Yep, that’s right! We touched another continent – Africa!
And it was AMAZING! Morocco was such a unique experience, very different from all of the other countries we’ve visited. The number one thing I have to say about Morocco is that the people are SO INCREDIBLY FRIENDLY! On one of our trains we had complete strangers teach us how to speak some arabic and even taught us how to write a few words in arabic – man was that interesting, as they write right to left. We also had Moroccans share tangerines with us on the train, invite us to a home-cooked meal for dinner, meet back up with us to show us the best restaurant around and order the best food for us, help us get taxis going the right direction at local’s rates, and more! They were all so welcoming and kept saying “Thank you for coming to Morroco, welcome!”.
Their friendliness was so foreign that several times we didn’t realize someone was trying to help us or say hi. Coming from SF where the only random people that talk to you are either asking for money, saying something inappropriate or just jibberish – I feel ingrained to ignore shouts from strangers. But here in Morocco, it was just people genuinely trying to tell us we are going the wrong direction; or saying “Hi, welcome to my country, I hope you like it!”; or “Let me show you where your house is!”. Were their people trying to sell us stuff? Yes, definitely, but they too were friendly, happy, and when you said no (for the most part) they left you alone.
Eric and I spent 4 days in Morocco, with almost all of the time spent in Fés – an awesome old city know for its leather, ceramics, metal work, rugs, and other crafts. We were able to see a lot in the 4 days we were there!
We stayed at Dar el Ma, a typical Moroccan Riad (house) and we felt like kings! We had the whole place to ourselves and the house was huge, beautiful, and full of cool nooks and crannies. Check out this video tour of our Riad!
We stayed in the medina of Fés – which is the old town. It’s a part of the city that is only walkable, no cars allowed, and is surrounded by an old ancient wall. The streets are TINY, dense, and confusing. But it didn’t matter that we were always lost, because there was so much to look at! Stall after stall after stall of markets, fresh food, crafts…etc. We were able to see a working tannery, got an exclusive tour and showing of a rug factory (they thought we were going to buy one of their rugs and showed us and explained all the different styles… sorry guys we don’t even have a home right now! haha), and devoured some of the best food yet! A $1 pita jam-packed with stuffed camel spleen and veggies anyone? 50 cents for a kg of tangerines? 60 cents for a honey filled Msemen? Traditional mint tea for $1 in a cool cafe? I’ll take it! Our favorite dish? By far the tagine kefta from Thami’s Restaurant, SOOO GOOD!
We had an amazing time and would recommend a trip to Morocco to anyone! The food was delicious, the culture interesting (see next blog post about that :) ), the people great, and it was SO cheap! Here are a few more pictures from our time in Morocco, each with a little description…
A look down into one of the three tanneries in Fes. Making the leather is quite an involved process that takes about 3 months. My favorite step? They soak the animal skins in pigeon poop for 3 days because the acid softens the leather!! Don’t worry, they then vigorously wash the skins in water and cedar wood chips to rid of the smell :)This is the University of al-Qarawiyyin. It was the first university in the world! Now it’s the biggest mosque in Fés.We went to a rug factory and the owner showed us rug after rug after rug. We learned about the different styles and methods used to create the rugs.Eric chillin’ on our roof terrace, check out those Moroccan slippers!A classic example of the small streets in the medina.Fresh chicken or lamb anyone??So many teas and spices at many of the shops lining the medina!Tagine kefta! SOOOO GOOOD!! Thank you Thami’s Restaurant!The living room of our sweet Moroccan house! We would sit here for breakfast or do some computer work.A reading nook in our house! Yes, those are golden pillows.Our room in the Morrocan Riad – Dar el Mar! PS we got lost so many times trying to find our house haha
We just took off from Nerja and said goodbye to our simple, quite apartment on Calle Málaga right in the heart of town.
Some quick things to note:
We really enjoyed this slow section of our trip! Amanda and I did a lot of the planning, talking, dreaming, etc. that we wanted to come on this epic journey for. Together we talked about tons of stuff from where we want to come home to, what we want to do for work, what we’d like our lives to be like in the future (including a fun night discussing “what is our life like when we’re 65”), and more! I know we’re planning nerds, but that’s what we do :)
Amanda did yoga every single day in Nerja to complete her goal and made serious improvement. She’s basically the queen of yoga now.
