My Adventures Anikamel? (Part 2 of 2)

Annnnnd ages later- part 2 of 2- continuation of my travel story: Morocco

So after an amazing time in Paris with Mom and Dad, I head to Marrakesh, Morocco. Without a phone or internet and little prior communication with my friends, there was a solid 20 minutes in the Marrakesh airport where I was pretty sure I was going to be Taken. Just as I was about to call the authorities for no reason, my friends find me. They bring me to a van where I learn we have a driver (named Hussein) and many adventures planned for the next 4 days.

Our first adventure began with the 7 of us driving south of Marrakesh for 4 hours through the curvy High Atlas Mountains. It was beautiful, but slightly bumpy in the back of the van. We arrived at our destination for lunch: Ait Benhaddou. This place is famous for being the set for many a-film like Gladiator, Game of Thrones, and my personal favorite- Prince of Persia. We took a tour of the kasbah and explored a little bit. Then we got to drive more!

Rachel and Anika at Ait Benhaddou

4-5 more hours of driving we arrived at our next destination: Todra Gorge. We stayed in a little hostel thing and our new buddy Mohammad took good care of us, lots of delicious food and mint tea. The next day we went to visit the gorge with Mohammad as our fearless guide. He then took us to visit his good friend that would give us a good price on carpets. "Carpets?!" we laughed, "Ha! What are we going to do with carpets??" And then we bought three.

Todra Gorge

After our visit to the gorge we had be on our way for our next adventure: driving! We drove 4 or so hours north, destination: The Sahara. We stopped in Erfoud where we ate lunch and I found out I had food poisoning! (Funny part is that it was from food in Paris not Morocco #actualfirstworldproblems?) An upset stomach? Nothing that a little optimism, more driving, and knowing I was about to be on a camel for 2 hours couldn't cure! With a few hours of driving the sickness was gone and I was ready for yet another adventure: camel-back riding in the Sahara.

Camel shadows and the rising moon

I'm not too sure what I was expecting, but riding a camel for 2 hours is not very comfortable. BUT when you're riding through the Sahara Desert, watching the sun set and the moon rise, there's not too much to complain about. By the time we got to our camp, it was dark and very cold. The Berbers who awaited us at the camp showed us our tents and welcomed us with mint tea. There wasn't much to do, nor was there much light/heat/plumbing (it's the desert, idiots). They quickly provided us with bongos. Their mistake. Let's just say, they may not have known Whitney Houston before that night, but now "I Will Always Love You" to the nonrhythmic beat of bongos will haunt their dreams. They made us dinner and then we all sat around a camp fire and attempted to talk to one another. We didn't bring any wine. Our mistake. We woke up at 5 and were back on the camels. We rode 2 hours back as the sun rose and it was, yet again, incredible.

Fes Tanneries

Then guess what we did.... 7 more hours of driving! North again, through the mountains to the city of Fes. We arrived to the welcoming arms of 3 of our other friends at a beautiful Riad (hotel) that offered us the nectar of the gods: beer. A night of good fun and many stories was followed by a morning in the colorful city center with very pushy people. The experience would have been much more enjoyable if we weren't consistently harassed by locals trying to show us where to go, what to buy, or offer us any sort of assistance in exchange for a little money. But we did get to see on of the oldest tanneries (where people make leather) in the world (I think). I've never smelled anything so terrible.


To get back to Marrakesh, instead of driving for many more hours, we decided on a different type of adventure: the Train! We thought that this would not only be more economical but maybe even a little easier. Wrong-o. The 9 hour train ride was certainly an experience- it was hot, it was crowded, at least 3 fights broke out in our car, the train's emergency break lever was pulled (we think) and we had to sit for about an hour in the middle of very hot nowhere. Eventually, we made it back to Marrakesh where we ended our adventures with some food and wine at our Riad. My time in Morocco was certainly a once in lifetime experience.

Next entry: another (yet very opposite) once in lifetime experience- A Viennese Ball

Schnitzel, Castles, and Wine (Part 1 of 2)

In the past month or so I have been to 6 countries and 11 cities (that is if you count a camp in the Sahara as a city). I would like to give you a little view into what my trip was like.

