Agadir, Morocco

Morocco has quickly become a destination in my top ten favorite places to travel. Each city brings new adventure, amazing food and beautiful countryside. This post will dive into the popular holiday seaside destination, Agadir. We snuck off here for a mini holiday to escape the miserable Belgian rainy season for some fun in the African sun.

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This is not the typical getaway destination where we typically pack in as much as we can. Agadir is filled with all inclusive resorts to maximize on guests’ relaxation and leisure without having to leave. At first, I was very skeptical because usually these resorts do not offer high quality food, drink or service. However, I was pleasantly surprised by Hotel Kenzi Europa. The rooms were very clean, WIFI strong, food selection excellent with a variety of Moroccan and international cuisines, and the night entertainment was a nice bonus. Each night the staff involved children in some dance before putting on a show for the older guests.

But we, of course, wanted to get out and do some exploring. Upon arrival at Agadir airport, we had the luck of getting into a cab of the nicest man in the city. TIP: don’t let anyone put your suitcase in the taxi. They are looking for money and will ask you to take from the taxi fare to pay them. It’s an awkward conversation so best to avoid it all together. I am sure the price we paid is higher than if we hired a car and drove ourselves but for 400 MAD (about 40USD) Mohammed was our personal chauffeur for one full day. Our first two stops can be seen on the above pictures. He took us to the city mosque but we could not go inside because it was Ramadan and we are not Muslim. He then took us to an herb garden to learn how Argan oil is made. Women manually shuck the argan nut from its shell for it to be processed into oil.

But the best part of the day was visiting Paradise Valley for some swim and a whole lotta sun. It is this tiny oasis located deep in the African mountains. We had a guide bring us the fifteen minute walk from the parking lot to this hidden gem. You can get fresh squeezed juice and water to drink but don’t expect any alcohol to be served! Also, be careful of the little fish that swim around the water, waiting to bite at your skin to eat the dead flesh away…it’s creepy and I freaked me out so much that I wouldn’t even stay in the water very long!

We were also told about a market in Agadir that we wanted to check out to score more rugs and other Moroccan treasures but all we found was a huge flea market of clothes, shoes and other home goods. Luckily, we stumbled upon some amazing delicacies for the area and indulged when we couldn’t shop.

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Agadir was a lovely getaway with so many wonderful sights and spots to enjoy. While it felt more like a spot for families to leave for a low cost holiday, we were able to find places that gave a little adventure.

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A Weekend in Belfast

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When you travel to the extent that I do, it takes a lot for a place to surprise me. However, with its majestic mountains, rolling green hills and charming countryside, it’s clear why Game of Thrones settled in gorgeous Northern Ireland. A weekend was enough to give just a small taste of what this place has to offer and is on my short list of places to return.

But, Northern Ireland is a tricky place for me that I don’t think I’ll ever quite get right. They are part of Ireland but use the British pound, love the Queen / hate the Queen, drink Guinness and have English accents. The only thing that makes sense is the side of the car they drive on–thank goodness it’s the same everywhere in Ireland.

Easyjet is (not my favorite) a low cost airline based out of the UK that often give exceptional deals to/from the UK from key cities in mainland Europe. We flew from Amsterdam direct to Belfast for 50 bucks each, round trip! If you can pack light, you benefit from additional savings by not paying for luggage. With two full days in and around the Belfast area, I knew on what I wanted to focus: Game of Thrones sets, Carrick-a-Rede bridge, Giant’s Causeway and the Titanic Museum.

Game of Thrones and The Dark Hedges

You can spend an entire trip touring the Game of Thrones sets but when your boyfriend started his GOT journey on the 5th season (I know I KNOW) then you have to settle for the main attractions that also offers a little something extra. What is great about the spots we went to was the public access to them. My personal favorite were the Dark Hedges which is the King’s Road in a few seasons. TV magic makes this little road look like such a treacherous path but in reality, it’s a delightful little road leading to a restaurant at the top of a hill.

