London Calling!

My girls and I at Buckingham Palace! 

Well, the weekend started off with myself nearly in tears in a disgusting hostel shower shared by dozens of people…. I used a t-shirt as a towel. Then I slept in my raincoat because my pajama shirt was wet. YAY hostels.

The hostel life... ( please note the random Brazilian)

Luckily, the next day my six friends and I embarked on quite the day of London tourism spots. Starting, of course, with the Changing of the Guards and Buckingham Palace. We had a front row spot in front of the center gates of the palace for the whole processional changing. 

The band (that played "Skyfall" by Adele haha...as well as classics).

After two hours of standing/waiting/watching, we decided to walk through Hyde Park – the equivalent of NYC’s Central Park. It was fun to speed walk through the gardens and see the famous Peter Pan statue!

We'll never grow up, either.

Next up was our first adventure on the Underground. May I just say that I am incredibly thankful we had two little map wizards with us (Brynn and Maddy) to direct our crew through every train change and station. We spent a significant amount of time both days riding “the tube” and definitely learned how to “mind the gap” quickly. ;)

Fish and Chips with Matt.

We arrived just in time for the showing of “Macbeth” at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, and were shocked to find that the tickets we all had purchased were for the next weekend… Regardless, we happily took pictures of the outside of the theater and used the extra time to recharge with Starbucks. We wandered over to the London Bridge and walked across the famous structure. And may I just say that it is very surreal to be seeing all of these famous places in real life? PINTEREST IS NOT LYING, friends. These places exist!

The London Bridge! Still intact.... not falling down.....

We toured the Tower of London next, which is basically an entire little city within two thick exterior walls that the royal family lived in for many years back in the day. The whole complex also served as a torture zone for prisoners as well. Very disturbing learning about their methods of torture… We also saw the Crown Jewels there!!!!!!! HUGE diamonds and every other stone you could imagine - so beautiful that I can’t properly describe them all.

Guard securing the Crown Jewels.

The rest of the night was spent eating fish and chips on the street (delicious), walking across Abbey Road (I WALKED WHERE THE BEATLES DID) and seeing the studio the Beatles recorded in, and ending up at T.G.I. Friday’s for Maddy and Katie’s birthday dinner. Why not?? We miss American food. And they made balloon hats for our two 20-year-olds!

Atop the London Eye! Look at the sites below...

The next day, we spent one of the few sunny moments all day on the London Eye, which was such a blessing. It was frightening/amazing to be up so high and seeing the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, the Royal Palace, etc. from that perspective - DEFINITELY worth the money (discounted tickets online ahead of time, if anyone was wondering). After that we hit up some gift shops, observed those special monuments up close, and gazed longingly at Westminster Abbey, where I will marry Prince Harry someday…

Tourist Pic! 

Later, we saw the Egyptian preserved mummies at the (free) British Museum, had tea and more fish and chips at a place called Munchkins, spent a few hours walking through the Portobello Market and trying not to buy everything, and lastly, we went to Harrod’s. If you are not familiar with that name, just picture the most glamorous and expensive department store of all time…then exaggerate it even a little more.

Fish and Chips at Munchkins! AND tea. 

I looked at dresses worth more than my four years of tuition combined, saw some of the Tiffany jewelry made for the “Gatsby” movie, walked through the Gucci section of the children’s floor, and saw an incredible amount of ridiculously expensive alcohol from all over the world. My mind was blown…it was amazing.

BIG BEN! It is quite large.

That night we went to a Turkish restaurant and I enjoyed delicious cheese stuffed mushrooms, some leftover rice, and bread and butter pudding. We basically took a nap for about two hours and woke up at 2:45AM to walk to a bus stop, to ride the bus for an hour, then to wait at the airport, to ride on a plane for a couple hours, and finally to ride the metro home. We were exhausted, but we made the most of our time in London and celebrated Maddy and Katie’s birthday the best we knew how! :)

HAPPY 20th TO MY BEST FRIEND!! :)

We ate our way through Brussels.

The main square in Brussels - Place Royale.

Originally, Katie and I had planned on seeing Granada and Seville, but we realized we would hardly even get to see one of the two cities with the complicated train rides, bus rides, and shortage of time. Naturally, we checked Ryan Air’s website for other trip options (we couldn’t waste a weekend!). Enter Belgium.

Sitting pretty in front of the Royal Palace!

I had never imagined traveling to Belgium, similar to my having never dreamed of visiting Africa. HOWEVER, I am so glad we booked it and headed off to another country again. Our friend Maddy tagged along and we definitely made the most of the less than 48 hours we had in Brussels.

Delicious waffle. Since it's from Belgium it had a sugar coating and was made from dough (not batter).

To start off, we flew in to an airport about 45 minutes away from Brussels typical of Ryan Air, took a bus ride into the city, then took a taxi to our hostel. LOTS of transportation methods (since we walked all weekend and used the subway), but we were just happy to be at our hostel that was really more of a modern hotel. Our private room for three had down comforters, huge fluffy pillows, an amazing walk-in shower with crazy hot water (we don’t have that at home), and a TV!!!!!!

