Country #93 - Morocco

The Shuks

This morning I had quite possibly the most beautiful breakfast of my life. Not only is my room in Dar Ayniwen stunning, but the house and grounds are as well. I had breakfast by the pool in a setup that could best be described as flawless. Breakfast was delicious and I especially enjoyed the Moroccan spin on pancakes. After finishing breakfast I headed up to my room which had already been made up in the short time I had been gone to eat. I was impressed! I grabbed my things and headed to reception to take the shuttle into the city. As it is about ten to fifteen minutes from town Dar Ayniwen offers a free shuttle both into town and to the airport. It was so useful and very much appreciated!

The shuttle dropped me off in the heart of the Old Medina. I had been mentally preparing myself for today but knew going in that Marrakesh was probably going to be pretty overwhelming, and it definitely was. My first stop of the day was the Koutoubia Mosque. It was huge from the outside but was unfortunately closed to go inside. From there I walked to the most hectic part of the city, Jemaa El Fna, the main square. It was definitely as crazy as I had anticipated! There were people everywhere and lots of people trying to sell you things. There were monkeys and people dressed in costumes and it was a lot to take in. From there I ventured into the Shuks, which are basically a bunch of small stalls arranged on top of each other where people try to sell you things. I wasn’t really looking forward to it but I knew that I had to try it!

The Shuks were also as crazy as I had anticipated. I had to keep close watch on my things (this was true for the whole day, but especially in the shuks) and had to also keep track of where I was. It is very easy to get lost inside as it is literally like a maze. It was interesting to walk through but I was not a huge fan. From the guy who tugged on my arm against my wishes to try and get me in his shop to those who told me to “smile” it was not an overly enjoyable experience. I think it might be better if visiting with other people but I was mainly just concerned  with not getting lost or getting stuck in an uncomfortable situation.

After making it out of the shuks in one piece I then headed towards attraction that was a very stark contrast: Le Jardin Secret. Le Jardin Secret, or the Secret Garden, is a sanctuary in the middle of a crazy city. It was recently renovated to its former glory from complete destruction just a few years ago. It was really interesting to read about and to take the tower tour up to the top where you could see out over the city. The cost to enter is definitely worth it as it offers a place to relax for a bit before getting in the middle of Marrakesh again. The garden itself was beautiful and I really enjoyed my time there. It also offered a good example of a Riad, which is a common type of hotel set up when staying in Marrakesh that has a garden courtyard similar to that of the Secret Garden.

After visiting the garden I made my way towards the Marrakesh Photography Museum. It was a long walk through stalls but it was much more enjoyable as I wasn’t right in the heart of things. The museum was truly incredible. It was indoor / outdoor and the building it was housed in was stunning. The photographs were incredible and featured mainly old and historic shots of Morocco. After finishing the small museum there is a great terrace with a view of Marrakesh on top that is a nice plus! I had a great time learning more about Morocco through the museum and highly recommend it.

Once I finished at the Photography Museum I made my way back towards the center of town. This was the most enjoyable walk of the day as it was mostly residential and not stressful at all. Instead I was able to take in the beautiful architecture and enjoy the culture without someone trying to sell me something unnecessarily. I ate at a small but tasty place called Roti D’or. I had a shawarma wrap that was pretty good minus the fact that half of it was lettuce that I had to pick out after asking for no lettuce. It was still tasty though! It was a nice break with wifi in the middle of the day as I don’t have cell service in Morocco.

After lunch I spent the remainder of the day visiting some of the main tourist attractions of Marrakesh. The first was Bahia Palace. This beautiful former palace was very interesting to walk through, especially for the beautiful tile work. One of the most annoying things about the visit though, and something that I had been encountering throughout my time in Marrakesh, was the incredible amount of people attempting to take pictures. Pictures are fine and great. I take tons of pictures, and I ask people to take pictures of me quite often. But this was a whole other level. Like, I couldn’t walk two feet without walking in the middle of someone’s “model” shoot. Everyone seemed to be in Morocco for the perfect picture instead of actually appreciating what was there to see. I have been all over and this is the first place that this has really been noticeably detrimental to my experience in a city.

