About me

I was born in Pennsylvania and lived there until I was 8 years old. I lived near my grandparents and lots of cousins. My fondest memories are times with family. At age 8 my family moved to New York. Every year we would go back to PA for Christmas and the whole family would gather in my grandparents tiny house. The rest of the week we would travel around to other Aunt and Uncles celebrating all week. To this day Christmas is my favorite time of year.

I have had many careers from working in medical manufacturing, school aide and librarian to health and wellness retail. I am a lifelong learner which inspired me to go back to school and graduate with a B.S. in Alternative Medicine. During that time I decided I wanted to pursue wellness coaching.

While working on that career change I am taking a journey and pursuing certification as a wellness coach. This site will follow that journey.

Wonder and discover til wonder discovers me.

Preparation for this trip!

To go on this trip I tried to think of all the things that I needed, what I was most afraid could happen and how to make things easier.

Luggage (suitcase, carry on that is also a backpack), crossbody bag and RFid pouch around my neck to hold credit cards and passport, clothes for the right weather, journal, shoes that were weather appropriate.
Places to stay, plane tickets making sure that when I landed the time was in enough daylight to find the place I'm staying, directions to the airbnb so I don't look like a tourist,
Packing clothes for 5 months with layers since it will be 50's in the Netherlands, 90's in Morocco and back to 50's in Argentina. Started looking for ways to save money. In the Netherlands you can purchase a pass that is good for a year and for one price you can get into over 500 museums. You can also purchase a month long pass to ride all trains, metro and buses in Amsterdam for one price. For a short time period you can get a City Card for 7 days of attractions and transportation.

Storyline

Here we go…

Made it to the Airbnb. One roommate is here. His name is Noah and he is from France and staying through July. Sara is arriving in April and staying for April and May so it will be the three of us for 2 months. Beautiful blooming trees on my way to the store. It’s spring. I saw daffodils too. Interesting note they keep the eggs on the shelf in the store not refrigerated. Having trouble putting pictures I take on this site. I’ll work on it.

Today I took a bus and metro to Amsterdam in the area of Waterlooplein. I walked a total of 10 miles! So many shops and cafes. It was like a giant Main street. Went in a catholic church with beautiful stained glass. A lot of people smoke cigarettes or vape. So many people bike everywhere which is great. Hard to figure out where to walk so you don’t get run over!

Today I went south to Utrecht. Another beautiful town with a huge mall and lots of streets with tons of shops and places to eat. It is great to see so many small businesses. I took a tour of the Domtoren which is a tower with bells. You climb 465 steps up to the top with gorgeous views of the city. On the way up we stopped in the carillon room and got the hear the bells play which they do every hour.

It is about an hour walk to Amsterdam from where I am staying. Today was int he 40’s but still not too bad for walking with lots of layers except for the few minutes that is snow/hail/rained altogether. The museum was great. Had interesting displays on culture and the history of the Dutch involvement in slavery and different trade routes. Also touched on art from around the world.

Delft is most know for the blue and white pottery. Two shops I went in the owners were painting the pieces in the shop. Very expensive so I opted for a picture and the memory. I saw my first windmill. Molon de Roos. You could climb up inside the windmill and stand out on the deck and see the windmill moving as well as great views of the city. I saw several churches and went in one of them with amazing stained glass and art. Absolutely beautiful. I also went to the Delft Botanical garden which was nice but its a bit early in the year so it was cold and not much was blooming. They did have a very nice greenhouse with tropical plants so it felt like Florida for a bit. Passed by a gate that has been there since 1400. Amazing to think that I stood where someone was 600 years ago!

Walked to Amsterdam and went to two museums. The first was the Willet-Holthuysen House. Small museum but allowed me to see how a wealthy family lived in the 1800’s. The garden was still in original form in the back of the house. The second museum was Allard Pierson. This museum had quite a lot. A small section on glass blowing and old pieces of blown glass. A exhibition called Not My Soul on slavery particularly on Suriname which was sad but also showed how strong and connected they were finding ways to keep their culture or create a new culture if it was stripped away. Finally there was an exhibit on Egyptian mummies and artifacts showing the similarities of many cultures as they progressed from 1000 BC up to 400 AD and the materials used from clay to bronze and copper as well as writing appearing on the pieces.

This was a great little town. Here I saw the newest looking houses so far. The highlight of this place is the castle Muidenslot. It was built in 1285. Not only could you see the original castle and uses like the dungeon but Hooft lived in the castle in the 17th century so they had period pieces and art from then as well. Hooft was a writer and was called the Dutch Shakespeare. I loved the gardens which had plants for food, dyes, medicine and flowers for decoration. I found St. John’s wort, butcher’s broom, wormwood and mullien. The town had some forts and a farm with a tiny store with a “vending machine” you could get milk straight from the cow unpasturized right into your bottle. It was rather cold today and windy. Hopefully, a bit warmer weather is coming.

By the afternoon today it was sunny and feeling a bit warmer. I started out walking into Amsterdam to the ARTIS Microbiota museum. Where this museum is there is another museum, an aquarium and a zoo. The Microbiota museum was great. It had lots of microscopes and covered viruses, bacteria and fungi. As you walked around you had a piece of paper to stamp with all the microbiota. That made it fun. Then I went to Frankendael Park. This park is only 30 minutes from where I am staying so I will definitely be back. In the back of the park are allotments. Little plots of land one right next to the other with little dirt alleys between them. There were around 150 little plots. They are all well established. On each plot there is usually a gate or some type of entryway and a little building. Sort of like a shed but with windows and often a table and chair or two. People can rent an allotment and have a garden or flowers or whatever they want to grow. You can’t walk on there space but all around them. It was like a little fairy land.

Today I visited 3 places. The first was the Museum van Loon. Another house with period painting and furniture and a garden. There was an old picture showing a tree that was dated as being planted in 1880. The tree was still there. I wonder what that tree has seen in 150 of growing there! Next was FOAM which had photography exhibits. The museum was small but the exhibit on photography from the Ukraine war was powerful. One photo was an empty frame that said “the picture that will never be” and referred to the fact that many of her friends would die in the war and wouldn’t be in the picture. Last I went to the archives. Very interesting timeline of events and also an exhibit showing the Jewish school where the Jewish were forced to go from 1941 to 43. I left there an happily accidentally found Bloemenmarkt. Its a huge market of flower bulbs and fresh flowers and seeds. That was awesome to see. You could buy a cannibus starter too! Right nearby was a beautiful church the Krijtberg that was so detailed inside. Last stop was a cappachino and a stroopwafel.

Today I visited 4 museums. the weather was cold so it was a good day to spend inside. The amount of history I saw today was mind-blowing. Started with another windmill Molen de Valk from 1743. Once again was able to see the windmill turning from up close. Next was the Wereldmuseum in Leiden which had a great exhibit on religion from around the world. Nest up was the Rijkmuseum Boekhaave. The history of science and medicine. So cool to see the microscope Van Leewenhook used. Last was the Rijkmuseum van Oudheden. Amazing exhibit on ancient Egypt. So neat to see the hieroglyphics and tombs. To think that I saw objects form around the world and spanning thousands of years. The Netherlands has incredible museums.

Another walk to Amsterdam. Started at the H’Art museum to look at some interesting photography. I never really took the time to look at much art. The stories behind why the artists made the art and what it stands for can be very interesting. I had a cappuchino and Dutch mini pancakes in the afternoon in a very crowded and touristy area. Then I went off to a more peaceful spot at the Hortus Botanicus. So many plants form around the world. The footprint was not that big but they fit so much in a small area. The US spreads everything out so much. It is so wasteful. I saw a 150 year old Ginko Biloba tree. They had a medicinal section and I wish I could read what each one was and what it was used for but the signs were all in Dutch and trying to bend over and translate each one wasn’t working. So I just enjoyed being around all the beautiful plants. There was also a butterfly house with so many butterflies. A reminder for all of us to spread our wings and fly.

I went back to Utrecht today. Very interesting museum called Speelklok that had a bunch of automaton music machines. They were quite amazing and sounded beautiful. The afternoon was gorgeous weather and I spent 3 hours walking around another botanical garden. This was the best one so far. An enormous rock garden built on top of an old fort. There were so many pathways to walk all over the place. Absolutely beautiful.

Today was a bit silly but I had found searching online that some guy started a project and then other people got on board and you can get a map to find these miniature people hidden all over the city. So I walked the town and found 34 of the 71 miniature people. Didn’t do too much else but a quick walk through the Natural museum which had an exhibit of mummified animals. Gotta say that was a little weird.

