Two Weeks, Two Continets Part II: Chefchaouen

Alternate Title: Embracing My Aesthetic

My friends have a running joke that the color blue is my aesthetic. Why? Because it really is, about 85% of my possessions are blue. It’s not my fault that I like blue, okay? It’s pretty. So in order to uphold my blue reputation I had to go visit the blue city of Morocco: Chefchaouen, or just Chaouen if you are lazy.

We were greeted in Chefchaouen by an enormous hill we had to climb. The city is built on the side of a mountain which means beautiful views and all of the climbing.

By the time we made it to our hostel I was dying from the heat. See despite it being February, the weather here has been beautiful. About 70ish degrees Fahrenheit everyday. But since Moroccan culture is more conservative clothing wise, I am less likely to take off my coat. Not that my shirts are risqué just not super conservative. This has been the first place where I have felt that pressure to conform, although a few hot spells have seen me tying my jacket around my waist.

After de-sweating at the hostel we set off a wandering. Most of our time in Chaouen was spent aimlessly wandering. Unlike most of blog entries where I give you a great play by play of events this will be more about my musings and random stuff that we saw around.

One special event that did happen was my first successful bargaining! I like to buy art from the different places I go, just little cheap scenes to remind me of my travels. Moroccan culture says that instead of pricing objects you must bargain for absolutely everything. I had never tried bargaining before, but turns out I’m not half bad at it. If you are cheap as hell and willing to leave the shopkeeper will give you the price you want. I was literally outside the shop and partway down the street when he agreed to the price I wanted. Instead of his original price of one painting for 200DH I got two for 130, not bad at all.

The best thing about wandering Chaouen is seeing the multitudes of blue everywhere. Deep indigos, sky blues, periwinkles, name it and it’s in the walls if Chaouen. It also works well at keeping the Medina cool. I imagine in the summer it makes the Medina even more of a haven from the heat.

We ended our first day by wandering partway up a nearby mountain to look out over the city. From there you could see all the hues of the city as well as the valley and other mountains beyond, absolutely gorgeous. You also got to see people selling their wares right on the mountainside. One man was selling small metal tiles and also carving more while awaiting customers. Another guy was making daisy chains and another had his art hung right on the side of the mountain. I suppose on a mountain trail you don’t need a stall.

That was pretty much the end of our day and we headed back to our hostel. It did take a bit of trial and error to make it home, as google maps refuses to give walking directions through the Medina when you are offline. I got spoiled in Europe with my French data plan, here in Africa it’s up to me and my map reading skills. Luckily, we made it to bed in the end.

 

Day 2

Our hostel sadly did not come with breakfast so we had to wander out an find a nearby cafe. I ended up getting Raghid which was sort of like a stiff crepe, it was very good and I left a happy camper.

From there we left with the possible intention of visiting the Kasbah. The reviews online weren’t great and we weren’t sure in the price was 10 Durham or 60. Turns out if you are Moroccan it’s 10 if you are anything else it’s 60. Since we were not Moroccan but still cheap, we gave the Kasbah a pass. 60DH isn’t especially expensive, but we didn’t think it was worth it to look at some gardens and see a nice view.

We then tried to return to the mountain from the day before and the creek at its base to hang by the water. This ended with us getting real lost and seeing lots more of the west of Chaouen than we had before. This was a more residential area, but still beautiful. In the end we made it to the water, but not before we saw all the animals.

Morocco as a whole seems to be filled to the brim with stray cats, and stray dogs are common enough. But near the river in Chaouen everyone brings their weird animals for tourists to pay to take pictures with, the first we saw were a pair of gorgeous peacocks then we saw a donkey, although he was more for hauling than amusing tourists and then we saw the weirdest one, the ostrich. Ostriches look pretty tall in zoos but even taller when they are stand8ng next to you on the side of the road.

Our next bout of aimless wandering brought us up above the city. We somehow got behind the wall that for some rain exists on the mountain behind the city. Not sure what that wall keeps out, but it wasn’t very good at keeping us in. Looking down on Chaouen was one of those stupid petty moments. Where everythng is just too beautiful and you can’t quite fathom how it all works.