Giant’s Causeway and Carrick-A-Rede Bridge

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Tip number one for doing these both in the same day: plan ahead. The bridge only gives out so many tickets to cross per day and when they sell out, they stop. Not knowing this, I stopped at Giant’s Causeway first to see the sight that has left so many people wondering how it got there. And it was quite a sight to behold…after making quite the hike from the welcome center down to the sea. I decided to not pay 20ish euros for the welcome center tour thingy and opted to walk right down to the Causeway, free of charge. If you’re driving, you will pay a fee for parking which is your “entry fee”. But because my boyfriend had already been there, dropped me off to save our pounds for finer things like Guinness and ciders. I have to say I liked it but wasn’t spectacular. The view surrounding it was much easier on the eyes 🙂

The Carrick-a-Rede bridge was super cool!! After hoofing it through the Causeway to make it to the bridge before closing, I was immediately bummed when I learned of the “first come first serve” policy. And my heart sunk when we pulled into the parking lot to read a “Sold Out” sign out in front. Nonetheless, my heroic boyfriend was bound to give me every experience I wanted from the weekend. He parked the car and we made it to the ticket desk. After much persuading and begging and negotiating, we were not successful to gain access to the bridge. But we walked there anyway to see what it looked like and I vowed to make it back again to walk across. Still pretty cool to see 🙂

Bushmill Distillery

But let’s ask the question, “Why were you so late to the bridge?”

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Excellent question! Because we love to tour distilleries, especially ones we love to drink so much. And Bushmills Distillery just so happened to be in the same neighborhood as the Causeway and Bridge…so we took a last minute tour! Super neat and we had the complimentary tasting after. I would highly recommend making a pit stop if you like whiskey and if you’re doing the other two stops as well. JUST PLAN IT OUT!

Titanic

In 1997, Titanic was released and my world was immediately consumed by the story of Titanic and Leonardo DiCaprio #lovehim #celebcrush #sharethedoor

The Titanic museum allowed me to go back in time to high five ten year old me for making it to a place she never thought would be possible. This museum takes you through what it was like on the Titanic and other ships built by the White Star Line. You can see where the blueprints were first drafted, offices of the key ship designer, Mr. Thomas Andrews and where the call came in that next morning to declare she sank. I was giddy. You can choose from three different tour packages (Naturally, I paid extra bucks to do everything because I planned to be there the whole day); no matter what you choose, do not miss the opportunity to go on the last remaining ship from the White Star Line, The SS Nomadic. Quite a treat to walk on the actual ship and hear stories from passengers and employees from when she sailed.

And if you’re a crazy super fan who plans trips around one event, then you’ll know to visit the museum on Sunday for the afternoon tea!! Be ready for a first class experience when you walk in with champagne, a live band and yes, you see it on the photos…a replica of the grand staircase from the Titanic first class dining cabin. Naturally, I wore my heart of the ocean necklace during tea so the locals knew I was legit and belonged.

I can not wait to plan my next trip back to Northern Ireland to see more of what the charming area has to offer. And maybe I’ll get the whole euro or pound, monarchy love/hate and what accent should you have culture figured out. Until then, I think we can all agree the best thing to come out of all Ireland is Guinness 🙂

Cheers!

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We did it for the Family: Sicily

It’s bucket list time and we knocked off one that is high on both our lists- Sicily. We couldn’t wait to get out of Northern Europe’s brutal winter for a few days to bask in the Italian sun. We decided to do a tour of the island’s perimeter for the highlights, starting in Trapani. Over the next few days we would see Marsala in wine country on the west coast, Catania, Taormina and Cefalu.

Marsala

We had only one night in Marsala as it is an easy 15 minute drive from the airport in Trapani. We found the cutest little airbnb right next to the sea and meandered into the city for an amazing dinner. Sicily is any seafood lover’s heaven but we started our holiday with an amazing seafood pasta and a local eggplant dish called, “caponata”, which became a dinner regular for the rest of the trip. The next day, we visited two vineyards, Donnafugata and Cantine Florio. We didn’t have an opportunity to do a wine tour but we did some tastings of the local Marsala wine and brought some tasty bottles home.

Agrigento

On our route from the west to the east, we stopped in Agrigento to admire the Valley of the Temples. This UNESCO site is located at the base of the city with gorgeous views of the Sicilian landscapes. This a must-visit so be sure to plan for 2-3 hours, minimum. We opted to drive our car at the bottom of the hill, take a taxi to the top and walk back down to the bottom. However, walking up and down isn’t such a hike if you decide to leave your car at the top of the hill.

