Dov'è il sole?

Ciao!

After weeks of gorgeous weather, Rome has decided to be rainy! And...certo, just in time for our long Easter weekend! I had big plans to go to Sperlonga (oh, com'è bella), but the sun did not cooperate...

I still managed to make the most of my days off by wandering around Rome--hanging out on Isle Tiber, going to a night club UNDER Villa Borghese, getting lost looking for Villa Pomphili, fighting the hoards of people who have descended on Rome for Pasqua and the beatification (what is a beatification?, you may be asking) of Pope John Paul and then heading to the ancient ruins of Rome's port city, Ostia.

I have decided to make this post more exciting and interactive, so click on the links!

No easter egg hunts here, just giant chocolate eggs--with a toy inside!

The Vatican on Sunday. So many people! (I borrowed this picture, I actually avoided the Vatican area all weekend!)

The sun came out...temporarily! The upside to all the rain, everything is so green!

Ostia Antica is said to be one of the best preserved ruins sites in Italy! Apparently, it is even more extensively preserved than Pompeii!

Enshallah!

Ciao! 

I am back from my 10 day adventure into Morocco and Spain!  It was amazing to see places so different from anything that I had ever encountered before.  I flew into Marrakesh where I met up with Katie Rose (!) and 4 of her co-workers from Washington D.C.  We adventured around Marrakesh for the day, wandering and getting lost in the endless medinas.  It was hard for me to resist not buying everything that I saw in the markets--the colors were amazing, jewelry and shoes were beautiful, the spices smelled fantastic.  It was a sensory explosion! 

The next day we headed off on a tour, driven by a hilarious and entertaining Moroccan guy named Hicham, who loves American rap and loved to blast it as we drove through the countryside...awesome.  Black and yellow. yes. 

We saw so much of Morocco, from the Dades Valley to the Sahara!  We spent the first night in an oasis of a hotel, literally...we got kind of worried as we drove off into the middle of the rocks looking for our hotel.  The highlight, though, was our desert trek out into the Sahara to spend the night.  We loaded up on camels and headed out into the endless sea of sand.  

The camels were surprisingly stable and fun to ride! 

On top of a dune which was shockingly hard to climb...SIDI ALI!

 Our guides had set up a tent for us, cooked a lovely meal of couscous (ok, maybe lovely is not the word--we got a bit/a lot tired of couscous, it was pretty much the only thing we ate for lunch and dinner while we were in Morocco...not by choice).  That night, we slept out under the stars!  It was truly breathtaking and such an incredible experience.

After the desert, we continued to the Ziz Valley where our local tour guide took us on a tour of his village--truly an adventure, which at one point included our tour guide carrying me across a river (yes, I admitted it...but really, the water looked sketch).  We then ate lunch at his house.  Everything we ate, including dates and milk, came from his farm!  It was the freshest everything that I have ever eaten! 

The tannery in Fez

Barcelona!

 We then continued on to Fez, sadly parted from Hicham, and spent the day exploring.  We went on a tour of the medinas, which were even more of a maze like than Marrakesh--our tour guide turned out to be the Moroccan Amelie, guiding blind men, giving fresh baked bread to construction workers, joking with kids all while telling us about the history of the city! We found some delicious couscous and went to a hammam!

Katie Rose and I then headed off from the group for a whirlwind tour of Spain.  We flew to Barcelona where we spent a fantastic day!  We took a bike tour, so were able to cover a lot of ground.  We ended the day by relaxing on the beach drinking sangria and eating tapas.  It could not have been more perfect! We then flew to Madrid for our last day and a half of vacation.  It was fast, but Madrid was amazing!  So many people and things to see.  I will definitely have to return

Gaudi craziness!

Madrid

Too many pictures...it was so hard to choose!  I am posting the rest on picasa, so if you want to check them out, click on this link: Lots of photos!

A presto!  Happy Easter da Roma!

Andiamo a Napoli!

Ciao tutti!

Spring has arrived in Roma!  This week and weekend was stunningly beautiful--blue skies, 25 degrees.  The trees are all blooming with bright purple flowers and the sky is a clear clear blue. Just sitting and chatting with a friend in Piazza Navona seems just that much better in the sun! 

I think that this is truly the best time of year because the city is still relatively quiet.  I can tell that more and more tourists are descending on the city as each day gets warmer. So, I will enjoy it  while the city is still in a relaxed state of transition from winter to summer.

I really took advantage this weekend--on Satuday went to Testaccio market (where I got carried away and bought 10 euros worth of artichokes) and then spent the rest of the day wandering around from cafe to gelato to cafe with friends. It was truly relaxing and perfect.  Then on Sunday, we headed to visit Napoli!  Armed with my Napoli-native friend's step by step tour--really...he gave us a 15 step tour of the city, including where to have caffe and where to get the best sfogliatella--it was great!

Napoli was not what I expected.  I had been warned that it was a rough city, where you need to hold on to your bag even tighter and never travel alone.  But really, it was a beautiful, friendly and even quiet and relaxed. Well, quiet until Napoli won the soccer match--then the city kind of exploded!

Not sure why, but I love this picture.  Seems very Italian to me...

Pizza Margherita at the pizzeria that invented it (or so they claim!)

Mt. Vesuvius

Another beautiful weekend!  On Friday I am off to Morocco and Spain!  Can't wait to share pictures and tales from my adventures there!

A presto!  Baci!