At the top of the city we got not only to see the beauty of Chefchaouen, but hear it as well when the call to prayer sounded. Everyday 5 times a day the mosques in the city call out to bring the followers in the pray. Unlike the Christians bells, the Muslims have people yell out the masses and bring them in. From above we could hear at least a dozen voices calling over each other welcoming in their people. It was surreal to hear the voices overlap and meld together. Although I did not understand the Arabic words the message was still there and absolutely beautiful.

We then had a late lunch/dinner at the most stereotypically Moroccan restaurant we could find. There were rugs on all the walls and cushions aplenty. Despite the tourist trappings, it was still very cheap and very good. I greatly enjoyed my meal.

From there it was more wandering and then off to the bus station to take the late bus to Fez. Although I didn’t “do” much in Chefchaouen I did like the city. It is definitely a great instagram spot, and a better day trip than a destination, but nonetheless beautiful.

 

 

Two Weeks, Two Continents, Part I: Tangers

Alternate title: Three Continents Duke

I was talking with a friend recently about how, the more you travel, the more jaded you get. You realize that no matter where you go people are people and cities are cities. Not that I don’t want to keep traveling everywhere I can, but I realize that not every location will send shivers down my spine in awe of my new locale.

And then I set foot in Africa. I felt my smile growing wider and wider as I walked across the tarmac and it hit me that this was not only a new country, but a new continent. Forget Kansas, Toto, we’re not even in Europe anymore. The last time I felt this wonderment was in Venice, when I span around in front of the grand canal. This time I settled for grinning like a fool in the airport of Tangers.

After getting through customs and exchanging some euro for dirhams, we had to face our first hurdle, getting into the city. The only way to get out of the airport is via taxi. I generally don’t like taxis. I don’t like negotiating fares and I feel awkward in the back of a stranger’s car, but we had no choice.

For a while we suffered near the taxi stand wondering how to get a taxi and trying to pluck up our courage when a very nice girl stopped and asked if we were confused and where we were trying to go. She took a look at our map with where our hostel was and called over a taxi driver and talked to him rapidly in Arabic. She tried to get us a ride for 100 Dirhams (about $10) but the driver would only do it for 150. We were fine with that and thanked the girl for saving us from struggling for another 15 minutes.

Although we arrived early our hostel was happy to check us in and let us put our bags into our room despite the fact that the cleaning lady was in there at the time. I love when a hostel bends the rules a bit like that. Unlike a French hostel where the people will always speak to you in English no matter what you do, the Moroccan hostel workers were thrilled to learn we spoke French and immediately switched into French over English. It was nice to be valued for our language skills,.

We then headed to lunch. We tried to follow directions given by our hostel to a good lunch spot but quickly ended up turned around in the twists and turns of the medina. Only after sitting down and looking at the restaurant’s name in the menu did I realize we had accidentally made it to our recommended lunch spot. I had myself a mountain of couscous for only about 60DH ( that’s the sign for the Moroccan dirham) and then we tried to leave.

I say tried because upon signaling the waiter to get out check, instead of a check he brought over a pot of mint tea on the house. Moroccan mint tea is very, very sweet. At least half a dose of your daily sugar. It was good though I couldn’t imagine drinking more than s a small glass. Before we could have to check we were once again offered a free desert. Not one to say no, I accepted. And only then did we finally get to actually pay for our meal.

Then we started wandering, very quickly we seemed to acquire a man trying to lead us to what he called the Berber market and what I think were just some of his friends’ shops. He was hard to shake off because even if we tried to stop or go into a random store, he would stick around outside. My friend was no help as she kept talking to him as her midwestern sensibilities said it was rude to ignore people. Finally, I was able to get her to stop talking and adamantly tell him to leave us alone.

We then started wandering. We somehow found a gorgeous view of the water and then found the musée de Kasbah. I was happy enough to pay 20 DH to see the beautiful architecture and artifacts inside. It was an archaeology museum, that although it didn’t have much, did have some cool stuff.

The museum presented the exciting challenge of having no English descriptions, on French and Arabic. I was able to read the French, but it did take me a bit longer to understand what everything was. I have on idea how foreigners get by in American all English museums. Props that them for being good enough at English to understand everything that is going on.

The coolest thing was an old world map. Which from my western viewpoint was upside down and from any viewpoint was not very accurate. But it did show the gist of the Eurasian continent and Northern Africa. It was neat to see what people knew of geography in ancient times.

