I'm baaaaack! The wayward blogger has returned from España and Morocco! Did you miss me?? Hopefully you did a little bit, but not too much, because quite honestly, I was having such a ridiculously good time, that I didn't think miss much of anything from home (except the poodle and my favorite blogs, of course). I do apologize for taking so long to get back to the blog, seeing as how I've been stateside since Thursday evening, and had ample opportunity over the weekend to put a post together. But I was (and still am) suffering from the "back to my harsh American reality" blues and the transition has actually been really hard. But enough of that, I'm sure you want to hear all about my trip. Obviously, I can't blog about 15 days of bliss in one post, so here's my trip in a nutshell.
El Viaje
Barcelona (5 days), Madrid (3 days), El Puerto de Santa Maria (4 days), Marrakech, Morocco (3 days).
Planes, Trains, y Automobiles
15 days, 9 airports, 2 trains, 2 rental cars, 10 metros, countless taxis, and more stairs than I though possible. And our bags made it through every connection! [Jesus love me, this I know!]
Memorable Highlights:
Running full speed with our bags to the furthest gate in Amsterdam's
massive airport to make our connection to Barcelona. I re-injured my strained foot, but we made our connection!
About 30 of the sexiest Spanish Military Servicemen in Madrid's Airport. I would've taken a picture, but it seemed like a bad idea.
Getting pulled over en route from Madrid to El Puerto de Santa Maria for a DWB (driving while black). It was kinda funny, but it kinda wasn't.
Did you know that in Spain, the it's perfectly normal to pass a vehicle in the lane of opposing traffic? Playing chicken on the winding roads of the Spanish countryside really gets your adrenaline pumping, lol...
The 4 hour siesta of the RENTAL CAR counter at the train station. No Bullshit!
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| benedryl is a flyer's best friend! |
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| flight 1 of 3, España bound! |
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| Barcelona we have arrived! |
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| Thank God for these nifty suitcases. 7 flights down to leave our Madrid apt! |
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| are you serious?! we have an 8 hour drive to valencia, and it's 13:30! |
¡Bienvenido a España!
Guapos, Jamon, Cigarette smoke, Flirting, and Shopping! Let me put it this way, our first night out, we came home at 6:30 am. The sun doesn't set till after 10pm. The Spaniards love them some ham, don't seem to know what a vegetable is, smoke like chimneys EVERYWHERE, drink like fish, don't speak English, have more sexy men (guapos) in more square mile than all of the midatlantic, party till dawn, stare at black people, dance in the streets, and still make me feel like I've been living in the wrong country and I need to move. 16 month plan in the works!
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| first night out in Barcelona. Yes, that's the sun rising, lol |
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| they were soooo cute! dancing in the streets of Barcelona |
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| Barcelona Futbol Club! |
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| Our first night in El Peurto de Santa Maria where we stayed with my cousin (crazy person in the back) |
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| dinner in El Peurto! |
Bienvenue au Maroc!
Le Bain de Marrakech Spa=heaven, leather, spices, mint tea, sexy men, damn it's hot, and camel rides!
Marrakech was more beautiful and enjoyable than I could have ever imagined. The Moroccans went out of their way to make us feel welcomed and at home. As a Nigerian American, it felt really good to be in Northern Africa and know that the people are fiercely proud Africans who were warm, charming, of course hospitable, all while still being loud and pushy Africans. I felt safer on the tiny streets of the Marrakech while dodging motor bikes and donkey carts than I did in our sketchy neighborhood in Madrid. If Morocco weren't a Muslim nation and therefore a DRY nation, I would consider moving there. It was exoticly homey, I loved it!
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| Our Riad in Marrakech |
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| Family picture, lol |
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| You know I bought spices, right? |
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| My smack talking camel. I named her Bettina, turns out her name was Julie |
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| Henna! |
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| 3 hours of bliss=105 euro=I will be going back! |
La Comida
Deserves an entire post by itself. A few pics until then
World Cup
So as fate would have it, we were actually in Morocco during the final game. But still, we had an awesome time watching the game broadcast in Arabic, made new British friends and were surrounded by Spain fans. Sure we missed the party in Madrid, but we still had a good time!
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| ¡Viva España! |
Los Recuerdos
Will last a lifetime. I couldn't have asked for better company. And as God as my Witness, I'm going back to Spain and Morocco. SOON!
