Morocco

I don't seem to have the ability room create a new blog. So I will just keep writing on this one until I figure it out. Sorry for any spelling errors or random words by the way. My auto correct loves me and decides at times it is smarter than I am :-) well we have been in Agadir, Morocco for about 1 week now. We are loving it! Its so beautiful here! We will be here another week or so and then be on our way to the Cape Verde Islands ( off the coast of western Africa). About 2 days into the trip we went on a camel ride! That was a hoot! I will post videos and pics soon on Facebook. It was neat. We went outside of town to a forest next to one of the Kings palaces. The ride took about 2 hours. We went at sunset and we were able to get pics of our shadows in the sand. Camels are neat animals. They are so strong! I lead the group which I didn't know at first. The guide was leading the camel half of the way. He decided to go to the back and forgot to tell me I had to lead. We were on the side of a considerably large hill and I was freaking out a bit cause I didn't know I could guide the camel away from the edge. When I realized that I felt much better. The trip gave us the chance to see one of the rivers in the national park here in Morocco. On the way there we passed a Berber village. It was very interesting. Like nothing I have ever seen! My camels name was jimmy hendrix and Danielle's was cappuccino. Mine was mean and bites other camels so he had a harness on his mouth. Meanwhile cappuccino kept biting jimmys ass! We met some pretty cool people on that trip. There was a young newlywed couple from Russia and an older French couple. My butt hurt for 2 days! Danielle's thighs hurt. We took the next day to relax at the pool in the hotel. The day after we did an expedition through the little Sahara., saw Moroccos second biggest water reservoir, ate lunch in a Berber village home and visited the town of Tiznit. The water reservoir was on the side of the anti atlas mountains (they forgot to mention that, Danielle wouldn't have gone if she knew this seeing as she is deathly afraid of heights, seriously). But, we did it. The trip was cool up the mountain and I took lots of pics. The road up the mountain was intense. There is no real road and its only meant for 1 car. I was ok with all this until another car came in our path. We had to move to the edge and allow the car the pass. I didn't understand how that was going to happen but it did. I can't explain how scary that feeling is. My sister in law told me this exact scenario and I didn't get it till I was the one sitting there. I have to thank her though for prepping me for this lol! Thanks Charlotte! One we made it to the top we had the most amazing view of the mountains and the reservoir. Going to the little Sahara was next. It was so hot but the sand was unlike any sand I had ever felt before. We learned many interesting things. Such as, what plant works to counterattack the venom from scorpions and saw a real olive tree! On this trip we were with a couple from Finland, a couple from France and a younger couple from California. The couple from Finland didn't seem to enjoy much of the day trip. They were very sweet but didn't participate in any of the activities?! We ate lunch in a Berber village close by. We had a typical Moroccan dish called tajine and a side of couscous . We had it mixed with chicken but it can be made with any other type of meat. It was delicious! The town of Tiznitis split into the old and new city. The old city is surrounded by a stone wall. The city is very modern and sits on the outskirts. We walked through the old city. It was much different than Agadir. The people was not was aggressive with trying to sell things and the stores were not as modern. Most of the stores have no lights and are quaint little 5x8 areas, where all the merchandise is displayed. There are traps covering the front of the stores. You can find pretty much anything you can possibly need right there in the streets. We passed a store that has chickens in cages and racks of eggs. You can buy live chicken to bring home, kill and cook. I found it to be an interesting way to buy dinner for the evening. On the ride home, the young couple from California decided to have a discussion about how it bothers him that he doesn't speak Spanish and it bothers her she can't speak English well. We couldn't figure out why they thought that was a good time to have a personal discussion. They are on a bus with 6 other people they don't know and the bus was completely silent. It was uncomfortable. Lol. O well. Yesterday I did absolutely nothing except sit in bed and watch movies all day with my feet up, they were swollen. Today we went shark fishing. It was so cool to see the coast and the mountains in the background. We ate the fish we caught. The lunch was yummy! We met 3 guys from France, 2 girls from England, a woman from Hungary, and man from Belgium, and an Indian family who now live in England. We all shared stories about our trip and why we were all in Morocco. We had many good laughs. Well. We are walking up the mountain here in Agadir, tomorrow morning and its midnight. I am going to sleep. Hope you all are having a great week! Take care and we miss you all! Xoxo

Pictures of our time in Morocco!

