Moroccan Food

Yes, the Moroccan food was a highlight of the trip, even though it brought about death and destruction to my intestines. The dishes were primarily made of fresh veggies, meat, and wonderful spices. The traditional dish is the tagine (see pottery dish), the tagine is cooked on a wood fire at high heat and comes out a sizzling delight. Most of the photos here are different tagines that we experienced, some vegetarian and some with chicken or beef. Even though I had one day touring the toilets in the Atlas mountains, the food was so delicious I had no regrets. Once the stomach was back on track, I was ready to eat more tagine.

Erg Chebbi Sand Dunes, Sahara Desert, Morocco

We arrived at the Erg Chebbi sand dunes on the northwest corner of the Sahara desert and was stunned by the beauty of the cool reddish sand that looked like delicious melted ice cream. Brahim, our guide, artistically wrapped our heads in turbines and we loaded up on our camels. I named my white camel, Fatima...she was quite a princess with a flatuation issue, a grumpy gurgle and quite a spiny hump that would eventually give me a desert war wound...butt chaffing. Yet, she (who we later discovered was actually a male) gracefully carried me across the sand dunes for about 1 and a half hours to our Berber camp that we would call home for the night. The Berber camp was in the shape of a semi/circle with wool carpets, mattresses for sitting and a table for eating in the middle of the semi/circle. The tents were made of Berber wool cloth. Once we got situated, we walked up the closest dune for the sunset, and a little sandboarding action. Woohoo! Dinner was the traditional affair, veggie tagine (which would later do destruction to my intestines).

Dessert in the desert comprised of Berber drumming, singing, and dancing and dune swimming. The crazy Aussie and Jennifer invented the zen of dune swimming. Lay down on sand and slowly do the motions of a snow angel. Yes, it looks like you are making love to the sand, but it is super relaxing with the cool, soft sand running through your fingertips. I think we spent about 1 hour enjoying dune swimming before we hunkered down on the mattresses for a sleepy night under the desert stars.

Brahim woke us at 530 a.m. for the sunrise and we boarded our camels for the ride out of the desert.

Atlas Mountains, Morocco

The Atlas mountains are bigger and denser than I expected. At times, you think that you could be in the Grand Canyon. Our mountain time was spent hiking the Gorge Du Dades valley where we discovered the simple joy of drinking traditional mint tea, eating dried figs and prunes and singing (yes, singing) berber songs. After the overnight in the Gorge, we drove further into the Atlas mountains, bought berber carpets (more on this later) and came upon the stunning Todra Gorge. This was the magical place where we bought (and later realized we got ripped off) colorful turbines to wrap on our heads. Turbines are important to protect the face, especially when riding camels in the desert, and they just look cool! The way they are wrapped on the head is truly an artistic endeavor. After turbinator time, we rock-climbed a beautiful rock face in the gorge with arabic guides who danced on the rocks and belayed with skill.

The Colors of Marrakesh, Morocco

We flew into the bustling city of Marrakesh, an old town known for its colorful and aromatic Medina market--spices, olives, fresh orange juice, berber carpets, jewelry, henna tatoo artists, hammam bath houses, funky leather shoes, fresh mint, and everything else that you never wanted. This would be the starting and ending point of our journey. Pictures below! Our first night we met the crew with which we would be traveling with for the next 7 days on an adventure into the Atlas mountains and the Sahara desert. The tour was run by Nomadic Expeditions, our local guide was Brahim and our local driver Ahem, and our travel partners in crime consisted of a crazy Aussie chick who found her "inner camel" during the trip and Jay, the Kiwi with a much-needed calming demeanor who was quite instrumental in the estrogen-induced week. Our first meeting was filled with excitement and lots of questions...do we really get to wear a turbine, what should we wear while riding the camel, do people get sick from the food...and the night was followed by a Moroccan dinner and wine. The next day we woke to the sounds of birds crashing into our dumpy Grand Tazi hotel window, just what we needed to start our trip into the Atlas mountains with a bang. We loaded the Land Cruiser and we were off.

Belgium Chocolate, Beer & Waffles!

Belgium is one of my favorite European countries. Besides eating and drinking my way through the ambrosial delights of chocolate, beer, waffles, and yes, even greasy fries, Belgium is a country that has always educated and greeted me with simple pleasures. (I remember my first trip to Europe in 1995, when our father introduced us to the 'naked' beaches of Belgium...now that was a sight. I think he enjoyed it more than we did. Luckily, our modest American culture identity kicked in and we were the only family wearing swimming suits on the beach that day.)

The passionate Belgium culture infuses a historical backdrop of beautiful architecture with a bit of contention between languages and identity (Flemish-Flanders vs. french-speakers-Brussels and Wallonia). There has been fiery discussions about splitting the country in two, but then Belgium just wouldn't have the split personality that makes it fascinating.

On this trip I visited my former roommate that I lived with in Finland, who is Flemish. Mary was the most gracious hostess and showed me the hot spots of her home town, Gent. Gent is a sweet little village and university town with a lived-in attitude without the hordes of tourists. While I was there the sun was high in the sky and the students were enjoying life in the parks, along the canals, and in the pubs. Mary took me to the town right outside Gent, where she grew up and visited her parents home. I needed to get my teeth cleaned, so we walked one block to a beautiful home where the local dentist lives. She opened the door to the most beautiful and serene dentist office I have ever seen. The equipment was sparkling and she was oh so gentle. After the chocolate moss was removed from my teeth, Mary asked, "Are you ready for chocolate?" And, we walked next door to her parents house where a local woman runs a chocolate shop attached to her home. Never before have I walked less than 100 steps to get my teeth cleaned and immediately grabbed for the sinful item that cakes my teeth with impurity: mouth-watering Belgium chocolate (see photo). It just doesn't get any better than that!

I took a day trip to the tourist-induced Bruges, a town with a small permanent population of 116,00. There is a reason over 3 million tourists flock to this lovely and historic village every year...it is a European gem with romantic canals, cobblestone streets, windmills (see photo), baroque-style churches, Gothic brick houses, outdoor cafes and horse carriages. I laced up my travelin' shoes and found my way through the quaint streets by foot, discovering little chocolate shops and stoppin' at a few cafes on nearly every corner. The sun was shining and my travelin' companion -NIKON- snapped away as I sipped on Leffe beers and devoured Belgium chocolate. Mary and Tom (see photo with Tom drinking Corona...too funny) picked me up and we drove to the sea for the sunset (see photo) and another delicious meal.

From Belgium to Oslo to Africa!

Belgium was GREAT! It was super sunny and my dear Flemish friend, Mary (Marijke), was kind enough to put me up for four evenings and show me the way of life in Gent, Belgium. It was truly a wonderful way to start this sojourn. Here are a few photos from one of my favorite countries in Europe, Belgium. More on that later...

I'm in Oslo for a quick overnight, re-pack, and tomorrow I'm wisked away on Norwegian Air for my next destination: Morocco, Africa. Back to Oslo on the 17th.

PHOTOS: Gent, the Quay (canal) by St Michielsburg cathedral (TOP), eating waffles (MIDDLE), eating french fries with Mary & Tom (BOTTOM).