Belgium CHOCOLATE. I obviously got 6 different kinds... 

Frites! Double fried w/ Samurai sauce!

The next day, we started checking things off of our Brussels checklist, which was actually just a list of foods/drinks we could consume that had “Belgium” in front of them. The list consisted of: Belgium Waffles, Belgium Beer, Belgium Chocolate, and Belgium Frites. (If you’re confused about that last one… Apparently the American soldiers who first had fries during whatever World War heard people speaking French around them and assumed they were in France. They, in turn, called the fried treats “french fries,” but they were actually in Belgium….)

My strawberry flavored beer. Yummm.

We also spent about 3 three hours trekking around Brussels on a free walking tour suggested by our hostel. We were able to see the gorgeous and overwhelming main square (Place Royale), multiple churches, the royal palace, a massive cathedral that was only completely finished about 10-15 years ago for a royal wedding, and the infamous statue of Manneken Pis, which is literally a small statue of a baby boy peeing.

This little guy pees into a fountain and impresses tourists ALL day.

Another cool Brussels icon we got to see was the Atomium, which is a MASSIVE silver modern-looking structure. What I found the most interesting about it was that is was built in 1958 for the World’s Fair. We bought discounted tickets and were able to head up to the top sphere to see over the city (with every other tourist in Brussels).

The Atomium, which has multiple floors in every sphere. 

Lastly, WE MADE A FRIEND. And he was great. And we had a wonderful time meeting interesting people, seeing interesting things, and living interesting lives. :) Thanks for reading! Next weekend: LONDON.

Overexposed picture of us and our friend "Harvard"!!! Also known as Robert...

A Busy Week in Valencia

Girls by the aquarium and museums on Sunday.

It’s been an eventful week here in Valencia. I am basically operating by the idea that if I am going to be traveling outside of the city I live in on weekends, I really ought to be exploring my own city more during the week. So, this week we kept ourselves busy seeing older parts of the city, spending time on the Mediterranean, etc.

Churros and Chocolate! 

Sunday: After seeing an Imax movie about sea monsters in ancient times (“seeing” is a bit of a stretch considering my glasses were broken…), four friends and myself explored the largest aquarium in Europe for a few hours. How lucky for us that it is right here in Valencia!

Our walk to the bus stop from the beach.

Monday: Brynn, Maddy, Katie and I spent the afternoon and evening in the Plaza del Torros shopping, eating, and chatting. I finally got to try churros and chocolate, which of course was delicious.

Pitstop on our Valencia walk. GREATEST treat of all time.

 Tuesday: Katie and I struggled to get to the beach. Sat at a bus stop for 30 minutes, then walked 20 minutes to a different stop, and then spent 20 minutes on the bus… The heat made it a little more unbearable, but when we got there it was worth it. Such a beautiful evening on the Mediterranean.

The top of the city gates. 

 Wednesday: After class we tagged along on another class’s field trip around the older part of the city. We were able to climb to the top of the city gates, see some ancient ruins that have been pretty well preserved, and explore what was once a prison for rich merchants. Lots of stairs and walking, but EXCELLENT views of the city!

View of Valencia from the tower of the prison.

Thursday: Katie and I had our first class cancelled, so we took the opportunity to explore Valencia’s famous central market. Aisles and aisles of fresh meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, nuts, pastries, etc. were fun to see. We both enjoyed fresh squeezed juice – Katie picked watermelon and I had kiwi strawberry. I also bought a container of sliced mango and ate the whole thing for lunch. Mmmmm. After class, we spent another afternoon at the beach and came home to the best meal ever (that I requested): PLAIN NOODLES, BUTTER, GARLIC, and PARMESAN CHEESE. I literally had never been so happy! That night we went to a well known discoteca in the Artes y Ciencias area that was very fun.  

Fresh fruit in the Valencia's Central Mercado. 

 Friday: In a few hours I’ll be in another plane heading to Brussels in Belgium. Stay tuned! :)  

FRESH juice!!!

Cute old men checking out the meat selection.

Hopping Continents

I just want to remind you that we’re leaving for Africa today.

Oh, you cannot go to Africa.

Yes (sigh), they can. We haven’t forbidden it yet. We will be soon.

That was the last thing I heard from one of our program directors at school on Thursday, besides her safety warnings, which we had heard through everyone’s voices all week. Katie and I were going to do Africa and my God, we did it well.

New food with new friends!

 When we picked our unassigned seats on our RyanAir flight, we were startled when two brunettes a few rows back stood and up and yelled, “Hey! Are you from Virginia?” When we said no they decided to move their seats to right in front of ours and trust us anyways. Let me just say, when you live in a foreign country, it is so undeniably obvious when someone is American - even if they’re trying to blend in. These two beauties, Ashley and Jordon, soon became our partners in crime and we were never apart for the rest of the weekend.

