Brandon O'Brien

Wednesday, November 13, 2013 @ 6:18 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 140

I decided not to do breakfast this morning since I picked up a few things from the grocery yesterday. I didn't set my alarm either but I still woke up around 8, which is when I'd been setting my alarm anyway.

I hung out at the hotel and did a little bit of work until about 10:30 then set off to walk the beach and find some food. I went down to the big park next to the beach and sat and enjoyed some relative peacefulness. The park is next to a big roundabout so the sound of cars and honking is ever-present. My trick with wearing headphones worked well. I didn't have anyone bother me the entire day.

I wasn't really sure what I wanted for lunch so I walked around for a while before I settled on a chicken pizza. One of the main reasons I like hostels is the kitchens. It makes eating so much easier when you can make a sandwich or something else for lunch/dinner and not have to go out and find something.

I made my way back to the hotel where I read on the rooftop terrace for a while then came back to the room and messed around on my computer. By the time I was getting hungry for dinner I was hit with the same uncertainty of what I was hungry for. There isn't really too much of a diversity when it comes to actual food here. A lot of shawarma/panini/pizza combined restaurants, plus random sandwich shops that don't have any prices or ingredients listed anywhere. Without having something to base my choices, I have to avoid places like that.

After I ate another cheap pizza (nothing can come close to Naples pizza now), I was on my way back to the hotel when I passed this guy I had seen a few times selling fried dough that gets cut open and filled with honey then dipped in sugar. I wasn't 100% full from dinner so I figured I'd get one. Again, no prices or names of what it is listed anywhere, so I just pointed and gestured "1" and gave him a 20Dh bill (about $2.50 USD). I got quite a bit of change back so now I know they're not that expensive.

The treat was delicious. Imagine a really good funnel cake/elephant ear/sopapilla and you get the idea of what it was like. I ate it at the big roundabout/park near the hotel then came back. There are a few other street vendors selling desserts I want to try before I leave. I'll have to limit myself to one a night though or else I feel like I'll have a sugar overload.

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Tags: daily journal, morocco, tangier

Posted from: Morocco

Tuesday, November 12, 2013 @ 7:40 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 139

A bit of a rant today. I want to start off by saying that I find Tangier to be a really cool place. The culture, city and people are like nothing I've experienced before. The heavy Muslim influences in architecture and the daily prayers blasted from the mosques throughout the city 5 times day are unique and interesting. It would be great to be able to walk around, explore and soak in the feeling of the city without being constantly hassled. Hustlers (or tout's as they're called here) are a well known nuisance. Read up on this link and you'll see what the rest of this post is about: http://goafrica.about.com/od/moroccotopattractions/a/tangier_3.htm

I guess it's because I stick out like a sore thumb, but no matter where I go in the city, people are constantly coming up to me and trying to act as tour guides or ask for money. When you're in the medina and you make eye contact with a local, they see it as some sort of sign that you're in need of a guide or you're looking for help they can profit from.

It really takes the enjoyment out of walking around when you have to constantly keep your eyes ahead and completely ignore people that come up and start talking to you. As soon as you say anything to them, they see it as you agreeing to need their help. Ignoring them, they'll follow you for about 10 seconds then finally wander off.

Today I didn't really have a plan other than to walk around the medina and try to get photos of cool streets, archways and buildings. If I'd stop to enjoy a view or get off the tourist streets a bit, people immediately come up to you and start trying to lead you somewhere else. It got so frustrating that I eventually left the medina and sat in a big park for a while. Even there people see that I'm not a local and either try to sell me junk or start asking me questions.

If it was simply people curious about me as an outsider I wouldn't care one bit. I'd be more than happy to talk with the people if it was truly going to be a conversation. I've actually had good honest chats with people who are working at restaurants when I order food and the staff at the hotel. Unfortunately when someone comes up on the street it's not for idle chat.

With four full days left in Tangier, I'm trying to figure out different ways to combat all the hustling. I think tomorrow I'll plug in my earphones and walk around listening to music. Maybe if I can't hear all the people trying to get my attention then it won't bother me so much. I still want to do a little bit of souvenir shopping before I leave so I might attempt that tomorrow too.

Teaser photos:

In the medina

View from breakfast

Chilling in a park

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Tags: daily journal, morocco, tangier

Posted from: Morocco

Monday, November 11, 2013 @ 7:27 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 138

This morning I had another huge breakfast at the hotel. After eating I went down to the beachfront and walked along the beach for a while. I found a park on the beach and read in the shade of a tree for a while. At about noon I worked my way over to one of the new busy streets full of shops and cafes and walked along it.

