We made it to and through the Middle East! It was awesome having a 24 hour layover on Emirates Air in Dubai. We did our 24 hours pretty big!
Desert Safari
We did a super fun “desert safari” which included getting picked up from our slightly ghetto hotel in a Land Rover, driving 45 minutes into the dessert and then the fun began! We got to ride a camel! It was really tall and slightly terrifying when it stands up and down – like a living roller coaster.
Then, we went “dune bashing” which was 50x more fun than I expected. I’ve driven my old Jeep through sand dunes quite a bit, but this guy was a PRO. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Amanda giggle and scream more, it was a blast. We dipped, slid, and thankfully didn’t roll all over the dunes.
The last part of the “safari” was sand boarding down a huge dune standing or sitting on a snow board. It was pretty fun and fast! Amanda and I both ate it pretty good. We’re two feet athletes… not the best with our feet tied together.
Tiny Eric!
World biggest _______
We walked through the world’s biggest mall and saw a cool water fountain show in front of the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, which is an awe inspiring 828 meters tall.
Dubai does it big. They have lots of money it seems and they like to have the biggest of things. At one point on our safari tour, the driver pointed out a big hill with a flat top. They are making their own mountain so they can turn it into a wild animal park on a mountain… why not?
Architecture and Bling
The architecture in Dubai is absolutely fascinating and amazing. It’s certainly the place with the most unique and magnificent buildings we’ve ever been. It’s insane and definitely worth visiting just for this alone.
They also like bright lights, shiny things, fancy cars, etc. It’s like Las Vegas but not as depressing and gross (and probably literally 20 times bigger).
A few interesting notes:
Dubai is one of seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates
Only about 15% of Dubai’s population are from the UAE. It’s something like 40% asian, 20% Indian, 20% Pakistani
Next up, we went to Budapest, Hungary which we both really enjoyed!! Our AirBnb was in an awesome location, which was the old jewish ghetto during WWII, and is now surrounded by hip bars and restaurants. Although still cold (23 – 30 degrees) we were able to brave the weather a bit more and explored our neighborhood, the big park nearby, a main square and old castle! We grabbed drinks at a local brewery, and explored one of the traditional ruin pubs. Budapest has many “ruin pubs” which are really old, kind of falling apart buildings that are full of chic, funky decor. They started popping up in the early 2000s when entrepreneurs took over abandoned buildings from their communist era (they were communist until 1989). The ruin pub we went to was Szimpla Kert – it was huge! Inside there were two floors and about 20 different rooms and themes bars plus a cafe, restaurant, coffee area, patisserie, and a big outdoor patio!!
Szimpla Kert Ruin Pub
We also went to a few places to grab a bite to eat that were trendy but in a little bit of a grungy way- think like the mission district in SF! We LOVED this soup place – Bors – and highly recommend it if you ever travel to Budapest. It was a tiny soup cafe, full of funny decor and happy guys who loved working there. After every order taken they chanted something in Hungarian and clapped or high fived. All of the soups we tried (we went there twice :)) were so delicious with a big punch of unique flavor. Yum!
Delicious soup from Bors!
Budapest is full of absolutely beautiful buildings! Everywhere you look, there are stunning old buildings. Castles, government buildings, Turkish baths (read more below!), churches, synagogues, and more! Even most of the ordinary offices and stores had epic old structure. “Wow look at that building! Oh ha, it’s just a pharmacy.” :)
One day we spent several hours at a Turkish bath, a traditional Hungarian past-time. We went to the Széchenyi Baths, the largest bath, & it was huge! There were about 20 different indoor hottubs and pools of various warm/hot temperatures, about 15 different saunas and steam rooms (some with aromas – like the chamomile steam room), and a few plunge pools for a quick cold dip after sweating in the saunas. There was also a gym, message area and nail salon. Plus, there are 4 outdoor heated pools, one of them with a huge whirlpool (so fun). We spent about half a day at the baths and it was a great experience!
The baths!
Budapest was our last destination in Europe, goodbye Europe! We spent an evening talking about all our favorites, best and worsts of the trip. It was a fun way to wrap up being in there. Asking each other what the best meal was? Nicest people? Most “wow” moment? City that didn’t meet your expectations? City that exceeded your expectations? Worst travel experience? Best apartment? Etc.
After spending New Years in Prague, we headed to Vienna, Austria. Unfortunately we don’t have too much to report back because Austria was SO COLD!!! 17 degrees! We did not have the right gear, so even though we wore layers and layers of clothes, we could still only last a few blocks outside. One day we attempted to walk around and just popped into a store about every block or two to pretend to shop, haha. Another day we decided to “cafe hop” from small coffee shop to small coffee shop. I’ve heard Vienna is a beautiful place, but in the snow and biting cold wind we didn’t see much of it, oh well!