Catania / Noto / Syracuse

Catania

The route we did on the first day was a bit aggressive but we knew we wanted to spend the majority of our time on the East side of the island. We stayed two nights in Catania to keep us central to other amazing locations: Noto, Syracuse and Mt. Etna. Catania was nice to visit but it fails in comparison to other Sicilian cities.

Noto

Noto was a recommendation from our cute airbnb host in Marsala as an alternative to Syracuse. I love local suggestions we decided to make Noto a priority before Syracuse. Maybe it was the time of year or maybe it’s just how the city is all of the time but we were not really impressed. We stayed enough to walk the main shopping street and have a cannoli.

Syracuse

Syracuse was super lovely!! When we arrived, we were immediately regretful we spent too much time in Noto. The largest greek theatre in Italy is in Syracuse but sadly we didn’t get to see it. Winter seasons mean shorter opening times and our long stay in Noto meant we would miss this. But, as the theme of this blog, we didn’t let it spoil our day and just enjoyed walking the city.

Taormina

Taormina

We could not love Taormina enough. Our number one city on our road trip and we can’t wait to get back and spend more time. A huge benefit to being in Sicily during the off season is you have the space and time to see everything you want without the bustle of all the people. We walked the city and fell in love with every little street, the second largest Greek theatre in Italy and a beautiful garden right inside the heart of the city. Tip: We booked Villa Sara and for 50 euro a night can have a stunning view of the city and Mt Etna plus breakfast. Oh and the owner is a doll.

Godfather route

Hands down our favorite part of the trip was seeking out the sites of famous Godfather film locations. Why? It was the most beautiful drive and we were immersed in gorgeous landscapes deep in the Sicilian hills. We cheated a little and googled popular Godfather tours to find the city names just outside Taormina. On our way out, we went to Savoca and Forza d’Agro to find the church where Michael was married and to enjoy a tasty lemon frozen treat at Bar Vitelli.

Cefalu and Palermo

Cefalu

Palermo Market

On our last night, we decided to stay in the coastal city, (ok let’s be honest, they are all coastal cities) Cefalu. Our hotel couldn’t have been any closer to the water and we imagined how nice it would be to sit on the balcony when it gets warmer.

In Palermo, we had just a few hours before our flight to see the sites. Neither of us were too keen on spending so much time here so we went straight to the street market for local red oranges, cannoli and arancini.

Sicily is amazing and you should plan at least four days if you want to do a big tour. When we go back, we know exactly where we will spend our time: East coast and Taormina 🙂

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30th Birthday Weekend

Anyone who is facing the dreaded 30 has two choices to make: Do you crawl in a dark hole and wait for it to come or do you grab it by the balls and own it in fabulous style? Thankfully, I chose the latter 🙂 2017-03-04 22.24.27

Dublin was the logical choice when looking at locations for this birthday extravaganza; super easy to travel from USA and just an hour flight from Belgium. I had the fun task of planning a city trip for 12-15 people over three days…we all know how I love a city trip!

I booked our hotel room at the Gibson Hotel; a bit on the pricey side but if you’re used to big, spacious hotel rooms then it is definitely worth the extra dough. Location wise, it’s closer to the airport than any hotel direct in the city center, has a tram line right outside their front door that will take you to the city center in 10 minutes. From the Dublin airport, bus 747 takes you to the 3Arena stop (first stop on the bus route) which is a 3 minute walk to the hotel. Bus 747 is the fast route, costs 6 euro one way (10 euro return) and you’ll be at the hotel in less than 20 minutes.

With logistics taken care of, I needed to look at the social activities. Dublin is the perfect location for a city trip because it has something for everyone! A castle, tons of pubs, hiking opportunities, shopping, an amazing history to discover or just spend time walking the streets.

Trinity College and Book of Kells

2017-03-12 12.05.48 The Book of Kells Tour and Trinity College Library was an excellent start to our weekend fun. My sister puts Belle to shame in the book department so I knew we couldn’t miss this. You can pre-book your ticket online for 14 euro; allows you to skip the line if you are pressed for time and have loads to see. However, based on the season and the day, I recommend to pay at the door (11 euro) as the line usually is not so long.

