Although yesterday didn’t work out for Ryan and Wismine and I to rent ATVs to drive around the island, today we managed to get our schedules aligned. Ryan and Wismine had met up in Fira the night before with some other people we’d all met at our hostel in Perissa…
My first few days in Santorini have been great so far. Shortly after I arrived at my hostel (where the guy who works at the front desk is actually named Adonis!), I walked down the beachfront about a quarter kilometer to the nearest dive shop. It was open, and the girl…
So I’m on my way to Santorini right now on a ferry boat from Athens. I got up super early this morning and left Thomi’s house to catch the metro to Pireaus, the port of Athens. When I arrived there, I picked up my ticket and hopped on the ferry.…
Meteora is a region of Greece which is known for having mountains – giant sandstone boulders, really – upon which monasteries have been built over the centuries. There are now about half-a-dozen monasteries (including a two convents) built on these rocks. In centuries past, some of them were accessible only by…
My wake-up call this morning was neither wanted nor pleasant! I was stung by a bee while still in bed! I woke up in Monodentri, a bit chilly, but snuggled in my warm bed. My shoulder was sticking out of the covers and I could hear something buzzing about in…
I am so ridiculously cold right now, I can barely type! It’s ridiculous! It’s been chilly every day since I got to Greece but yesterday and today have been the worst! I think I’m becoming cold-blooded…. Yesterday, I left Athens to visit Delphi. Shortly after catching the bus (with seconds…
I went back to the reggae bar last night, Juuls in St Julians. I have been sick these last couple of days with a cold and cough, so I haven’t accomplished a whole lot. I’ve wanted to go scuba diving, but it’s hard to put more pressure on your ears…
Last night, I met a Maltese med student named David at an Irish bar here in Paceville. He told me that he’s hoping to become a general practitioner (preferrably in Ireland) someday. One really interesting thing that I learned from him is that here in Malta, medical students are paid…
Last night was the perfect finale to my time in Barcelona. After a mellow day, chilling out on the beach (I hadn’t spent any time on the beach in BCN, yet), I returned to my hotel and showered, planning to head over to Gràcia for one more night of revelry. …
Wow! I’m exhausted, and a bit hung over today. And it was totally worth it! I went out last night to check out the Festa de Gràcia. This is a giant festival that happens every August in the village of Gràcia in Barcelona. Each neighborhood in Gràcia decorates the area, and over…
Today ended up being amazing! I went scuba diving in Lanzarote. Ana, the girl I’m couchsurfing with, had said she would meet Ronald, David and I at a beach at 2:30. They are the two others who are couchsurfing with her also. We got up in the morning, intending to find…
Last night, I went to the restaurant that my host Zuri recommended called Casa Camilo. It’s right on the tip of the Puntilla, to the north of Playa Cantera. He’d said they had the best seafood around, and when I got there, the waitress first asked what I wanted to drink.…
I’ve been enjoying my time in Gran Canaria immensely. It has, for the most part, been a nice respite from the constant sensory and emotional input that is Morocco. There is plenty to see and do here, however. It’s also nice to be in Spain, because I’ve been able to…
Wow, leaving Morocco today was a lot harder than I thought it would be. There are several new friends and people whom I will miss very much. Although these last few days have been difficult, I definitely enjoyed my time here, and I’ve come to love many things about this…
I arrived in Ouarzazate yesterday rather late in the evening, on the bus from M’Hamid via Zagora. I was happy that I knew exactly where I was going already, since I’d called ahead and talked to the guys at Hotel Baba about getting a room again and the hotel is…
The day after I returned from the desert, Hassan invited me to join him and his family at their house in the evening, to celebrate the beginning of Ramadan. I hadn’t really intended to still be in Morocco when Ramadan began, as I have been hearing horror stories about everything…
So I decided to go on a trip into the desert by safari Jeep. I didn’t want to go by camel because I’ve ridden a camel before (most recently in Dubai). It’s hot here in the desert, and I have no desire to travel in a ridiculously slow manner with…
After leaving Legzira, I spent one night in a town called Taroudant. I stayed in a nice little riad, but was only in the town for a very short time, so although I walked around in the Kasbah a bit, I didn’t really go to any specific locations or see…
In my last post, I mentioned going to a fair in the next town south of where I’m staying with my hotel “neighbors.” I met Imat and Safiye, along with their son Salman and they told me that they were going to be visiting Sidi Ifni that afternoon because there was…
Today, I jumped off a cliff. Twice. So for all those of you who have wished I would “go jump off a cliff,” in the past, the good news is, your wish was granted. The bad news is, I was attached to a dude with a parachute. Also, bad news…
I think I’m about to write an entire blog post about one single walk I took – and this may be composed of more photos than actual text, because I can’t choose only a couple! I arrived at Legzira Beach and after checking into my hotel, which is nestled against the…
The past couple of days have been pretty chill. I needed it, I think, after the chaos and commotion of the music festival, fantastic though it was. I’ve been staying at the Riad Le Lieu in Tiznit, a lovely little hotel just inside the kasbah. After getting me checked in…
Leaving Essaouira was hard, and the suckiness of the actual journey only reinforced for me the idea that maybe I should have stayed longer. The day started out so well…. When Ana and I got up on our last day in Essaouira, we were just in time to go meet…
Anna and I had decided to stay an extra night in Essaouira after the festival ended and so we got a hotel room near the center square of town to share the next day. She’d been staying at another friend’s house the previous night or two, so we met up…
Ismael, Anna and I had made plans to meet up with Anas and Haitem over coffee the following morning. Coffee, was a leisurely experience, as most of our mornings thus far have been, with different friends popping in and out to join us for a coffee. I think my favorite…
The second day of the music festival, we decided to go to Sidi Kaouki, which is a town near to Essaouira known for having a particularly beautiful beach. Youness is a surfer, so he goes there a lot and wanted to show us the area. His sister decided to join us, along…
Wow. Essaouira is so amazing! It’s been such a whirlwind since I arrived that I haven’t had a chance to write anything down and I have so much to say, but I’m going to give it a go! I’ve totally hit it off with Anna, the girl from Belgium who…