Very small town with only 1500 people who live within the actual fortress. So cool to see this town though. The whole town is surrounded by a moat. I did stop into 3 museums. The first was one of the forts which gave some good history. The poor town was destroyed and rebuilt 3 times. It was neat to know that Napoleon visited the town in 1811 so maybe I walked where he did. Another museum had all these old weights and things to weigh and measure with. I have decided the Netherlands is a hoarder of old things. The last museum was on the life of Comelius in the the 1600s. Apparently he was a philosopher and came up with the division of school ages and how to teach that we still use today. Learned something new!

Today I went to the cheese market in Alkmaar a tradition that has been going on since 1592. So many people came to see it. I got a bag with 3 kinds of cheese and a cheese cutter for only 15 euros. So what do you do after seeing the cheese market – you go to the cheese museum. I had some samples of cheese and learned how they made cheese and butter over the years. I went to another museum on the history of Alkmaar and saw a beautiful church. Each town seems to have a Grote Kerk or great church. So beautiful. Then I wandered around looking at shops and searching for a place to have a afternoon coffee. I went arounda corner and smelled something wonderful. A woman was making waffles in front of a shop right on the street and it smelled amazing. As I got closer she said head on in its like a museum with items from long ago. So in I went and as you go back this narrow path through the shop they have all sorts of yummy treats and jars of herbs and then in the back there are a few random tables with really old furniture and beautiful cups and plates. So I sat down and had a cappuccino and a waffle with cream and strawberries. So delicious. Another couple sat down and told me to go upstairs to check it out. So when I was done I did and you can go into the shop owners living room and sit down and there to eat. The kitchen is right there and you are in there home. It was really a neat experience and people who have been there return to come back for the magical place and its wonderful food.

I can’t really say I saw a lot of the town of Haarlem and I would have liked to walk around more but I need to let that go because I really enjoyed my day. I started at the Teyler Museum which is the oldest museum in the Netherlands. It was started as the the desire of Pieter Teyler van der Hulst that a foundation be set up for study and education relating to science, instrumentation and art. Interesting things I saw were the fossil or an icthyasaurus. That may sound weird to mention but I did a report on this water creature when I was a kid and it resembled a dolphin and lived back with the dinosaurs. To see a fossil of one was really neat! (to me anyway). There were phonographs, original telephones, a Tesla apparatus, telescopes and microscopes and really old coins all marked by which city they were found. My favorite part was an exhibit on Dangerous books that had the books with lists of books that were banned as well as the banned books. There were original books from the 1500s like Copernicus and Galileo as well as works from Darwin, Gregor Mendel (monk who did studies on heredity) and Albert Einstein. So awesome to see these original works. Then I found the cathedral St. Bavo which was amazing. The floor is all tombstones going back to the 16th century. Beautiful stained glass and a huge organ that was played at one time by both Mozart and Handel. Next was some coffee at a place called silla that said “Every cup has a story” which I loved so had to stop there. The last stop was a Museum van de Geest. This museum was build in an asylum and went through the history of mental illness but by asking questions like who are you? What do you care about? When does being alone feel like freedom, and when like loss? and so much more. I only listened to a little over half of the information. I could have stayed much longer.

WOW is all I can say. So many tulips and other flowers. If you ever have the chance to visit these gardens it is definitely worth it. I spent 7 hours here and could have wandered around longer. Every color you can think of and the hyacinths smelled amazing. Birds were singing. It was like the scenes from the Wizard of Oz with all the flowers as far as you can see. It is hard to capture what I saw in pictures. Amazing day!

I decided to take a trip to Belgium a while ago. I hadn’t planned anything out yet and I met a college student in a windmill in Delft who was from Belgium. She gave me a list of things to do while visiting Belgium and suggested the I visit Bruges and Ghent. So I planned my trip around her suggestions. Bruges was a beautiful city. Here one can find the Choco-story Museum. As many of you know I love chocolate so this was one I had to see. It was interesting to see how the “hot chocolate” drink was made in Mexico and how it changed over time as it came to Europe. As with all the museums here they had quite a collection of items. I think one of my favorites was the delicate China cup for drinking the chocolate that had a piece built inside the cup so you could drink the chocolate without getting any on your mustache. There were quite a few cathedrals including Basilica of the Holy Blood which I did take my turn to see (the vial dating back to the 12th century), and I climbed the Belfry. I was told to have a waffle in every city so I made sure to have one in Bruges. My favorite thing to do is just stroll around turning down whichever street looks interesting.

The next morning was a short ride to Ghent. The highlight here was the castle built in 1180. Also for me having a Belgian waffle with chocolate sauce and blueberries with a cappuccino and a view of this castle while eating was amazing. Several famous cathedrals including St. Bavo where I saw the Gent altarpiece the Mystic Lamb. I ended the night taking an evening tour with a group of people from all over and a very lively Kenny as a tour guide showing us the places of death and torture around the town. The buildings are lit up and look beautiful at night. Travelling alone I don’t stay out late so it was nice to be with a group of people.

The last stop was Brussels. It was not a nice day weather wise and I got quite wet. I started with a Liege waffle which was on my list and made my way in search of chocolate for Ryan (my son who loves chocolate). I was told to find Mary’s and Neuhaus. Mary’s being the chocolatier for the royalty and Neuhaus another very good chocolate. I found them both (and a small sample for myself) and hopefully they make it home in one piece. I had to get the touristy photo with the Mannekin Pis which that day was dressed looking a bit like Count Dracula. I put a picture below with no costume but apparently there are over 1000 costumes which you can see in a museum – I passed on that one. I stumbled into the Grote Market which opens up into an incredible square with beautiful buildings surrounding every side. There are loads of people standing in the square taking in all in all day long. I wound up meeting someone from Amsterdam and another person from the Caech Republic. The rest of the day and I found Brussels to be very touristy with most shops either cheap chocolate or those stores with socks and shot glasses saying Belgium. I am amazed people buy that stuff. After Brussels I was ready to head back to Amsterdam.

Today seemed like a good day to visit a castle. This is the largest castle in the Netherlands but compared to others it is not very old. Built in the late 1800’s with the intent to be a very luxurious place to entertain. For over 100 years famous people came to the castle for grand parties in September. People like Coco Channel, Yves Sain Laurent, Gregory Peck, Roger Moore and Michael Caine. The castle looked like a fairytale castle and the inside was incredible detailed in the decorations and furniture. What I liked most however, was the grounds around the castle. There were ponds and little bridges around every corner with trees like weeping willows hanging into the water. The castle could be seen from faraway with beautiful landscaping surrounding it. There were deer and one pond had a swan. Beautiful day.

This was a great little town. Not too crowded and lovely shops and cafes. There were three museums. The first two covered some town history and art. The third museum really fascinated me. It was about ladders. I know you are thinking a museum about ladders how is there even such a thing. I was thinking that when I first entered but then the exhibit went on to show how ladders are used and the symbolic meanings. Ladders take us from one place to another or one level to another. Ladders can represent the stages as we go from a child to an adult, the movement between consciousness, subconsciousness, and unconsciousness and transformation. They symbolize a connection between humans and the divine. Where does your ladder lead?

Gouda is another cute little town. Nothing very remarkable about it but there was quite a bit being renovated. Spent a good part of the day wandering which is my favorite thing to do. I found shop the serves stroopwafels with cheese melted in between them. Since I was in Gouda I figured why not. It was delicious. See the picture below for what a stroopwafel looks like. The ladies who ran the shop talked to be for a while and they were telling me about King’s Day which is on Monday April 27. My roommate and I have been asking people what happens on King’s Day. It is the King’s birthday and all we have been able to find online or from people we ask is that everyone wears orange everything shuts down and everyone puts anything they want to sell out on the street. Like a huge countrywide garage sale. And there is music. We can’t quite picture what this will be like so stay tuned for Monday’s post.

I decided to sleep in a little and just go to Amsterdam. I’ve been wanting to go to a museum called Embassy of the Free Mind. It was a small museum with lots of books on all philosophy and religion. There was also a beautiful little garden. From there I just wandered and wound up at Westerpark. Park with lots of paths to walk around. There were so many people outside enjoying the nice weather and sitting all over in the park. This park also had allotments and these mini houses were a bit bigger than the ones at Frankendaal Park. I just love walking around these cutes little places and the beautiful plants and flowers they have growing. Since it was so nice I decided to walk back to the airbnb.

Today was the celebration known as King’s Day when everyone celebrates the King’s birthday. This year he turned 59. Everyone wears orange and everything except restaurants is pretty much shut down. From 6am until 10pm anyone can sell pretty much anything on the streets and in the parks. People covered pretty much every inch or the parks with blankets or tables selling just about anything. Common items were clothing, shoes, books, games, toys and jewelry.It was pretty much a giant garage sale.I was looking for little coffee spoons and found exactly what I wanted. One lady had hundreds! Many people also had games like fun little spin the wheel, or they would drop a tomato down a tube and you had to try to hit it when it came out the end. All homemade things. They sold food and drinks and lot of kids were dancing, singing and playing instruments. Although there were adults it seemed like mostly kids ran things in the parks. Out on the canal there were tons of boats full of people in orange and palying music. Great to be around so many people. I enjoyed taking it all in.

