new years with the scots (it's friggin' cold!)

we finally made it to scotland. appparently, when traveling in europe you have to plan things. and even more, when it is new years eve, you have to be meticulous. annette and i are neither planners, nor meticulous. so when we were in ireland and started looking into getting to scotland, we hit a wall. all the hostels/hotels here were unbelievably expensive and you had to commit to staying for a minimum of 3 nights, which would have been exorbinant. our spirits faltered a bit, and honestly i was not sure that we would make it here.

we had taken the bus from dublin to belfast, thinking that either way we could cross over from here to to either scotland or england, depending on what happened. i did not see any of belfast because when we got to the hostel at 4 pm, i decided to take a nap. and that nap ended up being 17 hours. anyhow, when i woke up the next morning, annette had just discovered that someone on couchsurfing had a last minute cancellation so we would have a place to stay in edinburgh for new years. again, how lucky we are!!! so we made our way to edinburgh. first we had to take a ferry from belfast to straener in scotland. and then we were able to catch a bus from the ferry terminal straight to edinburgh. we had really great timing.

edinburgh is a stunning city!!! when we arrived, it was already evening, so we could not make out all the details, but there were still things that definitely caught my eye. first, there wss a carnival going on, so all the lights from the rides illuminated the streets. but the best part was seeing edinburgh castle, which sits on a hill and overlooks the entire city. it was almost like it was glowing, the way it was all lit up. it is this massive gothic style castle and seeing it was breathtaking.

we stayed with this guy martin (who was our couchsurfing savior) and his roommates. staying with couchsurfing people is always so fun because you automatically meet a cool group of people. when we arrived there were 2 other couchsurfers there. we all had a nice pow wow before heading over to martin' sister's house. there we sat around and talked over a bottle of wine, which was exactly up my alley after being on a bus all day.

the main thing that we wanted to do was go to the edinburgh street party, which is the big new year's eve event here. we somehow managed to get last minute release tickets, the only stipulation being that we had to wait in line the following day to get them. i wasn't really all that concerned, until i saw the line. it wound all around st. andrews square and we ended up having to wait for 3 hours to pick up our tickets. it was also a freezing ass cold day, which made it even more miserable. i had to leave the line to go buy a fleece and gloves. eventually, after many minutes of running in place and doing calf raises, we were able to pick up our tickets.

but standing in line for 3 hours was definitely worth it for the chance to go to this street fair. it was just such good vibes. even though there were thousands of people in the street, everyone was just so happy!! and when the countdown for the new year happened, there were fireworks over edinburgh castle. so beautiful!!! annette and i walked up and down the streets in pink boas and cowboy hats, rejoicing the new year with the scots. absolutely marvelous!!! i definitely feel as if i brought in 2009 with a bang!!

christmas with the irish

some time ago, we had the great luck of meeting amanda. amanda is an irish gal who is now living in holland. amanda saved us as we got off the bus in paraty, brazil. it being a rainy day and we, as usual, having no idea where we were going or staying for the night. she told us to follow her and the rest is history. we had even greater luck when she invited us to spend the holidays with her and her family in ireland. it is always nice to spend the holidays with a great group of people and we jumped at the opportunity. amanda and her adorable mom picked us up from the bus station. i was so excited to have the chance to ride in a car where the people drive on the opposite side of the road than we do in the states. this is something that seems pretty mundane, but it is one of my favorite things about ireland and the UK. granted, i will most likely get hit by a car, since i am not always sure which way the cars are coming from, but i just find it so fascinating!

we then headed over to her house, which is in west cork, about an hour away from the bigger city of cork. west cork is a small village, with really one main street , that houses all the local businesses. amanda's family has a huge house on quite a large plot of land, so it was like we were on a lovely holiday away from it all. we were met at the house by colin, one of amanda's younger brothers. he is a super outgoing and hilarious character. one of my favorite things about him was when he kept telling annette, "quiet you!!". this was a source of relief for me because it can get to be quite exhausting always being the one to tell her that.