Anyways, Bahia Palace was great and did not take too long to visit. From there I headed to El Badi Palace, which was one of my favorite stops of the day. The former palace is massive! There were many interesting things to see inside. There were caves you could walk in, a terrace to look out over the city, and a giant pool in the middle. You could tell it used to be very grand and it was very unique to walk through and see all of the different parts. After finishing there I made my way to my last stop of the day, the Saadian Tombs.

The Saadian Tombs are tombs from the Saadi dynasty that are hundreds of years old, but are still amazingly beautiful. It was not a lengthy visit but it was definitely worthwhile to see all of the colorful tombs. The main room was definitely the highlight. It was so immaculate! After finishing at the tombs I walked back to where I was meeting the shuttle to go back to Dar Ayniwen. The shuttle was right on time and we were back to the Dar Ayniwen in no time!

When I got back I met with Stephane, the manager of Dar Ayniwen. His dad actually built the original house, and over the years he has added on and helped to make it what it is today. The property is truly incredible, and it was so interesting to learn about Stephane and his history (he went to University in the US) and also the history of Dar Ayniwen. It was very cool to learn that most of the items in the house were actually collected by his father when he traveled. Some of the items were so unique, like a Syrian wedding bench, that they probably belong in a museum instead of a hotel. The property is very eco friendly and is home to many animals. My favorite were the birds, which Stephane was inspired to start collecting after visiting a bird sanctuary in Florida. We had a really great conversation and it was very enjoyable to learn about such an incredible hotel.

I decided to eat dinner at Dar Ayniwen after a long day out and about in Marrakesh. I informed the kitchen a bit late so there weren’t too many options, but they did have vegetable kuzkuz available. I had never had it before so I gave it a shot, and actually enjoyed it okay! It wasn’t my favorite dish ever but it wasn’t bad and is not something that I can have everyday at home. After dinner I worked for a bit before going to sleep pretty early. It’s nice to not have a super early flight for once tomorrow so I will be able to get a good night of sleep. Marrakesh was pretty crazy but I’m definitely glad that I came and saw it!

93 countries down, 103 to go.

To learn more about Dar Ayniwen click here.

Country #92 - Algeria

Day 1 - The Marseille Pit Stop

Before heading to my first stop in Africa, Algeria, I would have to go through Marseille, France. It definitely makes sense that I need to fly through France as Algeria was colonized by the French for 132 years. As a result, French is very common in Algeria and there are many flights to this day to and from France. I had another early morning as my first flight of the day was at 8am and I had to take the bus about an hour from Pergola Hotel to the Malta Airport. I took advantage of my new Priority Pass membership and grabbed breakfast in the really nice Malta Airport lounge.

My flight to Marseille was about two hours, and I was greeted with quite a shock upon arrival. I was going through immigration? I’ve never had this happen before, but apparently you can have to go through immigration when going from one Schengen country to another when the country deems it important to their national security. Given the problems France has been having the past few years I guess that is why. It would have been fine if the line hadn’t taken almost two hours. All of my time that I was going to spend walking around Marseille was spent in this line that normally is not a thing, so it wasn’t a great start to the day.

Things got worse when, after taking the free shuttle bus to the nearby train station that goes into Marseille, the lady at the station told me that I would be better off going to the airport and taking the shuttle from there to the city as the next train was so delayed that it was not even going to be there for another hour and a half. So I took the shuttle back to the airport, took a bus into the city, and almost three and a half hours after landing I was finally in the city of Marseille. At this point I would have just stayed at the airport because I didn’t have enough time to see much of anything but I had another task: I needed to mail a package home.

A few days into this trip I realized that I had over packed. I had everything that I needed but it was increasingly difficult to close my suitcase and it was so heavy that it was becoming problematic. So after lots of research I found that France would be the easiest point along my trip to mail a package home, and also the cheapest and most reliable. It would also help me to avoid any issues of potentially having to pay for an overweight bag during the remainder of my trip. There was a post office (La Poste in France) about five minutes from the main station so I headed that way bags in tow.