Decided to go to Hoorn today. First stop was the Museum of the 20th century. Again I can not believe how much stuff was in this museum. The collection of items was incredible. The first exhibit was the history of telephones from Alexander Graham Bell to the cell phone. Was pretty cool to see how they changed over time The next section took you through what a kitchen/ dining area looked like each decade startgin at the early 1900’s through 1970. They had a lot of appliances and products of the time. The most noticeable changed occured once plastic was invented. Everything became much cheaper looking and much less durable. The rest of the museum was cameras, televisions, computers, and toys over time. There was a huge collection of Barbie dolls and Legos. I’ve never seen that many Legos. Unfortunately the other museum in Hoorn was undergoing huge renovations and was not open. This town was also a port so I was able to see the ocean and spent some time sitting on a bench enjoying the sun and breeze.

Today I walked almost 17 miles around the Nieuw National Park in Almere. This city had only had people living there since 1976 and is the newest city in the Netherlands. It was built on reclaimed land. The park was beautiful and quite empty to lots of time to enjoy nature and contemplate life. It was great to hear the birds, and the weather was perfect hitting almost 70 degrees.

Another great little town. I wound up doing a hike which took me out of the town and through the countryside. There were lots of farms with sheep and cows. By the end of Saturday I had walked 90 miles this week. I absolutely love being outside. I guess I am making up for years of working inside. I didn’t really do anything remarkable in this tiwn excpet enjoy the beauty.

Rotterdam is a very big city. It has a port and there were a lot of cruise ships. One museum I went to was Huis Sonneveld which is a house that you can explore that still looks exactly like it did in the 1930’s when the family lived there and had all the best technology and furniture of that time. It felt kind of 1970’s to me with a lot of earth tones and furniture with chrome tube frames. Neat to walk around a house from a hundred years ago. Another interesting house are the cube houses. People live in them and it would be interesting to see inside one because they look like they tilt forward so the furniture must be attached to the walls. I didn’t have time to see if you could tour one. As usual I wound up at my favorite place to go the gardens. Rotterdam has the Trompenburg Tuinen and Arboretum and it was beautiful. The rhododendron and wistera were in bloom and they had little waterways with bridges all around. Just beautiful.

Anika arrived at 6am. We dropped her bag off at the airbnb and got ready for a day in Amsterdam. Early in the morning the city is quiet. Pretty much nothing opens until 10 am except for a few coffee shops but it is a great time to get some pictures without a lot of people around. Our first stop was the King’s Palace (Koninks Palais). The inside is very ornate and beautiful. We saw bedrooms that Winston Churchill and Louis Bonaparte used and the balcony that the King and lots of famous people have stood on. Anika wanted to find the bench that the actors sat on in A Fault in the Stars so we wandered there and got pictures. Next up was Westerpark. I sbhowed her the allotments which in the end turned out to be her favorite thing on the trip. We had coffee and Dutch apple pie, walked through a market and the grocery store Albert Heijn and headed to the Anne Frank Huis. Most of the Anne Frank Huis is empty rooms which is because Otto Frank the only survivor requested that the furniture not be replaced. There were a few original pieces like the bookcase that hid the stairs, the sink countertop and the ladder leading to the attic. At the end of the tour were her diary and pages she had rewritten. Her diary from the middle year 1943 was missing so if she hadn’t rewritten the pages it would have been lost.

Giethoorn is a town where a section of the town has no roads and only canals. There weren’t any museums to see so we took a hike out to nowhere by a bunch of farmland. It is so great to hear the birds chirping and see the countryside. Very peaceful. We headed back in a wandered through the canal section. All the houses have thatched roofs and beautiful flowers. Anika liked the robot lawn mower that resembled a roomba. We did a canal tour and learned that the land was rich in peat and people started digging and selling the peat for lots of money. Then there was a flood and that is how all the canals were formed. The areas are very pretty but they get 2 million tourists a year. The home owners do not receive any government money and must keep up the property and bridges themselves. Many of them do not like all the tourists and the houses are slowly being sold. Glad we got to see the town before is changes.

We started our day at the MOCO museum which containedwork from artists like Banksy, Warhol and Keith Harding. There was an immersive art exhibit in the basement which was pretty neat. One room was mirrors and lightbulbsof different colors. It was interesting standing in the room with the lights looking like they went on forever. We headed to NEMO next which is the science museum. There were a lot of hands on displays and I felt like we went back in time when I used to take the kids to the science museums. The biology displays on gave Anika a good sense of the freedom of information I have seen in Amsterdam. Many things that would never be shown in the US. Topics that we a shamed about and made to feel we shouldn’t talk about. It is something I have really come to love about Amsterdam. Next up was the ARTIS zoo. Beautiful zoo that did an incredible job building the enclosures and adding plants to give the feel that you are right there among the animals instead of just staring at them through a galss wall or cage. In fact there were red pandas walking along unenclosed nets overhead and a lemur that could freely walk around and ran from one enclosure to the other right by Anikas foot. After dinner and stroopwafel we headed to the Red Light district. Even did the Red Light district museum.

Zaandam was a fairly modern city and we only stayed for a little while. We saw the famous Inntel Hotel and the Peter the Great museum. The Peter the Great house was a very small and very old house but now we can say we were in the same house that Napoleon Bonaparte and Peter the Great once were. We then headed to Zaan Schanse which was a cute little very touristy village. This area had over 600 windmills at one point but now has 7 remaining. Most of the houses are painted green. We learned on our canal cruise past all the windmills that this is because paint was made with chalk ground in the windmill. The paint did not last long so they added copper which helped become more durable but the copper oxidized over time and turned green (think Statue or Liberty) so if they used green paint you wouldn’t notice. The other things the windmills were used for were oils, flour, and wood sawing. The green houses in the little village had a weaver’s house, wooden shoe maker, and a clock museum that we toured.

Mother’s Day was a trip to Belgium. Arriving in Antwerp is pretty impressive. The station is gorgeous. There was a lot of construction in the city and some things weren’t open but we saw most of the things on our list and then some. Het Steen is a castle from 1200 but you can’t tour it and all that is left is the facade. The ReubenHuis was being renovated but we were able to see the basement which gave us the history of the painter and his garden. After learning about his work we needed to see the real works of art. We were able to do that at Cathedral of Our Lady. A beautiful church that has his most famous work Raising of the Cross. The cathedrals in Europe are so amazing and I never get tired of hearing the bells. We had read that you can go tot he MAS (a museum) and ride up the 10 escalators to the roof for free. So we did and got some great views of the city. We found ourselves with some extra time so I got Anika to take me to Chocolate Nation for Mother’s Day (she must love me as she hates chocolate!!) We learned about the history of chocolate in Belgium, sampled 10 different types of chocolate and she even bought me a chocolate bar! After an amazing dinner at Verona sitting outdoors with a stunning view of the cathedral and a Liege waffle for dessert we headed back to Amsterdam.

Many museums aren’t open on Monday but the Rijksmuseum is so we saved this one for today. We got there right when it opened and it took several hours to try to see everything. The art ranges from 1100 to 1950. We saw Rembrandt, Monet and Van Gogh among many others. A very huge museum and a good choice since it was raining. I convinced Anika to go to the Ons Lieve Heer Op or Church in the Attic museum. I am so glad we went. Back in the mid 1600’s the Netherlands allowed people to practice any religion but only as long as it wasn’t seen. So people built churches in their homes and had the neighbors over for services. There were over 20 of these churches at one time but this one is the only one that remains. It was kept in great shape and was amazing to see. It was build out of 3 houses next to each other. You could tour most of the building and we even walked on a staircase that was the original from the 17th century. We ended the day at the Botanical Gardens. We didn’t spend too much time there as it was cold and cloudy with patches of rain. We had another Stroopwafel and headed back for a quiet evening. For anyone who goes to Amsterdam we bought an I Amsterdam Card which got us into all of the places we went in Amsterdam and saved us some money.

After dropping Anika off at the airport and spending several rainy days working on my class and reading I headed out to Amsterdam to see some more museums. The first one was Het Scheepvaart. It was all about shipping. There was a ship they rebuilt (the original sunk on its maiden voyage) and several floors in the museum containing models of ships, paintings of ships, an exhibit on slavery pertaining to the shipping of the enslaved by the Dutch West India Company (WIC) and the Dutch East India Company (VOC).(over 600,000 enslaved were shipped on Dutch ships to the Americas and other countries), and finally whaling. From there I headed to the National Holocaust Museum. This was the third museum covering the Holocaust I have been to and it was equally impressive. Each exhibit includes a person or family and although some survived most did not. The Netherlands is very serious about never letting anything like this happen again.

