Frauenkirche - Bombed in WWII and just recently, completed again. The black stones are from the original Frauenkirche, the tan are new.
Frauenkirche
On the Elbe at Night
Friday, February 10, 2012
Dresden, Germany
Frauenkirche - Bombed in WWII and just recently, completed again. The black stones are from the original Frauenkirche, the tan are new.
Frauenkirche
On the Elbe at Night
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Yes, it's that cold...
that the canals in Amsterdam are frozen over and people are skating on them! How crazy! Look! Our friends are going there this weekend to do the same!
our creek where the dogs usually play
completely frozen and snow covered!
our creek where the dogs usually play
completely frozen and snow covered!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Fes.Fotos
fesian flats
all the men wore these cloaks with pointed hoods... yes, creepy
saffron
in the medinah... in the midst of being scammed.... before the clothes were removed by our little friend
ryad salama. pictures really don't do this courtyard justice.
ryad salama
reflections at our ryad
outside of the medinah wall
mosques and the call to prayer
Tea ALL the time
oranges for sale
plates for sale
Walked up a few random steps beside a busy, busy street and what did we find? A shepperd...
...and his sheep
Cafe Clock
yes, those are what you think they are. they make soup out of them after the weekly sacrifice. i know...
A was so excited about the brain. 'Brains, Casey, Brains, Brains, Get the Brains, Did you get them?! Brains'
fragrant and delicious - rose water
camel meat available today
dates. dates. and more dates.
cooking school attendees
a trip to the public oven
the dessert we made - Pastilla sheet with fruit and yogurt
Apricot & Prune Tangine w/Beef - the main dish we cooked in cooking school. More meals learned, but not pictured. My favorite: Zaalouk Salad. WOW! Seriously delicious. Recipe to come!
Monday, February 6, 2012
26 and 30
This year for our birthdays, we decided to head to Dresden and Wroclaw. The trip was GREAT, but really, the weekend before our birthdays. So on our actual birthdays, we had mini-celebrations here!!
For my birthday, the snow god of Germany decided to produce! WOOHOO!! I love the snow. A surprised me by coming home from work early! We had lunch, played in the snow with the pups, made brandy bundt cake (delicious), watched a movie (the Ides of March), ate cheese with bread for dinner, and the neighbors came over for some wine and hanging out. It was a low key, but enjoyable night.
For A's birthday, I surprised him by getting a BASKIN ROBBINS ice cream birthday cake. Of course the one year it is difficult to get an ice cream cake (I KNOW I could've made one.. but come on, I would have had to do that on MY birthday) , he is DYING for an ice cream cake. Since I went to Landstuhl to see the McMurry girls a few days before, I got the cake from base. It worked out perfectly. I also got him a sushi making kit, so we made our own sushi for dinner. Our expectataions were not super high, so we were really surprised when it turned out absolutely delicious. Again, the neighrbos came over to hang out, have some wine and cake, and 'congratulate' Alex on his 30 years (Germans so funny about birthdays - I just love it!). Gosh, I really hope we have such great neighbors when we move back to America. We've been so lucky here!
It was the last year of birthdays in Germany ... sad. But we have lived it up.
A using his new sushi making equipment
The rolls turned out amazingly beautiful AND delicious... although the picture doesn't do it justice
A's Ice Cream Cake + my flowers from Michaella
Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Cake - how very American!
Jill lighting the '30'
Surprise from the Ilbertz'!
Snow in Kasel - FINALLY!!
My birthday dinner - Cheese and Wine! Of course.
Pups in the Snow!
Got to hang out with my favorite girlies the day before... but only Ms. Claire pictured
For my birthday, the snow god of Germany decided to produce! WOOHOO!! I love the snow. A surprised me by coming home from work early! We had lunch, played in the snow with the pups, made brandy bundt cake (delicious), watched a movie (the Ides of March), ate cheese with bread for dinner, and the neighbors came over for some wine and hanging out. It was a low key, but enjoyable night.
For A's birthday, I surprised him by getting a BASKIN ROBBINS ice cream birthday cake. Of course the one year it is difficult to get an ice cream cake (I KNOW I could've made one.. but come on, I would have had to do that on MY birthday) , he is DYING for an ice cream cake. Since I went to Landstuhl to see the McMurry girls a few days before, I got the cake from base. It worked out perfectly. I also got him a sushi making kit, so we made our own sushi for dinner. Our expectataions were not super high, so we were really surprised when it turned out absolutely delicious. Again, the neighrbos came over to hang out, have some wine and cake, and 'congratulate' Alex on his 30 years (Germans so funny about birthdays - I just love it!). Gosh, I really hope we have such great neighbors when we move back to America. We've been so lucky here!