I accomplished my goal and swam 1500m in the ocean in middle/back of the pack time for an average olympic length triathlon. I had never swam for exercise in the ocean before and couldn’t swim more than a lap or two without having to stop and gasp for air, but with a lot of coaching and getting beat up by waves I did 1500m in 38 minutes, which I’m happy with for a starting point!
We made two sets of good friends that stayed in our building. Mark and Morgan are a young adventurous couple from Arkansas that remind us a ton of our friends Quinn and Zach back home. Paul and Barbara are a super nice, interesting, and hilarious couple from Rugby, England who retired early and are traveling indefinitely on a budget now. We met up with Paul and Barbara again in Málaga where we are now as I write this. We learned a lot already from both sets of friends and plan to keep in touch!
We’ll miss Nerja and the quiet, peaceful days at the beach and fun nights enjoying tapas, but we’re ready for the next adventure! I feel reinvigorated after the time there and can’t wait to not only explore more on the trip, but also to attack setting up our new life in the states when the time comes.
Until next time… Salud!
With our friends Marc & Morgan!Eating a tiny grilled octopus!Goodbye Nerja!
Sam made his way down to Nerja for four days to join us for Thanksgiving! It was super nice seeing him again and having another friend to celebrate the holidays with.
Despite only having a tiny kitchen with a two burner stove and microwave (ovens are hard to find in Europe!) we pulled off a delicious Thanksgiving feast.
I’d say Amanda was the heart, soul, and brains of the operation. We made, in this order, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, green beans, turkey, stuffing, gravy, and a salad! Quite the feast and a fun way to spend our first Thanksgiving as a married couple! Check out a 1 minute time lapse of how it came together.
We’re really thankful to not only have the opportunity to be on this trip around the world with each other, but also for the fun, supportive friends and family we get to stay in touch with and miss as we’re away.
Crispy turkey legs!Pumpkin pie made over the stove and served in a bowl ;)
Another rented car and another beautiful trip! We took a day trip to Ronda which is the quintessential white hillside town in Andalusia.
We didn’t fall in love with the town, it’s pretty touristy and doesn’t have a ton to offer.
BUT – Ronda is split in two (the new Spanish part and the old Moorish part) by an amazingly deep river gorge with the bridges connecting the town. It’s really dramatic and picturesque. Amanda and I hiked down into the bottom of the gorge on a wandering “trail” with old ruins to explore scattered along the way. At the bottom we climbed down a rope and tree to a swimming hole between two big waterfalls. This part was incredible.
We took a fascinating, adventurous and gorgeous trip back to Granada and the Sierra Nevadas of Spain. Just like last time we really enjoyed Granada. There is so much unique culture in one place. Amanda and I agree it’s our #1 recommended spot to visit in Spain and it’s one of my favorite cities in Europe to visit.
It’s only about 1 hour in a tiny blue car to Granada from our house in Nerja! It’s fun to jam on the freeway and look down to see the speedometer at 130 (km/hr that is). Then, after marveling as we walk through the Alhambra, exploring the many caves of Sacramonte, watching the sunset with a beer in hand from a cave bar, and enjoying the odd but delicious tea, silly hookah bar, colorful knick knack markets, and African food of the Albaycin, we continued on to the mountains!
It’s a 40 minute drive in a red lining little car in 2nd gear up to the ski resort of the Spanish Sierra Nevadas. It’s way up there and it’s an amazing view from the top! We took a great hike up to we think around 12,000 feet.
Then… We decided to take the long way home. That means a curvy, dirt road filled, trip about 5 hours down, around, up and over the mountains and then back to Nerja. It was worth every bit. Gorgeous and way too much fun.
We saw a huge damn, a fake stag on a rock off a dirt road that tricked us for too long, the most amazing fall colors I’ve ever seen, and interesting geology similar to a mini grand canyon at times.
This was a really fun and freeing trip!!
In the Alhambra in Granada with our “Watson” sign written in ArabicThe Sierra Nevadas of Spain!
Amanda and I have been living in Nerja, Spain for two and a half weeks now. It’s been amazing. It was the slow down we needed after about a month and a half of pretty fast paced travel. This experience of “living” in another country is also what we both have looked forward to the most on our trip.