The Book of Kells exhibition is very interesting! My family comes from the Bible belt and believe in the written Word so this display was very special to us. Once you go through the small exhibition, you are brought into the main library. It holds over 6 million volumes of books, magazines, manuscripts dated from the 18th century as well as one of 3 remaining medieval Gaelic harps, the national symbol of Ireland.

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While you’re over at the college, be sure to check out the Molly Malone statue! She’s super close and you would have heard her name a ton (or you will soon enough). Rub her chest for good luck 🙂

Dublin Castle

One of the few attractions you can not book in advance but an amazing one to visit! There are two types of tours you can take: guided and self guided. If you plan on doing this attraction, you should really do the guided tour. You can only visit the Excavation site and the Royal Chapel in addition to the State rooms on the guided tour…and they really are worth the visit! Make sure you go schedule your tour, takes about 90 minutes, to fit your daily activities. I would recommend going earlier that day to buy your ticket at a slotted time that is available and schedule the rest of your day around that.

Dublin Castle

My Sissy and Aunt at the excavation site

Royal Chapel

Comparing Jameson Distillery to Teelings Distillery

To be honest, I did not tour Teelings. My boyfriend took the boys to Teelings the same time I took the girls to Dublin Castle. Teelings is the only functioning distillery in Dublin so if you are interested in the process of how whiskey is made, then this is the tour for you! He booked the 20 euro ticket which included a tasting of three different whiskey’s distilled on the site. You can pre-book tickets online; depending on the season you visit Dublin, I recommend pre-booking!

We did tour Jameson the next day; while this was the original distillation site, it since has been moved to Cork, Ireland. Another 20 euros to take the tour and to sample a few of their finest whiskey’s. What I found interesting was they do a comparative tasting between their triple distilled whiskey, a double distilled scotch and single distilled bourbon to let you experience the difference in taste. This tour takes about an hour to complete and Jameson does a great job giving an informative yet enjoyable look into the history of Jameson and the method behind their madness. I learned that Jameson and ginger is my new favorite mix!

Guinness Brewery

2017-03-04 17.26.32 First of all, get a ticket online first. If you are using this blog to plan your trip to Dublin, go ahead and take a break to book your ticket. Couple of reasons: 1. it’s awesome and 2. the line is crazy stupid any day. Get ready to spend 20 euros and minimum four hours at this site because with seven floors of activities to explore, you’ll be sure to create a lasting memory. I don’t even particularly like Guinness beer but you just can’t miss this!

A couple favorite parts of the tour were the marketing photo booth and learning to pour the perfect Guinness. In the marketing photo booth, you put yourself into old Guinness ads and it pops up on a tablet where you can upload to facebook.

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In the Pour the Perfect Guinness bit, you learn how to pour the beer from the tap just like the experts. With your entry ticket, you are entitled to one pint of Guinness. Not only do you get to pour the perfect Guinness, you get to drink it.

If you do not want to spend your free beer on the pour, you can take the coupon to the top floor for a breathtaking view of the city and a pint 🙂

Dining, Pubbery and Fun

One of my favorite things about Dublin is most pubs offer free live music to create a super fun atmosphere for everyone. When mom and I visited Dublin a few years ago, we discovered Merchant’s Arch and knew we had to go again! Merchant’s Arch is in the Temple bar district so if you can’t get in there, you can find loads of other places to get an authentic Irish experience. Temple bar itself is a blast with the best Irish music I have heard, best audience to listen with and a wide range of Irish whiskeys to drink.

Camden Kitchen

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Camden Kitchen was a restaurant I found on Spotted by Locals, a website directing tourists to restaurants and other attractions suggested by locals of that city. It was such a great decision because it catered to every specific pallet of my birthday guests 🙂 The food was very fresh and delicious at very reasonable prices. After a couple days of eating pub food, sitting down to a nice meal was exactly what everyone wanted! It was a great place to hold my birthday party of 16 people; cozy but not too secluded.

Glendalough

2017-03-05 14.49.20 For most of my guests, this was their first time visiting Ireland and I wanted to give them as much Irish immersion as I possibly could. While Dublin is amazing, I wanted to get my family to experience the most important part of the country–nature.

