Terrorism in Morocco

       During my winter break in February, I was lucky enough to take a trip to Morocco. The first stop was Marrakesh, a popular city, especially for tourists. While there, we spent most of our time in the main square, Jamma el-Fna, where we dined, shopped, and enjoyed the lively street performers. One of those very restaurants that we visited was blown up in late April by the al Qaeda. While this news is not particularly new to me, it's still chilling to know that a place that I had visited so recently was attacked, and many innocent people were unrightfully killed. While life should not be lived through scenarios of what-if's, I am often curious of my luck in Morocco.

http://www.france24.com/en/20110428-morocco-death-toll-gas-cannister-explode-marrakesh-djemaa-fna#

Listen to Rihanna and Bring Your Umbrella

     So Meghan and I decided to take a break from our horrible lives in Paris and took a cheap little deal from the devil (Ryan Air) to Scotland (approximately 12 euros one way). Edinbrough, a city we had planned almost nothing beforehand for, ended up being the best city on our tour of Scotland, N. Ireland, and Ireland. We went on a free walking tour around the city and heard tales of a darker time when serial killers and stalkers roamed the tangled streets and alleyways. We also saw where J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series and the graveyard that she walked around to gather names. The most interesting one was the headstone with "Thomas Riddle" scrawled across it (the main villain in the series).
    Our second city on this tour of the UK was Belfast in N. Ireland. The city was incredibly downtrodden and weary after years of painstaking efforts to assimilate the Catholics and Protestants. The first night we arrived we decided to grab some food and watch a rugby game, assured that we would be left alone after a light filament covered our skins after hours of traveling by ferry and bus. We were quite mistaken though. A group of men, all dressed in kilts, surrounded us and informed us that we would be joining them for one of their mate's bachelor party. While we weren't entirely sure that this was the night we had planned, we ended up going along and having a really fun night, even if it was in Belfast.
      We spent the next day exploring the city and the shipyard where the Titanic was built. We were soaked and in desperate need of shepherds pie by the end of the day. We later found out that through our hostel we could get a free tour of Giant's Causeway and then a free ride from them to Dublin. We were beyond thrilled to save a few extra bucks and get to the next city on our list without sufficient planning or effort.
      The bus set out at 9 the next morning and we were ready to site see our way through N. Ireland, rain and all. Our first stop included a rope bridge and breathtaking views of the coast where we could once again see Scotland. We got back on the bus and drove to Giant's Causeway where volcanic activity made rocks form into these hexagonal shapes that jut towards the sky. The last stop on our journey towards Dublin was Londonderry. We opted to show ourselves the rainy city via map rather than pay a guide. We walked through the streets with the war murals and the square that Bloody Sunday took place in. Finally we made it Dublin and passed out in our beds after grabbing a snack.
    The next day we walked around and did the Guinness tour. The Queen of England also made an appearance, which means we witnessed the first royal to visit Dublin in over 100 years. We waited outside of Trinity University for three hours until she finally appeared, soaked as usual from the on and off again rain. She drove by and waved from in side her car (it wasn't rolled down either, let down). We jet packed it back to our hostel where we left our luggage in order to make it to the airport in time for take off. Unfortunately for us though, she, and her 30 million euros worth of security, had other plans. We weren't able to cross the bridge that we needed to  and got stuck in a crowd that were on the edge of starting a riot by shouting "Guillotine the Queen." After another hour of waiting, we were finally let through and made it to our hostel. We made it, safely and on time, and were grateful to witness history in the making.

Do You Want to get Incepted?

    Today in Paris we found ourselves looking for something to do that was 1. cheap and 2. entertaining, so we took off and went to all the places in Paris that scenes from the movie Inception were filmed at. Our first stop was the bridge Bir Hakeim...

The next was at the cafe that Paige and Leo were sitting at while it blew up around them. They changed the outside of the cafe for the movie though.

Where they folded the buildings and streets.