I headed back to Delft to see some museums I missed. I had to go to the Delft factory and see where the blue pottery the Netherlands is famous for was made. The museum told the history of the pottery which they stole the classic blue design from the Chinese and ended with a tour through the factory. True Delft pottery is all hand painted. I got to see two people painting a piece. They actually paint the pottery with a black paint that turns blue when they fire it. There are fifty different shades of blue that they need to be able to make by adding more water to the original color. They said it takes 3 years of practice before a new painter is making good pottery. Then I went to a very cool little museum that was the house of Peter Tetan. He was a wealthy painter and lived in the home I saw for 30 years. Much of it was original from the 17th century. I don’t think many people find this museum but I’m really glad I did. They had sketchbooks he made which were amazing and the sketch made and the actual painting to show how he worked. Also I had heard that painters copied the works of other painters but here they had the works that he had copied from Rembrandt. It was neat to see the originals in the Rijksmuseum and then the copies in a different size at this museum. The quirky unpopular museums have been my favorites!

Thanks to Valerie who sent me an Instagram post of an event that went viral wound up going to an Offline Club event. The even is 3 hours in a cathedral with a bunch of people who want to get off their phone and talk to other people. This particular night was sponsered by Flow magazine. They have a magazine and books and they focus on mindfullness and love to use paper as their medium to craft. When I got there they lock up your phone so no everyone is offline for the whole 3 hours. I sat at the table they designated for people who came solo and before long we had a little group and we got to know each other. During one part they had us fill out a page about future goals, favorite movie, draw a self portrait and so one while we sat together in silence and a local girl played the piano. By the end of the night one of the girls gave me her phone number and we are going hiking in a few days. It was a great event and 150 people were there. I think we need these in Florida!

After some more days of rain and working on my class I went to Amsterdam to meet my student partner. We went to a Barre class in the park (I really need to start exercising!) and then we talked for a while getting know each other. It was great to meet her in person. We are getting together next Thursday to get a assignment done before I head to Morocco. Sinc eI was already in the city I went to 2 museums. Gratchenmuseum which was about the canals and Multatuli. I learned what went into the expansion of Amsterdam and I must say it is a a really incredible place the way they planned out the housing, common area, canals and trees within the city. Also I learned how in the 1970’s there were plans to expand the roadways and modernize the city but the citizens protested and got to work and made the city what it is today and stopped what I am sure would have ruined Amsterdam. I am so glad I got to see this amazing city. Multatuli was the pen name for Edward Douwes Dekker a famous Dutch author who wrote Max Havelaar. This book uncovered what was really going on with the Dutch East Indies colonialism, slave trade and conditions going in in what is now Indonesia. The book made people aware and started the movement which eventually ended decolonization in Africa and many other places (of course now I want to read the book!) The book has been translated into 38 languages. So this museum is the house he lived in for many years and they have a copy of all 38 of the versions as well as orignial copies from 1860. It was a very interesting history lesson for me and one other guy who was there. I don’t think they get a lot of visitors and I even had coffee with them while he told us all about the author. These have been the best museums!

The class was getting together for a practice zoom so I didn’t have enough time to really go far so I went back to the city to wander and went to Huis Marsielle. The museum was a photography museum. There were a few photos I liked but one of the artists took pictures of a bunch of store fronts one or two of them even had a pole in the way. Anyway not my favorite but it was a really nice day so just wandering around a bit was great.

Den Haague is a big town that has a few sections. There is the museum section and old city hall buildings, the shopping area and the beach. I’ve seen the ocean from another town but this was a big beach and with the weather nice there were lots of people on the beach. The whole section where the beach is all along the wall by the town side there is restaurant after restaurant right on the beach. All of them had tons of seating under unbrellas with couchesa and chairs all with cushions. It looked so inviting to just sit and stay for hours. At the end of the beach was a pier and a few rides. I took my shoes off and put my feet in the ocean and walked on the beach for a while. Then it was off to see a few museums. The first was Omniversum. This was more of a kids science museum but I was impressed at how they did the exhibit. They have all of the goals for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals that the United Nations Member States have to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity by 2030. There are 17 goals. The museum set up 17 displays around the room in a circle and you took a card that had each of the goals in the form of a question. You could choose yes or no for each question related to the goal. They also asked questions at each display and asked how each person could do their part to making the world a better place. I really like how this country makes people think. The Mauritshuis was another famous art museum with Rembrandt, Vermeer’s Girl with the Pearl Earring, and many others. It was a very ornate house with a lot of ornate wood staircase railings and other carvings. The wealth of the owners was made due to the colonialism and slave trade in Surinam and other countries by the Dutch. There were reminders that although the house is beautiful we should not forget the terrible things that were done to gain that wealth. The last museum was Het Boek Museum. Another quiet museum but since I love looking at old books I didn’t mind I was the only one there. It was the oldest book museum in the world with works going back to Medieval times.

Another great little city. This one was a fishing port and on the Zuiderzee. I started with a little history lesson and saw traditional clothing at the Zuiderzee museum. The other part of the museum was a little bit down the road. It was a whole village that you could go around and see some of the houses and places and jobs people worked. Because it was a fishing village The work and children who typically gutted and cleaned the fish worked when the ship came in which could be at any time of the day or night. Each house had a sign out front that told you who lived there and how long they were there and what there jobs were. There were a few stores, tannery, smoke houses and much more. The Zuiderzee was originally formed by floods from 1170 to 1282. From then until the early 1900’s the Zuiderzee and the towns surrounding it were ports for the Dutch East India company. It was saltwater so not much grew around the area. In 1916 there was another huge flood and they built a the Afsuitdijk, a huge dam and it became a lake called IJsselmeer with freshwater. They could now garden and life changed in the area. Other highlights of the day included the Sow to Grow museum, a walking tour around the city and the Flessenshipesmuseum. The last one is a small museum but full of ships in a bottle. They have 600 on display and a total of 200o. I had a great dinner overlooking the port.

Today I met with Emilia a girl I met at the Offline Club night in the Posthoornkerk. We decided to go on a hike together at Amsterdam Bos a park on the edge of Amsterdam. It was so beautiful and lovely to once again hear the birds chirping. We got started and headed out to the area the sign said the Highland cows were. We saw a sign stating that we should not get closer than then 25 feet of the highland cows. So we continued. At first we only saw poop on the ground letting us know they do exist. Then we turned a band and there were 3 cows we could see. Two just off the path by the water to the left and one just off the path on the right. There was no passing along the path unless we walked right by them. We were only a few feet away. Then we could see a few feet into the woods there were several more and a baby. We continued on to the goat area. We got there and Emilia had been there before. The goats were in a fenced in area which you could go in or pet them from outside the fence. There were so many goats. There were also a bunch of chickens running around freely. They had ice cream made with the goats milk. Of course we had some and it was so creamy and delicious. On we went to the restaurant that said it served pancakes. I am so glad we checked out this place. They had about 20 different toppings you could get on the pancake. We ordered and they were the size of the whole plate. I got warm cherries and chocolate. So delicious. We headed to the front of the park and said good=bye and I decided to continue walking. I walked ramdomly down streets with beautiful canopies of trees. Eventually I decided to see how far from Frankendael Park I was. It wasn’t too far so I walked that way and had a small detour through Amstel park which had a section with lots of rhodedendrons. I took a final stroll through the allotments at Frankendael as I most likely won’t make it back there before I go and then headed home.

Today was probably my last full day out in the Netherlands. I decided to go to Zwolle. I did a walking tour around the town and visited the Museum de Fundatie. The major exhibit was on objects taken from Benin, Nigeria during an attack by the British in 1897. These objects wound up in museums all over the world. Many of the museums are retuning the pieces to the rightful owners. This is true for many countires but the exhibit focused on Benin. Later in the day I took a walk out in a park and saw some horses. Very peaceful day.

Utrecht was one of my favorite cities and I missed a few museums there so I went back before I left. I went to the Catherijnmuseum which is in an old convent. There were many very old religious artifacts and then up on the top floor that had an exhibit called “What do you think is the meaning of life?” They had various people talk about what the meaning of life meant to them and then there was a room for you to lay down on pillows and look up at the ceiling where they had clouds with all sorts of words to make you dream and think. The whole room was lit in a light in a peaceful dark pink. So cool! After wandering around I ended the day at the Copper Branch the first cafe I went to and had my first afternoon cappuccino. It seemed like a great way to wrap things up in the Netherlands.

I finally got a spot at the Van Gogh museum and went into the city one last time. I’m really glad I went. I didn’t know how diverse his art was. He liked to try out other artists techniques so his work was so varied. He was quite amazing.

