Deutschland, España, and Morocco!

Officially back in good old Copenhagen!  I started off my travel break in Munich, Germany at Oktoberfest, which was quite an experience that you can't even use words to describe.  There are huge "tents" for each of the major beer producers and they basically sell food and "steins" of beer (which are huge mugs). If you want to get into the tents, you have to wake up and be in line at 7:30 in the morning on Saturday because it is so unbelievably packed.  Once you get inside the tent, you try to find a table and then get served, and the whole time people are cheering and singing songs, and there's live music.  Everyone is dressed in these ridiculous outfits (yes, I actually broke and bought one to wear too) but its completely normal because everyone is wearing them!   The girls have on the German dresses with cookie hearts around their necks with German phrases on it (mine said dreamer), while the guys wear lederhosen.  Outside of the beer tents, it's a huge festival with all this food, arcade games, and crazy rides.  It was also an amazing time because it gave me the chance to meet up with all my Muhlenberg friends who are studying abroad.

Inside a beer tent (Hofbräuhaus)

 

Our German Dresses!

The outside of a beer "tent"

Muhlenberg Reunion!

Oktoberfest by night (Yes, I went on the crazy spinning ride)!

From Munich I flew to Barcelona (with my connecting flight getting cancelled and three flight delays- I ended up in three other cities before Barcelona).  I must say, Barcelona is my favorite part of Spain.  When we were there, we went to all these beautiful places, but two of my favorites were La Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell.  They were both designed by the architect Gaudi, and La Sagrada Familia is actually still under construction (but is already absolutely breathtaking).  Barcelona as a city is amazing, and you can't walk more than a few blocks without seeing an awesome statue or museum or cathedral.  We also went into this cool market called La Boqueria, that reminded me of an indoor Spanish version of the Italian market in Philadelphia.  Pretty much the coolest place ever with cheap prices and great food (perfect for us traveling on a budget).

La Sagrada Familia

Parc Guell and Gaudi's famous lizard statue

View of La Sagrada Familia from Parc Guell

Peace to the world from the top of Parc Guell

Inside the market!

We took an overnight train to Madrid, and from Madrid did day trips to Toledo (which was once the capital of Spain) and a ferry to Morocco.  

Toledo is this old city on top of a hill surrounded by a huge stone wall overlooking the Spanish countryside.  It has the most amazing history and architecture, and is known by its history of the three religions: Catholicism, Islam, and Judaism.  You can see the churches that used to be mosques and synagogues that were remodeled around the time of the Spanish inquisition.  In addition, there are ruins of Roman baths from the time when Toledo was part of the Roman empire.  Definitely a pretty cool not as well known city.

Looking out over "Old City" Toledo

The Roman Baths

Morocco was definitely a very special experience: it was one that I really am appreciative to been able to have done, but is something I think you only have to experience once.  Our ferry arrived (so yes, I went to AFRICA)! and we went to the Medina and then walked around the old marketplace and discovered some awesome shops, and really discovered the Moroccan culture.  We were only there for a few hours, because we didn't want to risk being there anytime other than in the middle of the day.  It was an awesome trip, but I don't have pictures to show because I didn't want to worry about my camera!

View from the road of The Strait of Gibraltar looking at Tangier, Morocco in the distance

The rest of the trip was spent exploring Madrid which, although it is a huge Spanish city (and the capital of Spain), is so different from Barcelona.  We went to El Prado and El Museo de La Reina Sofia which are both art museums.  It was awesome being able to see the real-life paintings that famous Spanish artists such as Picasso and Goya did right there in front of you.  We also spent a lot of time walking around discovering the city.  The Parque de Retiro was a lot of fun and we boated around a lake in the middle, and we went for a free walking tour all over the city with people from our hostel.  We made fun little picnic lunches from just going into a grocery store and buying a baguette and some lunch meat or cheese and spreading out in one of the many parks.  We experienced tapas and paellas and even got to have some Sangria!

Churros con Chocolate!  The most popular snack in Madrid!

..... it was verrrry good!

Outside the Royal Palace

Sunset in the Botanical Jardines de Sabatini and near the Royal Palace

A band in the middle of Puerta de Sol!

Standing in the most middle part of Spain

Our 3 € picnic lunch!

Rowing the boat in Parque de Retiro

Overall, this trip was an absolutely amazing experience in which I met people from all over the world, learned all about different cultures, and seriously understood the meaning of expanding your horizons.  It was fun to dust off my Spanish (although it was still pretty rough), and just learned to take everything in! 

Til imorgen!