Two Thousand Eight Hundred Eighty Moroccan Minutes

            Last weekend, I had the fantastic opportunity to go to Gibraltar and Morocco with We Love Spain and WSA-Europe! I very much enjoyed my time there and am glad to have gone. Here’s a breakdown of our schedule and what we did:

Day I-Friday

• 9am departure from Sevilla to Cadiz and then to Gibraltar.
• Gibraltar-A lovely guide named Alex showed us around the island. We stopped at a very windy point and looked out over the Straits to Morocco on one side and Spain on the other side (since Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory on the Iberian Peninsula). We continued on and explored the Caves of Saint Michael. They installed neat colored lights inside and seemed to be setting up for a concert/presentation of sorts. It would have been incredible to see them, minus the modern technology. After seeing the caves, we had a few minutes to watch the famous monkeys which reside in Gibraltar. It was sad to see how the animals were treated. Kids and adults alike crowded around the animals to take pictures with them, like they were an attraction they had a right to. They had no respect for the animals. The monkeys lack food due to human inhabitation of the island and thus steal food from careless tourists and pick up litter. It was very sad to see a monkey eating the plastic wrapper from one of the girl’s snacks. While it was “cool” to see something different, I think the tourism procedures regarding the monkeys of Gibraltar need to be changed drastically and soon. It’s incredibly unhealthy for the animals and environment, and very sad to see such disrespect.
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• After leaving Gibraltar, we went to Algeciras to pass through security and board a ferry to take us to Ceuta, a Spanish semi-exclave on the continent of Africa. Upon passing through customs, we boarded the bus again to head to our hotel in M’Diq. By then, night had fallen so there wasn’t much to be seen.

It was reeeeeeeally windy. A good photo was impossible.

Day II-Saturday

• Saturday was a cloudy though lovely day, as we ate breakfast and looked out over the ocean, such as our hotel was situated on the beach.

• Tangier- We hit the road early so as to get to Tangier with plenty of time for a mini bus tour of the city, a stop at Cape Espartel, and a camel ride on the beach! It was just as windy if not more at the overlook we paused at for views of the ocean. I lost a lot of hair later in the day when I finally was able to brush it out, but the views were worth it. The camel rides were fun, and something different.

I had fun playing with my photo editing program... 

The camels were kinda neat!

The beach was absolutely gorgeous! 

Photo credit for the photos of me on the camel go to my awesome friend Bailey!

Wind + Hair = Knots from hell... but it looks cool!

• Chefchouen-Visiting the blue city in the mountains was by far my favorite part of the trip. Most of the buildings of this mountain town are painted in various shades of vibrant blue. It was pretty chilly and rained while we were here, but that didn’t put a damper on our walk around the town. We had a bit of free time after the tour to walk about, try our hand at haggling for goods, and enjoy a few down minutes.  I bought a cozy little robe and a few blankets (thanks, Mom (she’s visiting this weekend) for bringing them back for me!). We went on a crazy run through the city when my friend decided to buy a blanket, but didn’t have the cash on her. The shop owner agreed to have his nephew bring us to an ATM in the town center for her to withdraw cash and pay for it. Boy, was he booking it on the slippery slopes. We were higher up in the town, and had to run after him, and my friend was able to buy her blanket!

Henna for fun! Why not?

Chefchouen is situation in beautiful, rugged mountains

We popped in and saw what people were up to at the public oven!

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•  Tetuan-After taking the bus back, we had a yummy dinner, and there was a neat musical performance!

Day III-Sunday

• Tetuan- On our last day in Morocco, we toured Tetuan. We went to a market and had some free time to haggle for goods, including beautiful leather products.  The spice market was neat to go to, and I stocked up on yummy Moroccan mint tea and curry for when my friends and I can cook together next year! After the spice market tour, we headed back to the bus to go home. We passed through Ceuta, took a ferry to Algeciras, and from there we said our goodbyes and hopped on the buses which would take us back to our respective home cities.

Our last morning in M'Diq.

 It was stormy the entire weekend, but never too bad.

The spice market in Tetuan

The square is empty after a rain shower struck.

We arrived just as the rain paused.

The long story, made short is I met some wonderful people on the trip and made friends, saw some incredible places, and had a blast.

This is my new puppy friend from the beach in Morocco!

*I'm having some issues with my photo program, and at this time cannot upload the rest of my  photos from Morocco and Gibraltar. I'm flying out to Italy in the morning sans laptop, so I'll try to fix the program and get them posted when I return in a week! Ciao for now!

Lovely Lisbon

This past weekend I went to Lisbon, Portugal, with API. As the weekend approached, I was very happy to be going since I had to miss my trip to Prague with WSA (see my other post about missing trips!).  I very much enjoyed my time in the city, wandering through the streets by myself, looking up at the beautifully-tiled buildings lining the streets, and doing a bit of what I like to call “urban hiking”. The streets of Lisbon can be pretty steep!

The trip itself was a little lengthy, six hours more or less by bus. The Portuguese countryside is verdant and mostly rolling hills out to the cost. We arrived around 7pm (Lisbon is an hour behind Sevilla) and had the evening to ourselves.  After making the uphill trek to a restaurant we decided not to go to upon checking it out, some friends and I stumbled upon a place called O Prego. This peixaria provided an absolutely lovely meal, such that on our last night in Lisbon we went back! I enjoyed a red tuna steak “burger”, fries, and blackberry hard cider. I don’t have any pictures of my food because I was too excited (read: hungry) to wait the few seconds, though below is the blackberry cider I enjoyed.