The museum also had a beautiful garden full of what felt like very exotic plants. It had this enormous palm tree that looked nothing like any other palm tree I had seen before. It also had banana trees. I had never seen a banana tree before and was fascinated by the hanging fruit. I didn’t even know it was real at first, I was convinced it was some sort of man made attachment.

Upon exiting we somehow acquired another guy trying to lead us around, who my friends again talked to. She has since been given firm instructions not to engage people on the street who talk to her. None of these people seemed to have malicious intent, they were trying to make a few bucks or promote their stores. I get that and no shame to them for trying to make a living. All shame to idiot tourists for falling for the bait and encouraging them to continue these tactics.

Next up we wandered through some of the many tourist shops and saw some cool rugs and trinkets. Morocco has been the first place where I really like the bits and bobs in the tourist shops I’m sure I’ll pick a few up before I leave. Our night ended watching the sunset from the top of the Medina.

Here is where I would normally fade to black into day two but I had one more late night adventure. See at about 2am I was awakened by mysterious rustling on my bed. In my foggy disorientation it took me a moment t realize what this was: a cat.

Tangers is fit to bursting with cats and one lived at our hostel. Our room was weird in that it had a window that opened into the hostel rather than outside. So, although our door was shut, the cat was able to hop through the window. I tried to let him stay but as I don’t usually sleep with animals, I had to kick him out. I tried to just bring him out of the room hoping he’d get the hint. But about five minutes later he hopped back through the window and right to my bed. Take two saw me closing the shutters, which I tried to do quietly but instead ended up with a loud bang that no doubt scared my roommates. But this time when the cat was ejected he stayed out.

Day 2

Our hostel breakfast was surprisingly great, filled with Moroccan breads jams, cheese and olives. They had these awesome pancake things that I could not stop eating. We also had some good conversation with some fellow hostel goers and ended up picking up a friend to wander around with us. He was just finishing up a 7 month worldwide adventure and it was cool to have someone new to join us in our exploring.

We started our day at the American Legation museum. This museum highlighted the freindship and shared history between America and Morocco. Historic fun fact: Morocco was the first country to recognize America as an independant nation way back in the day. Unfortunately we did not return the favor when Morocco asked for help dealing with its colonizers.

The museum is also home to the so called Moroccan Mona Lisa. I can see the resemblance as she is a pretty portrait which isn’t actually all that impressive. They also had a garden, no bananas trees but they did have some live turtles. Thank goodness we noticed them; because I nearly stepped on one.

After getting a nice daily dose of American freedom, we headed out to do some more shopping and wandering. Moroccan shopkeepers can be pretty aggressive in trying to get you to enter their shops and then show off their wares, but the shops are actually very neat.

Most of them have that antique store vibe. Where everything is a bit dim and cluttered. It sort of does feel like you are looting around for hidden treasure. My one friend ended up buying a traditional Moroccan djellaba which is a robe thing that I have seen a lot of people wearing. She got the male one. But as she plans to use it as a robe/comfy loungewear in her house I think it’ll be okay,

On our way to find some lunch we came across a strange site. A huge line of caterpillars inching across the pavement. I’ve only ever seen ants act like that, so caterpillars were pretty neat. A kind Samaritan ended up scooping up the caterpillars and returning them into the pask so they wouldn’t get stepped on or run over on their current path to the road.

After a lunch of cheap and delicious tagine we took a break at our hostel and hung out on the roof overlooking the city. After our rest we went on an adventure to find the bus station and buy a ticket for the next morning to get to Chefchaoun. This brought us out of the old Medina and into the bustling city of Tangers.

To any who think of Africa as solely tribes and villages I would like to present exhibit A: downtown Tangers which looks more like Chicago than any stereotypical African ideal. My friend and I agreed that it actually looks a lot like Marseille, with white high rises and huge roundabouts.

After buying our bus tickets we headed to the beach to laze around. We stayed mostly on the pier and got some ice cream to snack on as we watched the waves and the sunset. it was lovely, just a bit chilly but nothing too bad.

On our way back to the hostel we discovered some lights up fountains that sprang up in patterns out of the ground. Like many tourists around us we reveled in the light and tried to take artsy photos. Didn’t quite succeed but had a good time and finished our night with some smiles.