on christmas eve night the family went to mass. this was my first one and although i was nervous about being struck down entering a church, i managed to pass through with no visible damage (the deterioration of my soul is apparently not on catholic god's watchlist). i wasn't really too sure what to expect, but it was in all honesty, quite nice. i do not plan on becoming a regular churchgoer or anything, but the message was nice, and i was intrigued by the ceremony of it all.

after mass we all went to a pub (i love the irish!!) and had a few beers. here is where i got to talking to amanda's other 2 brothers, evan and cormac. evan is studying theater at the uni in cork, and had just played jason in medea, one of my favorite greek tragedies. i loved talking with him because i got to speak about the topic i am most knowledgeable in, tv. yes, i know that it is pathetic, but man, how i do light up when tv talk abounds!!! he even knew of and loved arrested development, one of my all time favorite tv shows!!! so we were fast friends. cormc is the youngest and he is still in high school. he is super quiet, and he loved annette's cookies (a surefire way into her heart). also, amanda's mom came to the pub with us, which i thought was so neat. this is a pub where everyone really knows your name (except for mine and annette's) because it is such a small village and people have been there for generations. amanda's mom is probably one of the sweetest women i have ever met. i felt so papmpered at their home because she just kept feeding us the most amazing food. she and annette were kindred spirits due to their affinity for being in the kitchen. it was just so lovely being part of such a dynamic and close family...a family who took us in even though they had no idea who we were.

christmas morning (or afternoon, seeing as how i did not wake up until 1:40), was a joyful time. there were presents to be opened around the tree. amanda's mom didn't have time to put the labels on the presents, so there was a guessing game of which present belonged to whom, which really livened things up a bit. then we had christams dinner, which of course was mind blowing!! in ireland, turkey and ham are served at the same time. the evil meat-eater in me was blissful...AND they have the best tradition ever, which are crackers. basically there is a long tube that has a prize in it. you pick someone and you each take an end of the tube and pull (similar to the wishbone i think, but not as barbaric). and when you pull, there is a big cracking sound and the person who gets the part with the prize gets to keep the prize. it was so much fun!!! the prizes are usually little toys and you get a paper hat cut like a crown. and even better, each tube holds a joke/riddle, which you then read around the table and people try to guess the answer. man, oh man, how i love the irish!!!!

the next morning amanda's dad took us coursing. i just adored amanda's dad. he is definitely the strong, silent type. he didn't talk much, but when he did, he was a hoot! coursing is basically these races where 2 dogs (who are muzzled) chase after a hare (not a rabbit). the dog who gets the hare to go underneath a gate first is declared the winner. some people bet on the dogs, but others are just there to watch. it was a fascinating event. annette, amanda, and i were betting amongst ourselves based on names only. like in horse racing, all the dogs had really cool names like "very bad tonight" or "big momma's house" (just kidding; i made that one up, but it would be a great name!). it was a fascinating experience, my only gripe was the freezing cold, which i really cannot handle in the least.

anyhow, we had a prodigious, grand ole time with this amazing family in a marvelous country. every once in a while i have to think about how lucky we are not just to be traveling, but also to meet such amazing people, who really take care of us. it makes coping with missing people back home a wee bit easier.

so close, yet so far

So we left paris yesterday morn at 6 a.m, expecting to be in dublin later that evening. We started using our eurrail passes, which are actually a total rip- off. We paid 800 for these passes, thinking that they would allow us to travel all over europe hassle-free, but these tix are actually quite bullpucky. Even though we paid all this money, we found out that when we book a train we have to pay reservation fees. Which to me seems completely insane since we already paid 800 dollars. So even though we paid all this money, to get from paris to dublin was going to cost us an additional 100 dollars. This was quite a frustrating realization and we felt a bit depressed to think that we were going to have to pay all these fees on a train fare that we had assumed we already paid for. So instead of taking this expensive fare, we decided that we would pay 3 euros to go to calais, a city in the north of france then we were going to take a ferry across to dover, england. We figured that we would just make our way up to dublin by bus or train.