The post office employees did not speak great English but we were able to communicate enough to figure out what I was asking for, and without much discussion at all I was given the box that is used to mail to the US. It’s a flat rate box so it didn’t matter how much I put in, it would be about 50 Euro. This was a lot but worth it considering how much I had been struggling with my suitcase the past few days. I filled the box to the brim and still had a full suitcase so it was definitely a worthwhile endeavor into the city. I was at least able to see a tiny bit of Marseille as well which was nice, but I had anticipated having much more time so it was still a bit of a bummer.

I headed back to the station and then back to the airport where I sat in the lounge for about an hour before boarding my flight. I was officially headed to Africa: country one out of fifty-two on the continent! The flight was not too long and I had no issues arriving in the country. I had to apply for a visa ahead of time so that was definitely the biggest barrier with entering Algeria, but it only took about a week to mail off and get it back.

When I arrived I was expecting a car to pick me up as I had communicated with the hotel, Lamaraz Arts Hotel, that I would need an airport transfer. Lamaraz Arts Hotel was not a sponsor of my trip, but after my experiences over the course of this evening I think I should consider them as one! I was picked up at the airport as promised by the driver, but not only the driver: I was met by Karim, who was the Sales Manager for the hotel. When he recieved my message about the transfer he had looked up and found out about my trip. He decided to come with the driver and meet me at the airport! And they even greeted me with flowers!  Karim is a self taught English speaker and I was really impressed with how good it was. We talked during the ride back to the hotel, and he then invited me to eat dinner at the hotel restaurant. It was truly amazing how kind and generous he was without even knowing about my travels until the day before!

We ate dinner on the top floor of Lamaraz which had amazing views out over all of Algiers. Dinner provided quite interesting discussions about travel and the differences between Algerian and American culture. It was a very enjoyable evening and I learned a lot! I was also able to try some traditional Algerian food, which I had not anticipated doing, and it actually was pretty good! I reached a point where I was so tired I could almost no longer keep my eyes open. Given I had woken up around 4am for the past two days this wasn’t too surprising!

I had a great first impression of Algeria and look forward to seeing more tomorrow. Also, special thanks to Karim for surprising me with such great generosity and an amazing welcome to Algeria.

Day 2 - The First African Country

I woke up having had a great night of sleep for the first time in a while to a beautiful view of Algiers, Algeria from my room. I had a nice breakfast where I ran into Karim and we reconfirmed our plans for the day. Not only did I have an amazing welcome yesterday, but he was going to show me around the city for about an hour and a half! Once again, the generosity was amazing. I had really wanted to see Algiers but was a little worried to do it on my own. So when Karim offered to show me around I couldn’t believe it!

After breakfast I packed my things and then headed downstairs to meet Karim. We walked about five minutes to the metro to take into the center of town. The metro looked very new and it turns out that it was. It was apparently finished just last year. The ride to the city center took just about ten minutes and before I knew it I was walking around Algiers. I think my first impression would be just amazed at how beautiful the buildings were and how lively the streets were. It felt like I was in France!

The architecture is distinctly French due to the former French presence, and many of the buildings are currently being renovated and restored to their former glory. The heart of the city was, as a result, very aesthetically pleasing. There were so many people out and about because it was a Saturday. I actually enjoyed this because it was really interesting to see a large city so close to Europe with virtually no tourists. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and I felt very safe throughout the entire time I was walking around. Having Karim walking with me helped, of course, but it felt almost as if I was walking around the streets in Europe.

While in the city we walked by churches, Grande Poste D'Alger post office, and along the port of the Bay of Algiers. It was a very nice tour of the city and I was able to see quite a lot in a very short amount of time. Karim bought me a tiny gift to remember Algeria which I, once again, really appreciated. After our tour and seeing a lot of the city we took the metro back to the hotel. I arrived in time to the head to the airport where I bid Karim goodbye.

