Chanel Adikuono 4/30/16 Chanel Adikuono 4/30/16

Three Days in Morocco, Marrakech and Essaouira

Sneak peek into my Morocco trip to Marrakech and Essaouira...

Tajines- a traditional North-African chicken or beef dish served in a clay pot

And we’re back! Marrakech, Morocco was an hour flight from Spain, Madrid. We purchased our ticket through a local airline, Ryanair for a round-trip total of around $265/person. Everything in Morocco cost money. You want water on the plane? 2 euros. You want Moroccan mint tea? 3 euros. Why would I have thought these things were free? Thank you American conditioning of instant gratification and convenience!

The moment we landed in Morocco I fell in love. This was the first time I had experienced getting out of an airplane and actually getting off onto the same runway the plane landed on. In the U.S. most airports your plane door connects with a jet bridge, which takes you directly inside the airport. The scene was raw, and made me feel ultra cool. The simplest things in life makes me happy. As we walk into the airport we experienced a scene that felt out of a movie. An escort was holding up a sign with one of our friends name “Elaine” awaiting to whisk us away to our Riad.

Then a serendipitous moment happened at the end of our taxi ride after we had zoomed through the clay orange buildings, and crowded streets. At the end of the road with no street signs to be found…BEHOLD my best friend, Cassandra from Berkeley walks past our taxi with a face of a woman on a mission. I shout from our cab, “CASSANDRA!” With shock on her face, she flips her head quickly as a smile on her face grew larger. She is pictured below speaking Arabic to our Riad concierge.

Cassandra was a Peace Corps volunteered in Morocco

Cassandra, and our Riad concierge took us through the winded streets of Morocco. In Morocco there are not street signs, you utilize landmarks to get back to your Riad. The service, and hospitality at the Riad was wonderful. We were greeted with a warm, and refreshing Moroccon mint tea. Everything about the interior decor was beautiful.

After we drank our complimentary Moroccan mint green tea (something to note, drinking tea is an art in Morocco. The server pours the tea as high as they can so as the droplets pour into the cup it creates bubbles. The more bubbles, the better), and freshened up we head over to the Medersa Ben Youssef, which is a school where thousands of students studied the Koran.

But first we enjoyed the little sights and stalls on the side streets of Morocco. In Morocco, to get the best deal for your purchase in one of these stalls you have to use the art of bargaining, much in Asia. You always start with 50% of the original asking price, and you bargain up.

After about a twenty-minute of walking through the dirt paths of Marrakech, we purchased about $10 for our tickets to enter the Medersa. The picture below does not do it justice...

Next door to the Medersa was a small non-profit photography studio ran by the Dar Bellarj Foundation. The studio was beautifully embellished by Moroccan craftsmen. One thing to admire about Morocco hands down would be their craftsmanship.

Intricate craftsmanship you will witness throughout the city

The sun was beginning to set, and we enjoyed the rest of the night bargaining at the night market, and eating dinner at the open bazar. The next day we had planned a 2-hour trip to the coast of Morocco, Essaouria (a city to this day I have to keep spell checking) using a private driver to take us there. Two simple words to describe the town: white & blue.

Chanel Adikuono 4/27/16 Chanel Adikuono 4/27/16

Five Days in Espana, Madrid

I embarked on my journey to Spain and Morocco during my Spring Break in March of 2014.

Here's how it went...

Buenos Dias! I returned from my trip to Spain, Madrid a little over two weeks ago. It felt like I woke up from a dream. In five nights I was able to pack festivities from free museum admissions (Mondays-Saturdays after 6pm) at Reina Sofia to eating light snacks of tapas at Mercado de San Miguel.

I arrived to a warm Spain morning to Nikki’s front door located at the heart of downtown Spain, Calle Pizzaro also known as the gay district of Chueca. All around I see beautiful European architecture - apartments with mini balconies and double windows covered in vibrant pink, yellow, and green paint. The sun kissed across my face was the refresher I needed after buried in the long winter of DC.

We walked around Gran Via to check out the buzzling city shops, and walked across many quaint cafes. The aura of the town was relaxing, and you can feel that everyone was enjoying life. Its easy to get caught up in the fast-paced American life. The sitting down and chat over cafe con leche (to later find out I am a fan of cafe bonbon aka coffee with a lot of condense milk. If you aren’t like me, and actually like coffee stir clear) was the perfect remedy.

After our cafe we went and walked over to see more of the city, and passed by Palace de Madrid, and this was when I was confronted by the death of my SD card. Perhaps this was the universe's way of telling me to capture and enjoy my moments organically. I survived in capturing some of my moments using my Iphone.

Of course in every European city, low and behold some majestic cathedral. Mainly in Spain there was more than an average number of Cathedrals, as a predominantly Catholic community. As a non-practicing Catholic I can still appreciate, and will always be impressed by the ceiling and window embellishments of Catholic cathedrals.

Onwards to our next journey towards Mercado de San Miguel for a lunch stop. I loved Mercado de San Miguel. Mercado is Espana for market. In my four days I probably went here three times, and still would not mind going to try the different patisseries and tapas.

The next few days followed the same pattern of seeing different sites/ attractions with eating and drinking in between. It was extra special on the third day when a good friend from college Elaine joined us. The museums I visited were Museo De Reina Sofia, Museo de Historia de Madrid, and Museo Nacional Del Prado.

One of my favorite parks after a long stroll through the city, and rest was Parc Buen Retiro. It is one of the largest parks located in the city of Madrid. They have a nice sculptured fountain, and you can ride a paddle boat for a cheap cost. I opted out for that, and opted in for a classic stroll through the park.

From Spain, we flew a short 2 hour flights flying with a budget airline, Ryanair to Morocco, Marrakesh costing a total of approx. $267 round-trip all-inclusive of taxes, and fees.