WARNING: This is an extremely long post. I realized quickly how hard it is to sum up a trip that was 11 days long. I'm sorry and if you choose to read, I hope you enjoy!
And let me tell you, I had a whirlwind of a trip. In fact, I just might need another week and a half to recoop. Phew!
I'm trying to figure out how to cram and stuff my whole trip into one post. Man, I think this is going to take me several hours.
My journey started by flying to JFK in New York. I can't remember what time we landed, but I do know that it was almost the exact time that the plane went down in the Hudson River. We arrived at our next gate, looked up, and saw the story on the TV screens. Nuts, huh? Thankfully it wasn't us! (I never pay attention to those safety videos anyway.)
(Flying over NYC)
After that, it was a 6 hour flight to Barcelona. We arrived pretty early in the morning, it was still dark outside. We hopped a train to the city then rode the metro to get to our hotel (we weren't staying there that night but they were going to keep our luggage safe for the day). Needless to say, I was pretty pleased with myself that I'd managed to cram my entire trip's necessities into a carryon size, because lugging your crap around in a subway with hundreds of other people is not exactly a walk in the park.
(Oh sweet euro, it's been way too long)
We spent the day traversing around Barcelona. What a beautiful city! It reminded me of Rome in some ways, probably because it is so busy. In fact, I almost got plowed by a scooter. What a friendly reminder that I wasn't in the states anymore!
Buildings like these with patterns on them aren't uncommon.
We found Gaudi's Casa Milà, a building built for a married couple in the years 1906-1910. Amazing.
(I liked the balconies)
We worked our way over to another Gaudi masterpiece, Sagrada Família. I think I could spend a week looking at this cathedral because there are so many details. It is a ton to take in at once.
We walked around for a few more hours but my batteries went dead, so this is where my pictures pretty much end for that day in Barcelona. I will add more later as I get them from my sister.
After we walked around, we got a taxi to take us to the boat. After signing in and getting some pretty scary photos taken of myself (I looked haggard from the trip over) we finally got settled. The next day was a day at sea, where I spent most of the day exercising, reading, and lounging around. We got together with our group that night and planned what was to be the most daring, scary, and life-risking excursion of my life: our trip to Marrakech.
Our ship had an excursion that was going to Marrakech from Casablanca, then on to Agadir the next day to catch the boat (Marrakech is about half-way between Casablanca and Agadir). The only problem was that it cost $500 and it was full. So we decided to try to do it ourselves.
The next day, we arrived in Casablanca, Morocco. After being swarmed and attacked by taxi drivers all too willing to rip us off, we walked a few blocks where a local hotel arranged some taxis for us. We negotiated a price to take us to Marrakech and we went on our merry little way. Taxi drivers in Morocco are a little eager, to put it lightly, to get a westerner's business just because they feel they can rip them off. Sometimes negotiating can get a little heated and even the taxi drivers have arguments over who gets the business. It's outta control!
(I love Arabic writing.)
(Shortly after we got off the bus, trying to negotiate a decent taxi price)
(Moroccan dirhams)
(Moroccan kitty stopping by for a visit)
Our taxi driver was hilarious. I'm not sure what his name is, but he pronounced it something like Mormon. After a rough start, we took it as a good sign. One of our fellow travelers had a Morocco guide book with phrases in it, and he was talking back and forth to our driver.
Then he started playing some awesome music, so I had to record it.
(I was thrilled to find a taxi with a decent price and be on our way!)
After about an hour in the car, our driver pulled off the side of the road without saying anything. He got out of the car and walked towards the back. We were all saying, "What is he doing?" Well, after finishing a can of soda and being cooped up in the car for a few hours, I bet you can figure out what he was doing. That's how they do it in Morocco.
(Of course, I had to sample the local Fanta)
(We saw lots of little villages like this on the way)
(The taxis we rode in)
We finally made it to Marrakech! We arrived just as they were doing the call to prayer. It was awesome. Our taxis stopped right by the main square, the Djemaa el Fna. As we walked in, we saw some snake charmers. Luckily, someone warned me the night before that if you were going to take a picture of a performer, then expect to pay them. So I refrained from whipping out my camera. One guy in our group made the mistake of taking a picture and WHAM! From out of nowhere, this guy appeared with a hat and was demanding money. They get really pushy too, they get in your face and get mad if you don't give them enough (which, if you give them any amount, I swear they just demand more).
