Kicking off 2013 with a Bang!

Once again I have slacked off writing.  Luckily, I have been busy living and have plenty to report.  Since coming back from the US over Christmas break, I have been taking many trips.

January

In January I went to Vicenza, a little town near Verona.  I dragged Carrie along to an art exhibit called From Rafael to Picasso.  It had few works by either artist but was a splendid look at how portraiture has changed since the Middle Ages.  The exhibition hall is a renovated basilica which made it feel both old and contemporary at the same time.  I also had one of the two best meals I’ve had since I moved here.  We had lunch in a little café across from the basilica.  I had a baked pasta, veggie dish.  It was hard to describe why it was so perfect but the veggies and the angel hair pasta (unusual over here) were the perfect combination. 

Lucerne

Top of Mt. Pilatus

The following weekend I went to Lucerne with a colleague and friend, Siri.  I really wanted to make it to Switzerland before leaving Europe this time.  Lucerne was the perfect choice.  Saturday morning we took an enormous funicular to the top of Mt. Pilatus, a snow-covered beautiful mountain peak.  When we arrived back in town we were a bit bummed to discover that every store closes at 4pm on Saturdays.  It turned out ok since we headed over to Starbucks for a treat since we can’t do that in Italy.  We left Sunday morning and were delighted to find the view on the train during the day was breathtakingly spectacular.  One more highlight for me was seeing men with alpine horns and men in feathered hats and suspendered shorts.  I felt like I had stepped into Heidi and was happy to see where the Swiss stereotypes come from. 

February

White week once again rolled around without plans for me to go skiing.  Instead I wanted to find the warmest place I could.  That ended up being Morocco.  Carrie and I flew to Marrakech early Sunday morning and spent our first day there flustered and baffled by the streets of the Medina.  The sights, sounds, smells, and amount of people in close proximity was very overwhelming.  Donkeys, motorbikes, and taxis were all equally usual forms of transportation. 

Our second day in Marrakech was a bit more successful.  We both made purchases at the souks and got henna tattoos.  (I was sure we would get skin poisoning after reading about it in guide books!)  We also managed to find entrances to the elusive palaces and tombs we had vainly searched for the day before.

The rest of our time there we spent with a local tour guide named Mohamed.  He lived in Canada for 6 years and spoke beautiful English.  He was the most hospitable man whose conversations were only exceeded by his generosity, amiability, and kindness.  Truly remarkable.  Our first day he took us to Casablanca.  It was a beautiful ride there but once there we got stuck in traffic for quite a while.  When we finally got out of traffic we ate local fish.  I had my first sardine which was much milder than I expected.   We also saw the Hassan II Mosque, third largest in the world and awe inspiring enough to make you believe in God if you didn’t already. 

Hassan II Mosque

The next day we went to the Ouzoud Waterfalls.  They are in a Geological park several hours away from Marrakech.  The drive there was beautiful with red clay patches among green rolling hills backed by the high snow-capped Atlas Mountains and watercolor grey clouds floating above in bright blue skies.  Before leaving the city we stopped by the Majorelle Gardens in the new city.   They are brightly decorated and house many plants, especially cacti.  On our way to the waterfall we saw fossilized dinosaur footprints and a naturally formed giant bridge over a little stream.  The waterfalls themselves were stunning.  After a short hike we had a little lunch overlooking the falls and ate with unwelcome thieving monkeys. 

Our last day in Morocco was spent at the beach in a town called Essaouira. It was made famous when hippies discovered it in the 60s and 70s.  It was very relaxing and warm.  Some of the fun of this trip was on the way there.   We stopped by an Argon/Moroccan oil co-op and saw how Moroccan oil is made then we saw goats in trees eating the nuts that the oil is made from.  The oil is very tasty and can be eaten by humans too.  I was sad to leave both the beach and Morocco.  

Goats in Trees

March

It is only the second week of March right now, but I am sitting on a train heading back to Milan from Zurich.  Carrie and I went for the weekend to see a concert by the Avett Brothers.  They were fantastic and we ended up in the second row.  Seth jumped off the stage right in front of me.  They opened with “Live and Die” and ended with “I and love and you.”  The venue was small and intimate, standing room only.  I was impressed by how punctual they were too.  Grace Potter with one member of her band the Nocturnals opened.  It was a fun surprise to have such a good opening act. 

Seth from the Avett Brothers (and Scott is back there too)!  2nd row baby!

Zurich was beautiful, clean, and sunny.  There was church called Grossmunster that had agate rock as the stained glass.  We also saw the Chagall stained glass windows at another church.  Though completely different, both sets of windows were beautiful and unique.  Clocks are big in Switzerland.  (Duh, I know.)  Zurich claims to be the home of the biggest clock face in Europe.   It was big.  And loud.

Up next on my trip agenda is half a week in London to see JL and then half a week in Budapest on my own.  Then later in April I’ll be going to Ravenna and Berlin.  Still lots to see before moving back to the US!