This post will explain day by day what I did on my spring break
Saturday- Day 1- We arrived in Marrakesh around 4 p.m. Moroccan time. In the airport I changed my money to Durham which the exchange rate is really good like 12 Durham is 1 pound. All six of us got into a little taxi and the taxi driver took us to our place, once we got let out there was a man waiting to take our luggage and walk it to the place we needed to go, but we could do it on our own. Where the taxi driver dropped us off we still needed to walk a ways, but a man showed us the way to the hostel. Once we got to the hostel he came inside and demanded 20 Durham from each of us, it is a cultural thing, that was a little nerve racking and we were scared, but we paid him and he went away. After we walked to the market which was huge and beautiful, but none of us bought anything, which was fine. Then we went back to the hostel since we wanted to know a good place to go eat dinner was and the lady that ran the hostel called a guy and he showed us the way. The food was amazing I had chicken with vegetables and bread, which is always good no matter what. Then we walked around the market a little more, but it was getting late so we headed back to the hostel.
Sunday- Day 2- We took a taxi to the place we had to be picked us to go on our tour, then a van came and picked us up and brought us to the market, which we could of walked to, oh well. All 6 of us did not know how long the bus ride was going to be, but it took 8+ hours of driving to get to the place where the camels were, long time in a mini bus. We did stop along the way, once to get something for breakfast around 9 and then again just to stretch our legs, we stopped for lunch where I had eggs with tomatoes in them, with of course bread. After we walked across the street to a couple of little shops and I bought a pictures with camels on it, which was made out of tea and saffron. We drove through mountains and around them, sometimes I thought we were going to go off the cliff or hit a car when we were passing them. We finally made it to the camels around 730 p.m. and then it took about an hour and a half to get to the campsite, my legs were sore but it was well worth it! We had a tradition dinner which was chicken, veggies, bread and mint tea. After we listened and danced to music around a bonfire, which was a nice way to end the day.
Monday- Day 3- Woke up to the sound of the camels around 645 a.m. and we had bread with strawberry jam and I had coffee with milk and a cube of sugar it in. Then we got back on to the camels and rode 45 minutes to the mini van and then it was another 8+ hours back to Marrakesh, which we did not stop as much this time since we wanted to get back early. Once we got back to Marrakesh we had to find a different hostel since the one we were staying at before was booked for that night. We asked a police officer where to go and since none of us really spoke French it was difficult to understand the directions. We ended up going the wrong way too many times it took us over an hour when it should of taken 10 minutes from where we were. Finally we asked a man at a money exchange place and he took us to the hostel, I don't know what we would have done if he did not show us, we were thinking about just going to the airport and sleeping there for the night. We even tried calling the hostel but no one picked up! Anyways we got there and we were all so hungry, tired, smelly, so we decided that we should eat some food. We went to a nice restaurant and had more bread, chicken and veggies. There was a belly dancer and some people playing music, which was nice. After that we decided to do some shopping but by this time it was really late, I don't even know what time it was, but most of the stores were closed, but I did get some things. After we went back to the hostel and I took one of the best showers ever! By the time I went to bed I think it was like midnight and we had to wake up at 4 in order to get to the airport in time for our 705 flight to Madrid. Lets just say that I was really tired.
Tuesday- Day 4- Madrid here we come! As stated above getting up was rather difficult, but the four of us managed to do it. The night before the person that runs the hostel called us a cab, so we would not have to worry about trying to find one in the morning, which was great! Everything at both airports went fine and I even slept on the plane which was wonderful! We found a cab and they brought us right to the hostel. Once we were settled we walked around and got some food to eat, I got eggs with ham on top of French fries, it was so good especially since I did not have breakfast. We were all so tired that we came back to the hostel and took a nap, which was nice. After we asked where some good places to go around the city so we went to the palace, the gardens and the temple and decided to do other stuff the next day. We ended up walking for a long time and we even came across where Jennifer Aniston and Gerald Butler were going to be for there new movie, but we could not see anything and by that time it was already 830, so we went to dinner near our hostel and the food was good and cheap. I even got desert, which was a chocolate torte, yummy, you know me with chocolate deserts!!! We came back to the hostel and just hung out the rest of the night with people that were here.
Wednesday- Day 5- More of Madrid! I finally got to sleep in, which was so nice since this is supposed to be a vacation. We had a late start, but we all needed to get some sleep, we walked the opposite way of where we were on Tuesday and we went to the Prado museum which is so big, it was kind of overwhelming. After we went to the botanical gardens, where I took a lot of pictures of the flowers. We then walked towards a fountain which was beautiful and then since it was around 330 we decided to get some food, we all got Kebabs and they were so good and I got baklava, which I was craving. Then we came back to the hostel and I took a nap and then we did some walking around and had dinner with 5 other people from the program who just came into Madrid.
Thursday- Day 8- Barcelona! One of my flatmates and I just walked around the city and the Ramblas, which is one of the main streets with shops, hotels and restaurants on both sides of the street. We did not do a lot because we were waiting for another one of our flatmates to arrive and we didn't want to do anything without her. So it was a relaxing day, but we also explored!
Friday- Day 7- Woke up and had breakfast at the hostel for free which has not happened at any of the other hostels so far, we then went on the metro to a park which was beautiful it had a view of the whole city and on the benches there were mosaics that were beautiful also. After that we back on the metro to a cathedral, but the line was so long we decided not to go see it but we are going back the next day. After that we came back and walked around the Ramblas again and we tried to find Segways, but we could not find them so instead we took bikes out for about an hour and half, just riding around the city. After that I did some shopping, for myself and others. Then we went out to dinner and had Tepas and I tried fried Calamari and fried eggplant, yeah for trying new things!
Saturday- Day 8- We went to the cathedral and the outside is beautiful but I don't know if it was worth 10 euros to go inside of it since they are still building it, o well. Next we went to the Picasso Museum and then the chocolate museum, where they have sculptures made out of chocolate. After we went to a market where any food a person would need is sold there, the market is covered and if you wanted fruits or veggies all of the stands are in the same general area, which makes shopping easier. We came back to the hostel packed up our stuff and then went out for our last dinner in Barcelona, which was delicious.
Sunday- Day 9- Heading "home" to England. It was nice to be back in Bath where I was familiar with my surroundings, but I really did enjoy my spring break and it will be something that I will not forget.
Tonight I am heading to Scotland on an overnight train, which it will be the first time for me and I will be back Sunday night!
Love to all,
Monica
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