We had a nice lazy morning before leaving Tangers and spent a good half an a hour lounging on the roof hammocking looking out onto the city. Tangiers was a wonderful city. I would agree with the internet and say a day in Tangers is plenty, I still enjoyed it and would recommend taking the time to explore not only the Medina but the urban city area as well. Tangers was a great start to our African adventure and I really enjoyed it.

North, South, Not East, and West Part IV: Valetta, Rabat, and Mdina

Alternate title: When You Play the Game of Malta

Day 3

On our third day we went to Valetta. We started by visiting the palace state rooms. They were very decadent and full of marble and stuff. Made me think a bit of Versailles, not quite that extravagant, but nobody beats out the Sun King when it comes to flair.

They had an old tapestry which is apparently a copy of one at Versailles, but while this one survives, that one is gone. It fills a whole room, but unfortunately you can’t see it very well. They keep the lights off to protect the cloth, but since natural light is coming in from the hallway, your eyes never adjust to let you see in the dimness. It’s a bit disappointing.

The coolest part about the palace state rooms is that they are still used by the president of Malta. She greets foreign dignitaries and such there. I like that they keep using their palace made for kings and queens even now that they are a republic. Waste not want not.

Next, we saw the armory, which was absolutely huge. They had hundreds of pieces of armor and weapons. Unlike most weapon displays where I glance and move on, this one had an extensive audio guide. Every piece got a brief description so now I actually know the difference between all the pointy sticks. This made the collection much more interesting, as I learned about how knight’s armor worked and evolved over the years.

Next, We got a late lunch and then headed to Fort St Elmo and the war museum. We went almost exclusively because my friend was amused by the name, honestly a legit reason.

The museum was cool, of course it talked about the Great Siege, but also more about Malta in World War II. It was interesting because I had never heard of Malta in association with the war, but it was actually the most bombed place in Europe. It was essential because it was Britain’s (it’s then colonizer) key to Italy. They got pummeled by the axis powers as they tried to get them to surrender. But Malta held firm and made it out the other side.

Obviously the fort had beautiful view of the ocean as well, typical Malta. And that was pretty much our day. We said a bit of wandering through shops and the streets of Valletta and then headed home.

Day 4

Our fourth day started with a struggle. I mentioned that Maltese buses are a bit trash, and I meant it. We missed our direct line to our destination, Rabat, so we had to try to transfer. Normally not a big deal unless your bus just decides not to come. Something our bus was fond of doing. Waiting at the bus stop in Malta is a game of chance, maybe your bus came early, maybe it’ll never come, you’ll never know.

In the end we made it to Rabat and our first stop, the Domvs Romana. If that v where a u should be didn’t tip you off this was some Roman ruins. The ruins of a Roman villa to be precise.

It was very cool. The mosaic floor in one room was almost completely preserved and had the supposedly famous image of some doves on it. Some of the other floors retained mosaic as well and outside they had the standard pile of rock.

Apparently there used to be more but in true European fashion some 19th century farmers plowed over them. Can you blame them? Half of Europe is a Roman ruin. If you stop plowing evrytime you hit a rock you’ll never get to planting any seeds.

Next we saw St John’s catacombs, also Roman. There were a lot of catacombs. There was one big chamber. With passageways twisting all over the place. As soon as I made a comment about “what if” the lights turned off, they did. A few stayed on so it wasn’t absolute pitch black, but still really dark. Remember to knock on wood kids, never tempt the gods.

After the big chamber there were a lot of little ones. You’d go down some stairs and see a few to tombs and then right back up. None of the tombs had any bodies left, but some had cool markings about who was buried there. Over Jewish graves they carved menorahs, so those were fun to spot.

We did not descend into every tomb, as there were just too many, but we did see at least a dozen of them. Then we were in desperate need of pizza, so we went and achieved that dream.

Happily full we headed to Mdina which is a walled city on the edge of Rabat. It is an excellent city for wandering. Lots of little passageways and twists and turns. We found a pretty church to wander in and spent some time people watching.