Full hand henna tattoos! Ours were SUPER quality compared to other tourists...

When we walked off the plane in Marrakech with our money belts strapped around us under our clothes, I was in a state of shock that I was truly standing in Africa (and that feeling stuck with me the whole time we were there). After converting euros to Moroccan currency, durhams, the four of us exchanged numbers and headed off to our hostels. Katie and I found a gorgeous taxi driver who overcharged us by over 50% and dropped us off at the main square in Marrakech.

The giant screen in the Main Square when we arrived.  

 Culture shock would be the best way to describe how we felt. There was African music playing loudly, Muslim people in traditional dress everywhere, clay buildings, motorbikes speeding around us (with no marked street), horses and donkeys and monkeys and snakes (with charmers), and booths with food/juice/merchandise surrounding us. The only comfort was a giant movie screen showing old Charlie Chaplin clips. It was reassuring because everyone understands a silent movie. We were lost. After ducking into a random hotel, we were picked up by a man from our hostel and told not to worry.

The owner of our hostel (who made everything OK). :)

We followed this man through the square, down a smaller road, down a much smaller secluded road that had us holding each other’s arms tightly, and finally down a dark tiny dead end road in front of an unmarked door. It was at this point that we wholeheartedly believed we would be taken. (Watch Taken, the movie.) After protesting going in, the man opened the door and walked in ahead of us, which allowed me to see the main area inside that looked just like the picture online. Basically trembling, we were served tea in tiny little glasses (which we rejected), then water (which we rejected because the bottle was previously opened), and then the man who clearly was in charge sent a man out to the square to buy us our own bottle. At that point, I realized we would live. :)

Heaven in a tiny oversized shot glass!

 That night we settled into our private room at our beautiful hostel. The place was incredible and we soon realized the customer service was as well. After we were offered tea a third time, we drank it and I have to tell you… I don’t like any kind of tea and this was delicious. Turns out, Muslims don’t drink alcohol so everyone in Marrakech constantly drinks little glasses of this black tea with mint and sugar. They call it their “whiskey,” but I don’t casually drink whiskey like they drink that tea..?

Myself and camels....IN AFRICA.

On Friday, we woke up and ate a delicious breakfast at the hostel. A worker guided us through the winding, clay wall enclosed streets to our friends’ hostel and we were served another glass of fresh orange juice by them (to die for). We started our day off by getting full hand henna tattoos on the roof overlooking all of Marrakech. After that, we held our purses close and ventured out into the city where we ate yummy spiced tortilla-type things with onions for lunch. After, we headed off in a taxi to the outskirts of town where we rode camels!!!!!!!!!

Dresses and camels. What a beautiful combination. UNREAL.

After an hour and a half of camel riding, we headed to Jardin Majorelle, a famous private garden that both of our hostels had spoken so highly of. It was gorgeous and full of tourists, which was a comfort. After finding a taxi that would take four riders (they’re rare), we were dropped back off at the main square and we navigated our way back to our hostels to rest.

Girls at the Gardens!

When we met back up, we ate at Booth #100 for dinner (suggested by their hostel), and enjoyed tea that was even better than our hostel’s. Mmmmmm. Our meal was pretty tasty (couscous) and so were the potato patties, fresh salsa, and orange juice we got with it. After dinner, we ignored a million different men screaming at us… “You so skinny! Eat here! Maybe later.”

“NICE. Wow, nice. Seksy.”

“You marry me? One kiss! Just one kiss!”

or they would simply yell out Lady Gaga, Sex and the City, or Shakira. Interesting.

Lamp shop in the beginning of the Souks. (I bought a tiny one!)

It was that night we realized that I can bargain and drive down prices very well. When you are rude, suggest half the price, say there is better elsewhere, and then walk away…that tends to be the case. We had a close call on the fourth floor of a blanket/rug shop (safety-wise) that we easily got out of, but that was our biggest scare. We ended the night dancing with a drunk old man in his jewelry shop and chatting on the rooftop of their hostel.

Spices in the market. So pretty!

On Saturday, we spent our final bit of time in Marrakech in the Souks, which is their famous enormous market filled with people both buying and selling. We shopped all morning and early afternoon and got insanely good prices the majority of our purchases. When we finally figured out how to get out of the Souks and back to the main square, we used our final durhams to purchase fresh grapefruit juice. It had so much pulp in it that it was as if you were actually eating the grapefruit. So tasty!

FRESH pulpy grapefruit juice with my last few coins!

Marrakech Fun Facts:

Marrakech Fun Facts:

The city has four million people living in it.

Loudspeakers at the mosques sing out prayers for the Muslim people five times a day that are heard loudly all around the city. (Similar to Hunger Games…)

People there speak Arabic, as well as French and some Spanish/English.

One durham is the equivalent of about 11 euros or over 8 dollars.

There are cats running around EVERYWHERE. Even kittens run around the streets trying to find food. (I never touched one, don’t worry...)

Marrakech Hostel Suggestions:

Trip and Friends

Layla Rouge