Our time in Bordeaux

One of the first things we had to become accustomed to was that they only sell cigarettes in stores called "tabacs". No where else, seriously. Not even gas stations. Now the trick is the tabacs close at normal hours since they are not corporations and in turn do not make employees work all sorts of crazy hours. This took some getting used to and we ran out several times with no way to get more lol! Good thing my brother and his wife smoke, that helped! There were many places were visited in Bordeaux. From the city garden, cathedrals, the main shopping strip (which is also the longest shopping street in Europe) other monuments and statues and of course a plethora of bars! The city garden known as Jardon Public, was probably the most beautiful place I went to while visiting. It has magnificent iron gates that wrap around the entire park. There is a pretty lake with a cute bridge. There is also is great big building with vines covering it. I'm still not sure what the building is for or why it was originally built but it sits in the middle of the park and upon climbing up the steps you have a wonderful view of the park. What interested me most was how, in the dead of winter, they manage to keep the grass green!? The gothic cathedrals were like nothing I have ever seen and are just unbelievably large and it makes you question how they were built so long ago! The detail is crazy! My brothers friend made a joke that maybe they had casts to assist with building some of the structures such as the angels. Not sure but to say the least they are breathtaking! Something everyone should see at some point in life! I took many pictures and posted on Facebook. The most amazing gothic cathedral I saw was the one in Saintes, France. It was brightly lighten with multiple colors. It was just a beauty. The bars are cool. They obviously serve different kinds of beer than in the U.S. We learned we enjoy vodka and syrup shots! They don't do flavored vodka but rather add syrup to the vodka. I personally cannot stand vodka yet enjoyed these shots. People can drink in France or at least Bordeaux! We decided to make our next trip Seville, Spain. We missed the flight due to having to wait for the hotel employee in the morning to pay for our room and he was late. So we missed:-)our flight. We asked what the next flight out to warmer climate was and the attendant told us Agadir, Morocco. Just so happens we planned on visiting there anyways! So later that night, we were off! We almost didn't make that flight either. There are trams that run all over the city. They are comparable to above ground subways. When we were on the way to the bus stop on the tram, Danielle dropped the cigarette she was smoking and I went to grab it right before the tram left. It left me. It was hysterical! We agreed to meet at the final stop. She thought I said the next stop and I thought she meant the final stop. You can imagine what happened next. We were going in circles looking for each other when we should have been on the way to the express bus that would bring us to the airport. Needless to say we missed the express bus. So we waited for another one and eventually took a normal city bus in hopes we would arrive on time. How horrible would that be to miss two flights in one day!? Well obviously that didn't happen. Going through customs in Bordeaux they took my fanny-pack first then Danielle had to give hers. We wondered what they wanted with our bags? Not even our backpacks! Ready.....our snorkeling gear! They couldn't tell what it was via the x-ray machine! That made us laugh pretty hard. It made us all laugh. The plane was the oldest I have been on besides to go skydiving on and I was jumping off that one so just imagine how comfortable we were on this thing. The one tip we have when flying into a new country is to fly during the day, if you have any interest in seeing the landscape. This is something we would have changed about flying into Morocco if we could have. We could see nothing and it would have been neat to see the landscape of a country and continent new to us. Well. We have met many nice people here. Before I forget! There was a woman on a scooter, just pushing along the sidewalk today. We saw here while eating lunch at a restaurant down the stretched from the hotel. Wanted to throw that in before I end this is blog. I'm going to bed pretty soon here. We have to wake up at 6am for our Sahara desert expedition! Miss you all! Xoxo

Pictures of our time in France!

first week

well, I finally started the blog almost a month into the trip. Figures! I have been keeping a journal though which will help me go back and be able revisit some great times that were had while on our first stop, Bordeaux, France. We really enjoyed the time there with my brother and his family. They were very welcoming. So to start, Danielle and I still can't believe yet are impressed with ourselves for making it out of ORLY airport in Paris and into the bus which brought us to the train station about 20 minutes away. At the train station we had a great conversatwasion with 2 woman in the restroom. They tried to explain in French we had to pay to use the bathroom and we didn't understand that we literally HAD to pay. It took a few minutes to grasp the concept! Lol! There were random pigeons sitting all over. While we waited there was a pigeon that sat at the table next to ours with a man who was drinking coffee. Kind of random? Not as random as the stray cats that linger in the hotel we are currently in, in Morocco. That's another story though, not quite there yet. My brothers in laws are very nice and his mother in law is an amazing cook! We ate more in the 2 days we were in Saintes, France than either of us have ever eaten, seriously! I tried a bit of turkey brain. It was very mushy but tasteful. We also tried duck liver also referred to as fois gras, in French. That was one of the best things I have ever tasted! It was served raw and cooked. With ways were great although I did enjoy it cooked just a little better. Upon arriving in Bordeaux, Danielle and I were taken back by the beauty of the buildings. Everything is so old, unlike our home, which is a pretty new country in comparison what we saw. People in France do smell funny. NOT all of them but, its one of the first things we took note of! I posted many pictures on Facebook of our time there. I will pick several to add to this first part of my blogs. We learned very quickly that the French love to drink! My brother and his wife were kind enough to introduce us to many of their friends. We met many interesting people from all over the world! It was cool to see what they had to say about our trip and where they suggested we visit and see. Well, my tablet is going to die. O yes! We bought an international adapter so we won't have to buy a new one with each country or continent as the conversation varies. So I will add more to the section of "chlois-sante" tomorrow. I will now finish my glass of wine in the hotel lobby here in Agadir, Morocco seeing as this is the only location to access wifi in the hotel. We miss you all! Can't wait to share more!

Pictures of our time in France!