If just wandering isn’t enough for you, Mdina can entice you with a star studded past. None other than the illustrious Game of Thrones shot here. I’m not one to seek out film locations, but I think it’s cool to find them. Mdina was happy to advertise it too. The first thing I saw when coming through the gate was a flag for Winterfell. If you got it, flaunt it.

My friend and I were especially amused to find the location of Littlefinger’s brothel. Irl instead of being home to lovely ladies and sexplanations it is the facade of the “Mdina Experience”. A bit more tourist friendly than Baelish’s experiences.

A definite perk to traveling is later watching movies and shows and saying “I’ve been there!” It’s like you’re in a secret club. That sounds real pretentious, and it sort of is, but it’s just neat, gives you more of a connection with whatever you are watching. Malta let me go to both Ogygia and Westeros, a two for one deal.

We did some more wandering and then headed home. We played the game of Mdina and we won.

That’s all for this post. Until next time, à plus!

 

Going Dutch (and Belgian) Part IV: Amsterdam

Alternate Title: #strooplife

Amsterdam, the city of temptation and parties. Don’t get excited, I did none of that. I considered getting something from a coffeeshop (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) but it was never a good time.

I did so much wandering and walking in Amsterdam. My legs better be so ripped now. Basicaly my friends and I were too cheap to buy tram tickets, and it took a half hour to walk to the center sooooo… leg day every day.

Day one was all wandering once we made it to the hostel from the bus. Our hostel was actually a legit hotel that just rented out its worst rooms as dorms. This meant that, praise the lord, we had an elevator. Which is great because A. Amsterdam stairs are steep as heck, and B. We were on the 4th floor, that’s five flights of demon stairs.

The canals of Amsterdam are gorgeous especially in the sunshine or early evening. Much of my wandering was spent appreciating the sparkling water. The one thing Amsterdam is missing is more benches to appreciate the beauty of their water.

Day 2 in Amsterdam was jam packed. It started with me getting a picture of the I Amsterdam sign in the early morning before it was packed with tourists. Apparently I did it just in time. When we left Amsterdam the sign was covered up. They are changing the iconic sign to say “I am dream” which doesn’t make sense, like why? I’m disappointed in Amsterdam’s poor marketing team. But I digress.

We then headed to the Dam square to meet for a free walking tour. Unfortunately, we were short on time so I couldn’t stop at the Dam coffeeshop or the Dam giftshop, really a tragedy.

The tour was hosted by Sandleman’s tours, the same company we used in Brussels. Our guide, Kendra, was excellent. Not only did she give us a tour, she also taught my friend how to vote absentee for the American elections. Double win.

I’m gonna blow your m8nd with this fact I learned on the tour. Are you ready? In Amsterdam. Weed. Is.  illegal. That’s not a typo kids, pot is illegal in Amsterdam. Everything you ever knew was a lie.

But Becca, you say, why is there so much weed then? Well, dear reader, the police on the Netherlands just don’t care. One day they decided  to just let people do as they do, but they couldn’t be bothered to change the law.

Prostitution on the other hand is legal. Why? So they can pay taxes. Apparently, tax evasion is the most frequently performed crime in the Netherlands so the Dutch need more ways to fill their treasury. Side note, that’s also why houses are thin, people were taxed by house width.

After our walking tour, we went to the Van Gogh Museum. Impressionism has always been my favorite style so even though the ticket was expensive (€18, ew) I was still willing to go.

I’m glad I did because I had an awesome time. First, we went and saw the exposition on Gaugin and Laval. I forgot how much I like Gaugin. He has a great style.

That room also had some letters that were sent between Van Gogh, his brother, Gaugin, and others. They were in French so I could actually read them. The subject matter was a bit dull, but reading a letter penned by Van Gogh himself was pretty neat.

Then there was a weird section called Dreams. It was decorated rooms meant to symbolize Van Gogh’s decent into depression. Also meant as an instagram spot, I think. It was a cool area, if a little weird in an otherwise standard art museum.

Next up the permanent collection of all of Van Gogh’s stuff. I forgot just how many self portraits he did until I was standing in a room surrounded by them. So many Vincents.

At one point the museum had paper and pencils you could take to draw the artwork. I’ve always seen art students drawing in museums but never had the forethought to do it myself. So this was perfect.