We decided while quickly walking from warm place to warm place that we aren’t cut out for living in cold weather. So, while in Vienna, we more or less cut Colorado from our list of places we’d enjoy living… great hot chocolate though :)
We were fortunate enough to have Amanda’s family meet us in Europe for the holidays! It was so great to see them! Colleen, Jeff, Chris and Jack all flew out and met us in Frankfurt. Then, after 3 days there, we all took a train into the Czech Republic and spent 7 days in Prague. Prague was amazing! Here are some pictures from Christmas, New Years, and our time with family!
They arrived in Frankfurt on Christmas eve, Eric and I had a delicious traditional German meal waiting for them: schnitzel and spatzle! Then we all decorated some homemade Christmas sugar cookies – yumm!
Christmas day family pic in old town Frankfurt!
After Christmas in Frankfurt, we took a nice train ride to Prague. Prague is beautiful! We had a great time walking around and exploring the city. Plus, one day we rented a car and drive to the small Czech town of Osík – which is where the Nespor name originated way back in the mid-1600s!! My grandpa has done a ton of research and has a huge, 8 generation family tree mapped out. He has also found out the town and the house our ancestors lived in! About 2 hours outside of Prague we found Osík, a TINY town, which was along a beautiful river. It was really neat being in the same town, on the same paths, looking at the same house, as my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandparents and their families. What a neat experience!
Prague!In front of Osík 8 – our ancestors house!
Beautiful Osík!
But my favorite part of Prague was New Years! We started the evening at Lokal, a long beer hall. Perfect for a few tasty beers to start the night. Then we made our way to a pub called The Beer Museum, where we played a lot of card games and dice. We taught our parents how to play the dice game Three Man! From there we made our way to the main square of Old Town Prague (aka Prague 1). The square was packed, there was live music, a huge Christmas tree and several gorgeous, lit up buildings. The best part though? It was snowing!! We got to ring in the new year dancing in the snow surrounded by castle-like towers and fireworks. Amazing!!
Happy New Year!
Thanks again to the Nespors for visiting us in Europe, we had a great time with you!! :)
Hello! Here’s a quick update on Frankfurt, then next up a post about the holidays with the Nespors!
We spent a few days in Frankfurt and really enjoyed it! Frankfurt is a city that has a neat blend of really old, cool buildings with ultra modern skyscrapers. Eric and I both agreed that Frankfurt is not necessarily a city we would recommend to someone doing a short vacation in Europe BUT we thought it would be a great city to live in. There seemed to be a lot of jobs, especially in finance and banking, everyone was really nice and seemed to be enjoying life, and there seemed like a good amount to do in the city (mainly centered around beer gardens in the summer and hot apple wine in the winter). All in all, a good stop but nothing too special to note – except for the enormous Christmas market!! :)
Hello! I’m writing this from Frankfurt – we made it! We’ve been here two days, but had a little mishap getting here. Our plane from Lisbon, Portugal to Frankfurt was at first delayed, then cancelled! They rescheduled it for the next day. Luckily they put us up in a hotel and took care of all the transportation to and from the airport. Phew! It was quite a day, full of waiting, many lines, and trying to figure out what was going on, when all the announcements were in Portugese haha. But, the important thing is that we made it! We even were able to go to the Christmas market in Frankfurt (which was huge and amazing!!) later that evening.
Now Christmas with the Nespor family, yay! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all!
Now that is a full airport!
Happy and in Frankfurt at the Christmas Market! :)
We spent a fun and culture-filled 5 days in Lisbon, Portugal. The city is A LOT like San Francisco. We arrived on bus from Lagos and crossed over the bay Lisbon lives on via a big golden/bronze bridge that has to be modeled after the Golden Gate Bridge. It looks identical. Amanda and I both had a weird deja vu experience entering the green, hilly city over the bridge.
The Lisbon 25th of April Bridge – looks just like the Golden Gate!
Lisbon is a beautiful city. It’s very hilly and has lots of districts with unique vibes to them. There is a mix of old and new areas sprinkled throughout. The oldest area (the Alfama) is basically the only place to have survived a 9.0 earthquake in about 1750 that wiped out much of the town with the quake, tidal waves, and fires. The areas directly around the oldest town are “European New” but still feel old to us! Then there are modern areas further away from the old town and city center.
Our favorite district is the Bairro Alto, which is on top of a steep hill (it’s name literally means tall neighborhood in Portuguese) packed full of bars and restaurants on the bottom floor and apartments above. At night it gets crazy there with college kids through people in their 30’s having a good time.
A cable car (purchased from SF!) going up, up, up!
We haven’t done much partying at all on our trip, so we decided we had to give the famous night life of Lisbon a shot! We matched with the true Lisbon timeline and left our cute little flat a bit after midnight… we didn’t go to bed until 7:30am!
