The Italian road trip begins...

Finally after five hours we got our car and started towards Firenze. We decided that we no longer had time to venture off to Pisa on our way but we were still excited to finally arrive in Firenze.

This was the view from the Michaelangelo Piazza!! We parked for free which was very convenient and stayed at a cute and comfortable hostel.

Florence was my most favorite city in Italy! It was gorgeous and the people were fabulous. I definitely plan on returning. This was the view crossing one of the bridges towards the center. We were ready for a full day of searching for all of our leather needs!

Next stop... Venice!!! (Venezia)

Feliz navided de Roma!

The first stop on my Christmas vacation was in Rome! We stayed for four nights and it was spectacular. This was my first sighting of the Colosseum. 

We took a guided tour. I was so glad that we decided to do go with the tour because our tour guide was really fun and the information she provided us was great!

At first I was confused by the floor of the Colosseum but soon realized that the actual floor was missing because it was only made from wood and what is left is what actually was below the floor, where the gladiators stayed along with storage space.

Our first full day in Rome there was gorgeous weather and beautiful sunshine all day. I still cannot believe that this is over 2,000 years old!!!

The stone here in which I am standing is what is left of the throne at the Palantine in Rome.

The ruins in the Roman Forum.

After a very productive first full day in Rome it was time for some more amazing Italian food!!

We walked and walked and walked. Rome had some gorgeous Christmas lights which got us all in the holiday spirit.

On New Year's Eve we toured the Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel. It was stunning and breath taking. Later that evening we returned to witness midnight mass Christmas service with the Pope. It was really a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The Vatican City runs on its own postal service separate from Italy which is actually much more efficient, which is funny seeing as this motor home is the post office.

Here I am sending dad a post card from Vatican City!!!

This was where I experienced the most phenomenal gelato!!! I had wine and chocolate flavored, pistachio of course, and sage raspberry.

On Christmas day we visited the Pantheon. This along with Trevi fountain were some of my favorites because I remember learned a lot about these structures in my architecture courses in college.

One of the main streets was lined with lights matching the Italian flag!! I wish we had Christmas lights at home like they have lining every street here in Italy :)

My Roman trip wouldn't not have been complete without adorning myself in my reindeer hat and eating a canoli! The day after Christmas we were off to Firenze (Florence)!! The car rental was an experience but finally we were on our way... updates to come shortly.

1

THE GINGERBREAD MAN

To help celebrate the holiday season I decided to teach my third graders the story of the Gingerbread Man. I started by making my mother's recipe for gingerbread man cookies. I had brought some red cinnamon candies for buttons from home and a cookie cutter. The other ingredients I acquired at the local store, the English store, and a package from home.

After making all the cookies, I wrote a book so that the students could color it and keep it for the classroom. I also made copies of a gingerbread man coloring page as well. The students were all so excited and learned the story very well!! They kept telling me thank you and yelling "run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me i'm the gingerbread man!!"

It was so much fun sharing this tradition with my students and I can't wait for our next Christmas activity!

Africa to Amsterdam...

Amsterdam was much colder than back home where it still reaches the 70's during the day but I loved the Christmas spirit that was in the air. I was happy we landed safely since the wind was crazy and we actually came into the runway at a close to sideways angle. After a hefty applause to the pilot we hurried off to the hotel. We were sooo exhausted from our trip and were in desperate need for food. Luckily our hotel had a really nice restaurant and although we were not dressed the part we quickly found a table before closing time. I decided to treat myself and ordered crab cakes, salad, and some Washington wine! It was delicious! After dinner we headed to bed so we could get an early start the next day. 

Prior to this trip I didn't know much about Amsterdam and had to do some research. The city was gorgeous. Our hotel was perfectly located within close walking distance of everything! Their are canals around every corner and Christmas decorations everywhere. We decided to head to Starbucks and indulge in a holiday treat. Honestly I was a bit disappointed... I thought Starbucks was the same everywhere but in Seattle it tastes much better.

Afterwards we headed straight to the Anne Frank house to get in line for our tickets. The line was wrapped around the building but was moving fairly quickly. It was truly a great experience and I really appreciate all that I saw and learned.

For lunch we hit up the local Pancake House. I had some pea soup and an apple bacon pancake (of course with powdered sugar).

More than 80 percent of the adults in Amsterdam use bikes as their major mode of transportation. The bike system is a bit crazy, they even have their own stop lights (very cool)!

We found the most wonderful reindeer hats!!!! I can't wait to wear this more! 

I had to go to the Heineken Experience at the brewery. We were there for over two hours and it was sooo fun! It was very interactive and I highly recommend it.

We got to meet the Heineken horses. Due to the roads in Amsterdam they have to change their shoes every three weeks!!