Now, my sketch was no masterpiece, but it was fun. It was calming to look right at the work of a master and try to interpret it onto my own page. Not to mention I now have a pretty cool souvenir.

From Van Gogh we went to dinner. While there, we decided to try to get tickets to the Anne Frank house. Since it’s so small they have time slots with certain amounts of tickets available. 80% of tickets are sold two months in advance and 20% the day of.

Since I only planned the trip a few weeks in advance, I was unprepared with Anne Frank tickets. So I got to check for them every few hours. Luckily, we were able to snag a few for 8pm. The museum left me with a lot of thoughts to share, so I wrote another post about it, look for that soon.

Our third day was pretty chill. We started by going to the Albert Cuyp market to get fresh stroopwaffle.

A good stroopwaffle is akin to ambrosia. Am I exaggerating? Yeah, probably, but that doesn’t stop the fact that I really love stroopwaffle. Which is a great thing to love because it’s real cheap. You can by a pack of twelve at the supermarket for less that 2 euros. And, even better, prepackaged stroopwaffle, in my opinion, is just as good as fresh. Needless to say I bought too much stroop in the Netherlands, but hey I gotta live that #strooplife.

Stroopwaffle in hand we wandered around Amsterdam for a while. It’s a very beautiful city so wandering the canals is no hardship. After a good long walk we decided to go to the Moco art museum.

The Moco is a modern museum with mostly street art, focusing a lot on Banksy. I know that Banksy would be horrified that I paid money to see his work, but I’m glad I did. I’ve always liked the street art style, but never had much opportunity to see it so the Moco was a good choice.

One of the coolest things in the museum was their app. If you downloaded their phone app and pointed it at a picture the picture would move. A bit gimmicky, but it was also really neat. It made the pictures a little more fun and helped express their essences even more. Unfortunately, they didn’t use the app on a lot of pictures, which I thought was a shame.

I also got to discover some new artists that I really liked. They had a lot of stuff made by Icy and Sot, a pair of brothers from Iran who made statement pieces about living in the middle eastern society and later about being refugees in America and living in New York. They had a beautiful style and I loved the messages that came through their work. It’s cool to expand my artist knowledge base.

After the museum we headed home for the night and had a nice relaxing evening. That was pretty much Amsterdam. I really enjoyed my time there. It might be known for parties and promiscuity, but I found it calm and peaceful. True, I never really went to the Red Light District, but I didn’t feel the need to.

Amsterdam is big and diverse enough that you can experience it however you want to. There is no right way to see it. I’m sure some of you are bemoaning the fact that I missed such and such museum, or whatever landmark, but I’m not. I experienced Amsterdam the way I wanted to and I had a great time. Just because some tourist blog says you have to do “insert thing here” doesn’t mean you do.

My goal is always to go to a city and just be there for a few days. I’ll hit some tourist attractions and whatnot, but I have yet to go somewhere and feel cheated because I skipped some activity. So next time you go in vacation, don’t worry about what you are doing. Just enjoy being there.

Amsterdam

Van Gogh Museum

Moco

A Blind Date with France

*Disclaimer: No romantic dates were had in the making of this blog. Don’t get excited*

My first week in Éguilles has been miles different from my first week in Angers. When I was a student I was busy all day long. The day after my arrival, I was up and at school at nine am for orientation. This time around I haven’t had a schedule to attend with and have been largely free to do as I please.

This was most obvious my first day when I went to bed at eleven and woke up at noon. Jetlag is fickle and strikes at weird times, but it sure showed me that you need to structure yourself a little better than I did. For the next few days I set alarms to try and get myself into a normal sleeping schedule. So far, it’s worked but I know that jetlag can rear its ugly head for weeks after a time change, so fingers crossed I don’t see it again for a while.

My first few days were spent solely in Éguilles. I did some grocery shopping, explored a bit and got rejected by most of the banks in town. Éguilles is small and really doesn’t have much to do in it. I still like it though. It’s sweet in its size and is very picturesque.

Just a short bus ride away, however, I have Aix-en-Provence. Sadly, the buses only run about every forty minutes and the last bus leaves Aix at 8:40. Happily, the bus stop is right outside my front gate. It is literally impossible for me to get lost on my way to the bus stop. Last Saturday I made my first trip into Aix and wandered around.

