¡Munich, Germany!

I wasn't really sure what to expect from Munich. I didn't know much about the city, but I knew I was interested in exploring a German city. And I'm so glad it turned out to be Munich. It's located in Bavaria, which is in southern Germany, on the Austrian border. At first, I couldn't determine how I felt about it. Many of the buildings were modern, and it seemed to be just like any ole city. But as we explored, the more I realized that wasn't the case.



The first day we were there, we were pretty tired from traveling (as always), so we went to lunch, took a nap at the hostel, and then went out for dinner. It was fun-- we went to a traditional beer hall, and there was a group of men in lederhosen (or traditional leather shorts and suspenders)! They were singing and talking and enjoying each other company. The tables are designed to encourage people to talk-- they are long, and people from different parties sit with each other. (Think a Japanese grill minus the grill.) It had a great atmosphere, and it was a great way to start our time in Munich.

We really had no specific plans for the next day. There were a couple of things that we had read about and that we wanted to check out, but we just decided to walk around the city and see what we found. We climbed a tower for views of the city and the Alps (which is an activity I've found to be popular in many cities). Once again, it was worth the hike.



Afterward, we headed to the Englischer Garten, which is supposed to be bigger than Central Park in New York. It was a beautiful day, so there were a ton of people there. They were picnicking, sunbathing, relaxing, playing frisbee... We found this beer garden and decided to eat lunch there. It was packed, but it was so relaxing. We spent a good while there. Then we moved to a spot on the grass by a stream. It was great just to lie under the trees and let the sun shine down on us. :)

The next day, my friend Alison and I were supposed to go the real Cinderella castle. That's right, the one that Disney modeled the one in DisneyWorld after. But unfortunately, it didn't work out, so we went to an art museum that housed several Rubens. :D The rest of the day was spent wandering again. Enjoying the city, the people, the food. :) So in the end, we didn't sightsee very much, but we did see (and learn) a lot. ;)

¡Stockholm!

That's right. Sweden! I'm not sure when I first decided that I wanted to go to Scandinavia, but for some reason, it rose to the top of my list of places to visit. When I told Laura this, she got really excited because her family is Swedish. She said, "Let's go to Sweden!" So we booked the tickets at the end of February and anxiously awaited April 17th.

By the time we got into the city, it was already late afternoon, and we were exhausted. So instead of trying to jump right in to the sightseeing we had planned, we decided to get a feel of the city and just walked around trying to get oriented. We were also starving. So we found this fast-food place called Sandy's. And what did we order at Sandy's? A reindeer sandwich. That's right, it was like a "reindeer salad sandwich." Dude, it was so good. Definitely recommend Sandy's and the reindeer sandwich if you ever make it to Stockholm. ;) Then we walked around a little bit more before heading to the Nordic Sea Hotel. And why did we go there? Because we had reservations at the Absolut Ice Bar! It was pretty cool. Literally. They keep the temperature at a constant -5 degrees Celsius, which is about 23 degrees Fahrenheit. Everything-- the walls, the bar, the tables, the glasses-- are made of ice. They give you a cape and gloves when you go in. I was really excited about this because Samantha Brown (from Passport to Europe, Latin America, Great Weekends, etc.) went when she was in Stockholm! (I love Samantha Brown. hehe) It was a lot of fun, but it was so cold, so we only stayed for about 45 minutes. It's sad when you have to go outside in Stockholm to get warm. ;)



But it had been a long day, so we grabbed a quick dinner and then went back to the hostel and turned in early (after meeting our roommates-- 3 New Zealand girls working in London).

The next day, we woke up refreshed and ready to go. We started our day at the Swedish History Museum. It was actually pretty cool-- we learned about the prehistoric people of Sweden, the Vikings, and a lot of other neat stuff. Neither of us really knew anything about Swedish history, so it was definitely interesting.



Afterwards, we went over to Gamla Stan, or Old Town. Stockholm is built across several islands, and Gamla Stan is a little island all its own. We had fun here just wandering the streets. The alleys were gorgeous, the shops were cute, and the people were fun. We stopped at a little cafe called Old Street Cafe and had a snack. It was very quaint, and when we passed again the next day, the lady who owned it remembered us and waved. :) We spent the rest of the afternoon there, exploring the nooks and crannies and taking in the views of the other islands.

On Sunday, we got up and walked over to the Modern Art Museum on yet another island. :) Laura and I both love art, so we had a good time. There were Picassos, Warhols, Matisses, Pollocks, Giacomettis, Munchs, Mirós... the list goes on. It was awesome! Afterwards, we hurried over to City Hall to climb its tower-- we'd heard the views from there were great. And of course, they were! The wind was blowing a lot, so we just took our pictures, looked around, and headed down.



After City Hall, we headed back over to Gamla Stan, which definitely turned out to be my favorite part of Stockholm. We visited some stores and walked around a little while longer. Then we went over to another island that I had read about. It was supposed to have cute shops and parks and stuff, but it was late on a Sunday, so nothing was really open. It was really residential, but we really enjoyed this area as well. There was definitely a different vibe here then in the other parts of the city, and it was nice to be able to experience both. When I visit a new place, I like to go see the museums, the towers, the history, etc., but I also like to get to know the city and its people, what they do on a daily basis. One thing Laura and I did was walk through a small shopping center. We went in one store that had several different sections-- furniture, clothing, groceries-- and wandered around looking at the styles that Swedes like and the things they buy. The simplest things often teach you the most.