Right after that happened, we got attacked by a group of henna artists. I saw a lady walking up to me so I desperately tried to avoid her. She came up to me, grabbed my hand, and tried to put henna on it. I said, "No!" and ripped my hand back, she grabbed it again and before I knew it, she was halfway through a henna tattoo. I was so mad! Then she stood there demanding money. I told her I didn't have any change (the truth!) and that I told her no anyway. She didn't accept that but somehow got tied up in some other business. I saw that she was distracted and made a run for it! We made our way across the square and was trying to meet up with other members of our group, when sure enough, the henna lady tracked me down, yelling at me from across the square. My sister gave her a few dirhams so she would leave us alone. (Thanks, Chris!)
It was sad, because I actually kind of wanted to get a henna tattoo. There were other ladies sitting there patiently waiting for someone to come get one instead of going out and forcing them on people. Now that I think about it, I should have gone and given them some of my money, because I'm sure they would have done an awesome job and I could have picked one that I wanted. Anyway, what resulted was this:
(And I thought the rose incident in Rome was bad. Remember that, Kami and Kym?)
Oh well. I guess just as long as you're a traveler, people are going to want your dollars. We had several other incidents in the square with people trying to get our money. Needless to say, I didn't take many pictures of the square because I didn't want to get harassed. (Moroccan men know their American swear words!)
But here are some I did take:
(Dried fruits and nuts)
(Need some dentures?)
(Locals playing some game with fishing poles and Coke. Haha, I don't know.)
(My sister in the market)
After we walked around a little while, I found an adorable pillow cover for only 5 euros. The young man who ran the shop was so nice and he spoke such good English, I decided to buy it from him. It was quite the change from the other shop owners to desperately try to get you to buy their stuff. The market was almost overwhelming; so many things and so many colors. I wish I had the money and time to barter, because there really was some amazing things.
(Spices)
This video is us just walking down a typical market street in Marrakech.
I was a little exasperated and tired when I took this video. I probably wouldn't sum up Morocco as "stare" but I certainly felt like it at the time.
(Walking back our B&B)
We found an adorable place to stay for the night, the Ryad Azalia. If you're ever in Marrakech, stay there. The people were so nice and hospitable! After we were finished at the market, we made our way back there for a delicious, authentic, vegan Moroccan meal: veggie salads with steamed veggie couscous. I was in heaven! The owner of the place lived in the US for 25 years, so he knew English. When we first met him, he was eating the most delicious-looking lunch. Another lady in our traveling group was an aspiring vegan too, and she talked him into making it for our dinner. How lucky were we?
(Carrot, green bean, and pea salad. The one in the back was a beet salad--DELICIOUS!)
(Veggie couscous, also amazing)
I cannot tell you what a relief it was to stumble across this easily accessed all-vegan dinner. For example, when we were in Barcelona, our whole group stopped at a little cafe to each some lunch. After glancing at the menu, I was excited to see that they had a vegetarian section of the menu, but upon further investigation each sandwich had either chicken or ham. Haha! Needless to say, traveling as a vegan is a challenge sometimes...especially in a place where their definition of vegetarian still includes meat.
Anyway, back to the trip. After dinner, a local band came to entertain us. It was awesome to see them play, they were hilarious! About halfway through the second song, one of the members grabbed my hand and made me dance with him. Awkward! I can't dance. Can't. And the music is, well, hard to dance to, in my opinion. I think I made a complete fool of myself. I'll let the photos and videos speak for themselves.
(A better picture of the band)
(I suckered Christina into dancing with me)
After a little while, the guys took their robes and hats off and put them on us and we danced around a little more. Oh my. Those guys were tons of fun and I was envious of their fancy footwork to the music. One guy was dancing up a storm and he definitely put any dancing attempts to shame.
The next day, we got up to leave Marrakech. In order to make it to the boat before it left, we had to catch a bus at 9:30 in the morning. We got up early and went to look for a taxi to take us to the bus station. We finally found some outside the square and we hopped inside one. There was my sister, myself, and two other ladies in the taxi. Just as soon as the driver shifted into gear and got ready to drive off, another taxi driver came running and THREW HIMSELF ON THE HOOD OF THE CAR. He just laid there staring up at us. The driver was mad, to say the least, and kept accelerating the car. The other guy laying on his car would not move even though our driver kept going at a slow pace. Then he turned and put his back to the bumper and was bracing himself, as if he was trying to stop the car. I was aghast! The man's head was slowly going lower and lower and I thought our driver was going to run him over. Finally, I think the man lost his footing and in desperation, grabbed the grill of the taxi's car. The grill popped right off.