I really do mean wondered too, I aimlessly walked from street to street just trying to get an idea of the area and what Aix is like. My bus from Éguilles comes into the Gare Routière which is right in the middle of downtown Aix, it’s very handy.

Aix reminds me a lot of Angers. It’s a similar size and has a very laid-back vibe to it. Unfortunately, Aix doesn’t seem to have the same history to it. Angers had a more distinctive old town near the chateau with ancient structures and cobbled streets. Aix feels more modern. It doesn’t seem to have a historic section in the same way Angers did. It does, though, have all the fountains. Aix is known as the city of fountains and it takes pride in that title and marks every old cool fountain on its tourist maps (I know because I stole one [not really stole, they were free in the tourism office but I’m still a rebel]).

Monday was my first day taking care of the children I am nannying. I had to pick up the youngest from school and boy was it nerve wracking. First, I had to drive to her school, and remember where it was. It’s only about a ten-minute drive and not hard to find at all, but I was still nervous. Then I had to find her amongst the swarms of children piling out of the gate.

I stared a little too hard at most of the kids. I’m terrible at remembering faces and had only met my charge twice before and was desperately praying I would recognize her. Thankfully, she recognized me and snuck up right under my nose.  On the way home, I made a wrong turn, something she was happy to point out.

If you have ever talked with a young child, you know that they are hard to follow. Stories can go on for days with an end, or a beginning or a middle. Understanding them is usually impossible, so you fill in gaps with yeahs and wows. Now imagine that this same meandering tale is being told in a foreign language and you can forget about it. The few car conversations we have had have been mostly one sided.

The more that I watch the kids the more comfortable I get. Picking up at school has become much easier, though I still get just a little nervous I’ll miss her.

When not deciphering French child speak, I’m trying to make some more comprehensible friends. On Tuesday I went to Aix with the express purpose to meet other assistants and make some friends. I’ve met a few lovely people so far, a few other American assistants and one Egyptian.

The weird thing about the assistantship program is that all other assistants just immediately seem like your friends. On our Facebook group everyone is supportive and very willing to offer advice and any help they can. It’s been a great community.

Meeting people in person has been weird, but great. It’s like a blind date. You have no idea who it is you are meeting, all you really know is that they aren’t French, and neither are you. Also trying to arrange the meetup seems strange. I ended up awkwardly hopping between three benches trying to appear casual as I waited to meet with another assistant on Tuesday. She was a little lost and running late so I was there for what seemed like too long to me.

Thankfully I have been able to successfully find all my assistant “dates” and have gotten along with all of them. One of the girls is even planning to join me on a trip for our October vacation (more on that soon).

Before starting my work at the school, I had two goals: get a phone and get a bank. School stuff starts tomorrow, and I have accomplished one out of two. Phone: check. Bank: not so much.

Getting a bank in France is the worst. I remember it being hard the first time and now it seems even more discouraging. Several banks have turned me away. I even made a meeting at one bank (which they cancelled and rescheduled moments after I got on the bus to go to it) and they still turned me away. It’s frustrating to assume your bank is all but ready to go just to be turned away at the last minute.

So next week in between school meetings I’ll be trying to make more bank appointments, so I can be paid. I’m incredibly happy to be in France and all, but I’d still like go be paid for it and for that, I need a bank.

Adjusting to being here has been pretty easy. I feel like I have a very good understanding of Éguilles and a decent idea of Aix. I like the family I work with and I think I’ve started a few good friendships. Next step is figuring out what is happening with my schools. Tomorrow morning I’ll be heading into Marseille for my stage d’acceuil (training/orientation). I’m excited to meet more assistants and get started teaching and get even more acclimated to my new position.

Next week I’m sure I’ll be posting again all about orientation and school and whatnot. Until then, à plus!

Here’s a few pictures from around Éguilles and Aix

Toto We’re Not in France Anymore: Part VII, Venice

Alternate Title: Choosing to be Lost

Bologna was pretty, Rome was, well Rome, Florence was artsy, but Venice, Venice is near indescribable. You can hear about the canals, and see pictures of the masks but you cannot imagine how amazing Venice is until you have been there in person. Suffice to say, I loved it.

