Une Biere S'il Vous Plait

Lodging finally opened up in Madrid following the Easter holiday, so I took a night bus up from Granada (about a 6 hour trip) on Sunday morning. I have a German friend who is studying in Madrid, so I met up with him for some tapas and drinks on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, the camera was out of commission at this point (battery charging on my new $50 universal charger), so I don't have any photo evidence.

On the second day, I took a nice walk around the city followed by an evening trip to the modern art museum, the Reina Sofia. The highlights are the Dali and Picasso works, punctuated by the latter's "Guernica". Really impressive. There was also some Delaunay on display, but I, unfortunately, have some negative connotations associated with him. Those who work at ZS can understand.

Day 3 started with a three hour walking tour of the city followed by an evening trip to the Prado, the largest museum in Madrid. Given the size of the Prado and my inability to stay in a museum for longer than two hours, I decided to focus on the Spanish art. Unfortunately, you can't take pictures in the Prado, so I don't have any images from this portion of the day. You can see them all with a quick google search though, if you'd like. Lots of Goya and Velazquez. Points of interest from the walking tour included Plaza Mayor, the cathedral, the palace, the oldest restaurant in the world, the Puerta del Sol, and an Egyptian temple. Great walk with lots of interesting history.

After the Prado, I needed to decide on my next destination, as I was supposed to check out of my hostel the following day. Barcelona was the logical choice, given its proximity, but I also wanted to spend a bit more time in Greece, given that I have to be in Italy by May 20th. I had also planned on visiting both Krakow, Poland and Prague, Czech Republic. Unfortunately, though, there was no easy way to get from Prague down to Istanbul (my stop before Greece), and I didn't really want to lose 2 or 3 days in transit. I was really on the fence, but a quick look at the weather showed that it was going to be pretty ugly in Barcelona all weekend. So, I decided to skip Barcelona, Krakow, and Prague and head straight for Turkey. I went ahead and booked my flight for Thursday morning (adding one more evening in Madrid).

My final full day in Madrid was a nice, chill park day in the Parque del Retiro. In the evening, I watched the Real Madrid - Barcelona soccer match with my buddy Yens and his friends (pretty disappointing match for Madrid), followed by a bite to eat in the Museum of Ham. The Spanish really love pork.

And that was pretty much it for Spain. Next stop: Turkey (Istanbul, Ephesus, Pammukale, and Marmaris)

I didn't originally plan on visiting Granada, but, due to Semana Santa, pretty much every hostel in Madrid was completely booked for the weekend. So, instead of chilling in Sevilla for a few more days, I decided to grab a bus and check out Granada. The dominant attraction here is the Alhambra, a Moorish palace and fortress atop a hill at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains. It's a pretty impressive view. Unfortunately, again due to Semana Santa, the only way to get a ticket to visit the Alhambra was to show up at 5 AM in the morning and sit in line for about 4 hours. Note that it was also raining off and on the entire time I was there. Given that this is more of a laid-back backpacking trip, I opted not to get up (or not go to sleep) at 4:30 AM, after a long night of cheap cerveza and tapas, and trek 25 minutes uphill to get inside. A new mate from my hostel, James Somerset, has championed the "go to Granada but ignore the Alhambra" movement. I'm on board. By the way, if you think I've got it good, James is in his 17th month of consecutive travel. He's also got a pretty sweet gig as a sports reporter/writer in New Zealand, previously working with the national rugby union team, the All Blacks. You can check out his work here on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/James-Somerset/165855784384

Anyway, back to the tapas, Granada is apparently one of the last places in Spain that still serves free tapas with every beer purchased. That was probably more compelling than the Alhambra. It's typically about 2 euros for a beer, which comes with a small plate of calamari, tortilla de patatas, paella, etc. Not a bad deal!

I took in most of Granada during a couple of walking tours, one focusing on the Albayzin, the oldest residential area of Granada, and the other on the gypsy caves located just north of the city. I also took a nice trek up to the Alhambra to explore the newer parts of the palace, which can be viewed without a ticket. Stunning views all around.

As a side note, I left my camera charger in Marrakech, so my battery was running pretty low at this point. As a result, I kept the pictures to a minimum. No need to worry, though, as I picked up a charger in Madrid.

After Chelsea's departure, I set out alone for Fez, one of the most well preserved medieval cities in the Arabic world. Its medina is an enormous collection of riads, shops, madrasas, and mosques. Similar to Marrakech, the souks of Fez are a great place to find traditional Moroccan goods. Fez feels a bit more authentic: less catering to tourists and more locals buying goods in the stalls. Fez is especially well known for its leather work and tanneries. A pretty amazing sight, with men working the large cuts of leather in huge vats of water and dye. I picked up some leather slippers, a copper plate, and a couple of blankets. A few other interesting items for sale that I did not purchase included massive snails, live chickens, and camel meat. Perhaps that's why Chelsea didn't enjoy the Saharan tajine...

The original plan was to leave Fez and spend a couple of days in Tangier and then probably head up to Seville, Spain. While in Fez, however, I met a couple of German students studying in Seville who offered to have me join them on their trip back the next day. Given my lack of Spanish, I thought this was a pretty good idea, so we all set off on the 7 AM train the next day. My only time in Tangier was from the train station to the port. I hear it's not that nice anyway...

Our mode of transportation from Tangier to Spain was a ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar. There probably would have been some nice views if not for the rain. This also made for a bit of a rough ride for half of the German team, but I was feeling fine once I had a Cruzcampo.

