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France......post Iraq war....Bull in the China shop American former Marine.....get ready for the anti-French slam.........oh wait......I had no problem at all there.....could it all be hype....Im not sure but I had a good experience. I started off in Paris and really was expecting a bit of conflict, but to my pleasure none was recieved. I cant say that Parisians were the friendliest folks but I cant say they were rude at all either. I think its similar to New York or any other large city, people are'nt going to go out of their way for you unless you engage them. Paris was nice and the sights were great, I think much like my home town of Washington DC, that I had seen so much of Paris through films and TV that it all felt familiar and somehow less dramatic. I think if I return to Paris I'll experience more of the night life...I hardly took it in. I did however hit the sights hard, Notre-Dame, Eiffel Tower, Pantheon, Louvre, Arc De Triomphe, a stroll down the Champs-Elyees, meandering in the Latin Quarter with a wine at Cafe' de Flores' where Picasso, Breton and Apollinaire frequented. I also took a day trip to Versailles and was bowled over by the beauty of it all. I have never seen gardens and grounds as magnifcent. I still believe that the interior of the Sultants pad in Constantinople was more opulent, however the grounds and property are blown away by Versailles. Also, interesting side note...Marie Antoinette, for going the traditional doll house for petty pleasure decided to create a life size village with four resident families to tend the grounds and then there was an additional four homes so that her out of town guess could stay and feel the french country side....I believe this is the point where you say to yourself "I have WAY to much Money!!!" I also have a friend in DC who put me in touch with a friend of his in Paris, who took me out for a traditional French meal and a few pints at a local bar which was a great time. Well its off to wine country!!
Bordeaux was marvalous!! If the folks in Paris were indifferent, the people of Bordeaux were embracing. I met some great people, one of which was a English lad that moved to town and is steady with a French gal. They included me in a traditional english "Sunday Dinner" party that they had ironically on a Saturday night. I was included with four other of their friends, so seven of us were sharing wine and a lovely intimate dinner. I went the better part of a year without home cooked meals and as my trip was winding down I got to experience the cradle of friendship and hospitaliy through food. Bordeaux is in the middle of a huge reconstuction project but you can plainly see the phenomenal beauty of the town. I would recomend visiting it in 2007...it will be stunning. Between the beauty of the city, the kindness of its citizens, the incredable taste of it's vineyards, and the setting and history of it's Chateauxs' you would be doing yourself a diservice by not visiting it on a trip to France.
My family will laugh endlessly at this statement, but it was true...I was really excited to hit Spain where I felt confortable with speaking Spanish. Barcelona ranks high on my list of cities I could live in and found much to my liking despite the rampant petty theivery.I really settle in to Barcelona, it's main drag of Las Ramblas must be the most spectacular in the world. Its central pedestrian way clamers with flower stands and exotic birds for sale. Street proformers and human statues all are displayed for your entertainment, if you can stroll this Avenue and leave without a smile and feeling truely alive then you need to seek professional help...at it's hieght it's almost magical. Barcelona also nestles itself against the Mediterranean Sea with a nice beach front area ( watch your belongings though). I took a bike tour through the city with a company called Mikes Bike tour.The tours are geared towards young travelers but took in all that Barcelonas' history has to offer. Our leader was one of the best and most informative guides I have had on this trip....which is saying alot, I've had some terrific ones. His enthusiasm was contagious. If we all could take such pride in our work we all would be far happier. This trip for me was nessasary to remove myself from negitive co-workers and apathy on my part. I did'nt dislike what I was doing, I just did'nt like some of the people I was surrounded by. Our guide was just another example to me to embrace my life and quit wasting time pretending like it was going to change on it's own. I'm about to open my own business and I'd love to hire a hundred people with this guys grip on life!! He made everyone on our tour feel like they had a special day...wow I wish we could all do that!
If you have never heard of Antoni Gaudi you need to look him up. He's one of a few "Modernist" architecs that have transformed Barcelona. His work is unique and fresh even though he's been dead since the late 1920's...his work has a Dr Suese charm to it.. La Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila and Palua Guell are a taste of some of his most outstanding works. I also toured Palua de la Musica Catalana designed by Luis Domenech i Montaner....it's Barcelonas premier music hall, I was awe struck by it's ornateness. It is fasinating!! The city has a magnificent Gothic quarter with stone arch and alley ways that take you back in time. I stood on the very steps that Christopher Columbus stood when he was commisioned by Fernando and Isabel to discover the new world.If your a food lover then you'll completely enjoy the plethorea of great tasting Tapas. I met up with a Brazilian friend I made in Rome who is in Graduate school in Barcelona. She took me to a section of town that is renoun for it's Tapa bars...we settled in at one and tryed it all...cheeses, Salmon, meats all layered delightfully on a crusted roll. You just go to the bar and pick and choose the ones to your liking and goble them down. They charge you based on the number of toothpicks left on your plate...what a simple and trusting system.We also met up with a few of her classmates and went out dancing...I love Barcelonas confortable feel!! Final note on Barcelona....don't mistake these proud people for Spanish, they are intensly proud of being Catalan and speaking their unique language.
