I'm back!

I'm back home in Chicago!

Don't worry! There are more posts from my travels coming as I sort through my notes, photos, and collected artifacts. Expect to hear about: 

the Anne Frank Museum
Prague
overnight trains
Krakow
Auschwitz and Birkenau
Vienna
Budapest
more about London!

Please check back soon!

No, I am Amsterdam!

That is what a clerk told us when we were using our pass to get into the Old Church. He jokingly agreed that now everyone was Amsterdam, referring to the pass and the giant sign I showed in a precious blog post... A pretty awesome campaign to get tourists in the city and feeling part of this amazing place. That's something I observed overall about Amsterdam: it is very attentive to tourists. 

Amsterdam's IAMsterdam pass is brilliant! We were able to get free or discount admission with the card for which we paid a one time fee of around 60 euros. Here's where we went:

RijksMuseum

Diamond Museum

The Royal palace 

More Royal Palace

We also went to the New Church, the Old Church, and Amsterdam Museum (integrated the use of technology throughout with these DNA badges we scanned from our program to watch videos and answer questions in our preferred language along the way). 

We also went to the Anne Frank House, not included in Amsterdam's card. More on that in a different post.

Cruel Climates

One day I'm baking in 110 degree weather in Marrakesh:

You will notice that I am wearing a long skirt and long sleeve loose shirt- both because I am trying to be respectful of Muslim culture here and to protect my skin against the sun. The hat I also bought here to protect my scalp from burning!

Also notice the hazy air in that picture of me standing amongst the Badii Palace ruins... Hazy air = heat!

 So naturally, we tried our very best to cool off...

Now back to the cruelty of the climate- we were hoping for nice weather in the 70s as we moved on to our next destination. But today we're in Amsterdam where it's 50 degrees!

Quite the change! I'm glad I packed for a range of weather! Though it's beautiful here, too, I really can't wait for nice, warm 70, 75.... 

Mishaps?

It took some work to get to the Medersa Ben Youssef, but it was worth it.

Work, you might wonder? Well, we had to:

-wander Marrekesh's streets (not all are marked with street signs, and they aren't like Chicago's grid either)

-avoid "guides" and "helpers" who insisted on a route that may or may not lead us toward our intended destination and got upset when we didn't pay them or didn't pay them "enough" (we were not successful at the avoidance)

-fend off guides who insisted the site we were looking for is closed for a few more hours and who took us to the tanneries 

to see the work they had done with animal skins and the results:

And then there was the rugs made by the women:

There was a whole show to go along with the rugs that included showing us how certain kinds didn't burn (like that blue one in the pic above), how family and tribe associations are represented by the Berbers in their rugs, and how scissors (and hence cats) couldn't rip the rug!

After two cups of mint tea, Suman did decide on one of the beautiful rugs and we finally parted ways.

Marrakech mystery and mishaps

Currently being misted in a terrace wi-fi cafe where I can only get a signal in a particular place so this will be a quick one.

I love the tea!

I can't have enough of the Moroccan tea!

And the pouring? You have to see it!

More later! 

First day: London

So we spent our day getting acquainted with the Tube, London's train system, what we call the L. We tried to go to a couple. Different places that we'd found online at the first Internet cafe: they were closed. Apparently, a great many small restaurants and such are closed on Sunday here. Lesson learned: while going Internet research, double-check the hours! 

We stumbled on a restaurant listed in my Top 10 London book- 

And had pea soup and tapas there. Note the meat hanging in the window. How is one supposed to react to that? I'm I'm the "that's cool" camp. 

At a pub we stopped at for dinner aft some more extensive Internet research to book some other parts of our trip, we had some English classics: bangers & mash and fish & chips. I didn't take pics... Before I knew it they were gone!  We were starving! Believe it or not we say next to some people from Chicago. Small world. They were also having "fun" ironing out details of their travels.

I'll say that Suman and I decided we might not make all the stops in our summer trip we were originally hoping for...  And we'll be ok with that if that is the case.

I should really be asleep right now since it's 11:23pm London time, I have slept more than an hour last night, and we're waking up at 3:30am to catch an early flight to Marrakech! But I'm so jazzed, I can't sleep! Wish me luck for tomorrow's adventure! We'll return for more of London at the end of the travels :-)

Arrival abroad

Everything looks so grand and royal in London! 

Despite some delays, my phone not cooperating on many levels, and a annoyingly noisy Internet cafe, we are finally headed toward our hostel where we shall say in London for the night. This is a pic of the view getting to King's Cross.

Why?

I'm posting this blog so that my students, the Unknown Readers, can experience some of my travels this summer with me. If you're tuning in and you're not one of my students, you're also welcome!

The Unknown Readers worked on a project at the end of the year looking into some of my planned travel destinations: London, Slovakia, Prague, Amsterdam, and Krakow. They made recommendations on the following:

• Must See- Historical Sites, museums...
• Must Eat- famous food, best place for that food
• Must Stay- best hotel/hostel/neighborhood to stay in
• Must Do- any activity or nearby location/tour to take
• Must Know- any fact, historical or cultural that we need to know.

Their presentations provided me with some ideas and a lot of inspiration as I finalize my travel plans. I hope my sharing will give them ideas and inspiration in return.