The street was packed with people going about their daily business. Pretty much all the tea shops had a lot of people in them. Not wanting to miss out on another tea I found a place that had mint tea for 8 Dh and sat outside watching the busy seat while drinking it.

I hadn't really realized it but it dawned on me while drinking the tea just how much sugar and carbs I've been consuming while in Morocco. It seems like everywhere you turn there are sweet shops, honey/sugar rich pastries and tea shops selling the sugar infused mint teas. I'm not sure if it's because alcohol isn't prevalent at all here or what, but people sure do love their sweets.

I came back to the hotel and read on the rooftop for a while before coming back to the room and relaxing for a bit. When I started getting hungry for dinner I set out in search of some food. I wasn't really sure what I was craving but eventually found another shawarma shop and got the chicken shawarma plate. It came with a pita, chicken, carrots, potatoes, rice, cucumber, corn and some of the garlic sauce on top. It was really good and for the equivalent of $4.75 it was nice and filling.

I'm starting to realize how Tangier isn't really built around tourism. Sure, it caters to the cruise ships but if you're here more than a couple of days there isn't really too much new to see or do. Aside from wandering around the medina or sitting by the beach there aren't really many sights to see. I think this week in Morocco is definitely going to help me refill my quota of relaxation and alone time, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow yet, but I'll probably start working my way deeper into the medina and just enjoy getting lost in all of the small streets.

Teaser photos:

Tajines perfect for serving jam, honey, cubes of butter and olive oil

Tangier beach

Me at the Tangier beach

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Tags: daily journal, morocco, tangier

Posted from: Morocco

Sunday, November 10, 2013 @ 6:38 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 137

I slept pretty well last night. It was nice not having to deal with snorers, doors opening and closing, people moving around above or below me on bunk beds, plus the bed here is really comfortable. This morning I had a great breakfast at the hotel. For 55 Dh you get fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee, fruit (bananas, grapes, plums, apples), several Moroccan breads (including a delicious mix between a crepe and pancake called a Baghrir), a croissant, jam, honey, olive oil and goat cheese.

When I sat down, I was joined by a guy named Ben from New York. I'm glad he sat down or else there would have been an enormous amount of food left over. My goal was to make breakfast my biggest meal of the day since there was so much delicious food at my disposal. I ate or tried just about everything that was served to the table.

Ben used to work here when he was a kid and has visited many times throughout the years. I had read you shouldn't drink the water here which I hadn't done yet, but I wanted to confirm this. I asked him and he said I'd be better off buying bottled water. After breakfast I went out and bought 5 liters of water for about $1.50 which should last me a good part of the week.

After dropping the water off at the hotel and being sufficiently stuffed and caffeinated from breakfast I set out for the medina. I didn't really have any kind of destination in mind, and with no destination it's impossible to get lost, right? I walked around the maze of winding streets through all the leather, brass and antique shops plus all the people selling fruit and vegetables on the streets. There's even a huge indoor meat and fish market. The smells in those areas are quite overpowering.

I mostly stuck to the heavily trafficked paths but I did get out of those for a bit and walked into the areas where you could tell tourists don't normally go. Eventually I stumbled up to the Bab-el-Assa and the Kasbah Museum. There were some really nice panoramic views from the area of the Strait of Gibralter and Europe. I went into the Kasbah Museum for the equivalent of $1 USD. It was the former home of sultans and was converted into a big museum that showcased the history of Tangier from prehistoric times through the present. None of the displays were in English so I had to try and get the gist of what was going on by reading the Spanish information. Included in the museum is access to the gardens which were really nice. They had orange trees, banana trees and tropical plants and trees of all sorts.

One of the big drinks here is mint tea. All of the travel sites and blogs I've read about Tangier say that you have to drink some of the mint tea. It was lunch time and I still wasn't hungry due to the huge breakfast so I walked around trying to find a place to drink a tea. One of the issues I faced is that a lot of the cafes don't have menus or only have menus in Arabic which is completely non-legible to someone who doesn't know the language. Eventually I found a cafe with a menu in French and ordered a tea for 10 Dh (about $1.25).

The cafe was in the Grand Socco overlooking the main circle near my hotel. The tea itself was amazing. Imagine the best mojito you've ever had but instead of rum they used hot tea. That's pretty much what this tea was like. I sat out and people watched for a while before the bees started getting attracted to my empty glass.

I came back to the hotel to read and relax for a while. By about 4 I was getting hungry enough to want to venture out for dinner. I had seen a place selling shawarma (an Indian stuffed pita style meal) for 20 Dh just down the street from the hotel. I went there and ordered one and it was amazing. They basically filled a pita with chicken, corn, lettuce, tomato, onion and some sauce and then hot pressed it all together.

On the way back I saw some people selling clemintines for 2 Dh / kilo which is a crazy good deal. I picked up a kilo of them for the equivalent of 25 cents so I'd have some fresh oranges to snack on all week. Back at the hotel I went up to the rooftop terrace where they have some seats and I finished my Game of Thrones book. When I finished the sun was setting so I hung out there and watched the city as the sun went down.

It was a really good day. I wasn't hassled when walking through the medina (although I did see the vendors flocking to the cruise ship tour groups where they knew there was easy money to be made). I guess walking around as a solo dude without a camera strung around your neck makes you less of a target.

Teaser photos:

Delicious breakfast at Dar El Kasbah

In the Tangier medina

Cool bench/alcove

Rooftop terrace of Dar El Kasbah

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Tags: daily journal, morocco, tangier

Posted from: Morocco

Saturday, November 9, 2013 @ 6:07 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 136

I went to bed pretty early last night so I wouldn't have any problems getting up early today. My flight to Tangier was at 12:15pm so I wasn't too rushed in the morning, but for some reason I wasn't able to check in online to my flight yesterday. I wanted to make sure I got to the airport a little early to make sure I got a good seat and to check my bag.

I had some pretty delicious muffins for breakfast. They were filled with jelly and had cinnamon crumbs on top. They were basically my breakfast and lunch since I wasn't sure when I'd eat once I got into Tangier.

I caught the bus to the Barcelona airport and arrived with plenty of time. I checked in just fine and hung out at the airport and read for a while before my flight boarded. Apparently I had nothing to worry about as far as getting a good seat went since the flight was about half empty.

I wasn't expecting it but they served a little sandwich and coffee along with the normal drinks. I got a window seat on the exit row which was pretty cool. There was a lot of leg room and the skies were clear for the most part so I got to watch Spain pass by below me. When we got to the Straight of Gibraltar I could see both Europe and Africa at the same time.

Everyone clapped when we landed (first time I've seen that in a while) and customs was a breeze. I withdrew the equivalent of around $200 in the local currency to last me the week. Everything's pretty cheap here it seems like so I think that should be fine. The weather was perfect when I arrived. It was fully sunny but not too hot or humid.

I got a taxi to my hotel (the Dar El Kasbah) for 150 MAD (about $18). The taxi driver didn't really follow any rules of the road. We were driving down two lane highways and he'd squeeze between the middle of two vehicles making his own third lane. After getting honked at numerous times we finally made it into the medina area where my hotel is. There were people, fruit vendors, spice shops and all kinds of other little restaurants and hole in the wall shops everywhere.

I checked into the hotel which is really nice. In the States I'd expect to pay anywhere around 90-120 USD for what I got for about $40 a night here. They also have a huge breakfast made fresh every morning (you have to let them know the night before if you're eating breakfast here so they know how much to make). I'm going to try it tomorrow since it's pretty cheap and looked delicious.

After I checked in I hung out in my room for a bit before deciding to go walk around for a little bit. The medina (or casbah) is right behind my hotel and looked crammed full of people doing their shopping. I was reading about it and experienced it today but people will come up to you around the medina and try to act as an unofficial "guide" where they ultimately lead you to a friend's carpet shop or something. They're pretty persistent so I think when I venture into the medina for real I'll just wear some headphones and pretend I can't hear them. It was a little overwhelming to tackle after a full day of traveling so I'll probably head into the craziness tomorrow. Today I walked around the area near the hotel a bit then headed down to check out the beach.

Along the way I saw a little restaurant selling cheap tajine so I made note if it and would eat there on my way back. The beach itself has a nice tree lined street and the beach itself is huge. I walked along there for a bit but then headed back to get some dinner. I went to the one place I saw earlier.

I wasn't sure the ordering process here (it seems like it's different in every country). I told the guy behind the counter what I wanted and he pointed to a table to sit down. He started making my chicken but I think I was supposed to sit down first. Oh well, it all worked out in the end. After a few language barrier issues when he asked what kind of salad I wanted (I thought he was just asking if I wanted a salad) it was all taken care of.

I ended up getting tajine chicken with a Moroccan salad (cucumber, tomato and onion) with some bread to soak up all the juices in the tajine. The tajine itself had chicken, hard boiled eggs, olives, onion, carrot and possibly tomato all cooked in a broth. All of the spices and food mix together and turn nice and soft so it's almost like eating a thick soup. Very very good with all the spices they use too. The entire meal only cost me about $5.50 too.

I wanted to pick up a few things to bring back to the hotel but the shops I saw earlier had shut down for the day so I just came back to the hotel.

My first impressions of Tangier... It's not quite as crazy as I thought it might be, but I've only just seen a little glimpse of it. I'm sure I'll be blown away when I actually enter the labyrinth of the medina with all of its zigzagging and narrow streets. It's interesting to have the heavy arabic influences here as well as the prayer towers coming alive and broadcasting prayers at random times of the day.

Teaser photos:

Beach in Tangier

Camels on the beach

Tajine Chicken

Panorama from rooftop of Dar El Kasbah hotel

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Tags: daily journal, morocco, tangier

Posted from: Morocco

Friday, November 8, 2013 @ 11:21 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 135

I didn't really do much today. I had to switch rooms in the hostel so I hung out in the dining room working, reading and eating for the first half of the day. I went out after lunch to get some breakfast and lunch for tomorrow as well as some pasta and pasta sauce for dinner.

I've been trying to finish the first Game of Thrones book before heading to Morocco but I don't think it'll happen. I've still got about 100 pages left so I'll probably take it with me to finish in Tangier. I'll probably grab another book from the hostel here to hold me over for the week.

After dinner I was drinking my wine and talking with some of the other travelers here. I went out and picked up a couple beers that were actually pretty good. They tasted like a Blue Moon. For 45 cents a can you can't really go wrong either. A bunch of them are planning on heading out but since I've got to get up and head to the airport kinda early tomorrow I declined.

I was trying to figure out how much the taxi from the airport to my hotel in Tangier will be but I haven't really figured it out yet. I'm assuming it'll be about 30 dollars or so but I guess we'll find out. The hotel offers a huge breakfast for about 5 euros which looked really good so I'll probably do that at least a few of the mornings.

I'm pretty excited to head to the African continent but at the same time I'm a little apprehensive about how the city might be. I'm not sure if it'll be overwhelming or not. I guess I'll find out tomorrow!

Tags: daily journal, spain, barcelona

Posted from: Spain

Thursday, November 7, 2013 @ 8:13 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 134

Since one of the guys in my dorm room was a crazy loud snorer I put in some of my heavy duty ear plugs last night and slept like a champ. After breakfast I packed a sandwich for lunch and headed down to the beach again.

I got down there and found a spot in the shade on some grass overlooking the beach where I ate lunch and read for a while. For some reason there are flies all over Barcelona. No matter where I go to read or relax outside there are flies constantly landing on me.

Another thing I noticed today was all of the people trying to sell you crap (coconuts, beers, drinks, massages, blankets, etc) when you're relaxing by the beach. It's pretty annoying when you're trying to read or eat and people keep coming up to you asking if you want a massage or to buy a coke. Eventually I just put my headphones in and pretended like I couldn't hear them and eventually they'd move on.

I moved a few spots along the beach to read and alternate between sun and shade. By 3pm I started to head back to the hostel to shower and get some dinner cooking. I still had some chicken and a red pepper left over from last night so before showering I went out and got some more asparagus to make another good meal.

After dinner I've just been working on my computer. I had a few bugs to fix on ClearCheckbook and I also booked the hostels for the rest of my Europe trip! Rather than try to visit a bunch of places in Spain and make the last month of my travels a nightmare of trains and buses, I decided to spend my time in a few places.

After Morocco I fly back to Barcelona where I'll spend 2 nights. After that I'll head down to Valencia for a week. From there I'll take a train to Seville where I'll be for 10 nights. From there I can do easy day trips to several places. Next up I'll head to Cordoba for 6 nights before finally heading to Madrid for the remaining 5 nights of my trip.

I was thinking about trying to head over to Portugal but amazingly enough there are very few trains and buses that go there from Spain. I'd have to take night trains back and forth and rather than deal with that kind of nonsense I decided I'll save Portugal for another trip.

Tags: daily journal, spain, barcelona

Posted from: Spain

Wednesday, November 6, 2013 @ 9:06 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 133

Not much to report today. I didn't set an alarm and woke up pretty late (9:45am). I got news that Callie isn't going to be able to make it to Morocco due to some medical reasons which is a shame. I ended up doing some last minute hotel booking and found an extremely highly rated hotel in Tangier for not much more than I pay for some hostels. I'll be staying there for the week instead of trying to head farther south to Marrakech.