That night we ate at a really good restaurant (see me with the statue below hehe) and decided to buy ice cream for dessert and take it back to the hostel and chill. (That's one bad thing about living with host families-- you can't just have friends over for movie night or whatever.) But anyway, we spent our last morning at the Swedish Customs Museum, which actually turned out to be really cool. It's in a gorgeous building, and because I didn't know a lot about the culture, I learned a lot. But then it was time to head to the airport. Laura and I really didn't want to leave! We had only been there a few days, but we quickly fell in love with the city of Stockholm, Sweden.

¡Marruecos! (aka MOROCCO, AFRICA!!!)

So, travel has been my passion for many years now, but I've always pictured myself visiting mostly European countries. Of course, I want to go to other places, but they are just lower on my list, especially Africa. I'm not sure why; Africa has just never been somewhere I've been keen to go. So when I came to Spain, I never had the intention of going on the optional ISA excursion to Morocco. It was supposed to be an "adventure" trip-- camping in the desert, possibility of getting sick from the food/water, spending literally days in a bus-- and most people who know me would say I'm not the "adventurous" type. But as the deadline to sign up approached, I found myself questioning more and more my decision not to go. And I decided that it was an opportunity that I would always regret not taking. I asked myself, "Will you ever go to Africa any other time? It's possible, but probably not." So I went for it. And it has been one of the best decisions of my life.

We met at the bus at 4 AM on Friday morning. There was a complicated atmosphere-- we were all exhausted because of the hour, but we couldn't contain our excitement that the trip we had looked forward to for so long was finally here. We drove down to the very tip of Spain and crossed the Strait of Gibraltar at 8 AM. The ferry we took was no ordinary ferry-- it was more like a small cruise ship. We landed in Ceuta, a Spanish city located in Morocco, and drove to the Moroccan border. We were told we could not have our cameras out for any reason at the border because the officials would come abroad the bus and take it away. We had two busses, and while our bus waited on the other to finish crossing the border, we witnessed a fight as a guard attempted to search a Moroccan crossing the border and began hitting the Moroccan. He was so furious that he walked away, picked up two large rocks, and started making his way back toward the guard. We went parked right beside where they were, so needless to say, we were a little creeped out. It turned out OK, though-- a couple of other guys calmed the guy down. Then we drove. Until about 5 PM local time, 2 hours behind Spain. By the time we got to the hotel, we were all so exhausted that we called it a night.

The next day, we were taken around the old part of the city of Fes, which is called La Medina. We went to a carpet store, a chemist's store (which sold herbs and lotion and stuff), a leather store, a ceramic factory, and a scarf and dress store. It was fun to get to see how things were made and hear about different Moroccan products. One thing I also began to notice about the Moroccans was the they are so polite. They always said please and thank you with everything they said.

On Sunday, we loaded up the bus and drove all day to the small town of Erfoud where we split up into groups of 6 and got into 4x4 jeeps that drove us to our campsite in the Sahara Desert!! We had tents with mattresses set up and a big tent where we ate. The day after we got there, we got up early to watch the sunrise. Now I guess I can mark "watch the sunrise in the Sahara Desert" off my Bucket List. :) Later, we rode camels (!!!) first to a huge dune in the desert and then to a small village near our campsite. (My camel partner MacKenzie and I named our camel Dexter Sebastian Marcus Ali.) The dune was so steep. I got a little freaked out by the height, but I forced myself to climb it with everyone else because I knew I'd regret it if I didn't. It was breaktaking to stand at the top and look around and know that I was in the Sahara Desert. Then we went to the village to walk around for a little while. We stopped to get drinks at this tiny store, and I got a Coke bottle written in Arabic! A few of us also bought a crate of oranges to hand out to the little kids there. They were literally pushing and shoving and fighting over these oranges. It was heartbreaking...

That afternoon, we just had free time in the desert. The Berber people like to talk to the visitors, so they came up to the campsite (but never in) and danced, played music, played soccer, and just talked with everyone who was interested. It was a lot of fun. That night at dinner, a band came and sang and played music, and they made sure that everyone got up and danced. I'm a horrible dancer, but that will be something I remember forever... After dinner, my friends MacKenzie, Joelle, and I decided to go lie on one of the smaller dunes for a little while and just enjoy looking up at a sky that was not blocked by pollution or city lights. That, also, is a memory that I will never forget.

The last two days we spent traveling back to Sevilla. A lot of people complained about the journey and made little comments that showed that they didn't truly get anything out of the trip, but there were a few of us that came back to Spain just a little bit different than we were when we left. :)

¡Córdoba and Granada!

So our final included ISA excursion was a weekend in Córdoba and Granada, two cities near Sevilla in southern Spain. I was really excited about going-- two of the most famous sites in all of Spain are in these cities, the Mezquita or Mosque of Córdoba and the Alhambra in Granada. We really didn't get to spend much time in either place, but it was fun and cool to see the sites nonetheless. We also went to a traditional flamenco show in Granada.