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| Familia |
That's all for now ladies and gents. More posts to come! Oh and I definitely got blog gifts, so if you aren't already, please be sure to become a follower via blogger, facebook, or blog lovin' to be eligible to win!
Wow, wow, wow!
ReplyDeleteHow did you plan such a fabulous trip? How did you find 3 friends who were adventurous and had the cash to travel? I need new friends!
I visited Spain 10 years ago and my biggest memories were the food (no veggies), the beautiful scenery and historic places, and (unfortunately) the fact that there just weren't any black people. I can relate to the staring thing. People weren't mean, per se, but they definitely treated me like a spectacle. I bet getting pulled over by a Spanish cop was... interesting!
Spices in Morocco?! You are so lucky! You're making me want to save for a trip...
How good is your Spanish? Did the language hinder your travels at all?
You know you could've segmented this post into two weeks worth of delicious blog fodder!! Everything sounds completely amazing and the pictures make me wish I was hanging there with you girls!! What an AWESOME vacation! I don't know where to start! Ok...let's start here...DID YOU BRING HOME ANY #'s?!???! Lol! Hot damn! Guapos indeed (including the crazy cousin)! Maybe where I went wrong is visiting Spain my boyfriend (now hubby). Next time, take me with you girls!! I'm begging! ;o)
ReplyDelete@Keeley, planning the kinda just fell into place. We knew we had to spend at least two weeks there, anything less is too short. Initially it was just going to be me and my sister, but as I told my friend about it, they were like "I wanna go" and my cousin had enough space for four of us, and that's when the trip really started taking shape. we planned it as a south traveling trip,making our way from barcelona to madrid to el puerto to marrakech and back to el puerto. Yo hablo piquito Espanol. piquito! the Spanish speak shockingly little English, and it still wasn't a hinderance, and i'm determined to learn the language. Getting pulled over was interesting. The cops weren't mean, they were more curious as to why there were four black women driving from Madrid to Cadiz and flabbergasted that my cousin had space for all of us at his house. smh. and we ran into the same questioning at passport control coming back from Morocco. Aside from that, I didn't mind the stares from hot Spanish men too much. I HIGHLY recommend you go to Morocco, and go to that spa. it was LIFE CHANGING! I would say Morocco is best as a girls trip, b/c the shopping is outta control and the men are VERY friendly. I don't know how well you're hubby respond to shopping in the heat, and be prepared for someone to try and "buy" you for several hundred camels, lol. As far as financing the trip...it was expensive. I won't be eating out or shopping for a WHILE but it was worth EVERY PENNY. Staying in apartments in spain was way cheaper than hotels and you can cook and do laundry, which helps save cash and packing space. I'll do more posts on the trip details!
ReplyDelete@ Maddy. Oh trust, i will probably do 5 posts on the trip, to really share the details and pictures. I didn't bring home any number, but I did get proposed to by one guy, kissed by an italian, and instatnly married to another guy. It was guapo OVERLOAD already, and then I met the cousin's roomate (guy in red) and well I knew I was in heaven, lol. honestly, I'm home and i'm disgusted by what I see, lol. Yeah, visiting witht he bf can take a little bit of the sparkle out of the trip. I'm SERIOUSLY plotting on going back in september before my cousin get's transferred back to the states. i just gotta figure how to pay for another plane ticket, and selling the poodle or a kidney aren't viable options :D
Lol!! Sell the poodle, you can always get another one down the road ;o)
ReplyDeleteOk, ok....I kid! Poodle can stay *sighs and rolls eyes* I don't know girlfriend, but if you do go, I might just have to tag along!!
Reading your post was like going on a mini-vacation. You looked fabulous in all your pictures, and the vacation looks and sounds phenomenal. I had no desire to visit the Mediterrainean (definitely didn't spell that right) until this post. Welcome back!!! We missed you.
ReplyDeletehttp://haliwoodsaywhat.blogspot.com
It's me again! Lol! Just wanted to let you know that I tagged you on a challenge on my blog! Hope you're able to play along ;o)
ReplyDeleteOMG! I have to go back with you!
ReplyDelete@ Kim, thanks hun! I HIGHLY recommend a trip to the mediterranean. there's no place in the world like it!
ReplyDelete@ Asha, i think i may have to become a travel agent, becaue going back is a MUST!