Spring Break

Sorry I have not written in a while! The past few weeks have been very very busy . But to update on my spring break---

Morocco:
Casablanca was a lot of fun! Not much to do there, so it was good that we only stayed one day. It was so exciting to be in Africa for the first time. Our hotel was nice- there was unlimited free mint tea was the best part (it is my new addiction!). We visited the main attraction, the Mosque Hassan 2, which was really cool. It was so nice to be in warm weather. Casablanca is on the coast of Africa. Unfortunately, we could not go in the water- but it was still nice to see the ocean.

Mosque Hassan 2
Lisa, Mair, Jimmy, and Brianna in Casablanca

Marrakesh was a lot of fun as well, but much more touristy. We fell into a ton of tourist traps- food and shopping wise. Surprisingly- we ate a lot of bland food! In the land of spices, I was shocked! It was because we ate near the main square- Jemaa El'Fna. We wandered outside the main part for a few meals, and that is when we had the best food. I ate a ton of tagine (meat dish cooked in a pot with veggies), Morrocan pastries, and pastilla (not with pigeon- with chicken). I bought a lot of things in Morocco- including spices, knock-off bags, and other random things. We stayed in a Riad which was fun because it is comprised of 7 rooms around a main square that is outside. We were served a free breakfast outside on the patio every day! We stayed near the Souks, which is a big market area where people sell a variety of things. Everything was so cheap which was exciting! 1 Dirham is around 10 cents, so it was nice to actually have an exchange rate in our favor. I also had a chance to ride camels, which was a lot of fun! Although a bit frightening... We also got henna tattoos. We also visited Majorelle Gardens, which are these huge famous gardens in Marrakesh. I liked Marrakesh, but it was a little stressful because you get harassed every five seconds for money. I was ready to leave after 5 days there! It was a tease going to Morocco first though because it was so warm!

Beef Tagine!
I'm at Majorelle Gardens!
Riding Camels
Getting Henna Done

I flew to Madrid from Marrakesh to meet up with Ruth and her friend. We visited two friends from high school- Loretta and Royi. It was a ton of fun! I actually loved Madrid, which I didn't really expect. We ate every day at Mercado de San Miguel, which is a building of every different type of food in tapas form so you can get all different kinds of food on little plates. Essentially, it was my heaven... I ate chocolate and churros there and a ton of tapas. We also ate at an amazing Galecian (Northern Spanish) place named Maceira, where I ate octopus, mussels, chorizo sausage, and lots of sangria.. The night life in Madrid was a lot of fun as well. In all, Madrid was one of my favorite places of the entire trip!

Ruth and I in a plaza in Madrid!

After Madrid, I went to Barcelona to visit my old roommate Kelsey. Barcelona was fun- but unfortunately I caught a stomach virus somewhere so I spent half of the time in bed at my hostel because I felt so sick. Fortunately, I had been to Barcelona before so I already did all of the tourist stops so I didn't feel too bad about missing out on everything. I tried absinthe in Barcelona which was awful and we went to a themed shot bar where you drink shots lit on fire or toast marsh mellows and take a shot (the list goes on, there are over 100 different types).

Brianna, Kelsey, and I at an Absinthe bar in Barcelona

Next on the list was Copenhagen, which wasn't exactly what I was expecting. It was so small! It was very quaint and charming, but there was not much to do. Also, it was freezing. I met up with Hadley and I stayed with Claire when I was there, so it was nice catching up with them. We went to cute cafes and Claire and I had one really nice brunch.

Claire and I near the Queen's palace in Copenhagen!

Brunch in Copenhagen!

I flew to Amsterdam a few days later to meet back up with Brianna and Jimmy. Tyler also met up with us there. I stayed in a 20-person dorm which was interesting to say the least. It was a little hard to sleep there but besides that it was fine. Amsterdam was a lot of fun- but we didn't go out or anything because we were pretty wiped out because traveling is exhausting. We visited the Anne Frank house, red light district, and walked around the residential area of Amsterdam which was actually really cute! We ate dutch pancakes and American food (which I have been craving)- so it was nice to actually eat a bagel for the first time in months because they don't have bagels in Paris! We left Amsterdam that Saturday to go back to Paris.

Bri and I at a Chinese restaurant in Amsterdam!
Bri and I on a canal in Amsterdam

Overall, minus my stomach virus, it was a nice spring break. It was a little long as I was very ready to go home after Amsterdam, but I got to see so many different places!