I made it to Casablanca. I had a really early flight so I barely slept the night before. Once I arrived I took a train form the airport and the station was right across the street from where I am staying. I got settled and then went off to get the necessities. I knew I needed cash as that works better at any market or street vendor and I needed water as I was warned not to drink the water. It took me 2 ATM’s and I got the money and found a local small store and got the water. I wandered out and found a small place that made me a vegetable tangine which was delicious. I headed back and was so tired I pretty much slept through Monday. It is very different here than the Netherlands. Aside form the obvious it is just a different energy here. I was so impressed in the Netherlands at how every single person take care of there property. They have a pride for there country and people have plants everywhere and they fought to keep the historical facades and buildings. The squatters started fixing up the places they were staying when the citizens came together to insist that the government not tear things down to make bigger roads and modern buildings. They also fight to keep there freedom and you can sense that pride and freedom everywhere you go. Walking around Morocco is quite a different sight. I had started reading the guide book before I came and it talked about how leadership was on a path to make Morocco one of the top tourist destinations. I am not sure if other areas in the country look different or if COVID really set things back but Casablanca is a mix of a nice building here or there and then a lot of disrepair and poverty. There is trash all over and run down buildings. And then you come to this giant elaborate mosque built by the ocean. I’m not sure what to make of this place yet. I have some more areas to walk around and plan on taking day trips to some of the other cities. Stay posted.

In hopes that the whole country of Morocco is not like Casablanca I set out to see a nearby city for the day. Rabat is Morocco’s capital and is only an hour train ride away. I happen to be staying right across the street from the train station so traveling is pretty easy to places the train goes. When I arrived in Rabat I was very happy to find that I could take pictures. I had a whole list of things to visit so I headed off to the Hassan Mosque. This is a really old part of a mosque started in 1182 with the intention of being one of the largest mosques ever to be built. Sadly the project was never completed. So there is the part of the tower and a bunch of columns from the prayer hall. Also pieces of the walls. Pretty cool walking around and touching these columns that have been standing there for almost 900 years. Across from the mosque tower is the mausoleum where King Mohammed V is buried. At the entrance of the entire area are guards on horses and at the mausoleum there is a guard outside each entrance and four guards in each corner inside. Next I headed to see some of the gates. Just like in the Netherlands there are gates here also at the entrances of cities of different areas. Completely different architecture here but the same purpose. I also walked around the area known as the Kasbah Oudaya. The homes in this winding maze of white against the blue sky is beautiful. Such interesting doors and winding pathways. Many people left Spain to flee the Spanish Inquisition and settled in this village. Gorgeous view of the ocean. I also went to a small archeological museum (not quite the level of museum in the Netherlands) with some ancient busts and coins and wandered through the medina which I must return to and do more shopping.

Just past Rabat is Sale and 9 miles north of Sale is Jardin des Exotiques. I love botanical gardens and something called the Exotic Garden I had to go see. So I tried my best to map out how to get there and set off on the train slightly further than the day before to Sale. I got there just fine and my plan was to take a bus to the gardens. I have yet to take a taxi and prefer walking and taking public transportation. But I could not figure out where the bus stop was and there were tons of taxis so I decided I would have to try. Fortunately I found one of the drivers who spoke English a bit and he got another driver who agreed to take me. I knew from my reading that you have to establish the price before hand so with the help of the man who spoke a bit of English we settled on 50 MAD although the drive was trying to tell me 600 MAD. Anyhow off we went. He spoke no English so it was a silent ride. We passed two different mopeds with big cats behind them piled with produce. I really wanted to get a picture but I know better and didn’t try. Later leaving the gardens I also saw a donkey pulling one of these carts down the road. So I made it to the gardens. I am so glad I went. I was there for almost 3 hours and absolutely loved it. Was totally in my happy place. There were hardly any people and I took so many great pictures. There were rocks steps that led to swinging bridges and other bridges made from bamboo. The trees were tall and it was like being in a rainforest. Beautiful bouganvilla and many other flowers. There were ponds with tons of turtles and two sets of baby ducklings. When it came time to leave I was determined to take a bus back to Sale. i asked the man who sold me the ticket at the entrance as he spoke some English. I pointed to a pole and said that was the bus stop and which bus to take. So I headed to the pole. I had no idea when the next bus would come and just as I was beginning to wonder how long I would be there a bus arrived. The driver was really nice and later told me which stop to get off. I was so happy the bus arrived and was on before I looked onto the bus to see how many people were on the bus! All the seats were taken, the aisle was full and people were sitting on the areas for the luggage and standing in the doorways. This did not matter as the bus kept stopping and letting more people on. It was crazy how many people were actually on that bus! But I made it to my destiantion!

I stayed in Casablanca today and decided to wander to Habbous which is about 40 minutes away. I looked up some things to check out there are headed out. I decided for some reason earlier to restart my phone. I hadn’t in a while but that turned out to be a not so great idea. It reset some settings I guess and I realized after I left I had no internet connection. As much as I hate to say this because it means “they are watching us” I am thankful the little blue dot tracked me on google maps so I could find my way home! I went past the Royal Palace and some other place on the list but both had guards outside and about all you could see was a fancy door. So off to the medina. I was good this time and after being convinced to look around at 2 people’s good I said no thank you and walked away. On the list was the olive mart. I found it and what a sight. You go through an archway and into a square room with aoubt 8 to 10 vendors. All of them have containers of olives piled up as high as they will go, all different kinds. Most of them also had spices and one had eucalyptus crystals and eau de thyme in bottles. So interesting to look at everything. I really wanted to get pictures but I didn’t try. Then on to Patteserie Bennis. I think I walked past the place 3 times before I finally figured out where it was. It was just a doorway – very ornate and the name was in fancy letters over the door. Standing at the door all you see is a little ornately tiled hallway. I’ve gotten a lot braver so in I went. A left turn and there was a line of people. So I got in line and assumed I would figure it out before it was my turn. The line headed into a little room with plates of different cookies and tow men grabbing boxes and bags putting in the items people point to. Also in the corner was the guy taking payments. So I got 6 cookies – one of each type and it was 20 MAD (a little over $2) They are for desert tonight! I forgot to mention all around Morocco you can find fresh squeezed juice carts. Mostly orange juice. I passed one this morning and got my juice – 5 whole oranges squeezed into my cup and costs around a $1. I will have many of these while I am here!

There aren’t as many town to visit here in Morocco and they are very far apart so I find myself spending more time in Casablanca reading and working on my class. Today I ventured to El Jadida. This is were the Portuguese cistern is located. However it has been under renovation for 3 years now. I saw the outside of it and it has quite a bit more work to be done. I’m not sure this country has the money for projects like this. I have found that much of the history of this country has been destroyed. There just isn’t much left to see. I have planned a trip to Marrakesh and decided to stay overnight one night since it is a 3 hour trip to get there. It is supposed to be very touristy and I considered not going but it is also the city everyone knows when you mention Morocco so I figure if I am in the country I should go. Azemmour is a smaller town that was a stop on the way back from El Jadida to Casablanca so I stopped there. I decided to go to the outdoor market and pick up some food. I bought 2 potatoes, clove of garlic, a big carrot, lentils, two big bunches of grapes, and 2 avocados for about $7.

I decided to wander through the ancient medina in Casablanca this afternoon. It is always an adventure. There is stall after stall of jewelry, teapots, shoes, clothes, pottery and thenb there is a section where the food is sold. Chicken, fish, vegetables and fruit. I like wandering througha and looking but it also requires saying no thank you every few feet as they all want to sell you something. Some towns are better than others with the selling. I enjoyed Rabat and will probably head back there soon. They had a lot more clothes to buy. The traffic here is crazy. There are no rules it is just a free for all. Crossing the streets is like that old game frogger. You just go and hope for the best. Motorcyles and mopeds seem to have the right of way and also go through red lights. They go down the narrow medina walkways as well. There are constant horn honking sounds all day long. Staying across the street from the train station there are taxis and buses and people getting off the trains and metro all day long. Fortunately things quiet down at night and don’t start up again until around 6 or 7 in the morning so it’s quiet to sleep.

Somehow on my first visit to Rabat I missed the Andalusian Gardens. It was just what I needed today to walk around these gardens. Absolutely beautiful with lots of trellises you can walk through with flowers and lots of places to sit. There are two sections to the garden and across the street the gardens had several ponds with lots of lily pads and lilies. After spending the morning here I headed to the medina and found a few things. It is such a sensory overload with shop after shop and so much to look at!