As we approached Venice on the train, my excitement grew. We could see the water ending and the buildings getting closer and closer. Once we were standing in front of the Grand Canal my friends and I were giggly and overexcited, and we couldn’t stop saying “we’re in Venice!” with an accompanying squeal.

My first picture over the Grand Canal

We checked into our hotel as quickly as possible, took a moment to rest and then headed out. Now, staying on the actual island of Venice, costs an arm and a leg. But, it’s worth it. I feel like it was all worth it while I looked out my window and saw the boats speeding through the canal, or heard the water lapping on the sides as I fell asleep. Spare the extra 20 or 30 euros a night and stay on the island.

Our goal for day 1 was to find the Piazza San Marco. Eventually we did, but first we did a lot of wandering.

All the tourist guides say to “get lost” in Venice. This is easier to do than you’d think because 80% of the streets aren’t marked, on the map or on the street corners, and the other 20% just randomly stop at a canal. Several times we were trying to get somewhere and ended up in a doorway which opened straight into the water.

We found so many amazing little shops in the back alleys of Venice. We stopped at just about every mask shop we saw, all the handmaid ones at least, and lots of other little shops as well. I could spend a good long while wandering the Venetian streets.

We also stumbled upon some cool museums. We found an instrument museum which focused on Vivaldi in an old church. It was filed with old instruments all from the 16 or 1700’s. It was interesting and, surprisingly, free, something hard to come by in Venice.

The other cool museum we found the first day was a free art gallery of contemporary pop art. Everything there was super cool, especially because a lot of the works were an optical illusions. Depending where you looked at them they would change color, or appear to move. We went through the museum with our mouth gaping as we crossed back and forth in front of each piece.

Some awesome pop art

Our wandering continued and we did eventually make it to the Piazza San Marco, but, by the time we wandered there, the basilica was closed. We weren’t devastated, and we spent a bit of time looking around. Let me tell you, Piazza San Marco is pigeon heaven. There were definitely over a hundred birds wandering the square, probably more.

After the piazza we headed back to our hotel, taking the scenic route of course. We had to be a little careful though, since you have to cross the Grand Canal to get from Marco to our hotel. There are only three bridges crossing the Grand Canal, so you have to be careful where you come to it. Nothing is sadder than staring across the water at the side you want, but being unable to get there.

Day 2

Some pigeon’s at Piazza San Marco

Day 2 was pretty much day 1 but longer. We once again spent most of the day wandering the twisting street of Venice. We spent lots of time in glass shops, searching for the perfect pieces to add to our souvenir collections. Venetian glass is famous for a good reason, it’s gorgeous.

We did make a goal to see the Rialto bridge, the original bridge which crossed the Grand Canal. It’s another one of those bridges which has shops on it, it was cool on the bridge, but unfortunately we couldn’t get a good side view because it was under construction. Guess I just have to go back to Venice and see it again, what a struggle that will be.

One of my friends brought us on a quest to find some different piazzas which she knew of from a game she had played. Seeing as we had no real destinations, we were happy to tag along on her quest.

Finding things in Venice though, super difficult. As I said before, hardly any roads are

We took many canal pictres

marked on the map. The bigger piazza and big roads are marked, but that’s about it. I feel like, if you don’t just get a free map, you may as well not buy one. Find a landmark near your hotel and then follow the signs toward it. I would be an awful Venetian because my sense of direction is not great. Goggle maps aren’t gonna do diddly for you in Venice.

I’d like to give you more of a blow by blow, but we really just did a lot of wandering in Venice. We stopped in countless shops, took too many canal pictures, and really just enjoyed a beautiful few days in Venice.

Out of everywhere I have been in Europe, Venice is definitely number one. It’s so beautiful and peaceful, the lack of cars and occasional singing of a passing gondolier creates

A pack of Gondoliers on the canals

this indescribable, peaceful atmosphere. I don’t know all my plans for the future, but I know for certain that I will be returning Venice. I don’t know when or how, but I will return to the canals one day.

And that’s it guys. That was the last stop on my Grand European Adventure. My spring break was utterly unforgettable and I still can’t believe it happened. I got to live my dreams and check several cities of my bucket list.  Despite lots of speed bumps, it all worked out in the end. This was certainly the best spring break I ever have had or ever will have.

 

This is the same art piece from two sides