Honestly this was not at all what I was expecting of Algeria. I had no idea the hotel would have any inkling of who I was or what I was doing and yet they did. They did and went above and beyond to provide me with an amazing experience in Algeria. I’m so glad that I was able to learn so much about the country, try the traditional food, and most importantly walk around and see Algiers. I can’t thank Karim and Lamaraz Arts Hotel for making this all happen at the very last minute! I had a great experience in Algeria and really hope that the country continues to grow its tourism industry successfully over the coming years as it can really be a great place to visit.

I departed Algeria around 3pm and then found myself with a five hour layover in the Casablanca, Morocco airport. I was stuck in the sad domestic terminal with no wifi and nothing to do so I worked on my blog and watched some Netflix. Eventually the five hours passed and I was on my plane to Marrakesh! I arrived in Marrakesh around 10pm and had a very nice driver who drove me to my hotel for the next two nights, Dar Ayniwen. Dar Ayniwen was about ten minutes outside of the heart of the city which, quite honestly, makes it the perfect place to stay. Not that it needed any help being perfect - I was literally blown away when I checked in and was shown to my room!

I had not one balcony, but two. And the second one was huge, beautiful, and had two large seating areas. The room was amazing as well, and the bathroom was one of the most unique that I have seen with its stunning tile work! I couldn’t believe that I would be staying in such a nice place and was really excited to see it in the morning. So far Africa is going amazingly well, and I am very excited to explore Marrakesh tomorrow.

92 countries down, 104 to go.

To learn more about Lamaraz Arts Hotel click here.

To learn more about Dar Ayniwen click here.

Country #91 - Malta

The Church View

It was quite the busy ordeal to get to Malta today! My day started around 4:45am when I met Duncan downstairs at Spirit of the Nights Boutique Hotel for a goodbye orange juice. He was so kind and packed me a grilled cheese sandwich for breakfast! He was also super helpful in carrying my bag to the main road over the cobblestones, something I was not looking forward to this morning. After reaching the road and saying goodbye I walked to the bus station to head to the airport.

The airport was small and not very busy, and before I knew it I was taking off for Athens yet again. When I landed in Athens I was able to use my new Priority Pass membership for the first time. This will come up a lot over the course of my trip from here on out so I’m going to try and explain it here. Basically, I applied (and was approved for) a new credit card that includes an unlimited Priority Pass membership with the card benefits. Priority Pass will allow me to go in airport lounges around the world for free! I should have thought of this much sooner as it will make my life much easier. I’ll have a nicer place to wait, free food and drinks, and just overall better airport experiences from here on out. It’s not like I have had bad experiences, but I calculated today that I have flown over 130 times so far as part of my trip, so i just need a change of pace and a more relaxing environment if I’m going to keep spending so much time in airports. So at this point Priority Pass seemed like a no-brainer and I look forward to using it over the coming months.

The lounge was nice, almost empty, and had many good breakfast options. I was able to work in peace and quiet for a few hours before boarding my next flight to Rome. The flight was not too long but was a bit strange as when I landed I was dumped out into baggage claim instead of into the terminal, so I had to go through security again. Luckily the line was nonexistent and my next flight was running a few minutes late so I made the connection in time. I had enough time, in fact, that in my ten minutes in the airport in Rome I bought both pizza and gelato. It is legitimately impossible for me to enter Italy and not do so. It was a pretty good gelato, too!

My flight to Malta was a little longer than I was expecting but not too bad. I arrived in Malta around 3pm and took a public transit bus to where I’m staying in Malta, Pergola Hotel. The drive was very winding and the island was quite conflicting. I was not a fan of the architecture on Malta at all, but then it also had amazing views of the water. Another thing that I immediately noticed about Malta was the sheer volume of British tourists. It was January but they were everywhere! It seemed like literally everyone was British.

When I arrived to Pergola it was just right across the street from the bus stop. I took an elevator up seven floors to reach the reception desk where I checked in and was given a room on that floor. My room had an incredible view! Straight ahead was the town of Mellieha and the beautiful Parish Church of Mellieha stole the show. It was quite the site to have right off from your balcony. And to my right was the water and the beautiful coast line. It was a view that will be hard to beat! Thank you so much to Pergola Hotel for sponsoring this night of my trip and for giving me some great views. The best part was that I arrived right at sunset so it was even prettier than I could have imagined.