It was the last year of birthdays in Germany ... sad. But we have lived it up.
A using his new sushi making equipment
The rolls turned out amazingly beautiful AND delicious... although the picture doesn't do it justice
A's Ice Cream Cake + my flowers from Michaella
Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Cake - how very American!
Jill lighting the '30'
Surprise from the Ilbertz'!
Snow in Kasel - FINALLY!!
My birthday dinner - Cheese and Wine! Of course.
Pups in the Snow!
Got to hang out with my favorite girlies the day before... but only Ms. Claire pictured
Saturday, February 4, 2012
culture shock...again
After our first visit to Morocco, we shouldn't be surprised...but we were... again. Now we know. This story is remarkably similar to when we were in Tangier.. did I post about that a few years again? I'll have to look back.. if not, I'll post it later.
We are staying in the medinah and there are very few tourists. Which is fine. But we stick out like sore thumbs. We look nothing like Moroccans, dress nothing like them, sound nothing like them. So as we walk down the street, people are constantly staring, begging, asking us things, trying to get us to go places, to buy things, etc etc.
Yesterday morning, we were meeting Joenan and Jeane, two other Americans that we came with, but that are staying at a different hotel, at the Blue Gate at a certain time. When we walked out of our hotel, a boy, about 16, met us on the streets and said something to Alex, who just didn't respond, or said no, or something along those lines. And we walked off toward the blue gate, and that was that. Or so we thought. Well, J&J were late. So we went to the bank, right near the Blue Gate. The line was long. I was worried we were going to miss our friends while we were waiting, so I kept going outside to check. The 16 year old boy we saw earlier was sitting outside of the bank. I came out twice and both times he asked me something in English... was I looking for my boyfriend? Was I looking for my two girlfriends? Each time I smiled and said nothing, went back inside, thought nothing of it. Finally, we were done at the bank and J&J made it to the Blue Gate. We started walking through the medinah, looking at the stores, etc, and the same 16 year old boy stopped and started talking to us. He said, oh you finally found your friends. I didn't really know what he was talking about until later, when Jeane said he had been outside their hotel earlier on the way to the Blue Gate. Weird. Well, we kept strolling through the medinah, shopping, not shopping, talking, taking pictures, touristy things (there is no point in trying to hide it - we are OBVIOUSLY tourists), all along the boy walking with us, yapping, talking, whatever. I think nothing of this. So we come to a fork in the road and are debating on going on way, the boy telling us to go another. He tells us the way we want to go, everything is closed because it is Holy Day (which is true), so we should go the other way. He kept saying, I'm not an official guide, I don't want money, etc etc. Of course we knew he would want money, but he is a 16 year old kid. Ok we'll give him 5 bucks. Ya know? So we follow him and he takes us to all these little stops, where most likely he got kickbacks from our visit and our purchases. We go to a tannery, a jewelery maker, a spice guy, a guy that works with argon trees, etc etc. Well, after an hour or two, we are sick of this. While we are at the jewelery store, A and I are waiting outside and the boy disappears. Apparently a cop was walking around and hsi lookouts told him to leave so he won't get thrown in jail. A local man tells us that snice he is not an official guide, him walking around with us, showing us around, taking us to his friends shops where he most likely gets kickbacks is illegal. After his lookouts tell him the cop is gone, he comes back, laughing. At this point, Joenan doesnt want to spend anymore money buying things (we have bought nothing at this point - only waiting while J&J shop). So we say we are hungry. The boy tries to get us to go to his friend's place, supposedly with a terrace overlooking the mosque. We had a recommendation from another traveler and wanted to go there. He tells us over and over again that it is closed. But we saw it earlier and it was not. So we still want to go to Thami's, the place we heard about earlier. He says fine, but I will see you again because it is closed. At this point, we are obviously parting ways. We are walking back to the main stret, he is still trying to get us to go to Fez Lounge, his friend's place. He finally realizes we are not going to do what he wants. So he says over and over again, Something for me? (expecting to be paid - like A & I had assumed). He is going to each of us individually saying, something for me, something for me, over and over again. Alex gives him 20 dirham, the equivalent of 2 euros. Not much for us, but a relatively good amount for them, especially for walking around with us for 2 hours. He throws is on the ground and says, this is nothing, nothing, 20 dirham can get me nothing. All an act because we see his friend quickly pick up the money and put it in his pocket. So now he is at me, and says, something for me? I say, my husband just paid you. He goes onto Jeane. She doesn't speak, just keeps walking. They want to give him nothing. He starts grabbing her jacket, grabbing her bag of things that she bought. He rips the bag. He has turned bright red, he is so very angry. Continually he says, something for me? He started to get VERY angry, turning bright red, saying, oh you think you're clever, something for me? He gets in front of us, stops walking, and starts taking off his clothes. He loses his jacket, his shoes, he starts to unzip his pants. We keep walking. Something for me? Something for me? At this point, I am scared. There are other kids around, but we can't tell if they are his friends or his enemies. We keep walking, faster and faster. We turn the corner after he has taken off lots of his clothes, and two little girls who were passing as all this has been going on, say, RUN. So we walk, very, very fast. He comes up to us again. Grabbing Jeane and her bag and her jacket. She gives him 5 euros, the equivalent of 50dirham, and says, this is all I have. He doesn't haves shoes on and we are close to the main shopping street, plus he now has 70dirham, so he stops following us. We keep speed walking, almost running, until we get to Thami's, the place we wanted to eat, which was OPEN, of course.