The towns is Morocco are much more spread out so I am visiting less places and spending time working on my class and reading in between trips. Marrakech is probably the most known town in Morocco so I decided to go see what it was all about. It is almost 4 hours away so I stayed overnight. When I arrived at 9:30 AM the weather was still cool but it quickly started to get much hotter. I headed to the hotel to drop off my backpack. Actually I stayed in a Riad which is a traditional Moroccan house built with a courtyard in the center. There were 3 floors and 5 or 6 rooms on each floor. They all overlooked the courtyard in the center. There was a lot of mosaic tile and ornate painting. The Riad also had a rooftop space which is where breakfast was served. I wandered around Marrakech through the markets most of the day. I had fresh squeezed pomegranate juice which was amazing. Watched them squeeze the 3 pomegranates into a cup right there. I did see the snake charmers and monkeys but they just want you to pay for pictures. I feel bad for the animals. I wound up touring a very old tannery and was told about the process. Interesting fact is that to make the leather softer they soak it in pigeon poop! Later in the day I went to the Yves St. Laurent garden which was beautiful to walk through. I ended the day with a rooftop dinner with my new favorites – Moroccan salad which is just cucumber, onion and tomato diced with olive oil and orange slices with cinnamon in top. Simple fresh food. So delicious.

I started this morning visiting two palaces. Bahia which was had very ornate ceilings and doors and tilework and was build in the 19th century. El Badi which was more ruins that still remain as this palace was built in the 16th century. Both were very interesting to see. Before I headed home I wandered a bit more through the markets. I learned a lot at one of the souks that sell all natural things. I got some blue indigo that can be used with yogurt for a facial, black cumin seeds – good for nasal and migraines and also in a facial mask, and eucalyptus crystals which are very potent.

I left Casablanca to headed to Tangier. I was excited to see the top of the country and heard you could see Spain across the strait of Gibraltar. Once I made it to the hotel I set off to explore. I didn’t have far to go as the port was 3 minutes from the place I was staying. What an amazing view and the water was so incredibly blue. I definitely could see Spain. I wandered further and found the Phoenician Tombs. The view was so amazing I almost forgot to notice the tombs which were pretty much just rectangular holes in the rocks. I wanted to stay longer but it was incredibly hot standing in the sun. Just a bit further away I found a well known cafe that has been around since 1921. It’s nothing fancy but there are about 5 levels of tables all outside facing the ocean. It was surreal sitting there. I could just stay there looking at the water forever! I am so grateful for this time to travel and see such beauty.

I spent the day exploring more of Tangier and walking through the markets. I had a tour booked that night to see Cape Spartel lighthouse on the tip of Tangier where the Atlantic ocean meets the Mediterranean sea and ride a camel! While walking through the markets I stopped for some fresh squeezed orange juice. While making my orange juice the orange slipped and splattered both the guy making the juice and me. We laughed and said it was part of the show. His brother came over and introduced himself. I went on my way and a few hours later I got a message to arranged where and what time to be picked up for the evening tour. Out of a city of 1.8 million people the brother of the orange juice guy was my tour guide!! I visited the American Legion Museum and then made it back in time to put my feet in the Mediterranean Sea before the tour. Cape Spartel had amazing views and I got a picture of the sign showing the exact point the Atlantic meets the Mediteranean. Riding a camel was fun. The hard part is getting on and off. There were three young girls from England on my tour and they were really nice. We rode the camels up and down the beach. We ended the tour with Moroccan tea.

Finally the town I was waiting to see as I was planning this whole trip. The bus ride to Chefchaouen was incredible. The town in surrounded by mountains and we passed by several lakes with mountains all around and clear blue skies. Absolutely incredible. Although the town is small I spent three days here to enjoy it. The town is known for most of it being painted blue. Walking around the market area is so beautiful with all the items contrasting the blue walls.

Today I wandered around all day through the market, to the river that flows down from the mountain and just taking it all in. I had read about a place called the Spanish mosque that was set up in the mountain with spectacular views of the sun setting over the town so I was determined to watch the sun set there. It’s a poplular place and there were lots of people gathered to watch the sun set. I got there early and got my seat on the wall. What an incredible view of the city.

Since I love nature this trip had to include a hike to Akchour falls and God’s bridge. I had no idea what I was getting myself into as I headed out. We had a great tour guide and it was just me and 2 girls from Spain. It was about a 45 minute drive through the winding roads in the mountains to the little city of Akchour. The first stop was Akchour falls. A small waterfall that was an hour hike over rocky paths. We stopped here for a while and put our feet in the deliciously cold water and took a break. I had my usual fresh squeezed orange juice. Incredible that they have a “restaurant” in the middle of nowhere. They go back and forth down the path by donkey to get the supplies. All along the path which follow the river there are places to stop and tables in the most interesting spots. There was even on table sitting on a flat rock with the table and chair in about an inch of water and you had to cross a little stick bridge to get to the table. Then back almost to the starting point and another hour of hiking and we reached God’s bridge. A huge rock formation with an opening. Now here is where things get interesting. The guide tells us that some people made bridges so that we can now get through to the other side to the beautiful area. Sounds good to us so we follow him. These bridges he spoke of are sticks nailed together somewhat and very rickety and laying just on the surface of the water. We make is across them without slipping. Next we come to a ledge where there is just enough room to put your foot and with your back to the water facing the rock there are crevices to grab on to every so often to move yourself across. It took all my concentration and before we knew it we made it to our destination. I felt like I could do anything! This spot we got to was paradise. Crystal clear water, little waterfalls, rock walls and of course a little hut serving food. How they got the tables and food to this remote location I have no idea. I couldn’t believe how many people were there. We sat there for quite a while and I sat on the edge of the water with my feet in the water again so grateful for this amazing experience. This is a spot I will think of when I need that calming moment. Of course to get back on the trail to head back to town we had to do it all over again. What a confidence booster!

The last day in Chefchauoen. I walked around and took it all in. The mountain views, the blue city. Since it was Friday I found a place to eat serving couscous. Much like taco Tuesday in the US it is couscous Friday in Morocco. What fun!

Once back in Casablanca I decided to go to a nearby cafe and watch Morocco versus Canada in the World cup. The cafe was full of people and the waiter brought me to a seat and I ordered fresh squeezed orange juice even though he spoke no English and I don’t speak Arabic. I watched Morocco win 3-0 surrounded by a room full of Moroccan people and a TV announcing in Arabic where the only word I understood was when he said Canada. The whole country went crazy after the win and in Casablanca for many hours into the night people drove around the city honking their horns and waving the Moroccan flag. Cars went by with people sitting out the window on the car doors high-fiving people in the car next to them. Motorcycles and mopeds waved the flags as the rode by. The next game is Thursday night against France. It is later at night so I will have to find a place to watch the game. Glad I could share this experience in this country. I hope they win – I can’t imagine how excited they will be.

After the win on July 4th I was excited to watch the next game. I even got a Moroccan Football team shirt and found a place in Casablanca in a park where they put up a huge screen to show the game I got there really earlybut by the time the game started that whole place had completely filled up. There must have been a thousand people and we were all smooshed in together. Unfortunately Morocco lost but the experience was a lot of fun.

Decided to take another trip to Rabat and go to the gardens. It’s only an hour and a half by train so it’s an easy day trip and a nice city. Spend the morning in the Andalusian Gardens which are on two sides of the street. Found a cat friend who sat with me for a while. There are cats all over Morocco and the Moroccan people love to feed them and take care of them. In the afternoon I wandered around the medina and found a pair of shoes. Real leather and I saw these shoes being made in Marrakesh when I was there. I can’t believe they are around $8. There were so many people at the beach and it was a gorgeous day.

This is the largest mosque in Africa and one of the few open to the public and especially women. Although I was staying very close to it I never toured it until today. It is very impressive inside. The ceilings are all cedar and are carved and painted. There are huge doors and they are made of titanium. Big chandeliers hang inside and they are made with Venetian glass. Inside is mostly a huge space for prayer. There are rooms for the men to pray and separate ones for the women. Those rooms were not part of the tour.

The end of July I wound up returning to Chefchauoen and Tangier. Chefchauoen is truly a magical place surrounded mountains. I am so glad I returned.

I left Morocco and flew to Orlando for a whirlwind trip. I arrived on Thursday night and Friday morning helped Anika move out of her apartment and into a house she is renting a room in and then we saw the new Spiderman movie. Saturday she graduated from college and finished unpacking while I sorted and repacked. Sunday night I flew off to Argentina.

After getting settled and having class I headed out to do a little exploring despite the rain. It is winter at this time of year in Buenos Aires. I wound up at the Japanese Gardens. It wasn’t all that big of a garden but there were bonsai trees, ponds, koi and lots of pathways and bridges. You could also learn some origami. Today I put together some walking tours for myself so I will head out tomorrow with better weather and list of places to see.