This would have been a brilliant plan if we had an infinite amount of time and money. We got to london just fine and for under the 100 dollars we would have had to spend on the train from paris to london. But once we got to london there were no buses to dublin and the next one was the next day at 6 in the evening. Furthermore, it is a 12 hour bus ride so we wouldn't even get to dublin until early morn on the 24th, which means that we would have absolutely no time there considering that we had to be in west cork that same day to spend christmas with our friend amanda. So in the end we decided just to get a direct ticket to cork and alas are missing dublin. Although we will be hitting it a bit later, if we can.

So instead we spent a night and day in london, which is one of my most favorite cities in the world. We laid low last night, both of us in our hostel beds by 9 p.m. We were in a hostel room that we shared with barely legal kids, but we had beds. I had forgotten how much fun it is to share a room with people who tumble in drunk at all hours, their frantic loud whispers like warm blankets over my heart, the smell of stale beer an aromatic reminder of youth. But last night I was lucky enough to have my memory stirred.

Today we did a walking tour of london. I was a bit disappointed that our guide was canadian because I love the british accent so much, but the historical tidbits were quite informative. I love hearing about history and a lot of the information was stuff that I vaguely remembered from years past, so it was good having a refresher. We saw buckingham palace, house of parliament, westminster abbey, trafalgar square, and of course big ben; which we found out is actually not the name of the clock, but rather the bell inside the clock, so named for its resemblance to the first comissioner of works in london, benjamin hall's, rotund belly.

After the tour we went to the tate modern. I have been to london a few times and this was the first time I had been to the tate. This musuem has an extensive collection of works by picasso, miro, francis bacon, diego rivera, frida kahlo, and other such renowned artists. I spent the majority of my time looking at works from the surrealist period, which is one of my favorite genres. I really wanted to see the rothko exhibit, but it cost (in pounds) 12.50 and we were trying not to spend money today, besides what we had to spend on the ever important coffee and our underground fare.
But despite not seeing the rothkos, it was a splendid day at the tate. And in london.

montmarte (the neighborhood where amelie was filmed)

one of the neighborhoods that we visited in paris was montmarte. an important neighborhood because it was one where artists, like picasso and modigliani, once lived and had studios... the great cubists and so forth. so it is quite the bohemian neighborhood. one of the most glorious things about this neighborhood is sacre coeur church, high on a hill. when climbing the stairs, you have the view of the entire city below you. but let me tell the truth...the main reason that i have fallen in love with montmarte is because it is the neighborhood where one of my all time favorite movies was filled... AMELIE!!! the sacre coeur is the church where Amelie has Nino, the guy that she is in love with, follow a clues so they could eventually meet. i felt lighter than air being there.



an image of the actual church, sacre coure, which is at the top of a long flight of stairs. from here there is an incredible view of the all of paris.



annette, leslie, and me standing in front of the view from the sacre coeur



in front of the metro station where amelie sees the blind man standing on the sidewalk and decides to do a good deed by taking him on a tour of the street and markets, explaining the world around them.



the 2 windmills, the cafe where amelie works. annette and i stopped in and had a coffee and creme brulee. they named a creme brulee after amelie.



one of the most delightful things about paris is the world of sweets that constantly await. here i am chomping into a nutella and banana crepe. the people in paris are known for eating slowly and digesting their food. i am known for devouring food (this crepe was eaten in less than 1 minute) and wanting more and more. i will never be a good parisian woman (and not just because i don't speak french).

the eiffel tour sparkles at night ( although i sadly do not)

annette and me watching the eiffel tower... it sparkles on the hour every night



standing in front of the champs-elysees, one of the most famous streets in paris. since it is so close to the holidays all the streets in paris are all lit up...it is completely beautiful... the champs-elysees is like the 5th avenue of new york. very hoity toity and elitist, but magical to walk along.



annette, her friend leslie, and me in front of the quintessential parisian arch. we stayed with leslie and her husband in paris. they are some of the most generous people i have ever met. they opened their home to us and leslie showed us all around the city. getting to know a city through the eyes of those who actually live there is so much more interesting than wandering around aimlessly. we had such a marvelous time in paris!!!