First stop: Venice
Ashley, bestie, came to Bologna for a few days before we set off on our adventure. Our first stop was Venice and my friend from SAIS, Brian, joined us. It was a foggy, cold day in Venice, but we tried to make the most of it. We walked across the Rialto Bridge, strode alongside the famous canals, hung around in Piazza San Marco, and ended our day with a weird dinner at a creepy little restaurant. The three of us then made our way to the train station to meet up with Matt and Caitlin, the remaining of our travelling five-some.

Ashley and Anika in Piazza San Marco

NEXT! Vienna
A major part of the trip to Vienna was the actual transportation to Vienna: the overnight train, a 7 hour long ride in a tiny cabin with 6 beds and 1 stranger. We made the best of it and arrived in Vienna safely, though some of us (me) were a little grumpy. We spent our time in Vienna well bundled and well fed. It was a little rainy and very cold the whole time we were there, but for every hour spent outside in the lovely Christmas markets, we made it up to ourselves with Schnitzel: God's delicious breaded pork gift to earth. We saw Stephansplatz, the Hofburg Palace, the Belvedere Palace, the Opera House, and many other beautiful sights. We spent Christmas in Vienna and for Christmas Eve dinner we made ourselves a feast and invited a couple friends over who were in Vienna as well. We ate, drank, and were merry. In the morning (if we consider 11:30 AM the morning), per tradition, I blasted Mario Lanza's Joy to the World and Christmas day began. We each exchanged 1 gift to 1 other person then, exhausted, we took a nap. It was a tough day.

Ashley, Caitlin, and Anika at a Vienna Christmas Market

NEXT! Prague

Ashley, Anika, Matt, Brian, Caitlin Kings and Queens of Prague

Early the 26th we took a train to Prague. Prague is a wonderful land full of castles and beer and royal crowns and potato pancakes. Our group had a fun time exploring the Czech streets stopping every once in a while to have a beer and some meat or to pop into a castle. At one castle, we were even crowned Kings and Queens of Prague. It was an honor that we bestowed upon ourselves. We deserved it and everyone knew it. From Prague, we headed back to Bologna where we said goodbye to dear Ashley, our esteemed travel and food guide. Thank goodness for her 7 page itinerary.

Prague- Old Town Square  

NEXT! Budapest
After a day in Bologna I was off again to meet up with Brian in Budapest. Budapest had its fair share of castles, too. The city is divided into two sections: Buda and Pest (clever). Pest was the bumpin' side and the area in which we stayed, Buda is home to a large castle on top of a hill with a lovely view of the city. For New Years Eve we met up with 2 other SAIS students and had a delicious meal with flowing wine. We waited until a few minutes before midnight to avoid the cold before we ran out into the streets and rang in the new year. We found a square with lots of people and a band playing on a pretty elaborate stage. We had the traditional Hungarian shot (probably not traditional) and hot wine (maybe traditional?) and started our own 4 person dance party. Hungarians: not impressed. Random Serbians: kind of impressed, but actually just wanted us to take a picture of them and then make fun of us. All in all- successful night! The next day we had Burger King.

Budapest view from Buda

NEXT! Bologna/Ravenna
There were 2-3 weeks of very long stressful hours of studying and finals, until one glorious day when they were done and, magically, Vic and Wendy arrived. Mom, Dad, and I spent a few days in Bologna where I showed them around to all the hot spots. We took a day trip to Ravenna, southeast of Bologna, where we saw lots of churches with really old mosaics. They were neat.

NEXT! Paris
If I hadn't had my fill of overnight trains, I got it! Because of the snow, our flights to Paris were messed up and we ended up deciding to take the overnight train from Bologna to Paris. A 12 hour ride this time, with a smaller room, but only 3 beds and 0 strangers. All would have gone swimmingly had the middle bed not fallen and hit me right on the head. BUT I survived! and we made it to Paris, though some of us (me) were a little grumpy. We visited all the good spots: the Louvre, l'Orangerie, the Concorde Ferris Wheel, Saint Chapelle, and lots of cafes with lots of wine. It was the perfect post finals vacation with the perfect company.

Vic and Wendy on the Concorde Ferris Wheel

NEXT! Morocco... to be continued.