Today I headed out to see some of the sights in the main square of Buenos Aires. On the way I stopped to visit a few cathedrals. They were not quite as large as the cathedrals in the Netherlands but they still had very high ceilings. The ceilings were painted and just as beautiful. They all contained an organ and beutiful ornate statues. There was definitely a Spanish influence in the architecture and paintings. There was some stained glass but not like in the cathedrals in the Netherlands. The floors were unique and had decorative mosaics. The next stop was Casa Rosada the home of the president. As the name suggests in Spanish the building is a pink color. This is the home of the president of Argentina. Across from Casa Rosada was the Buenos Aires City Council. The two main roads are 9th of July Avenue and Avenida de Mayo. The 9th of July Avenue lead to another square containing the Congress of Argentine Nation. This was a beautiful building with a dome in the center that was green. It looks very similar to the US Capital Building but with a green dome. I had noticed it seemed like there were a lot of police around so I looked online and read that there were some policies that were being voted on and some groups were demonstrating that day. Wen I got to this square I saw a bunch of people with big blue banners and flags. They said movimiento Evita on them. This is a grassroots group that was inspired by Eva Peron and advocates for the workers and the poor to promote social justice and reduce poverty. I was really glad to get to see this today.
I saw some of the groups march by while I was having lunch in a nearby cafe. I ended today’s walk at the Xul Solar Art Museum. The art was very different and but I liked it. He also created a chess game he called Pan chess creating a unique universal game with the zodiac, the planets and duodecimal numbering. His work was very colorful and creative. It made me wonder what seeing the world through his eyes would look like.

I started out at the Lezama Park where I found lots of statues, a sidewalk garage sale – mostly people selling clothes, books and jewelry and some crafts, and a museum. The museum was free to visit. I learned a bit about the history of the area and Argentina. Next was Casa Ezeiza which was an old house with little shops and antiques. There are a lot of antique shops in the San Telmo area. I went back to the San Telmo market to have lunch and there were so many people any places to choose and I was trying to translate all the Spanish. I finally sat down and wound up haveing the best quiche and cappuccino. A great lunch in the end. Next I found the French Solar Gallery which was another little shopping area but it was open instead of having a ceiling and they hung umbrellas of many colors across in the air. It was so pretty against the bright blue sky. It wouldn’t be a fun day without the next two stops. I found the narrowest house in Buenos Aires which wasn’t too much wider than the doorway. I ended the day with the Russian Orthodox Church of Holy Trinity. Tucked between two buildings was a building straight from Russia with three blue onion domes (I just googled that) on top. It opened up at 5pm and a few of us went in. It was so ornate and different inside. I was only supposed to take one picture but another guy in there started taking a bunch of picture and no one was watching so I snapped several.

The forecast for today was good so I decided some outdoor activities would be good as it is winter in Argentina now and there is rain forecast for a lot of the days I am here. I had three stops today. First was the Jardin de los Poetas. This was the garden of poets. All around the garden were statues and busts of poets. I admit I don’t know any Argentinian poets but I did find one I recognized – William Shakespeare. I would love to be here when the roses are blooming but I will be gone by then. There is a giant magnolia tree and it already has buds on it. I would love to see that tree bloom before I go. There were lots of bridges and ponds in this park and even an Andalusian style spot that reminded me of gardens in Morocco. Nest I went to the Eco Parque which was a zoo. There were lots of animals including some I have never seen before. The zoo was built in 1904 and had some really interesting buildings. The Mara and Coypu were two new animals and they were all over the park and could run around freely. The Mara reminded me of a small Capybara. There were also tons of peacocks roaming freely. One of my favorite things to see was an ostrich acting up in front of a giraffe. They were in the same enclosure and the ostrich got all puffed up. My last stop that day was the Museo Evita. I learned a lot about Eva Peron and all she did for the people of Argentina in her short life. When she died millions of people lined up continuously for 15 days to pay there respects and all the flower shops in Buenos Aires ran out of flowers. In the museum I saw a picture of her demonstrating on the Plaza de Mayo which is the same place I saw people with the Evita Movement flags. I ended the day watching the sun start to set over the Rio de la Plata.

Early in the morning I headed to to the airport to fly to Iguazu to see the waterfalls. I booked the whole trip through Viator so I didn’t have to arrange anything. I was funny to arrive in Iguazu and see someone with my name on a sign like you see in the movies. After arriving we picked up my guide Riccardo and headed to the Brazil side of the waterfalls. I was the only person who signed up that day so I got a personal tour! Passing into Brazil requires a visa. This is the only country so far that I had to get any special paperwork. Fortunately I did my homework and got the visa so I was all set. In the three days I was on this trip we crossed the boarder between Brazil and Argentina several times. I am glad I had this whole trip planned and didn’t have to worry about any of the logistics. The Brazil side of the waterfalls gives you the panoramic view. As you walk along most of the view is from across the waterfalls so you can see just how many waterfalls there are- 275 in total. Towards the end of the tour you come to what is called Devil’s throat. The power of the water from this huge waterfall was incredible. You could walk out on a bridge and get sprayed from the waterfall – Riccardo called it getting a blessing. There was also an elevator to take up so you could see this waterfall from the top. The amount of water going over the falls was three times the normal amount due to all the rain.

Day two was the Argentina side of the falls. This is a totally different view as you walk all along the falls and across bridges that take you on top of the falls. It was a much longer tour to walk along all the bridges. Unfortunately due to all the rain the bridge that overlooked Devil’s throat had to be taken down due to flooding. An additional trip you could add on took you through part of the rainforest and on a boat ride right up close to the falls. We got completely drenched on the boat ride. Fortunately I had bough one of those rain ponchos the day before and it surprisingly kept my quite dry. It was a great experience. Also fun were the capuchin monkeys we saw when we stopped for lunch. They were running all over on the roof and tried to get garbage out of the garbage cans. Two other things I saw were the racoons they have which are very friendly and will go right up to people and want food. They have warnings all over the park not to feed them. The second was that yerba mate is a huge thing in Argentina. People carry the mate cups everywhere and thermoses of water. They had them on the airplane, in the park and all over. In the Iguazu park they even had separate containers next to the trash bins just for yerba mate waste!

Back in Buenos Aires I headed out to see some more sights. I took pictures of lots of Spanish style buildings including Palace of the Justice of the Nation, Bencich Building, the Naval center, Retiro Mitre station, San Martin Palace and Estrugamou Palace. I went to the National Historical Museum of the Cabildo and the May Revolution. I learned a bit of historylike finding out that Argentina had a caste system in the 18th century to control all the intermarriages between the Spanish and Creoles, indigenous people and slaves from Africa. The highlight of my day was going to the La Ideal Confectionary. It was a cold and rainy day and stopping somewhere for a coffee sounded like a good idea. So since it was on my list I decided even before I got there I would go ahead and eat there. It was so fancy inside. I warmed up with a cappuccino with some Irish whiskey which was amazing. I also had a really delicious chocolate dessert. It turns out I was sitting in a restaurant that opened in 1912. Eva Peron visited this restaurant many time and Madonna and Antonio Banderas had a dance scene filmed in La Ideal in the movie Evita. I think Eva Peron is the theme of this trip!

Today was a bit cold and rainy. I saw a few churches and the National Museum of Cabildo. I posed with Mafalda on her statue bench. She is a comic strip character that is very popular in Argentina. I saw the Colon theater which you can tour but I will have to go back another day as the tours were full. I was a bit bummed with the rain and had a lot of the day left. I wound up at a bookstore that was an old theater. It was called El Ateneo and so amazing inside. I was there for quite a while. I bought a book to read and got some chocolate on the way home and ended the rainy day happy.

I headed in a direction I haven’t been yet. I saw the Embassy of Brazil and the Embassy of France, Alzaga Unzue Mansion, Palacio Duhua, and Maguire Residence. At the France Square there were tons of craft vendors and I was able to find a ring I was looking for in Argentina. It is made with the Inca Rose stone which is very popular here. I also need to get a yerba mate cup before I leave. Yerba mate is a very common drink. They even have waste containers just for yerba mate waste and the aisle in the grocery store has as much yerba mate as coffee. There was a kids festival going on in another nearby park which has the Floralis Generica – a giant shiny metallic statue of a flower. Next I headed to Museo Fernandez Blanco. It was an old house with a small garden. There was a museum with some historical pieces and some art. I was ready for a coffee and searched for nearby cafes. As I scrolled through the choices there was a picture of a cup of coffee with pink swirls and rose petals. Well I had to go see what that was all about. The cafe was nearby in a nice area. The entire shop was pink including the girl working wearing a pink sweater to the pink sugar and salt on the table. The coffee was so beautiful I didn’t want to drink it. What a great find! I decided to end the day at Recoleta Cemetery. This place was incredible. Every tomb was a big monument. There were rows and rows of them. Most of them has statues and were really decorative. The highlight was the Peron family site where Eva Peron is buried. It was the only grave I saw with fresh flowers. There was a constant line of people to see where she was laid to rest.

