Festa de Gràcia – Festival of Sight and Sound

  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…

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This Chica at Playa Chica

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…

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The Houses of Camilo and Colombus

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.…

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The Rude, The Nude, and the Labyrinth in the Dunes

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…

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Adieu, Morocco; Hola, Canarias!

Leaving Morocco

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…

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Ait Ben Haddou…or Do not. Your call.

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…

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Ramadan Moon Rising

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…

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Journey to Desert’s Edge

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…

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Lieu Experiences

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…

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And the Bands Move On….

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…

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Music Lessons and All-NightClubs

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…

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