I was also fortunate to meet up with David and Anna because the week before Easter (Semana Santa) is crazy in Spain. It's pretty tough to get a hostel, especially in Seville, which has some of the biggest processions. The choice of dress for these processions seems a bit odd coming from the South.

Some of the highlights in Seville include a flamenco show, Anna's favorite bridge, the processions, the Plaza de Espana, the grave of Christopher Columbus, German hospitality, and a trumpet player smoking a cigarette (while playing).

Three days in Seville and then on to Granada: gypsies, free tapas, and the Alhambra (at least from the outside).

We arrived in Casablanca on the evening of the 14th (Thursday). After settling into our hotel, we went out for some tapas and sangria at La Bodega. Questionable neighborhood but pretty solid restaurant.

The primary objective for Friday was the mosque. As I mentioned, Casablanca is home to one of the only mosques in the world open to non-Muslims, Mosque Hassan II. It is also one of the largest mosques in the world. 25,000 people can fit in the mosque with an additional 80,000 in the courtyard. Supposedly, you could fit St. Peter's Basilica inside of this thing. It is massive.

The interior is beautifully detailed. One of the most interesting aspects was the retractable roof, which was open when we entered and closed while we were inside. It only takes about 3 minutes to close. Pretty amazing sight.

We also got to visit the hammams (steam rooms and pools) and the fountains where the worshipers have to bathe before praying.

After a few hours at the mosque, we set out for a walk to take in some of the architecture of Casablanca. The highlight was definitely the Sacre Coeur Cathedral.

Unfortunately, much of the other architecture was a bit dilapidated (if standing at all). The Lincoln Hotel was honestly in the guidebook as a sight to see. Glad we got to check it out before they finish tearing it down...

Somewhere in there, we stopped for ice cream. Once again, Chelsea crushed the feed.

The final stop for the evening and the last of Chelsea's trip, sadly, was Rick's Cafe. It's been designed just like the cafe from the movie, Casablanca. I can neither confirm or deny the accuracy of their recreation. Despite the touristy atmosphere, the food was pretty good and they served wine. Even bad wine is good in a Muslim country.

Saturday was time for Chelsea's departure. It was absolutely amazing to have her join me. I'm not sure I could have handled Morocco by myself. As previously mentioned, she came on this trip with about 3 days of planning. You all should consider doing the same. As the VW bus said, "Let's not go to work." It can wait for later.

So Chelsea left for the airport (although she didn't arrive home until about 48 hours later), and I prepped to take off on my own. Next stop: Fez.

This city is wild. I've never experienced anything quite like it. It's exhausting. From the sounds of the five daily calls to prayer blasted through the city like a tornado alarm to the smell of unknown spices on the grilled kebabs to the sights of monkeys doing backflips next to men charming cobras. It's constant stimulation. As you try and take this all in, you have to be extremely aware of yourself and your surroundings, as pickpockets are extremely common, especially in the Djemaa el Fna (the main square).

We arrived in the early evening on Tuesday and settled into our hotel, which was set up much like a riad, a home with an interior courtyard. It also had a very nice terrace up top with internet access. Chelsea was a little nervous, but I decided to go out to the square and try and grab a bite to eat. My first experience in the Djemaa el Fna (I got creative and went with the chicken kebabs):

Probably a better option than this:

P1000371

On our first full day in Marrakech, Chelsea finally got the opportunity to walk through the main square. It is busiest in the evenings, but even during the day, there is a lot to see. Here are the aforementioned monkeys and snakes. I really hate snakes, but this damn thing was around my neck before I could get away. You don't want to make quick movements when snakes are around...

Or else, this could happen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvZvE7G1Im4

After giving the guy 25 dirham to leave me alone, we went with the standard tourist move and jumped on a double decker bus.

Our first stop off the bus was the El Badi Palace, which is now just a ruin.

We took a quick detour through one of the market squares nearby. Chelsea bough a silver lantern.

The next point of interest was the Bahia Palace. I can not even estimate the number of pictures that Chelsea took here. The security guard actually had to force her to leave.

We then took a walk back towards the Djemaa el Fna to do some shopping in the souks. You can't even look in a stall without being immediately pulled in to check out the "finest quality" ______. "This is the only place you can find this hand carved frame in all of Morocco!" It is certainly a beautiful frame though, Chels. And you got a steal at 600 D! She really fought hard to get the price down from 650...

My favorite stands. Chelsea's least favorite:

That evening we went for a nice meal at Cafe Arabe. One of the only restaurants in the Medina that serves alcohol. They also serve Italian food, which was a welcomed change from the tajine and couscous (which Chelsea had stopped eating days before).

We ventured back through the Djemaa on the way home. Night time is when the square really comes alive: storytellers, musicians, jugglers, putt putters?, dancers...

That was about all we could handle for one day...

On Thursday (our last day in Marrakech), we decided to take the second half of the tour, which focused on the gardens and palmeries on the outskirts of the city. This included sweet views of the MCC.

We then came back to the souks for one last look. The highlights were definitely the dyers souk, where they hand dye wool and cotton fabric, and the blacksmiths souk.

It was then time to head to the station to catch our bus to Casablanca, home of the second largest mosque in the world, which is also one of the few mosques (and perhaps only in Morocco) open to non Muslims. That means we got some pics from the inside...
Chelsea prepping for the bus with her frame: