The Quietest Large City
I don't know if it is all the bicycles, or the large spaces of open air created by the canals, or just the inclination of the Dutch, but Amsterdam is by far the quietest large city I've ever been in. Loud tourists
really stick out. I guess I don't as much, because people keep coming up to me and asking me questions in Dutch. Anyway, it is such a pleasant change from all the noise and crazy driving in so many of the other places I've been.
There are so many bicycles here... it seems that everyone has one. And with bike paths going both ways on so many of the major streets and flat terrain interupted only by the slight elevation of canal bridges, its very pleasant to bike here.
Oh yeah, one last thing. Philosopher's Stones are highly recommended.
Barcelona
Barcelona is technically in Spain, but is really in a different place altogether. They even speak a different langauge (Catalan is taught first in schools there, then Spanish). It is a wonderful city with lots of art and creativity and tolerance for eccentricity.
The architecht Gaudi is an amazing product of this, and seems to have smoked the same stuff as Bosch. His buildings give me the same feeling that Bosch's paintings do. Even though it won't be completed for another 20+ years, even while it is being built his La Sagrada Familia alone is worth flying to Barcelona for. Not only is the artistry differnt, the very engineering of this true new Wonder of the World is unique. The guidebooks and photos simply don't do it justice -- you just have to be there to appreciate it. Completely unlike anything else, it will blow you away.
Speaking of different, Picasso spent his formative years in Barcelona, and the Picasso museum shows his work from childhood through his blue period. It's impressively informative to see the progression he makes to the leap for that huge first in art history -- painting what he
felt rather than what he
saw. I only wish they had a fuller collection after his blue period since I could understand so much there but didn't get the leap to cubism in the same way.
Milo and Dali are both from Barcelona or nearby and seem as much a part of what Barcelona
is rather than just something that happened there.
Among the other things to do in the city, I found a designer that I really liked and picked up some fairly inexpensive shirts to replace some of my traveling wardrobe.
Going for Japanese food one night in Barcelona we ran into Calista Flockhart and Harrison Ford -- I guess the restaurant I picked was a bit too trendy.
Morocco
Morocco was wonderful, and we ended up staying longer and cutting short another part of our itinerary. An amazing country with amazing peoples, and it seems so far away in place and time, even after Lisbon.
We watched the sun set from the ferry to Tangier and watched it rise from the train to Marrakech. Both magical moments.
We spent several days in a Riad in Marrakech, shopping and haggling in the Souks, taking in the crazy experience of the square Jmaa el Fna. Snake charmers, Arab story tellers, musicians and dancers, portable food setups complete with generators and lights over folding tables. People speaking several languages (French, Berber, Arabic, and tourists on top of that) and clothing that seems as much like costumes as anything else. At night with all the smoke and noise and chaos it feels very much like a foriegn language version of Burn Night.
We also enjoyed a visit through the south. It was relatively inexpensive to hire a car and driver, and Omar (our driver) was quite interesting and intelligent making him a valuable resource on the trip. We made it all the way to the Saharan dunes past Merzzougah and a short camel trek with a Berber guide. Well, the sandstorm that woke us in the middle of the night until we figured to sleep with the sheets over our heads (sand blows right through Berber camel hair tents). Taxi rides through Marrakech are crazier than any sandstorm.
So at least I didn't completely miss the desert during Burning Man this year. :-)
I've got some wonderful pictures from Morroco, but don't know when I might be able to upload them -- it's not easy to do so from most internet cafes.
Anyway, after the south we returned to Marrakech for one night in the new city, then took an overnight train, ferry and overnight bus to Barcelona. Two nights in a row of "sleeping" on ground transportation is a bit much, especially after so much driving through the south.
The Marrakech Express
After ten days in Lisbon, we're finally heading out, and we've decided to drop Berlin to make time for Morocco.
The plan is to drive ten hours and drop off our hired car in Algercerias, take a ferry from there to Tangier, the overnight train to Cassablanca and on to Marrakech where we'll spend a few days or a week. We may spend all of our time in Marrakech or do some kind of trip into the Atlas and Sahara.
After Marrakech, we're on trains and ferry to Barcelona where we spend a week before flying to Amsterdam for a bit more than a week, and then to Cairo at the end of September).