the louvre

today we spent 4 hours at the louvre, which is way more time than i imagined staying. museums can be quite overwhelming for me, and the grandiosity of this one was no exception. it turns out that the louvre was once the royal palace and in the 1700s on of the louis decided to have an art showcase in one of the wings. over time the entire palace became the louvre. before going inside, i thought that the louvre was just within the glass pyramid (which was one of the few images i had seen), but it is in fact within an entire palace that goes around a massive courtyard in a rectangular formation.

the main attraction, of course, is the mona lisa. i had heard that looking at it was usually 20 people deep so we decided to head straight for it to get it out of the way. when we got there, there were in fact throngs of people, but we did get to see it. sadly, it is the only piece in the museum where you have to stand pretty far back, so we did not get to really look at it closely. also, it is small because we are so far back. but it was neat getting to look at it.

after looking at the mona lisa, we decided to do one of the audio guided tours. i thought this endeavor would be a lot easier than it was. oh, how i miss the days when they just gave you headphones and told you about the works (aka...you just had to follow the numbers). this gadget was interactive so you were allegedly supposed to be able to follow the arrows on the screen and follow the tour. as simple as this sounds, i could not figure out how to follow the map/arrows. surprise, surprise. so at one point i lost annette in this monstrosity of a cavernous pit and i could not follow the tour because i had no idea where i was. i felt like a little kid being encircled by the jaws of the grown up world. it was pathetic. so as annette was off, skipping about and doing her tour, i was trudging about, like a lost lamb, fearing the slaughter. i eventually found her, but i did miss a chunk of the tour. luckily, once i found her i just stuck to her like peanut butter to jelly because she actually knew how to work this high tech, futuristic machine. i honestly believe you need a PHd in mechanical engineering to be able to navigate it. surprisingly, there seemed to be hundreds of people who were able to navigate it and did not have that look of pathetic concentration on their faces as i did. children under the age of 12 included.



a sculpture... cupid and psyche.. .this is supposed to be one of the most romantic stories of roman history... but i have a bit of a hard time with it... see if you can see why... basically, cupid shuns and ejects psyche (his lover) from his life because she disobeys him (blah, blah, blah, blah) and so she becomes the servant of his mother, venus. one day venus sends psyche off on an errand to pick up a goblet of some liquid, but not to open it. of course, in common tragic form, psyche opens it and is cursed by death for her obvious disobedience... and then death strikes her (or at least is about to), but then cupid, the one who banished her in the first place, comes out of nowhere to give her a kiss and save her from her potential death. a beautiful sculpture and a tragic story...but i have a hard time finding the romance in it...





the slaves by michelangelo... there is the rebellious slave (who is obviously trying to escape the entrapments of his destiny) and the submissive slave (who is aware of his destiny and has given in)... que tragique, no? this was one of the works that michelangelo was working on, before being called away to work in the sistine chapel... alas, they were never completed...



me trying to look intelligent (but really nothing going on inside that big head of mine), trying to figure out the stupid louvre navigation machine. i look a lot more confident than i actually was...



and, of course, the mona lisa... la joconde...

holiday in fez and the saharan desert

here is me in one of my most chic outfits. we spent a moroccan holiday (the name escapes me) with a very kind and generous moroccan family. for this holiday, the patriarch slaughters a sheep and the family celebrates by eating it, as well as sharing the sheep with others who are less fortunate in the community. luckily, we missed the slaughter, but we were able to reap the benefits of it...the meat. anyhow, after an amazing meal we went for a walk to look at caves (or troglodyte houses, according to the lonely planet) that are in this city (called bhalil), and of course we got caught in a torrential downpour. long story short, these were the only warm, somewhat dry clothes that i had left. i have already received offers from michael kors and diane von fustenberg to model in their spring shows.





here is the gang that we hung out with on the holiday...rachid is the tallest guy. we met him in the desert and he invited us to hang out with his family on this day. also in the picture: annette, alyson, his brother hassan, and a friend of his, whose name i don't recall. we had a lovely day (minus the freezing cold rain storm that befell us)...




here is an example of how things are all laid out in the souks (shopping areas)...there is an abundance of goods...rows and rows all the way down mazes of streets...quite overwhelming, but powerful...