The following morning, I woke up slightly too early for my taste to take a bus tour of the city with API. We drove through the city and eventually headed out to the river to visit the monastery of San Jerónimo, Tower of Belem, and the Monument to Discoveries. On the way to our destination, we passed by the Puente de 25 de Abril (Bridge of the April 25^th), formerly known as the Puente de Salazar (Bridge of Salazar), which was intentionally constructed in the same manner as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco (…something about the cost of designing a new bridge/a lazy architect).

The Tower of Belem sits out in the sapphire-blue water of the River Tajo, and the waves break and on the walled banks, creating a lovely atmosphere. The inside of the monastery was breathtakingly beautiful, as was the outside, though I didn't get to snap any photos.  

While we were down at the riverside, API shared some delicious little crème filled pastries with us, called pasteis de nata in Portuguese. 

After our time by the riverside, we headed back into the city and walked around a bit with a very sweet guide.  Per her recommendation, I stopped at Santini, which purportedly has the best gelato in Lisbon. I certainly agree! 

Later in the day, after lunch and a siesta, the API group went on an urban hike in order to see a fado show and eat. Fado is the music and dance tradition particular to Portugal. Men and women danced in pairs, taking turns on the stage with some talented musicians. All in all, the day was worth the long bus ride, though very tiring.

The following day was my favorite day spent in Lisbon. After a yummy breakfast at a local pastry shop, I commenced with the urban hiking by making the trek up to Castelo de Saõ Jorge (St. George’s Castle). They have a great student rate (5 euro) and even better view of Lisbon, the river, and beyond. The castle itself is simple, more like a fortification, with the views being the star of the show. I climbed various towers in the castle to take in the various vistas. Following my time in the castle, I went back down to town for a bite to eat, a quick rest, and then I was back out on the streets.  I intended to go to the botanical gardens, and “found” them, by which I mean I located them but the pesky ticket booth eluded me, and no one knew where I ought to go, but I did find a cute, bustling market near the gardens! I munched on some freshly made garlic bread (not the kind of garlic bread you initially think of! Just yummy bread, which contained garlic) while I wandered through the market, stopping to purchase a few trinkets. I also stumbled upon a quaint used books store, and picked up a copy of an Ancient Greek Loeb book (which was far cheaper used here than in the States).  I began my descent of the urban mountain and made my way to the Igreja do Carmo (Church of Carmo).  Long ago, Lisbon experienced an incredibly destructive earthquake which leveled much of the city. This church was one of the buildings damaged in the process, though its damaged form is nothing ugly—it is hauntingly beautiful, in fact. The ceiling is no longer present, and the elements have ravaged the stone through the years.  It’s somewhat eerie, yet not. After looking at the other museum displays in side chambers, I simply sat on the steps looking out into the former church, and soaked it all in.

I took this photo outside of the Igreja do Carmo

Wandering the streets and just seeing where they took me was a wonderful way to spend the day. I saw some really neat graffiti and tile work, which I documented photographically for a friend who loves street are (Spider!!).  The night ended well as we returned to O Prego. Knowing I had an early morning and long day ahead of me, I decided it was too late to head out to Rua Nova de Carvalho to do some bar hopping (as recommended in a NY Times article).

 The tile design progressed chromatically all the way down the highway

While I was in Lisbon, I managed to get by on a mixture of English, Spanish, and a few Portuguese phrases. It hurt my heart a little (ok, it hurt my hear very much!) to not be able to speak the local language, which is not atypical when I go somewhere other than a Spanish speaking country. Thus, I asked our guide what one who does not speak Portuguese ought to do, so as not to appear rude to the locals.  She told me that most of the younger people speak a little bit of English, at least, those working and who I’d be interacting with would, and that the older folks typically only speak Portuguese. In that case, I would use whatever Portuguese phrases I could, apologize for my inability to speak Portuguese, and proceed with whatever I needed to say either in English or Spanish.  Perhaps I’ll spend some time in Portugal in the future, when I travel the world, country by country, language by language.

Next time I’m in Lisbon, I would really like to head to the neighborhood known as Alfama, check out that street and bar hop, and visit the botanical gardens. Many friends spent the day in the nearby town Sintra and told tales of its beauty, so perhaps I’ll head there. There is so much more of the city to see and taste that I must return one day.

I will post more photos soon, as well as a link to the album on Facebook. I'm packing for my trip to Morocco tomorrow, which leaves bright and early in the morning, so I'll upload plenty of photos early next week! Check back soon for more!

On my travel plans:

I’ve got a lot going on in the next month! Tomorrow, I’m heading to Morocco with WSA Europe and WeLove Spain! Next week, my mom will arrive in Sevilla following her time in Italy.  I’m heading to Grazalema, Spain, with API for a day, and then I’ll have some quiet weekends (read: midterms, and I don’t want to be irresponsible because they’re worth 50% of my grade) before Semana Santa! I’m in the process of booking flights and finding lodging, but I’ll be heading to Florence and then to Tuscany to stay with some friends during Holy Week before returning to Sevilla for Easter. With one weekend of down time between Semana Santa and Feria (I have both weeks off from classes), there isn’t much time to relax. I’m hoping to get out of the city, and avoid all cities, by heading somewhere in the mountains/wilderness—that’s my current future-travel project. Then it’s a weekend in Extremadura, then the end of the program, and I’m off on my own travels! These plans are still in the making, but I’ll be all over the place! Thanks for reading, and stay tuned! I’ll do my best not to take such a long break from writing now that things have “settled” down!