The unfortunate part of arriving at sunset, though, was not having enough time to go walk around as everything was already closed. At least I was able to see a lot from my room, I guess. I explored the hotel for a bit before Facetiming with my mom to show her the view and then heading to eat dinner at the hotel restaurant with an equally great view. I had a good burger before heading back to my room to work on a few things before tomorrow. I will be heading to Algeria tomorrow and won’t have reliable cell phone service for the next few days so there was quite a lot to prepare for and check on.

It was a nice and relaxing evening in Malta before another early morning and a crazy next few days. Tomorrow is my first African country and I am really looking forward it!

91 countries down, 105 to go.

To learn more about Pergola Hotel click here.

Country #90 - Greece Day 3

The Other Acropolis

When I woke up this morning I felt very rested and had another great breakfast at Spirit of the Knights Boutique Hotel. My first stop of the day was the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes. It was quite the place! The palace dates back to the 14th century and it was amazing just how grand it was. I really enjoyed walking through, especially as I was the only person inside at the time. It makes sense that this is the main sight in Rhodes as it really is quite the spectacle.

After finishing the palace I made my way to the bus stop to head out for my main stop of the day. While the island is called Rhodes, and the main town on the island is also called Rhodes, there are actually other cities on the island. Today I am visiting the town of Lindos. I decided to come to Rhodes because my younger brother actually visited this summer and said that Lindos was his favorite part of his trip through Europe, so I had to come and see for myself! The bus ride took about an hour. It was pretty bizarre, though, because multiple groups of school aged children kept getting on and off with their backpacks on in the middle of the day. I couldn’t quite figure it out, but at one point it seemed like an entire class of middle school aged kids were on the bus.

When I arrived in Lindos I walked around the very small city on my way to the Lindos Acropolis. On my walk I stopped by the small, but picturesque, Church of Panagia. The walk up to the Acropolis took about twenty minutes. At the top was a massive ancient structure similar to the Parthenon in Athens. The entire Acropolis area was very large and included many different things to see. The best part, though, was the incredible views offered from the top out over the island. You could not only see Lindos and the beautiful Lindos beach, but also the countryside and the water that stretched as far as the eye could see. While I was walking around the Lindos Acropolis I had a cat following me pretty much the entire time which was both adorable and very entertaining. The Lindos Acropolis was stunning not only in the actual Acropolis itself, but the indescribable views of the beautiful Greek island. It was definitely worth the visit!

After finishing my time at the Acropolis I made my way back to the bus stop for the hour ride back to Rhodes. When I got back I spent a little while walking around the moat that surrounds the gates of the city. I then made my way back to the hotel where I rested for a bit before going to get dinner with Lena! She had suggested it since I was eating by myself and I was more than happy to get to know her over dinner. We went to a really cool little spot located in the new part of the city which, contrary to the old city, was actually open for business. We had a great time at dinner! I really enjoyed learning about her time spent in Rhodes, the US, and talking with her about Russia (where she is originally from) as well. I had a special Greek version of lamb for dinner. I don’t normally eat lamb but Lena said it was the best thing on the menu so I gave it a shot - and she wasn’t wrong! It was so tasty and quite filling. We also had a great cheese dish to start with that was awesome. It tasted a bit like a Greek version of queso! I had a great time at dinner and am so glad that she suggested it.

After dinner Lena drove me back to the hotel where I told her goodbye and then headed back to my room for the night. I have an early and long day of travel to Malta tomorrow so I went to sleep as early as I could. I have had an amazing time on Rhodes and am so glad I was finally able to explore Greece over the past few days!

90 countries down, 106 to go.

Read about my second day in Greece here.

To learn more about Spirit of the Knights Boutique Hotel click here.