Since we’ve settled down in our apartment for the month of November it’s been a lot of laying on the beach, swimming, yoga, tapas, cooking dinners in, reading, working and learning in our quiet apartment, and workouts on our roofdeck or at the beach. I’m sure this doesn’t sound bad to anyone but it’s our ideal way to spend time :) A balanced life between physical health, learning, fun together, and experiencing a unique culture.
Being way more productive than the Spanish
Amanda is keeping in touch with her clients and is even keeping some of them on track from afar by sending them fitness plans. She is also working on a new fitness certification, doing an online course to become and EXOS Performance Specialist. She’s learning a lot of fitness knowledge she can apply with her clients. I’m often her test subject for odd movements and tests! She works on it about an hour a day watching videos, taking notes and moving into pretty hilarious poses with her headphones in (she’s even doing one right now while I write this on the tablet!)
If that isn’t enough Amanda is also taking a 2 hour Spanish course five days per week. She’s making a ton of improvement and is getting around Nerja with her Spanish just fine!
I’m keeping busy working 10 to 15 hours a week contracting with Aquila. It’s interesting work with a familiar team so I’m happy doing it. It’s also a nice way to fund our travels. I’m still pushing some on Spectafy and I’m actually going to a conference in Barcelona Wednesday about Smart Cities to meet with some interesting people.
For fun I’m also researching more and more about self driving cars (I think that’s going to happen sooner rather than later and will be a primary method of transportation for a few decades). I got a couple little microprocessors and I’m getting them talking to each other and reading sensors for a fun project I’m tinkering on.
Besides that Amanda and I both made challenges for the month that we’re doing a darn good job sticking with. She is doing an hour of yoga every day and I’m swimming in the ocean every day. I can’t swim very well so I think Amanda comes to the beach with me for amusement and to make sure I don’t drown (the warm sun probably doesn’t hurt).
Getting familiar with the community
We really like a lot of the Spanish culture. It’s a fantastic place to vacation or live for a while.
Amanda has her favorite fruteria (super fresh fruit and veggies here, TONS of agriculture), panaderia (bakery), supermercado, tienda de zumo (juice/smoothie shop), and much more! I have my favorite cafe for WiFi, green tea, and sometimes toast with tomato and olive oil (local staple) or bacon sandwiches (yum!).
We have our favorite tapas spots (Redondo, La Puntilla, El Pulguilla, El Chispa, La Marina – roughly in that order). We’ve become regulars at some of them! You just can’t beat mingling with super friendly locals over 1.40€ drinks that each come with free snacks about half the size of a typical American appetizer. Our favorite tapas are paella, chorizo, pil pil, carne con tomate, grilled squid (Amanda likes this, I’m not that into that one), and prawns grilled with the shell on (my go to when Amanda gets gnarly squid).
The Spanish schedule has taken some getting used to, but we’re doing it! Wake up around 8, don’t go to bed before 11:30, have two small breakfasts, a big lunch around 2, tapas around 7 and dinner about 9pm.
We’re having an unbelievable time here, really enjoying our time together and our time to better ourselves all while soaking in a new culture. The best part… we still have 2 weeks here and then… well, who knows! :)
Our favorite of the 6 beaches in Nerja – Playa CarabeilloHola!Eric about to go on his daily swimEnjoying some delicious wine and tapasReading on the beach and watching the sunsetTapas on fire!
Granada is an amazingly diverse and fascinating city. It’s definitely the city in Spain I’d recommend visiting the most from where I’ve been.
We only spent two days here, but we’re planning on going back soon as it’s only a short bus trip from Nerja where we are now.
The Moors from north Africa ruled much of Spain for a really long time, especially the southern region of Andalusia. Granada was a capital and cultural center of the Moors in Spain and one of the last strongholds before the Spanish pushed Moorish control (and Muslim religion) out of Spain in the reconquest ending in 1492 (A familiar year and a good one for Spain for a few reasons).
In downtown Granada there are five main areas:
1) The Alhambra is a massive and intricate castle on the hillside taking up a big chunk of the city center. This was the Islamic palace when the Moors ruled from about 700 until 1500. It’s incredible. We weren’t able to go inside as tickets sell out months in advance, but we’re hoping to get in next time we go.
2) Albayzin – the Islamic region with lots of cool architecture, colors, winding alleys meant to make it hard to push the Muslims out by authorities, and delicious food.
3) Sacromonte – the gypsy part of town built in white caves into the hills above the city with fantastic views, supposedly the best flamenco around, and really cool houses!