At this point, we are all running on adrenaline. I was scared. J&J were scared. I won't speak for A, but let's get real. It was scary. We were in the middle of the medinah, not knowing where we are, not speaking the language, no street signs. It was scary. So we sit down and order food. As we eat, I am constantly looking for the boy to come back. He never does. However, a British couple who walked with us to the tannery (we separate after that, the boy stayed with us, they escaped), passed by our table at Thami's to say hello. They asked us where we went, we told them what happened. The girl was so very surprised. The man, not so much. He said he was here before and the same thing happened, except the 'unofficial' and unwanted tour guide held him and his friend at knife point until they got to the ATM and made them give him 50dirham, the equivalent of 5euros. So compared to that, well, our experience wasn't that scary!
After lunch and for the rest of the day while having some Moroccoan tea at our hotel, having an early dinner at a Cafe, and doing more walking and sightseeing, we kept talking about him, thining about it, and expecting to see him again, which we never did. A and I were not surprised that he asked for money. We knew that would happen. J&J were soo surprised he wanted money. I was so surprised that he got so angry and so ugly so fast. Losing his clothes in the streets? Wow. The more I thought about him, the more sad I got for him. What a life.
Now, it is our second full day in Fes. We are sight seeing outside of the Medinah today, so perhaps it won't be the poor of the poor. We shall see... Maybe we'll have another crazy story.
And just in case you forgot about what happened when we were in Morocco last time, here's the story: http://wherearetherapaljes.blogspot.com/2010/07/living-in-foreign-country-is-culture.html
We are staying in the medinah and there are very few tourists. Which is fine. But we stick out like sore thumbs. We look nothing like Moroccans, dress nothing like them, sound nothing like them. So as we walk down the street, people are constantly staring, begging, asking us things, trying to get us to go places, to buy things, etc etc.
Yesterday morning, we were meeting Joenan and Jeane, two other Americans that we came with, but that are staying at a different hotel, at the Blue Gate at a certain time. When we walked out of our hotel, a boy, about 16, met us on the streets and said something to Alex, who just didn't respond, or said no, or something along those lines. And we walked off toward the blue gate, and that was that. Or so we thought. Well, J&J were late. So we went to the bank, right near the Blue Gate. The line was long. I was worried we were going to miss our friends while we were waiting, so I kept going outside to check. The 16 year old boy we saw earlier was sitting outside of the bank. I came out twice and both times he asked me something in English... was I looking for my boyfriend? Was I looking for my two girlfriends? Each time I smiled and said nothing, went back inside, thought nothing of it. Finally, we were done at the bank and J&J made it to the Blue Gate. We started walking through the medinah, looking at the stores, etc, and the same 16 year old boy stopped and started talking to us. He said, oh you finally found your friends. I didn't really know what he was talking about until later, when Jeane said he had been outside their hotel earlier on the way to the Blue Gate. Weird. Well, we kept strolling through the medinah, shopping, not shopping, talking, taking pictures, touristy things (there is no point in trying to hide it - we are OBVIOUSLY tourists), all along the boy walking with us, yapping, talking, whatever. I think nothing of this. So we come to a fork in the road and are debating on going on way, the boy telling us to go another. He tells us the way we want to go, everything is closed because it is Holy Day (which is true), so we should go the other way. He kept saying, I'm not an official guide, I don't want money, etc etc. Of course we knew he would want money, but he is a 16 year old kid. Ok we'll give him 5 bucks. Ya know? So we follow him and he takes us to all these little stops, where most likely he got kickbacks from our visit and our purchases. We go to a tannery, a jewelery maker, a spice guy, a guy that works with argon trees, etc etc. Well, after an hour or two, we are sick of this. While we are at the jewelery store, A and I are waiting outside and the boy disappears. Apparently a cop was walking around and hsi lookouts told him to leave so he won't get thrown in jail. A local man tells us that snice he is not an official guide, him walking around with us, showing us