Our driver was livid. He put the car in neutral, yelled something in Arabic, and opened our door. We scrambled out of the car and watched as the two went at it. It was unreal! (But funny at the same time.) I think the man on the hood was trying to keep our driver from earning our money. Luckily, another driver pulled up and we got in his cab and made it to the bus on time. Phew! Times must be desperate in Morocco.
It was a relief to get on the bus. We boarded and made the 4 1/2 hour journey to Agadir, sans heat. It was so cold on that bus.
(Djemaa el Fna as we left in the morning)
(Mosque at a pit stop)
(Berber herding his sheep)
(A cute herd of goats. They climb the trees to stay cool and eat the leaves!)
(We made it to Agadir!)
What a relief. I was so worried that we could miss the boat and be stranded in Morocco. Luckily, that didn't happen and we got back on the ship. What a good sight to see.
(Back safe and sound--at least not yet)
This story is a little longer but must be told. When we arrived in Agadir, we were a little scared we weren't going to get let back on the ship. A member of our traveling group asked what would happen if we decided to go off on our own for a night in Marrakech, and the lady in charge of excursions responded that our cruise would be terminated--no questions. (Something I didn't know until we were on our way to Marrakech, not comforting.) All the contract said was that if we missed a port, it was our responsibility to get ourselves to the next one to get back on the ship. So we assumed that if we made it to Marrakech then called to say we were going to miss the port, then we would be okay. So while in Marrakech, a guy in our group called NCL's hotline to tell the ship we wouldn't be making it. The lady that he talked to said that she would let the ship know we were going to miss port in Casablanca.
However, since a few people in our group asked what would happen if we purposely missed port, then someone knew about our plans. Hence the reason why I was scared to board. When we got on the boat, our cards didn't scan so that made us a little worried. We went up to the reception desk to get new ones and no one said anything to us. We were relieved.
We dropped our stuff off in our room and went to grab a bite. While I was eating my salad, our fellow travelers found us and said they received a call from a lady. The lady said that the ship was expecting us the night before and that they had the US Embassy and "Moroccan officials" out searching for us. She said that all 17 of us needed to get our passports and meet her down at the reception desk as soon as possible.
Yikes.
Have you ever been fit with a flood of adrenaline that makes you sick to your stomach? That's what happened to me. Instant sickness. We were toast.
We met up with everyone and went down there. Luckily, one of the guys in our group did all the talking and an immigration man needed to check our passports back into the boat. Another phew.
Here's where it all went wrong: whomever was on the phone that notified the ship told them that we were on an excursion through the ship and that we would be late. So our ship thought that we had got lost in Casablanca on one of their excursions, hence the reason why they "were searching the gutters of Casablanca for us." (Exact words, by the way.) Trying to pull some fast moves on a cruise ship is something I'll definitely not try again. The thought of being stranded there scared me to death! Plus, we found out that since we didn't have a stamp (visa) in our passports from Morocco, there was no proof that we'd gone through immigration to get to the country. If anyone would have checked our passports, we would have gone straight to Moroccan jail (and forced to pass go).
Well enough of the long storytelling. Our next stop was Las Palmas in the Canary Island. We hopped off the ship and got on a tour bus that took us around the island. We got on and got off as we wanted, it was perfect.
(A view of the port, you can see our ship!)
(Las Palmas was beautiful)
(Here's proof)
I was in absolute love with their buildings. So breathtaking.
Our first stop was Christopher Columbus's house. This is where he would stop before his trips to the Americas.
(This is his diary)
(Inside the house)
(Mayan artifacts--my favorite part of Mexican history)
I loved the artifacts from the different cultures that were there. As I said above, I loved the Mayan stuff because I took a History of Mexico class last semester. The Mayans had an amazing culture and way of life.
(Me at the cathedral)
(One of my favorite pictures of the trip)
After walking and riding around some more, we decided to end our Las Palmas excursion by doing some shopping in the mall. What a perfect way to relax.
Our next stop was Funchal on the island of Madeira. I'll try not to overload you with pictures because Madeira was so beautiful. Some fellow travelers said it reminded them of Hawaii. When we arrived, we got off and got some taxi vans to take us around the island. The real benefit of having a large group is splitting the taxi between many people. It actually makes for an affordable way to get around.