4) Realejo – Jewish part of town with lots of residential areas we didn’t explore much (yet).
5) New Town – there is a main street and pretty much once you cross it everything gets “new” which means something like less than 300-400 years old :) The majority is a nice modern city with all the usual including some cool parks.
Having all of this existing seemingly at peace in one city is awesome. Oh, and the Serra Nevadas are really big mountains covered in snow looming over town to the southwest. Highly recommended.
Our delicious Moroccon dinner in the Albayzin neighborhood!
Sacromonte, so cool and unique!The Granada CathedralAnother shot from the Sacromonte area
Being in Cambridge feels a lot like walking through Hogwarts grad school. There are tons of college kids all dressed nicely and some in college dress clothes (colored gowns aka cloaks ;) ). Most older people are quite professorly.
We really enjoyed the town. It’s nice and clean with a lot of old brick buildings and narrow cobblestone streets. There is a river running through town and almost all of the college buildings are right along that river. There are some exceptions with lecture halls dispersed through town as well.
Amanda and I ate at the pub, The Eagle, where Watson and Crick announced the discovery of DNA. Pretty cool!
The Eagle Pub!
There are 20 something different colleges that make up Cambridge University. Unlike Cal Poly the colleges aren’t specific for majors or focusses (like Orfalea College of Business at Poly). Instead each college offers a vast amount of majors. There is also quite a rivalry it seems among the different colleges academically, socially, and athletically. The University is the second oldest in England behind Oxford and was started in the early 1200’s. Apparently a group of Oxford academics spun off into Cambridge after getting into arguments with the rest of the Oxford town people.
There is a growing tech and bio tech center around Cambridge known in the UK as Silicon Fen. It seems there are lots of these popping up and always with a name play on silicon valley.
We really enjoyed the academic feel of being in Cambridge, it would be nice to live near a good university, there is just so much they offer…
(Written from the terrace/roof deck of our Spanish apartment in Nerja :) )
We just bought tickets to Bangkok with a 24 hour layover in Dubai on January 7th, 2016!!! Rotating buildings, fake islands, summer skiing, and crazy adventures – we’re coming for you!
We had quite the adventures in a campervan for 10 days traveling through England, Scotland, and Wales. We made a big loop from London traveling counterclockwise. Things we learned:
5 people in a minivan with a rooftop tent is a lot
it’s freezing cold in the Scottish highlands in October (and really all over the UK is damn cold)
traveling via campervan is the most freeing way to travel
gas is expensive in the UK
one night in a warm bed with a home cooked meal from family friends makes a huge difference
we had an unbelievable time with good friends and have quite a few stories that won’t be forgotten
London
Driving in London is chaos, especially when you’re in a campervan, sitting on the right side of the car, and driving on the left side of the road – all for the first time.
The van from the crazy inside
Xscape in Yorkshire
We stumbled on a crazy adventure center / mall in Yorkshire that had inside: indoor snow skiing slopes, indoor sky diving, 3D golf, mini golf, rock climbing, ropes courses, and tons of shopping, food, and bars. It was really cool to see and explore. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get any TV’s to put on the rugby match we were desperately trying to find as England was playing soccer at the time.. and apparently people watch “football” religiously here.
Newcastle Upon Tyne
The Scotland vs. Samoa game we went to about 1 hour south of the Scotland border was incredible. The Scottish national anthem was thunderously loud with drunk Scotts in kilts belting it out. Scotland came out victorious in a back and forth 3-point, high scoring match. Newcastle turned into quite a party after that! It is a cheap college town with lots of barely clothed college girls (in the freezing weather even) mixed with thousands of hammered Scotland fans celebrating. Quite fun, but it’s a weird party scene in Newcastle in general.
Edinburgh
I’ve been to Edinburgh before, but it is still one of my absolute favorite cities after being back this time. The castle is incredible, Arthur’s seat is a tall hill and cliff overlooking town with beautiful views, the people are very friendly, and there is one pub for each 6 locals… Lots of fun! We got comfortable in Edinburgh and everyone really enjoyed it for a couple days. Amanda and I celebrated our 1 month anniversary one night over haggis, Guinness, Speyside scotch, fish and chips, and a lamb chop… great night!
