Category: Travel

TANGIER, MOROCCO

Tangier was so much nicer than our Marrakech experience, thank god. We went straight to our hostel, dropped our bags off, and felt the weight of the world  literally fall from our shoulders. Tangier’s on the coast, so while it was still about 115 degrees every day, it felt so much more bearable (meaning we could actually step outside).

Our hostel was really cool–I’m confused about my pictures because I feel like I took way more, but I can’t find them! But from what little you can see, not a bad place with not a bad view.

We went to Hotel Continental, which is steeped in artistic history, and was such a cool sight. The whole trip was strange though–we were always the only people wherever we went. Except at the beach! But Hotel Continental is such a tourist destination, it was shocking to find it completely empty. Other than our server we didn’t see one other person in the entire place. Though now it makes sense because I talked to some locals and literally EVERYONE had bailed because of the heat wave. The city was EMPTY.

There was also a cool gift shop run by this guy who knew all the area codes in the major American cities. I got a really cool print, but lost it on the flight home ? I’m trying to contact them to see if I can get a replacement.

Also, we got a bit lost in the medina (it’s SO confusing), and again a bunch of locals offered to help. Katie, annoyed at being lost and constantly harassed and followed, asked directly how much they wanted to be paid to take us to the hotel. This directness I think caught them off guard, and everyone quickly assured us it was a free offer. We did this the rest of the time and it seemed to work really well.

After a cold drink of water a few rounds of golf, we decided it was still too hot, and we’d head for the beach. This was my first time swimming in an Muslim nation, and it was such a strange experience. I wore a one piece and shorts, and was still completely out of place and honestly, the people there were not happy with me. Then I noticed–women were swimming fully clothed. No special swimwear, nothing. Just jumping in with pants and shirts and everything. (This was when we realized our one piece/shorts combo was a no go, and gave up on the beach.) Also, there was a camel! I’m sure this is for some sad, touristy reason, but it was cool to see. And it was the first time I’ve been in the Med!

We had a delicious dinner of couscous and tajine, loaded up on local chocolate (trying the chocolate of every country should be on my 30 before 30), and went back to the hostel and watched a few episodes of Community while showering in cold water every 15 minutes.

After a fitful night of sleep (we were on the roof, which was gorgeous, but the only way to have any air flow was to leave the door open… to the roof deck where our fellow travelers were drinking, smoking, and playing guitar until the wee hours of the night), we started seriously considering our next move. We were supposed to head into Fez for a day, which was averaging about 130 degrees, and then Casablanca (about the same as Tangier), and then back to fly out of Marrakech–all in two days. We went through a lot of options–including, honestly, taking a ferry to Spain and getting ourselves a nice, highly air conditioned, room. Eventually we decided to go to Fez as planned, but fly back to London from there a day early. This meant we only missed Casablanca, which was a shame but we knew with the heat we’d not enjoy it regardless.

Again, here, we kind of failed. Fez was shockingly hot. I wouldn’t say we had really adjusted at all, but it still blew my mind it could be that hot. It was hard to breathe. No one was outside. One local laughed at us for even being there, saying the people of Fez had left for better weather. We literally couldn’t walk more than a block or MAYBE two without having to stop… you might notice these are all excuses leading to the fact that we found the nearest hotel (pretty far outside the city), got lunch, played golf, I tried a beer, and then went straight to the airport. HOURS and HOURS early, we couldn’t even check in. It was just. so. hot.

We arrived back in London and it was freezing, and I promised myself to never complain about the cold British summers again. I am sad about this trip because I really do think we would have loved Morocco in any other circumstance. It almost feels like cheating to say I’ve been, but then I think about how burned (literally) into my mind it is, and just because I didn’t get to do all the tourist stuff, I definitely experienced Morocco.

ICELAND

ICELAND WAS AMAZING. Should I say it again? Iceland was amazing. Really, honestly, truly one of the best places I have ever been.

I met my best friend/roommate Katie there, and after a security snafu on the tarmac that resulted in the plane being delayed over three(!) hours, I landed in Keflavik at 2:00 am (and it was completely light out—so cool/disorienting!). Katie wasn’t due to arrive the next morning until around 7:00 am, so I took a shuttle the hour ride into Reykjavik and passed out.

The next morning, after a JOYOUS reunion with Katie (we hadn’t seen each other since I moved to London a few months before), we struck out into the city. We were staying pretty central in Reykjavik, so everything was well within walking distance which is probably the number one thing I look at when choosing a hostel. This one also happened to be a converted cookie factory, which is also a huge plus.

Bæjarins Beztu hot dog, Iceland

The first day in the city was enough to feel like we had a pretty good grasp of the layout—it was a lot like Guatemala, small enough to feel instantly at home and familiar. I will say Iceland is INSANELY expensive. Like, $20 for bacon and eggs, minimum. So while our hostel and rental car were cheap, the actual day to day costs really balanced it out.

The next day we set off bright and early, and figured out how to take a bus to the tiny airport, where we had a rental car waiting. Isn’t it fun trying other cities’ public transport? I’ve found almost everywhere I’ve been people have been really kind and eager to help (getting off at the wrong bus/train/subway stop is a personal skill of mine).

Then we drove the Golden Circle. This was the best day of our trip by far. Mostly because we planned terribly and packed all our big activities into one 24 hour stretch. But somehow, everything lined up perfectly. The drive was super fun, we listened to so much T-Swift, saw the most gorgeous countryside, and I look back at it and remember feeling so happy, so alive, and so connected to the world.

The first place we went was Kerid, a volcanic crater in southern Iceland. It was, predictably, gorgeous, and the colors were SO vivid.