We learned how to properly drink Heineken and why there is a necessary layer on the top. In order to avoid drinking flat beer the foam layer serves as protection. In order to drink the beer you need to raise the glass horizontal so that you do not consume the foam and it continues to protect the beer from getting flat.

This is a better picture of our new hats :)

This was our wonderful accommodations in the center of town!

On the way to the Vincent Van Gogh museum I had to get my pictures with the I AMsterdam letters. Luckily it was really early so not many tourists were there yet. I of course am the one next to the S.

I must have missed Santa Claus, or Papa Noel as they call him. Hopefully I will have better luck next time!! I am getting a little worn out from all this traveling but so grateful for the opportunity! Next stop, Italy.

My trip to Morocco!

We departed Sevilla just before 5am in the morning. We took two large buses for our excursion. The morning started off wonderful. First my boyfriend was kind enough to make me some fresh squeezed orange juice and coffee before helping me walk my luggage to the buses. When I got there I got to reunite with some friends I haven't seen in a couple of months!! I knew it was going to be an amazing trip and lots of hours in a bus. We drove three hours to Tarifa where we would take the ferry across to Morocco. I got a stamp in my passport and survived the ferry ride. The ferries look like yachts but the water was quite rough and luckily I had my motion sickness bands on my wrists.

After several more hours on the bus and one bathroom stop we finally came to our lunch destination in Fes. We would not be spending more than a few short hours here but would be returning for our last day to explore the city more. The food was amazing! I ate pastela which was a spiced chicken mixture in a filo dough pastry and topped with powdered sugar. Afterwards we stopped to take some pictures at the beach.

It was chilly outside but the view was spectacular.

These pillars were all the same towering size at one point with 364 of them, I believe, but today what is left looks much different.

Although I took this picture in Fes I believe that this area is actually a different neighborhood/city and will have to look it up.

Previous to my adventure in Morocco I really had no idea the influence France had in Morocco. Everyone here that I met spoke several languages but everything is written in both Arabic and French. We made a quick stop to meet some Berbers that were selling some products along with some monkeys hanging out.

I fed them some peanuts :)

This was my lovely view for most of the five days. I spent more than 24hours on the bus but it was worth every moment and I was surrounded by wonderful people.

In Africa I got to see my Christmas snow!!!!! Life now feels complete for 2011.

The desert is quite cold in the winter and so at one of our lunch stops we warmed up by the fire. I brought a lot of warm clothes and feel that I was better prepared than many in which I was thankful. I also packed 5 liters of water due to my boyfriends suggestion which was the best idea ever!

Had to get my turban on before entering the Sahara. We took 4 x 4's deep into the desert towards our oasis. This picture is with our crazy and kind driver. I was scared for my safety and many points but could not stop laughing. After a very fast and bumpy ride throughout the sand dunes we arrived at our next ride. I got on my camel, Jasmine, and headed towards our destination. It was such a spectacular view. There was only the moonlight to guide us and the stars were glistening. After about forty-five minutes we reached our Berber desert oasis where we were served dinner and assigned tents for the night. There was only one toilet for the hundred of us but toilets have been an interesting topic since the start of this excursion.

After dinner we danced and roasted marshmallows over the fire.

We were provided thick wool blankets for our makeshift tents. It was very very cold but I brought an extra blanket and kept quite warm. At five thirty in the morning we were woken to climb the most intense sand dune!! I thought I was going to die and my heart was jumping out of my chest. The dune took forty-five minutes to climb and was straight vertical!!

Finally I made it to the top!

We watched the sunrise from the top.

The picture does not really do it justice.

This is our little camp and you can see the camels in the back. I never knew camels made such weird noises but you could hear it from the top of the dune!

This is the inside of our tent.

Jasmine and me!

We had a caravan of almost 100 camels!!!!!!!!!!!

After another two hour camel ride which does horrors to your body we showered and had lunch at a hotel. Later we did some shopping at a local Berber tribe and took our 4 x 4's to our next hotel.

We stayed at a five star resort and hung out and danced till all hours of the morning!!

The next morning it was time to spend another 8 or 9 hours on the bus. Our first stop was this gorgeous canyon view where you could see all the different colors of the trees. My roommates and I took this moment for a picture opportunity.

The royal palace in Fes, the capital!

This is a picture from the medina in Fes. There are over 9,000 unnamed streets!! I was able to get plenty of Christmas shopping done along with site seeing as well.

We toured the tannery where they make leather products. This is one of the largest in the world.

Right before heading back to Sevilla, I ended the trip with getting some henna tattoos. I was hoping we would make the ferry on time since I had a flight to Amsterdam early the next day... but I learned through the five days spent in Morocco that the people are very kind, accommodating, welcoming, and I enjoyed myself immensely.