We've been doing an exuberant amount of traveling lately and while it is taking it's toll, we've also been able to capture some interesting and unusual sights!
Camels and Carols:
One can still attempt to be festive when driving through the Sahara, just put on some Christmas tunes! Maybe the camels like it, too!
You know it's vacation time when the Kindles, iPads, and e-books come out!
One of the awesome aspects of life during this season is the opportunity to travel (usually out of necessity) to some really amazing places. The only down side is that 2 nights is never enough to explore one of the world's most famous cities. However we packed in as many sights and as much Starbucks as was possible.
After some not so surprising delays at the airport and having to switch hotels, we were finally off to see the city and eat lunch at about 4 pm. Oh and it was nice and chilly...very chilly.
Our first stop: Arc de Triomphe
Arc de Triomphe
After searching the streets of Paris for a decently priced meal in this major shopping district, thunderclouds were rolling in. We found a great table at the Pizza Pino situated along the sidewalk on Champs - Elyssess just as it started raining heavily.
Enjoying delicious French cuisine!
After lunch/dinner, we began our search for the illustrious Starbucks with full bellies. A few hours, several poor direction givers, more rain showers, and three pair of wet socks later, we found the fanciest looking Starbuck ever!
Isn't she a beaut!
The next we had a schedule full of sightseeing!
Notre Dame!
The Lock Bridge and Notre Dame
Once we'd explored the Notre Dame cathedral, we found a nearby American based bookstore called, "Shakespeare and Company." It was a quaint, old bookstore that was home to many expat writers like William Faulkner and Scott Fitzgerald. After another Starbucks run, we enjoyed some rock and roll music over our Hard Rock Cafe American food!
Next Stop: Tour Eiffel
For dinner, Beth treated us to an appetizer of escargot and I got to eat my words. You see, Beth's made escargot here before and after watching the snails crawl around in flour for a few days, I had absolutely no appetite for them. So I said, "If I'm gonna eat snails, it'd have to be escargot in Paris or something!" So, it happened!
Parisian escargot! Lots of flavor!
My first taste of escargot caught on tape!
We had a great trip to the lovely city of Paris, it was just too short!
The end of April meant it was time for us to take a little trip! We had so much fun on our last turn around with friends but we wore ourselves slap out, so this time we decided to take it easy. We were blessed to spend a few days in Barcelona, Spain. In Arabic it's pronounced barsha.luna which for some reason reminds me of studying Indians in Kindergarten. Everyone in our class had to chose an "Indian" name... I think I was Many Hearts or something. Anyway the word barsha means many or a lot in Arabic and luna sounds like the word for moon in Spanish. Yes it's a long stretch, so I'm proud if you're still with me. But Barcelona will forever remind me of Many Moons.
We literally accidentally found this place (one of Gaudi's houses or something.) We were walking down the street in the rain and noticed the large line outside and decided it must be something important.
Traditional Paella for lunch!
We did plan a visit to the Sagrada Familia. There was lots of unique architecture and statues carved onto the outside of this cathedral. The line was long so we didn't even go in, but went walking around looking for a Starbucks.
While we were walking along, we found a fish spa. Instead of having a normal pedicure, you can put your feet inside a fish aquarium. The fish eat away the dead skin from your feet. It was something so odd, we decided to do it...just for experience's sake.
Beth giggled ferociously! They tickled her feet.
Definitely just a one time thing for me.
Hanging on tight on the Metro!
One of our favorite activities was walking Las Ramblas, the main drag in Barcelona.
IronMan 3 in English in a real movie theater! We splurged on the popcorn and coke for such an event!
A few Spanish Oddities:
No scissors campaign?
Random people dressed as bananas.
Now this is the life!
We had such a great time in Barcelona, even though we didn't do too many touristy things. I never thought I would be "one of those people" that ate at McDonald's, Hard Rock Cafe, and Starbucks for nearly every meal in a foreign country, but those were my favorite things about this trip! It was refreshing to spend time in a culture more like my own, but we're glad to be back along the Med!
We were traveling along the northern coastline with Beth's parents, showing off some of the beautiful mountainous scenery in the North and enjoying the surplus of greenery that we don't see much in 'the desert' when I saw one of the most moving sights of my life. The parable of the sower literally jumped off of the page and engraved a powerful image in my mind. Our compact, rental car had just wound it's way past a group of people harvesting olives on the hillside when we reached something of a high road, with slight valleys to either side. The greenery was intermittently interrupted by patches of freshly turned dirt and someone had just commented on how many fields were filled with bright white rocks. To the right stood two men walking side by side down the middle of a fresh field. Across their right shoulders and hanging low on their left side rode a large sling filled with seeds. As they walked downhill they each would literally sling the seeds from left to right, across the area. We whizzed by before anyone thought to stop and take a picture, but in my mind some of those seeds fell on the path, some on rocky soil, some among weeds and thorns, and some on good soil. And hopefully, some were caught in the wind and produced a harvest in fertile soil that the farmers would never step foot on. I suppose the picture froze in my mind that day because I felt like I was seeing the culture in which a beloved parable of mine had been told in - among people who planted in a much similar fashion. It made perfect sense to the original audience why some seed feel on the path, or rocky soil, or among weeds - that's what happens when you're all but scattering/throwing seeds everywhere. In my western mind, I'm afraid some of the poignancy of the story has been lost because my only context for farming or planting consisted of small patio planters or, at best, a small backyard garden - the kind where you map your garden before planting and everything is in a nice, neat little row. I've never planted seeds on a path, among rocks, or in a thorn bush. But now when I hear this parable, I'll no longer be thinking of the WWII victory gardens in "suburbia" but rather two North Africans walking alongside each other throwing seeds across a field as if it were an art form. And the visual of not just one sower but two, working toward a common goal, spreading seeds, and sharing the labor will be forever etched on my heart.
A few bends down the road later, we managed to get this picture of a man sowing seeds before hopping back on his tractor. The image is completely different but at least this gives you an idea of the setting.
A few weekends ago, we took off one Saturday with a few friends to exploring a nearby city. The city is on the water (I suppose almost everything here is near the water. haha!) and has an art gallery/coffee shop that we find reminds us of our favorite Cups Coffee Shop from back home. We enjoyed a some art, coffee, and seeing the sea before visiting a popular museum. Enjoy the pictures as much as we did exploring our beautiful country!
Tasty (and pretty) coffee!
There's a cool castle looking thing - let's take a picture. Too bad we can't take the light pole and cars out of the background...
It's so amazing to think that I am living in a country so rich with ancient history, it was even once occupied by the Roman Empire! A few weeks ago, we were able to see the third largest remaining Roman coliseum. Step back in time and imagine visiting this ancient structure during the Roman occupation and enjoy the road trip with us:
Beth and I in the "louage" - a bus-like taxi that's infamous for crowded seating and fast driving, thankfully we bought it out so we weren't squished!
We had a snack and then lunch at a little street side cafe. What a spectacular view!
Those poor camels!
Talk about feeling small and insignificant...
Beautiful architecture!
Beware of those lurking around the corner, trying to scare you!
