old bread and juice and coffee. There were skiis and snowboards to go down the dunes on – which Gregg was delightfully awaiting – but our plans were cut short by the shuffling onto the camels by our guide, Idir. Though we were the last group to leave, we still felt very rushed.

Though the scenery was unforgettably beautiful riding out of the desert, the camels were uncomfortable, an were chafing our legs at the seams of our jeans. The sand in the pants / camel combination is unfavorable to say the least.

The sky was vivid and clear – and soon enough the distant Atlas mountains came into sight, and we were back at the car.

We offered Idir money to take us to Fex, a 6 – 7 hour ride, but he declined. We didn’t know if it was his fatigue, disinterest or the expiration of the rental car fueling his decision.

***There are more pictures if you use the arrow underneath the thumbnails below! Or just simple keep clicking on each large picture, and it will keep advancing as long as there are more pictures to see!***

Oarzazate - The Sahara

2008-04-04T11:03:00.000-07:00

April 1st, 2008

Well, as mentioned yesterday, we booked a tour for today and tomorrow. It wasn’t hard to do so, as everyone in Morocco seems to own a travel agency.

Naim, the “agent” we booked through, showed up as promised in the morning – although he attempted to convince us that the four of us were to squish in the back of his car – saying it was made for four people. We called him on it, and pushed to him to honor his promise of an English speaking guide, and plenty of car space for the 6 or 7 hour ride out to Merzouga / the Saharan Desert. Shortly thereafter, Idir arrived. They rented a car, and we were on our way. He proved to be trustworthy, full of humor, and an excellent guide. He drove prudently and showed endless patience with our photographs, bathroom stops and questions.

We spent the day driving east from Oarzazate to first the Todra Gorge, and then Erfoud and finally Merzouga. We arrived at the base of the Sahara in time for the red glow of dusk on the mammoth dunes. The sand was soft on our feet as we waded far out for better views of the setting sun. After the sun went down, we hopped aboard our camel caravan and rode for two hours in utter peace under the clearest of starry skies. We arrived for a late dinner in the nomadic tents of the “Oasis”. We had a typical diner of Targine – which is kind of hard to describe, but generally consists of boiled meat covered in potatoes, beans, carrots or other vegetables. In the coming days, we were to grow quite sick of this dish.

After dinner, the traditional tea ensued, and then we reconvened in the next tent over for drum music before going to sleep in the provided tents.

**Please notice the arrows underneath the thumbnails the pictures below...I know the later pictures can be easily missed!!****

To Oarzazate

2008-04-03T08:43:00.001-07:00

We began the day hearing the typical Muslim call to prayer, before dawn. Then we heard another moments later. Someone must have left the mic on - because we heard chirping birds for the next alf hour thereafter.

Breakfast was on the beautiful terrace atop our hotel, which afforded a fantastic view of the nearby mosque. The buffet breakfast consisted of coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, warm temps and clear skies.

After breakfast, a cab brought us to the bus station - where we were immediately approached by a man selling tickets to Oarzazate - our destination. After verifying the price with the bus company, we boarded the hot tight bus and sat for at least half hour until we left the station. We were approached, on the bus, by countless vendors of all ages attempting to sell their tissues gum, candy and travel services.

Somewhere between 4 and 5 hours later – we arrived. We had been advised to sit on the left side of the bus – and greatly pitied anyone who hadn’t been advised similarly. The view was extraordinary! We looked down on lush green grasses, bright red mountains, and occasionally snowy peaks in the distance. There was very little during the ride that was not superb for the looking.

Getting off the bus, we hooked up with a Canadian couple about our age – Jasmine and Aaden, who had similar plans for the next few days. Together we found a hotel, (by the way – they are AT LEAST 1/3 of the price you will pay for online – so always try to book here in person!) – we also booked an overnight trip through the desert for tomorrow, and walked around and got dinner together in Oarzazate. Tomorrow we set off in a private car, touring the sites of the desert, eventually camping out under the stars – complete with cooked meal and camel ride. Yippee!

While we are eating out and booking tours, it is still cheaper here in Morocco – our dollar goes a lot farther, which brings the stress level down, and broadens the scope of activities we can do.

I am super loving being a traveler again. It has been too long. I haven’t felt this liberated and free to do what I please since long ago – well before I met Gregg. Probably since 2004 and Israel. We are truly loving the freedom we feel now – and hope to plan our future lives with this in mind.

Marrakesh...

2008-03-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

We arrived into Marrakesh without much ado. After a painless customs and baggage (1 bag now instead of two…) retrieval, we got in a cab and headed for our hotel. This of course involved the usual bargaining. The city was super packed with foot, bike, scooter and car passangers. Apparently it was some kind of holy day, explained our cabbie.

Our hotel room was a bit dank, bit overall more pleasant than expected. It had a flush toilet, shower, tv and wifi (I heart Skype)!

We headed out on foot to find dinner, and found the Medina (market) lively with food vendors and patrons. It was late in the night, but still showed no signs of closing down. Gregg found himself some kabobs, and I settled for some super oily aubergine and couscous.

I was up into the wee hours updating travel plans, and looking through my pictures and updating my journal – hoping this wouldn’t result in a late awakening the following day. We elongated our stay in Morocco by 4 days, in order to see Fez, and the desert.

Morroco!!!!

2008-03-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

We are on a plane for Marrakesh. This airport experience was remarkably different then the flights a few days ago. (I say that, although it isn’t finished yet). We just heard from the loudspeaker someone has been smoking in the bathroom, and will be in trouble upon landing. I assure you, it was not me.

Paris was a wonderful experience – both the city itself and the time spent with my cousin and Samuel, her boyfriend. Far too short a visit if you ask me.

We recovered one of our lost bags at the airport – but Gregg’s is still in limbo. We hope to reunite with it someday. We are still quite tired, but enjoying everything.

Strolling through Paris

2008-03-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

We strolled all through the city today – first through the outdoor market – where every last piece of produce is perfect in color and shape, and displayed with the utmost care and arrangement. I have never seen such perfect eggplant and such succulent strawberries anywhere before.

The city was relatively quiet as we walked through. We marveled at the architecture – and enjoyed the best of the best strolling in and out of high end furniture shops. Since the airline had lost our luggage – we headed to the Gallerie Lafayette and shopped in that district for the afternoon.

I had a bad feeling when we were leaving SLC, and had asked Gregg to buy travel insurance for our baggage. Luckily, we now had 500 dollars each to spend on replacement clothing. Later in the day I spoke to British Airways, and the also let us know we could purchase what we needed, and get reimbursed later.

So, we each got a few things in Paris – it was only with the promise of reimbursement that we were able to afford even the most basic of clothing with the horrible dollar to Euro conversion.