alyson, rachid (our kind host), and me as we were leaving the desert. after leaving the desert town, called merzuga, we rode on a bus to fes, which is an overwhelming city...but a place to visit at least once...when we were in the medina at one point, the crush of people was so unbelievably stifling...almost like the energy of all the surroundings was constantly threatening to overtake any sense of singleness that you might have...as much as i liked the newness of the experience (you definitely felt very alive...the vibrations were severe), i don't think i could do it on a daily basis...




a picture of the footprints of the camels and our guides in the desert...the soft, untouched beauty of the sand dunes is quite miraculous...



the shadow of one of the guys on our tour as he walked to the tent where we would be staying. the rest of us rode camels, which i will not post a picture of. i really hate riding camels...it hurts and there is the constant threat of spit being hurled your way.



one of the untouched parts of the sahara desert...what a glorious experience to be privy to!!!








here we all are on the night of our desert trek...after arriving (we rode the camels for about an hour and a half), we settled into our tents, sat around and talked, walked up the sand dunes to see the sunset and the stars (which is really not very easy), and overall had an amazing time. one of our guides, mohammed, shared his turban with me...i actually think it s a good look for me...and it really kept me warm in the cold, desert air. for dinner, our guides cooked amazing tajine and we sat around a fire, singing songs and listening to drums that our guides played. we all had turns on the drums, as well, which was quite an experience. eventually, it was time for bed, where we were visited by the giggles, until peaceful slumber took over...it was a magical night in many ways...

thank you very marrakesh

I was going to wait to blog until I could add pictures, but my camera is broken so I have to wait until I can upload pix from annette's camera. So I will just add them later.

Marrakesh is the first city we got to in morocco. We stayed right in the medina in the heart of it all. Such an overwhelming area of the city. As soon as you enter the medina there is a barrage of sounds, smells, and sights that assault you. First there are all the people. People that want you to go into their restaurants. People that want to show you around. People that want you to buy their goods. They are constantly calling out to you and you have to work very hard to sort through it all.

Right in the middle of the medina are the souks, which is basically rows and rows and rows of anything you might ever want to buy. I could only walk through them for a little bit because I hate shopping, but even for that little bit of time, I got exhausted.

My favorite part of the medina was all the food smells in the air. The spices were to die for. People would sell spices at booths so you could see all the colors and textures. Reds, oranges, yellows. Rough, grainy, smooth. Here a picture would help. I discovered my new favorite food, tajine. It is basically a stew cooked over fire in clay pots. I love it!!

We spent a few days here then headed to the moroccan desert. We had to take a bus from the city center and that was quite an experience! First off, we were the only women on the bus. At least when we first got on. Even though we were an hour early, the bus was already pretty full. We had to meander our way to the back to try to find seats. Luckily, there were a few left. Once we sat down, we became the object of everyone's stares. It was a bit awkward because it was clear that we were being talked about, but we obviously could not understand a single word. It was an 11 hour bus ride, but the seats did not recline at all, which was quite uncomfortable. Also the bus got freezing cold after sunset. But as bad as we had it, there were people that had to stand on this bus. Seriously people stood for the whole 11 hours! We had some pit stop breaks, but they stood for all the time the bus was moving. So really I have no right to complain. Anyhow, that is all for now. Signing out.

Why, Royal Air Morocco? For the love of god, WHY?!?!

Arriving in morocco...what a joy. We got off the plane and we were quite joyful to finally have made it to north africa. Especially after all the crap we had to deal with in the madrid airport. So I was looking forward to seeing alyson (finally), taking a shower, and eating couscous. Oh, how I love thee, couscous!!!

Before we could do any of the aforementioned things, we had to first get our luggage. We happened to be on the same flight as 2 of the other people who got screwed on the flight the day before. So we waited with them, and 2 other people coming in from madrid, at the luggage carousel. We waited and waited and waited. Finally, the realization that a nonmoving carousel probably meant that there was no luggage coming, hit. We went to the lost luggage office and we were informed that our luggage had not arrived, but would probably come in on a later flight. Were we surprised? No. Even more defeated? Yes.