Bubbly in Champagne

    This weekend we went to the Champagne region of France to tour some champagne caves and distributors for my 21st. Not your typical crazy, power hour, pass out kind of abuse of rights birthday eh? Nonetheless I managed to make it crazy, not in the drinking sense, but in the way that I screwed up our hotel and touring reservations, leaving us slightly homeless 90 km away from what we now call home. Regardless, we had a great weekend trying to overcome these obstacles and getting tours of Pommery, Veuve Clicquot, and Bergere.

NYC Takes the Cake Apparently...

    I came to Europe for an adventure, but also to open my eyes to new cultures and people. This was an escape from what I knew and the life I had become all too accustomed to. All of us from the US thought that the other kids at our school would be, at the very least, impressed with our courage to travel to another continent, leaving behind family and friends mind you, to attend a foreign school and experience their culture. We didn't expect to continuously hear how stupid and ignorant Americans are on at least a bi-weekly basis. While I by no means claim to be more enlightened or beyond their intelligence,  I do know that I am competent enough to realize I am not stupid or ignorant. Surprisingly enough I have actually heard more slurs against other races and cultures than I have in the US. Another realization that I've come across is how few people know where states are in America. Many Europeans give Americans a hard time for not knowing where certain countries are, but they are just as guilty as we are. While our states may fly under one united flag, we each hold distinct and different values from one another and I have not once seen a European recognize that.
     While I can often stand being called a typical American, I cannot stand the flack thrown my way for not visiting NYC yet. Yes, it may be a wonderful and vibrant city housing an impressive 20 million some people, it is by no means as glamourous to me as visiting European countries and cities. While I would love to visit it someday, I just haven't had the opportunity to fly across the country yet. After hearing how dumb I am for not visiting NYC in my 20 years, I ask them if they have visited every major city in Europe (a continent, as mentioned earlier, much smaller than the US alone) and the answer is often times 'no.' So to all of my new worldly friends reading this, please stop the annoying harassment it's getting old fast. 

The Opposite of Getting Arrested?

     Easter day was filled with magical surprises, but the best part of the day included a boat ride from Parisian cops on the Seine river. While your first thought may be "who she finally got arrested," the outcome is the complete opposite in fact. Let me explain to you how this all happened. So my friend meets a guy out one night on the town. He ends up being a river cop and offers to take her and a friend out on the boat to look at the monuments (Eiffel tower, Notre Dame, Bir Hakeim, etc etc) lit up at night. They stupidly did donuts in the bay and let us drive the boat too :) Can't believe how professional the police are in France...

Red Lights and Van Gogh Sites

     After hosting my two friends in Paris for the weekend, we hopped on the train to Amsterdam at 5 in morning. Directly after dropping off our bags at the hostel, we got in line at the Anne Frank Museum. The museum was centered around the rooms that the Frank and van Pels families went into hiding. I cried. end of story.
      After the museum we went and got our favorite Jewish treat--bagels and cream cheese to commemorate our tour. Then a pit stop at a coffee shop that hosted an Ocean's Twelve scene. We walked around the city for the rest of the day only stopping for dinner and a Heineken of course (the brewery is in Amsterdam and pretty much owns the city with its name plastered on every corner).
      The next day we did some more walking and found what was supposedly the best Doner Kebab stand in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, we were mislead. Then we we went to the Van Gogh museum for a few hours. I was surprised because often times I am not moved/touched/affected/what have you by art, but felt in tune with his work. Maybe because many scenes can be attributed to his stays in Paris and the south of France and are easily recognizable.
      My friends left early in the morning on the 20th so I walked around the city aimlessly until 2 in the afternoon when my train left. Surprisingly I made it back to Paris safely and on time.

Amsterdam takeaways:
1. If someone sexually harasses you that is staying in your hostel, it is nearly impossible to get them kicked out.
2. The red light district is entertaining to walk through, not so much for the women in the windows, but for the creepy men who are actually purchasing their services.
3. Amsterdam has friendlier people than Minnesota.
4. One may only smoke in their own house or a coffee shop