Three Countries in One Week

Warning: we went a little picture crazy on this post... & it's long

      We are blessed. We have incredible jobs which we both love; and even though we don't get paid nearly as much as we could if we were working in the United States, we are still able to come up with the money which allows us to pay off our college debt aggressively. We also live in an beautiful country, and in a location that is ideal for traveling around the world very inexpensively. If it were not for our location, we would be too encumbered by our college debt to be able to travel as freely as we do. We are very blessed.

      Over the February vacation, we were able to travel throughout three different countries. Granted, one of those countries was Morocco...but it still counts since we traveled far enough to spend the night outside of our home. Our traveling began the day after Valentines day...

 (& we ate a fancy dinner at Rick's Cafe on Valentines Day, for the record)

     Along with 17 other people, we drove 2-hours toward a mountain-side village near Marrakesh. We then hiked through the mountains for another 2 hours, until we reach an isolated and self-sustaining Berber village. Rachid, the mayor of this Berber village, acted as our guide and host for this trip. The village is over 400 years old, and beautifully irrigated. It was founded by four Berber families and has since grown to accommodate around 600 people. The village obtained electricity only 13 years ago. In spite of this small step toward modernization, the people still hold strong to their traditional, old-fashioned ways. It was a very peaceful and picturesque trip.

photo credit: JP

homemade jams and butter - delicious!

     We toured the Berber school. A French school in Ain Seba partners with this local school. They visit several times a year and help with the cost of running the school. The girls are primarily taught how to sew and how to make rugs out of recycled leather.

Rachid writing Nicole's name in Berber

The Hammam - Build your own fire and take a bath!

Bread is still made the old-fashioned way: in a cow poop oven

Laundry is washed by hand in the spring

Us with the mayor of the village, Rachid

    After the hike, we ate at at this riverfront restaurant before heading home:

     Still sore from the hike, we woke up early the next morning excited for our next crazy adventure in Como, Italy. The flight alone provided some spectacular views. We stayed at a beautiful bed and breakfast right across the street from the cathedral. Our room, which was furnished with the most amazing shower ever, was actually a finished attic bedroom. While staying there, we discovered a secret door which led to the rest of the attic. Among many other things, we found a moose!

Our first glimpse of Italy. Those aren't clouds!

     Highlights of our visit in Como: The moose (naturally), the soccer stadium, finally figuring out how to order good coffee in Italian, the lake, and the food (well...some of the food)

     We took a day-trip by train to Lugano, Switzerland. Thanks to the fact that the regional train station in Italy was on strike, this turned out to be an extremely expensive trip. It became even more expensive when we stupidly didn't think to convert our lunch menu cost from swiss francs to euros. We spent $80 on lunch...and we were not impressed. However, we did find fantastic pork products, fine chocolates, and beautiful views. It was all worth it in the end.

The restaurant that stole all of our money

Lake Lugano

     Last stop: Milan, Italy. We spent our final two nights in Milan. Our hotel was not nearly as glamorous as our Como hotel. In fact...the bathroom ceiling was covered with mold:

But we didn't mind so much since we spent all of our time outside anyways (&the hotel was super cheap). We were present for the Milan v. Barcelona Champions League soccer match. Unfortunately for David, the stadium was completely sold out (& the tickets would have been too expensive). Nevertheless, he was still thrilled to be outside of the stadium during the game.

Other highlights of Milan include touring the cathedral, free public transportation, the most amazing food (best pizza and pasta ever), & the snow. :)

We "vandalized" someones car

David at a Milan arena

 Ciao!

-David & Nicole