(Funchal)
(Our first stop was the market)
(Our driver, Ricardo)
(Next stop: Botanical Gardens)
We decided that we wanted to see the north shore of the island--boy, am I so glad we did. It was such a beautiful place.
(The north shore)
(Our group)
(Stunning)
(A cemetery)
We grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant and got ready to head back through the middle of the island.
(This is what awaited us)
(This is how they get around in Funchal)
The streets are so steep in Funchal that they often ride wicker toboggans down the hills. It started out as a way to move merchandise for the market, now it's mostly just for fun. I wanted to ride one, but sadly I was too big of a cheapskate. It was rather expensive! Those two guys behind the toboggans push and steer.
After a long and very rewarding day, we got back on the ship and prepared for a day at sea. The ocean was so rough though, and the next day all I pretty much did was take a Dramamine and slip into a coma. Man, sea sickness can really get to you before you know it.
Our next stop was Malaga. We decided to hop a local bus to Granada where we would see the Alhambra.
(Malaga)
(Riding the city bus in Granada)
We decided to visit a cathedral in Granada. (I don't remember the name, and frankly, I stopped caring after awhile, haha. I think once you've seen over 10, a cathedral's a cathedral.) But it was beautiful. It was built in the 15th century and was so gorgeous on the inside.
(I think this is the only one I've seen with a white interior)
(The starred ceiling was my favorite)
(The outside, just for the record)
Next was the Alhambra. When the Christians were pushing the Moors out of Spain, this was one of the last strongholds. The Moorish palace inside the Alhambra (not Charles V's palace) is supposedly where Christopher Columbus asked Queen Isabella for money to go to the Americas.
(Charles V's palace)
(View from the tower)
(Inside the palace, all of this is hand carved. Amazing.)
(I loved the parts that were blue)
I could seriously post a million pictures of the Alhambra. It was so pretty and intricate. It was one of those places where any picture you took would be amazing, and it's hard to keep yourself from filling your entire memory card.
Sadly, we didn't have much time in the Alhambra because we had to hurry back to catch our bus back to Malaga. When we walked out of the Alhambra, we needed to catch a taxi back to the bus station to make it on time. There were no taxis around, not even a single car. We were in trouble.
So our group decided to sprint down the hill towards a busy street--not a good idea when it's raining, muddy, and wearing slick shoes. The street was straight mud and I thought that any minute I was going to slip and go rolling head over heels. I'm pretty sure we looked ridiculous running down the hill because all the locals stopped and stared. One man even came out of his shop clapping. I smiled and waved like I was running a marathon.
Alas, by all the luck in the world, we made it to our bus with only five minutes to spare. Someone was really watching out for us on this trip!
The next day was a day at sea, where the sea was rough again. There was a pretty bad storm going through the Mediterranean. Luckily, I had an ample supply of Dramamine to keep myself from dying. After a rough night, we arrived back in Barcelona. It was sad that our cruise was over, but I was glad to be off the boat. One can only handle so much old woman perfume and 12 foot swells.
We decided that for our last day, we were going to see Montserrat. It is a monastery up on a mountain overlooking Barcelona. It was built in the 11th century and I really don't know how they did it. Because of a recent rock slide, we had to get to it by cable car.
(The monastery)
(Oh, how I love stained glass windows)
We came back to Barcelona and walked around the rest of the day. There was a really bad storm the day before and there were palm leaves everywhere. I even saw a palm tree that looked like it had been snapped in half, and the top was laying on the sidewalk. Crazy!
My sister and I went in to use an ATM where there were three machines. Inside the room there were about six guys huddled around one machine. For some reason, they had locked the door and had to unlock it for us. I didn't think anything of it though and went to get some money out of the machine. The guys left and some other members of our group came in to use the machines, too. Jim, a guy in our group, was flabbergasted.
"They were snorting cocaine off this machine!" he said.
I went over to investigate and sure enough, you could see on the flat screen of the ATM where they had scraped the cocaine. They even left behind their empty bag. Holy smokes! Probably the closest I'll ever come to an illegal narcotic and I didn't even know it. Oh, Europe. I love it.
Our flight left early the next morning. I was sad, but at the same time, I was ready to go home. It felt like it had been years since I had seen Mark and I was ready for some hugs.
(Bye bye, Barcelona)
When I stepped outside the airport door in Salt Lake, I immediately saw my breath--something I hadn't seen in weeks. Utah was cold, snowy, and blustery. Just as I had left it.