In order to pull this off we took a nap from 9 – 10:30pm (I’m the king of naps) and then had a morning ritual before starting the party… I did a body weight workout and Amanda enjoyed yoga. We both had some espresso and then, we hit the town!
Espresso shots after midnight!!Crazy packed streets!
In the Bairro Alto the streets were PACKED full of people. and this was just a typical Friday night. What they do is get a drink (1Euro beers and shots) in a little bar and then drink it outside in the streets with their friends. We’ve never seen anything quite like it.
We got to our club called “Urban Beach” at 3am(!) and it was just starting to fill up. There were a handful of rooms with different styles of music and a pool and beach outdoor area. We decided to call it a night at 6am after a ton of dancing and then headed back home for breakfast!
The next day was pretty much a waste :) totally worth it though.
We enjoyed Portuguese food in typical restaurants that feel more like German beer halls than cozy Italian restaurants. You get a lot of good meat and seafood pretty cheap in a social setting – it’s fun and tasty!
We also enjoyed our first European Christmas markets! We enjoyed people watching, mulled wine, Ginja, mimes, and more! We (especially Amanda!) can’t wait to find more Christmas markets in Germany.
Three other cool things:
1) We took what turned into quite an adventure to Belém to try tasty Pastel da Natas (egg pastries in flaky crusts) from their birthplace and also saw an old castle on the river that defended the Lisbon ports and a monument to the famous Portuguese explorers.
Yum!Pastel da natas!!A monument dedicated to the Portugese explorers
2) Our first night we wandered down to the main square from our really comfy flat to find a huge crowd gathered in front of a big countdown being projected onto Lisbon’s version of the Arch of Triumph. To our surprise, an awesome projected light show slash Christmas movie short played on the arches following the columns and design perfectly – it was really impressive and fun to see.
The “Enchanted Doors” light show!
This main square used to be the premier port in the world. The Portuguese were the first to explore much of Africa, India, Asia, and South America and to bring back the riches and sell them in the Lisbon port (that was unfortunately destroyed in the big earthquake).
3) We got to see a professional fútbol game! Go Benfica! One of the best teams in Portugal.
Go Benfica!!
We really enjoyed Lisbon. It’s one of my favorite cities for sure. We found a great cafe to work in and went on a few beautiful exploratory runs. If only the people didn’t speak such a funny language…
We are excited to be heading to Frankfurt, Germany and to see the Nespor family, they are meeting us there for Christmas! Happy Holidays!
Being in Morocco was fascinating. Of the places we’ve been in our lives, it’s definitely the furthest departure from what we think of as normal. We stayed in the medina of Fés which is the walled old town and one of the biggest, oldest active areas like it. There are over 1 million people living in the medina. It’s not just a tourist attraction, it’s a buzzing old city that we got to peek into for a few days.
There are hundreds of little “neighborhoods” in the medina each with a fountain for water, hammam (bath house), mosque, and community bakery. It is also home to the oldest university in the world which has now been converted to only teach the islamic faith.
Morocco is the first area we’ve ever been that isn’t historically predominantly Christian. The native Berbers were peacefully converted to Islam when the Arabs arrived I think around 800AD. To the visitor, some of the differences of being in an Islamic country are:
Five times a day, at synchronized times based on the sun, every mosque has a man sing through a loud speaker notifying everyone it is time to pray
The people are incredibly friendly, welcoming, and hospitable – every single person we met
The definite majority of women wear lots of clothes, most of them covering everything but their face and some covering everything but their eyes
Zero alcohol
There are lots of other differences, but those four seem to be most directly impacted by religion.
Based on conversations we had with locals some more interesting things:
Unemployment is about 35% (wow!). There are lots of people wandering around aimlessly
Main industries are tourism, fishing, architecture, mining phosphate, and exporting crafts
Everyone speaks Arabic, most people speak French and lots of people speak Spanish and English too. It’s amazing how multi-lingual the country is
The immigrants into the country are “African” as they call them meaning from further south and are dark skinned
Moroccans look very middle eastern and so do the native Berbers, many of whom still live in the desert, hills, etc in tribes
I couldn’t help but think that it’s probably very similar conditions we’re fighting in in the Middle East: Arabic, mosques everywhere, densely packed houses in mazes of alleyways, multi-layered square houses with open courtyards, no windows, and used flat roofs. With the density and confusion in a medina like that it would be incredibly hard to find who you’re fighting and handle them. It is crazy to think about.
Oh, and the Moroccan food is unbelievable. Some of the best food we’ve had!
Visitting Morocco was an unbelievable experience. It was eye opening learning abut Islamic and eastern traditions, seeing a very poor economy up close, and experiencing over-the-top hospitality from every Moroccan we encountered.
The most important phrase to know as a white person in Morocco? “La shukraan” in Arabic or “No thank you” in English :)
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!