Kerid crater, Iceland

Then we went to Geysir, which we were lucky enough to see go off about four times, and waterfall Gullfoss, which was huge and beautiful. I know I keep saying everything was gorgeous and beautiful, but LOOK.

Geysir, golden circle, Iceland

Little Geysir, golden circle, Iceland

Gullfoss waterfall, Iceland

Gullfoss waterfall, Iceland

Gullfoss waterfall, Iceland

Then we headed to Pingvellir national park, where we had signed up to go snorkeling in FREEZING water in between the two tectonic plates of North America and Europe. I’d never been snorkeling or scuba diving or any of that before. Honestly large bodies of water kind of freak me out (pretty unavoidable since I grew up on Martha’s Vineyard and have seen Jaws). But this was SO COOL. The water was runoff from the waterfall we had seen earlier, and it took 40 years to filter through the surrounding rock to make it into where we were. The result was completely clear, filtered water, that revealed incredibly vibrant colors below.

Snorkeling in Thingvellir National Park, Iceland

Snorkeling in Thingvellir National Park, Iceland

Katie and I swam relatively fast, finishing before anyone else in our group, because we had to start the two hour journey to the Blue Lagoon! The Blue Lagoon is a natural geothermal hot spring, that has been turned into a spa. It’s definitely touristy—it has a bar in the middle of the water(!), and is fairly expensive even for their cheapest package. However we decided it was something we couldn’t miss, and I’m SO glad we went. It was so relaxing, so WARM after our freezing snorkeling adventures, and was something I’d have really regretted not doing.

Blue Lagoon, Iceland

The next morning we slept in, and explored the city further, and we went to a delicious fish restaurant for dinner—Saegreifinn. We had their (amazing) lobster bisque, some swordfish skewers, and tried whale steak. The whale steak looked like regular steak but tasted incredibly fishy, I really didn’t like it, and couldn’t get over the fact that I was eating whale (edited in 2020 that after further education I would never eat whale now). The place itself was cool and relaxed; it was really crowded, but it only took a few minutes to find a spot in the family style seating. However we were sat next to two men from Texas who were educating the young Australian girls at our table about the truth about 9/11 and Obama’s Kenyan citizenship. They then went on to say it was nice to talk to Australian women because American women were always so irrational and defensive. (I was more than happy to let these men escape the burden of a conversation with an American woman.)

We spent the day eating the Worlds Best hotdogs and playing our epic, 4 year long game of Golf. Then we capped off our trip to a bar that has some (silly) personal significance. It was such a casual evening, and so light out, that even though we had about four drinks over many ours, we were shocked to discovered that we were 1. kind of drunk and 2. it was nearly midnight and our ride to the airport was coming in just over three hours. I honestly don’t know how people handle 24 hours of sunlight–it was so disorienting!

Reykjavik, IcelandReykjavik, Iceland
Bottom line, Iceland was FANTASTIC and I highly recommend everyone try to make the trip. Wow! air has tons of affordable options, if you book far enough out/at the right time of year. I’m already desperate to go back, except maybe next time in the winter to see the Northern Lights!

After that Katie and I went to London for a few days before heading out to Morocco.

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

A WEEKEND IN ISTANBUL

I went to Turkey! And (not so) shockingly, it was amazing. We stayed in Istanbul, a beautiful, friendly city, that wasn’t what I expected, really. Not that I knew what to expect, but it felt much more European than I had imagined. It was fairly reserved–even in the bazaars (spice Bazaar was incredible), the people working the shops weren’t very aggressive, and when they were it was with more of a wry humor. I felt much more at home there than I thought I would–you think of Istanbul as this far off, distant land. And while it is steeped in history, I felt much less foreign than I have other places.

I went with my friend from Los Angeles, Lee. We worked together a few years ago at a talent agency, she became my work wife, and we ended up quitting on the same day (couldn’t be without each other for even a minute). She is a super badass and went to work for Wendy Davis’ campaign in Texas, and since then she’s been traveling around Europe. It was so amazing to see her in that context. She had hiked the Scottish highlands alone, ridden a camel across the Sahara, also alone (well, that was with a tour group, but she was without a companion). Since I last saw her she’s been to dozens of countries, fallen in and out of love, learned a bit of a few languages–all while living out of a backpack.

Blue Mosque, Istanbul Istanbul made me want to see more of Turkey, and I left happy with what I’d seen and done, but very aware to really “crack” the city, I’d need to spend much more time there. Which is my biggest problem–weekend trips are nice to see and do new things, but I think there’s a big difference between being a tourist and a traveler, and I think to really have traveled to a place you need to spend a while, set some roots, make some friends. Build a mini life. So while I love quick trips like this, I always leave just wanting more. Not necessarily a bad thing!

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

Blue Mosque, Istanbul  Istanbul  Istanbul

The only thing of note that I didn’t photograph was our trip to a Hammam. One of the Turkish woman from our hostel recommended it, and it was both the highlight of the trip and the strangest travel experience I’ve ever had. She warned us it wasn’t a place for tourists, and there was a total language barrier, which made it more confusing but also much more authentic feeling. We arrived and were mimed to undress and go sit in a room with a lot of mini baths in it. After about 45 minutes we thought maybe that was it–just a public place to go and bathe, so we tried to leave. Then about 10 woman came in and took turns washing and scrubbing each other and us. We never knew when it was our turn and kept thinking it was over before it actually was. Then I got sharp looks for using my towel to dry my feet, and ended up having to put my sandals on my wet feet–got me a few blisters, that! I left feeling incredibly clean but not exceptionally relaxed. All in all, a great experience though.