We were told to call back after 7 and if it had arrived, we could come back and get it. We left the airport in complete disillusionment; Dreams of a shower and not smelling like an old trashcan quickly fading into an abyss. We then took a bus to go meet alyson in the city center. Despite the feeling of utmost futility, I was able to take in some of the beauty that is morocco. Marrakesh is surrounded by gorgeous mountains and many of the buildings are reddish colors that seem to blend into one another. There was also a gorgeous mosque on the horizon as we entered the terra-cotta colored wall surrounding the medina, or city center, of marrakesh.

Seeing this beauty was quite inspiring and reminded me of how great it was just to be there, with or without luggage. And the greatest part was that as soon as we got off the bus, alyson was there! And how happy were we to finally see eachother!

We got situated in our riad, which is a hostel that is outdoors facing a fountain in the middle. It was quite beautiful, but freezing cold. I was soon to learn that indoor heat does not exist in morocco. We walked around the medina and just took it all in. I will expand more about this later when I actually upload pictures. I am not sure words alone can capture the zany magnificence that is marrakesh.

P.S. We finally did get our luggage later on in the evening. The guy who helped us did not answer the phone when we called at 7. Surprise, surprise. So we went down there and took matters into our own hands. Yet again, we received absolutely no help from the fine folks that make up iberia/royal air morocco. Am I bitter? Just a little. Am I over it, yet? Almost.

DAMN YOU, IBERIA!!!!!!

Well, it has been a while since I have posted and I should have a good reason. But really, I have just been a tad lazy. Sometimes the idea of sitting at an internet cafe, especially when I am tired, is just not that appealing. I am now typing from the blackberry, so this might not be the most interesting post since the keys are so tiny a mouse would be better suited to use it.

I have spent The last week in Morocco and it has been an adventure. The plan was to fly to Madrid from Brazil and meet up with my friend Alyson and then take a connecting flight together to Marrakesh. This sounds simple enough, but the reality of it was quite complicated.

As Annette and I got off the plane we saw Alyson and I was quite excited. So we went to get our bags and go thru customs. Luckily the lines were not long and we were able to get into line for check-in with almost 2 hours to spare. Enough time, right? Wrong! Of course. The line was unbelievably slow so we asked a representative if we should go ahead so as not to miss our flight. She said that we were fine and not to worry. So we continued to wait, albeit grudgingly. Eventually, annette went to ask, and a customer service rep told annette that they had closed the flight. What the....?!?! In all, there were about 8 of us that did not get in the flight because of Iberia's lugubrious line. Of course we were upset and panicked, especially because Alyson was boarding the flight we were all supposed to be on. So we argued with the representatives for a long while and they would accept no responsibility for the fact that their lines were so damn slow and that we were given wrong information. They were also so unhelpful and would not even try to put us on another flight. We originally bought the ticket thru royal air morocco, but they were partnering with iberia so iberia kept saying we had to contact them; but when we called royal air they said that iberia had to deal with it.

So long story short we spent about 8 hours and over 20 dollars on phone calls and got absolutely nowhere. Annette even cried and the reps did not bat an eyelash. The best offer we got was that we could buy a ticket to casablanca (which was not even where we were going in morroco) for about 750 dollars. Our original ticket cost 92! Eventually we had to buy a ticket thru another airline for the following morning because iberia reps, who are souless and mindless assholes, would do absolutely nothing for us. This new ticket cost us about 200 dollars, but it was worth it to know that we would eventually get to alyson.

At this point it was 7 at night and we had been at the airport since 10 in the morning. We also had little money to spend on any lodging since we had already spent an obscene amount of money. So we decided to just stay at the airport for the night, which is as fun as it sounds. We froze our way thru the night and slept at wooden tables.

We woke up the next morning and had to take a bus to another terminal. I was in flip flops since I just came in from brazil, but it is winter in spain, which is not a good combo. We got to the terminal, quite groggy, only to discover that we had no flight because we were overbooked on this other airline. Never had I felt so defeated. We had to go back to iberia and in the end we had to give the souless, mindless monsters over 200 dollars to get on a plane to marrakesh. But at least now we REALLY had a ticket and for that we were grateful.

Stay tuned for the next part of the saga, wherein we arrive in Marrakesh, only to discover our luggage did not follow. Thanks Iberia.