Today i learned all about the yerbe mate tradition in Argentina. The tradition of drinking yerbe mate goes back 2500 years. The only place yerbe mate trees grow are in South America in the region around Iguazu in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. The entire tree is used to make the yerbe mate. Sticks, chopped up leaves, finely chopped leaves and all of them ground into dust. The dust has the most caffiene and the sticks the least. The different types of mate you can buy are all from the sae tree. They just vary in how much sticks, leaves and dust they contain. Also you can get it with different flavors. Yerbe mate cups are very personal and each person should pick out the right one for them. When in a group the whole group shares the same cup and straw (the straw is metal with a spoon like end with hole in it that work as a filter) and it is passed around. It has always been this way and it is a very social experience. To make the mate the yerbe mate is added to the cup filling it 3/4ths of the way and you put your hand over the top and shake it to let the dust settle to the bottom. The leaves should be tilted to one side when you take your hand off the top after shaking. The straw is then inserted into the shallow side of the yerba mate. Once the straw is inserted you do not move the straw. If you do the yerbe mate will clog the straw and your friends will be unhappy. Hot water but not boiling is added to the cup being careful not to add too much so that no mate gets on the rim. If mate gets on the rim and you hand it to someone it means you really don’t like that person. Then you drink all the liquid right away. No need for it to cool any it is the perfect temperature. You can add honey, brown sugar or anything you want. You would put this on top of the mate and pour the water on top of the sweetener. When you are done it is the next person’s turn and more water is added. One amount of mate is used for a liter of water. It is a bitter drink and so it is common to have medialunas (like a croissant) or little round cookies with dulce le leche in the middle with the mate. Everyone in Argentina has their own cup and thermos and it is very cheap to buy the mate in the grocery store. So if you are visiting there is nowhere someone can try yerbe mate. It makes no sense for cafes to exist to serve yerbe mate. Before I leave I will need to find a cup that I like so I can have mate in Florida! Traditional cups are made from gourds but are hard to take care of. There are also cups made from wood, glass, plastic and ceramic. The wood and gourd ones often have metal around the rim.

Today I went to two museums. The first was Museo Casa de Ricardo Rojas. It wasn’t a very big museum and everything was in Spanish. I translated some. He was an author and you could see part of his house. He has a very nice Andalusian style garden. The next museum was original a run down falling apart house that was purchased in the 1980s. The owner had the intent to restore the house and turn it into a restaurant. It was originally a large home where people could rent a room. I believe the tour guide said that there were 26 rooms which families would rent and only 2 shared bathrooms. They found out a lot of information by interviewing people who used to live there. As the owner was restoring the property they had a floor collapse. What they discovered were brick structures filled in with trash. The property records on what back to the late 1800s and these structures were older. After much research and archeological digging they found that the wealthy people of Buenos Aires built a ditch beneath their homes that were topped with brick archways and they channeled the water and sewer waste beneath the homes and to the ocean. The owner excavated these tunnels and restored them and we were able to tour the area. The tour also included casa minimalist which is known as the narrowest house in Buenos Aires. Behind the green door is really a much bigger area and a courtyard. Part of the property was a tango room that people came to dance. At one point it is believed that slaves lived in the narrow house. There was not much left of the original house but what they could restore they did. After the tour I wandered around, ate dinner in a vegan restaurant and waited until the lanterns over Florida Avenue were lit. It was very beautiful to see. The lanterns are strung across from rooftop to rooftop all the way down the street. The street is full of shops and places to eat. This was the first time I had be out in the city after sunset and it was nice to see some of the building lit up.

I had two great panoramic views of the city today. The first was from the top of the Tower monument which is celebrating its 100 year anniversary. I was here during the day and could see a 360 view around Buenos Aries. From the top I could see some colorful houses so I decided to check them out after I took lots of pictures from the top of the tower. The area is called Barrio 31 and it is a big historic informal settlement that originated in 1932. The sections are painted all different colors and its beautiful to look at. It was very much only people who lived these in the streets. The bottom of the houses were people selling food and typical goods and clothing. I was definitely the only tourist walking around. I walked all the way to the end and back. I saw lots of interesting things. One woman had a grill in a shopping cart and she was grilling chicken. I took some pictures of the houses but didn’t want to be disrespectful and take any pictures I shouldn’t. At the end of the road there were electrical wires criss-crossed everywhere. There were so many wires it looked a bit dangerous. The whole time I figured it was one of those places most people don’t see and maybe I didn’t quite belong but no one seemed to care that I was there. I headed in the direction of my last stop of the day but was too early so I searched for something interesting to see. I found Palacio de Aguas Corrientes which translates to The Water Company Palace. Inside this building are 12 huge iron water tanks. You would not know form the outside. According to google there are 300,000 hand painted glazed terracotta tiles and enameled bricks on the exterior. The building takes up a whole block. I walked all the way around it and every side of the building is impressive. Apparently the city wanted to mimic the luxury of Paris and created an incredible building with provincial shields, and loads of sculptures. From here I went to Palacio Barolo for my sunset tour. This building was finished in 1923 and the skyscraper is divided into 3 sections following Dante’s journey through hell, purgatory and paradise. The lobby represents hell and has demons, dragons and vaulted ceilings. Floors 1 to 14 are purgatory. As you go up in floors the architecture becomes simpler until there is no ornamentation and you are in paradise. {Paradise is the eternal light of God and at the top is a lighthouse. From there the view of the city and the sun setting was spectacular. The architect used many numbers from Dante’s work in the building. The building is 100 meters tall for the 100 stanzas in the Divine Comedy. There are 22 floors for the 22 verses and there are 11 balconies on each side of the building representing the 11 syllable lines of Dante’s work.

I headed off today on a big adventure. I flew down to El Calafate in the Patagonia region to go see a glacier. Even the plane ride there was exciting because as we got closer you could see miles and miles of white mountains and untouched land. It was incredible to see. After landing in El Calafate and checking into the hotel the looked like a lodge I was off to see Walichiu caves. I was able to see cave paintings that were 4000 years old. Perito Moreno discovered them in 1877. He was the same person who found the glacier in Perito Moreno National Park. The best part of the night was the dinner in a cave. There were 4 tables set up and I sat with a family from Italy. We had wine and I told them about my journey and they toasted with me to my journey. We had pumpkin soup, lentil stew in a bread bowl and chocolate mousse with blueberries. Even though it was below zero and I had on multiple layers plus and poncho they gave us and socks as mittens it was a great experience. As we left the cave to return to the van the sky was so clear and dark away from city lights that the stars were amazing. It’s been a long time since I have seen the stars like that.

Today was the big day seeing the glacier. It was an hour drive with an incredible view of the snowy mountains. As we got closer we could start to see icebergs. Soon we rounded the corner and there was the glacier. We all took lots of pictures and headed closer and into Perito Moreno National park. First up was a boat ride up close to the glacier. The glacier is 364 individual icebergs. When you look at it there are sections yous can see that are blue. That is the purest ice that does not contain oxygen. The white areas have oxygen trapped in the ice. So the blue is because that is the color that reflects most from the sun. The glacier is 30 meters or about 10 stories high and 70 meters below the water. From one side of the glacier tot he other was 4 kilometers and from the from back into the mountains was 30 kilometers. It was so incredible to see. The tour guide kept telling us how lucky we were to have such a clear day as it snows 300 days out fo the year and usually has clouds in the mountains and not a clear a view. On the boat ride they showed us some of the ice and the parts with no oxygen were so clear they looked like glass. I took a moment to have my Titantic pose on the bow. After the boat ride we went to the area of the park where you can walk on trails to see different views of the mountains, the glacier and icebergs. The views were so stunning. I took so many pictures trying to capture it but the awe of standing there looking at the beauty of nature was something you can’t capture in a photo. I also got to see and hear 3 times pieces of the ice crash into the lake. It was all such an amazing experience. Once back at the hotel I wandered a little down the road and saw flamingoes in the wild.

I had a late flight and wasn’t going to be picked up into 3:40 so I had most of the day to wander. I walked through the middle of town (not all that big a town) and then found a reserve not too far away. I got to the reserve only to find out they only take cash so I couldn’t go in but just around the corner was something better and it was free. The Hopy Beach on Lago Argentino. What incredible views of the mountains with the lake in front. So gorgeous.

I didn’t see a lot of new things today but I did go back to buy a mate cup from a craft vendor in the Recoleta area. I also sat in the park looking at the Floralis Generica for a while. It was a nice day to sit in the sun. I also went to the Museo National de Arte Decorativo. It was a really nice building with different artifacts. The descriptions were in Spanish and I didn’t translate too many of them.

My favorite thing to do is see nature. So off I went to Costanera Ecological Park. A great walk through the woods where I could see Rio de la Plata and some of the wildlife. I saw turtles, a falcon, many other birds and coypu. The most interesting views were seeing the skyscrapers in the distance with the forest all around me.

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