Country #90 - Greece Day 2

The Greek Island

I woke up very early for my flight from Athens to Rhodes. So early, in fact, that the Athens metro was not yet running. Instead I took a quick Uber to the bus stop for the airport express bus that runs all day and night. It was a pretty quick ride to the airport. I grabbed a quick snack to eat and then boarded my flight. It only took about an hour to arrive in Rhodes, Greece.

The airport was tiny and definitely not very busy in the middle of the winter. There was a bus stop to take the bus into the center of town right outside. The bus must have just picked up right after my plane landed, which doesn't seem like very good planning, because it took about an hour for the next bus to arrive. The ride into town took about twenty minutes, and my walk from the bus stop to Spirit of the Knights Boutique Hotel was about ten minutes. Walking into town was pretty cool because you basically enter an old gated city that looks like a giant fortress. Once inside all of the buildings are very old and unique. It was quite the welcome to Rhodes!

When I arrived I was greeted by Lena who made me a fantastic welcome breakfast. I really appreciated it and was blown away by Spirit of the Knights from the very beginning. It felt like staying inside of a castle! It was very grand but also very unique. My room was fantastic. It had a sitting room with a very comfortable lounge area that was really enjoyable to work in. I also loved the shared sitting room outside of my room: it felt like something straight out of the Middle Ages. I cannot thank Spirit of the Knights Boutique Hotel enough for sponsoring the next two nights of my trip! After having woken up at 4am I was very tired and decided to take a nap before starting my day. I apparently needed it as I slept for almost four hours. When I woke up I set out to see the city.

Rhodes is a tiny Greek island with major medieval roots. What was immediately noticeable, even on my first walk through the city, was how empty it was. I felt like the only tourist on the whole island! Most restaurants were closed and I was basically the only person walking around. My first stop was the Medieval Clock Tower in the center of town. It was closed for the season so I was unable to climb up it. From there I headed to the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes. This is the main attraction in the city of Rhodes and for good reason - it looks amazing! Unfortunately it closes early during the off season so I would have had very little time to walk around, so I decided to come back tomorrow. I continued my walk by just walking around inside of the Old Town Castle. I found an area where I could climb up on top of the walls which was really cool as you could see out towards the water but also back towards the city.

My next stop was to walk out to the Fort of St. Nicholas. It’s an old fort that is closed to the public year round, but sits out by itself in the middle of the water. I enjoyed walking too it as I was almost surrounded by water and there were really cool old windmills along the walk. It was also on this walk that I realized how bad the feral cat problem is in Rhodes. I had noticed quite a few so far, but there were literally hundreds along this walk. They were laying in rocks along the water and someone even set up a shelter for them to sleep under. Sure they were cute, but it was crazy! I have never seen so many cats before. After walking to the fort I then walked back around the Mandraki Port that it sits on, including past Ekklisia Evaggelismos church.

After finishing up the main highlights in the center of the city I began my walk out towards my last two stops of the day: the Acropolis of Rhodes and the Ancient Olympic Stadium. It took about thirty minutes from the center of the city and was an interesting walk as it went through neighborhoods. I arrived at the Ancient Olympic Stadium first. It was not nearly as impressive as the one in Athens, but was still really cool to see! I then walked up a steep hill to visit the Acropolis of Rhodes. Once again it was less impressive than Athens, but the views were insane! I could what felt like the entire city. After I finished walking around I crossed the street to look out at the water on the other side and boy, was it spectacular. It was one of the most impressive views that I have ever seen - it truly was just a stunning sight to take in.

I was able to enjoy this view for aa few minutes on my walk back towards town. After another thirty minute walk I headed back to the hotel where I met Duncan. He was so nice and very helpful with anything that I needed! I went back to my room for a bit and then went out for dinner. Duncan recommended literally the only restaurant that was open within the old city so I didn’t have too many options, but it turned out great! It was a cute little Greek food place and I had kebabs that were quite tasty. After the five minute walk back to the hotel I headed back to my room to work and try to get a good night of sleep. Tomorrow I will venture out of the city of Rhodes and head to visit Lindos!

90 countries down, 106 to go.

Read about my first day in Greece here.

Read about my third day in Greece here.

To learn more about Spirit of the Knights Boutique Hotel click here.