around, taking us to his friends shops where he most likely gets kickbacks is illegal. After his lookouts tell him the cop is gone, he comes back, laughing. At this point, Joenan doesnt want to spend anymore money buying things (we have bought nothing at this point - only waiting while J&J shop). So we say we are hungry. The boy tries to get us to go to his friend's place, supposedly with a terrace overlooking the mosque. We had a recommendation from another traveler and wanted to go there. He tells us over and over again that it is closed. But we saw it earlier and it was not. So we still want to go to Thami's, the place we heard about earlier. He says fine, but I will see you again because it is closed. At this point, we are obviously parting ways. We are walking back to the main stret, he is still trying to get us to go to Fez Lounge, his friend's place. He finally realizes we are not going to do what he wants. So he says over and over again, Something for me? (expecting to be paid - like A & I had assumed). He is going to each of us individually saying, something for me, something for me, over and over again. Alex gives him 20 dirham, the equivalent of 2 euros. Not much for us, but a relatively good amount for them, especially for walking around with us for 2 hours. He throws is on the ground and says, this is nothing, nothing, 20 dirham can get me nothing. All an act because we see his friend quickly pick up the money and put it in his pocket. So now he is at me, and says, something for me? I say, my husband just paid you. He goes onto Jeane. She doesn't speak, just keeps walking. They want to give him nothing. He starts grabbing her jacket, grabbing her bag of things that she bought. He rips the bag. He has turned bright red, he is so very angry. Continually he says, something for me? He started to get VERY angry, turning bright red, saying, oh you think you're clever, something for me? He gets in front of us, stops walking, and starts taking off his clothes. He loses his jacket, his shoes, he starts to unzip his pants. We keep walking. Something for me? Something for me? At this point, I am scared. There are other kids around, but we can't tell if they are his friends or his enemies. We keep walking, faster and faster. We turn the corner after he has taken off lots of his clothes, and two little girls who were passing as all this has been going on, say, RUN. So we walk, very, very fast. He comes up to us again. Grabbing Jeane and her bag and her jacket. She gives him 5 euros, the equivalent of 50dirham, and says, this is all I have. He doesn't haves shoes on and we are close to the main shopping street, plus he now has 70dirham, so he stops following us. We keep speed walking, almost running, until we get to Thami's, the place we wanted to eat, which was OPEN, of course.
At this point, we are all running on adrenaline. I was scared. J&J were scared. I won't speak for A, but let's get real. It was scary. We were in the middle of the medinah, not knowing where we are, not speaking the language, no street signs. It was scary. So we sit down and order food. As we eat, I am constantly looking for the boy to come back. He never does. However, a British couple who walked with us to the tannery (we separate after that, the boy stayed with us, they escaped), passed by our table at Thami's to say hello. They asked us where we went, we told them what happened. The girl was so very surprised. The man, not so much. He said he was here before and the same thing happened, except the 'unofficial' and unwanted tour guide held him and his friend at knife point until they got to the ATM and made them give him 50dirham, the equivalent of 5euros. So compared to that, well, our experience wasn't that scary!
After lunch and for the rest of the day while having some Moroccoan tea at our hotel, having an early dinner at a Cafe, and doing more walking and sightseeing, we kept talking about him, thining about it, and expecting to see him again, which we never did. A and I were not surprised that he asked for money. We knew that would happen. J&J were soo surprised he wanted money. I was so surprised that he got so angry and so ugly so fast. Losing his clothes in the streets? Wow. The more I thought about him, the more sad I got for him. What a life.
Now, it is our second full day in Fes. We are sight seeing outside of the Medinah today, so perhaps it won't be the poor of the poor. We shall see... Maybe we'll have another crazy story.
And just in case you forgot about what happened when we were in Morocco last time, here's the story: http://wherearetherapaljes.blogspot.com/2010/07/living-in-foreign-country-is-culture.html
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