Beautiful EdinburghHiking to the top of Arthur’s Seat
Inverness
Inverness is the capital of The Highlands in Scotland. It is also extraordinarily cold in October for camping. The lows were in the mid to high 30’s in a lot of Scotland. We made a trip to a local outdoor goods shop for wool socks and hand warmers. No one was too impressed by Inverness as a city, but it’s a good jumping off point in the Highlands.
We went to the Culloden Battlefield just outside of town, which was very interesting. It’s the last battle of the Jacobite uprising in 1746. That is the last bloody attempt by Scotland to be independent from England basically and they got crushed.
Loch Ness
How could we not go to Loch Ness with Amanda’s nickname being “Ness”?!? It is a really pretty, long, skinny lake. There is a cheesy, but overall interesting visitor center and the work done to attempt to find Nessy is incredible. They have scavenged every drop of that lake looking for a prehistoric beast or some other monster and nothing has shown up…
Sam and I also jumped in the lake. It’s very cold. Our short hunt for the monster also wasn’t newsworthy…
Loch Ness! No monster found here
Glencoe
Glencoe is the #1 must go place in the Scottish Highlands we saw. It’s gorgeous. There is a ton of hiking and the scenery is unique. Steep mountains, few trees but lots of green shrubs, and some cool rivers, lakes and waterfalls. We went on a really nice hike here with a stunning waterfall we climbed out to.
We also had a minor mishap on our way down to Fort William (where we stayed while exploring Glencoe)… Amanda found something scenic, so I tried to pull off on the shoulder for her to take a photo and, well, the shoulder resembled a swamp a little too much for our old, weighed-down 2-wheel drive van. An extremely friendly Scott quickly stopped and pulled us out :)
View of Loch Leven in Glencoe, Scotland. Beautiful!Highlands of Scotland with fall colors
Glasgow
The highlight of Glasgow for me was getting a tour of the Clyde Space facilities. They are a cool, cutting-edge small satellite company based there. Other than that… Glasgow is very industrial and new. It’s the opposite of charming Edinburgh.
Penrith
We stopped in this little town for lunch and loved it! 15 thousand friendly English people call it home and it’s a really nice small town. Plus, there is a really good baked potato stand downtown.
Manchester
Manchester is cool! It’s huge. The area we explored most was trendy and reminded us of SoMa in SF. Hipsters on macbooks in cafes having a grand old time. We fit in.
We stayed at the Clement’s house (Our friend Steff’s parents and Sam’s family friend). They were INSANELY hospitable and friendly. We got a huge homemade BBQ feast from Pat with traditional English desserts from Paulette. A warm bed, shower, and feast were definitely necessary at this point in the trip! We hope to be as adventurous and as good of hosts as the Clements when we grow up one day.
Cardiff
We stayed in Cardiff for two nights and saw the quarterfinal match between Ireland and Argentina. It was a lively game that saw Argentina move on and proving they are the better team. Ireland put up a good fight for most of the game and the almost entirely Irish fans in the stadium left their hearts in that stadium. It was rowdy, and they were very disappointed. Our seats were two rows back from the field. Seeing the athleticism, skill, and size of the players at that level was cool.
Cardiff in Wales does rugby right. The entire town was shut down and in celebration mode for the RWC. It’s a gorgeous city with a beautiful Millennium stadium at the center of it.
Bristol
Bristol is across the bay from Cardiff and is in England. It’s a pretty town with colorful buildings and an amazing suspension bridge build in the 1860’s.
Bath
Bath has huge Roman influence. The Romans ruled the UK from about 50 to 500 AD and the architecture in Bath is definitely Roman. It does not at all feel like you’re in the UK there. We had an enjoyable drive through town and peek at the Roman Baths.
Stonehenge
We saw Stonehenge on the way back to London two days ago. It’s incredible. Way bigger than any of us imagined! Stonehenge was created from about 8000 BC to 3200 BC. Not only are the big stones (up to 24 meters tall!) resting upright and on top of each other, there is a lot of detail. They have joints built into the stone to keep them in place, they are polished and carved and even are shaped slightly wider at the top so when viewed from the ground looking up the stones appear the same width all the way up. That’s a lot of detail and heavy lifting for that time period. Wild.
London
That takes us full circle back to London. Amanda and I are starting to like London more and more! The city is huge and full of so much to do and so much history. It is the center of the world in my opinion.
I’m writing this in Cambridge now, which is a nifty college town just north of London that will probably get it’s own post in a few days!