After lunch I went down to the beach to have some beer and relax. It was a perfect day with no wind and hardly any clouds. I found a spot in the shade and read for a while before coming back to the hostel. On the way back I stopped and picked up some bread, cheese, wine and chorizo since a bunch of us were planning on going up to Montjuic to watch the sunset tonight.

Everyone ended up kinda doing their own thing so we didn't end up going up to the mountain for sunset so I just hung out at the hostel before getting hungry for dinner. The stuff I bought for the picnic didn't really sound like a full dinner so I went out and got some chicken, asparagus and a red pepper and made another concoction with all of that and the spice mix I'm still carrying around from Italy. I had some of the bread and wine and it ended up being a really nice dinner.

I talked with some of the people I was going to do the picnic with after eating and I think they're all planning on going out bar crawling. I'm not really feeling that so I'll just stay here tonight. The hostel is also completely filled up tonight since apparently a hostel around the corner shut down and there's a big football game here tonight.

I'm trying to figure out how I want to spend the last month of my trip when I get back from Morocco. I'm debating whether I should spend more time in Barcelona before heading down to Valencia and then Seville. I'm pretty much of the mindset now that spending more time in one place is the way to go but I do want to see more of Spain than just Barcelona and Madrid (where I'm flying home from).

Tags: daily journal, spain, barcelona

Posted from: Spain

Tuesday, November 5, 2013 @ 7:54 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 132

Since the internet was down most of yesterday and all night I stayed up late talking with some other travelers about all of our adventures, our favorite places, suggestions, etc. I ended up in bed around 12:30 and got up some time around 8:45.

I took the morning slow again. After eating the wifi was still down so I went out to a park nearby where I found the city of Barcelona has a free wifi hotspot. I checked some email then picked up some more bread for lunch and toast since the bread I had started to go bad.

After lunch I started the hike up to Park Guell. It's a giant park up on a big hill that Gaudi designed back in the early 1900's. A large portion of the park is free to enter but the area with some of the most iconic sculptures and buildings require an 8 euro fee which I didn't want to pay. The paid area was filled with other tourists and tour groups and the free area was pretty open.

I walked around and admired some of the crazy designs and read in the park for a bit. There were people trying to sell cheap souvenirs all over the place which was a bit of a shame since it seemed like there were more of them than there were actual visitors enjoying the park.

I hung out there for a couple hours before starting back to the hostel. The walk back was all downhill which was nice. I wanted some more asparagus or some green beans to go with dinner but it was siesta time so most of the markets were closed. I saw one big veggie market but they didn't have any green beans or asparagus.

For dinner I went out and got some kind of pizza bread and ate it with peas and corn. When I bought the pizza I was able to do it in Spanish, but there were no prices listed for anything. I was assuming it would be about 3 euros for the piece so I had that change ready. The lady said cinco (5) and for some reason my brain forgot all the Spanish I knew and I thought she said 3. After a quick confusion session I figured it out and went on my way. I was doing so well too!

I bought some wine so I'll probably drink some of it tonight and read some more. Tomorrow's weather looks like it'll be the best all week so I'm planning on doing another beach day.

Teaser photos:

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Tags: daily journal, spain, barcelona

Posted from: Spain

Monday, November 4, 2013 @ 12:45 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 131

The forecast was calling for rain and overcast skies today so I wasn’t really planning on doing much. After eating breakfast I went out to the grocery to pick up a few things and then I got rained on so I came back to the hostel.

Rather than deal with crappy weather I just stayed at the hostel where I worked and read the majority of the day. One of the nice things about being in one place for more than a few days is you don’t really feel bad about not spending the entire day out exploring the city.

It’s weird how as a traveler you feel the need to constantly be out exploring even when back home you have days where you don’t really do anything and you don’t feel bad about it. When you’re in an exciting city half way across the world you also feel like you need to be out experiencing the culture and seeing the sights. Taking a day off is a strange feeling but it’s necessary.

For dinner I didn’t really feel like cooking tonight so I went out for a stuffed pita then bought a bottle of wine for the night. I read for a while then talked with some other travelers. The hostel made some tapas and several of us sat around a big table enjoying them. My favorite was some kind of potato cake made with eggs. Basically you cut up some potatoes into cubes, fry them, smash them and then scramble some eggs and mix it together and cook it over low heat. You can mix in chorizo, chicken or whatever else sounds good.

The internet died again at the hostel which is turning into quite the pain. I just ended up reading and talking with other travelers since the internet was down until this morning.

Tags: daily journal, spain, barcelona

Posted from: Spain