Flamenco, Tapas and Bullfighting make their home in Sevilla. Although my hair was gaining length, I sought out no barber in this town. The Bull fighting season had past so I was unable to experience the Spanish grace of it ( I did take it in at Plaza de Mexico in DF ). The Tapas I continued to enjoy here, but my major interest was to take in a Flamenco show, which I did. I booked a seat at Los Gallos and was entertained by the tradition of this beautiful dance. The woman wore rippleing dressed of colorful magnificence. Their movements were graceful and powerful at the same time. The dancers had a darker gipsy look to them which excentuated thier passion in their steps. It was a joy to see such vibrance! The city is lovely with one of the most spectacular and largest Gothic cathedrals in the world. Christipher Columbus' tomb resides here. Next door is the amazing Moorish Palace ...The Alcazar with its north African influences. Sevilla is also the home to the famed Carmen. The town has spirit and character and I'm glad I chose to visit it, only having time for two Spanish locations.
Morocco was the last of my language challenge destinations. My first impression was alasting one. Tangers the sea port that conects Spain and Morocco is a con-mans dream....or perhaps to better describe it an opportunists dream. On exiting from the ferry there are lines of folks viaing for your attention and most importantly money. I having been a seasoned traveler by now knew not to trust anyone...what ever they said would be a streach of the truth if not an out right lie. The other side of the coin is if you have one guy on your side they ward off all the other cons from approaching you, so I opted for this approach. I had no reservation or plan...my guide book of the entire continent of Europe had a total of 3 pages devoted to Morocco....I had to put a sliver of trust in someone. As it turned out it was'nt that bad but as soon as I got tired or forgot to ask a simple price he took advantage of guaging me. He found me a hotel in the Medina that was suitable to me and then gave me a mini tour of the surrounding area. It was Ramadan when I visited and 99% of Morocco is Muslim. Ramadan is a time for atonement and fasting. You are suppose to make amends for your short comings, and abstain from food and drink during the sunlight hours. Someone needs to inform these folks what atonement means because everyone was edgey and argumentative in the streets, I saw multiple fights breaking out. I guess when you put thousands of hungry people in a city together and tell them not to eat all day....quite a few get pissed off....I personally feel my Catholic churches confessional is the safer way to go. The people I met also had this attitude that went a bit like this: If I con you or take whats yours and I get away with it, then thats Allah's doing, so it's up to you to catch me and if you stop me then Allah did'nt want it to be.....this creates an enviornment where everyone is looking for a piece of you. It truely is a bizarre and unattractive mindset. Well my guide/hotel finder/new best friend ...showed me the Medina and then offered to have me join him and a friend for dinner. I aggreed and they took me to somekind of resturant that actually did'nt serve food. They kept running out on the street and buying items and running back to serve me.....my big mistake was not asking how much this was going to cost. I knew from experience that the meal should'nt have cost more then three bucks, but because of my weariness of the long ferry ride and transporation of the day " My new Best Friend" knew I was ripe for the taking. He told me it was $15.00 of which I objected strongly...absolutely nothing in the food catagory in Morocco cost that much unless your in a five star hotel...we happened to be in an oversized shack with folding chairs. Well I paid him ad said I never want to see him again...end of story!! You probable think that the $12.00 difference is chump change..and I'll agree in a typical American setting, however when your travling on scraps every bit is very inportant. The overall problem is less the money then the principal of ethics. Morocco was my 39th country I visited, and I had been in some extreamly poor areas of the world, the major difference was that people in Latin America and Asia had integrety. They helped without expecting anything in return....here and my experience in India I found that people only wished for cash and cared little for helping you. Of course these things are generalizations and based solely on the indivduals I met but they were my experiences. I looked forward to leaving Tangers and experiencing Fez the educational and intelectual capital of Morocco. Knowing I was going to save money in Ireland and England by staying with friends I decided to stay in the newer section of town and stay at a three star hotel with clean rooms and hot water. One positive thing about Morocco was that I loved the archetecture, onion archways and beautiful Mosques. You truely feel like you are somewhere very different from home.Fezs' Medina ( Medina means Old Market place....old town or city center) is the most interesting and conveluted in the country. It's narrow streets are a human maze of confusion. Basically the alley ways are about eight feet accross and zig zag in all directions. There are over 9,000 of these streets and 500,000 residents making it a hectic place to wonder. I did hire a tourist office guide one day who brought me to all the handicraft locations in the Medina as well as important locations such as age old Mosques. I saw the leather tanery where excellent goods were hand made and died. No visit would be complete without a visit to the rug shop where I was treated to a cup of mint tea and an explination of their top quality merchandise. Morocco was unique and oddly interesting. It was'nt the hit of the trip but Im glad I scheduled it to experience the profoundly different lifestlye then ours at home!! I traveled over to Casablanca for a day and flew to my home away from home...boy I could'nt wait to land in grand ole IRELAND!!!!
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