Glendalough is part of Wicklow National Park and is about an hour drive from the Dublin city center. I rented two vans to bring our crew out this far; however, if you are not comfortable driving, you can join a tour group. Just ask your hotel for information! It is free to walk through and there are a variety of different routes you can take. It was a bit rainy on our visit but it didn’t stop us from spending as much time as we could!

leprechaun siting

The most spectacular and famous landmark of this hike is the Glendalough Lake about 2.5 kilometers from the start of the walk. This stunning lake is nestled in a valley surrounded by color filled mountains. Be sure your camera/phone battery has plenty of charge!

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Zermatt: The Matterhorn and Skiing the Swiss Alps!

Switzerland is known for its chocolate, eidelweiss and most important, The Alps. For those looking for the ultimate ski experience, Zermatt is a lovely spot to cross off that bucket list item!

My colleague and I had a free weekend and decided to do something we had talked about since I moved to Europe. He goes skiing every year in Colorado and wanted to test his skills on the Alps; I am not a skiier but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be in the amazing Alps. For those who haven’t been to Switzerland, please be aware that it is not the cheapest place to go! Switzerland has its own currency, the Swiss Franc, and you should be aware of the current rate before you go.

Zermatt is close to the Italian border, thus giving a few options of airports to come into; but one is not closer than the other. We flew into Basel for no reason other than it worked with our itinerary and opted to rent a car. The Zermatt travel website and many other travel blogs will suggest to take the train from your starting airport to Zermatt; I disagree. The cost per person to take a train will run around 500 Swiss Francs round trip and while it is the hassle-free option, it is clearly the most expensive. However, if you book in advance you may get a lower rate. Our car for the weekend cost around 200 Swiss Francs and we had the flexibility and ease of arriving and departing at our leisure. Again, I use Kayak to choose the car for my specific trip.

Google Maps will tell you to plan for a four hour drive from airport to Zermatt; like I wrote before, one airport isn’t vastly closer than the other. About halfway into the drive, we came upon a toll station. As many highways in Europe are not free, we treated this toll like any other, until we realized the price- 30 Swiss Francs! Turned out that this fee was actually the price to take the Lotschberg car transportation and cut our trip by 45 minutes! Once we were on the other side of the mountain, it was only an hour until we reached the city, Tasch.

Zermatt is a car free zone; you must park your car in Tasch and either take a train or a taxi into Zermatt. When you drive into Tasch, all you see are car parks. If you plan ahead, most privately own car parks will also service as a taxi service and bring you to the outskirts of Zermatt. We did not plan ahead but had no problems parking at the main train station. The trains from Tasch to Zermatt run every 15 minutes and is eight Francs each way.

We arrived in Tasch very late and opted for the taxi choice as we were already very tired! The taxi took us to the outskirts of Zermatt (20 Francs) where we switched to what would be our transportation for the remainder of our trip: The cutest little battery operated shuttles ever.

Most hotels in Zermatt have their own shuttle cars that are offered free of charge to their guests. But like I wrote, Switzerland is not the cheapest country to visit and Zermatt is like its Disney World. For those who are like me and looking for cost savings where you can, consider booking on Air BnB. The concept behind this website is you rent out people’s homes, typically apartments, for your stay. You rent from specific people so there isn’t a breakfast, turn down service or daily cleaning but you do have a fully functiong kitchen, bathroom and as many beds as you need. In most cases, you will pay half the amount on this website as you would in a hotel. You can find great deals that put you right in the city center! This picture above was taken from my private balcony.

For breakfast, we went down the hill to one of the many hotels, where you can get buffet breakfast for 25 Swiss Francs-expensive so make it count! From there, we searched for a place to rent our ski equipment!

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There are many places to rent equipment but we absolutely fell in love with the staff at this place! Steve, an American, moved to Europe in his twenties and never left. Renting equipment is where you will find cost savings; helmet, skis, poles, goggles, jacket, pants, all of it for as low as 150 Swiss Francs. Steve was so much fun that he even threw in gloves for free! They also have a storage room where you can store your equipment free of charge.

2015-03-21 10.39.59 With full gear in place, we went to purchase our ski lift tickets for the day. Zermatt is broken up into many different slopes, spread out over the Alps. You can even purchase multi country lift tickets and ski in Italy. The price for a single day, single country pass is 79 Swiss Francs; apparently this is a lot cheaper than skiing in Colorado!

Those who know me know that I am not sporty; so skiing was going to be a challenge. Surprisingly, I mastered the kiddy slopes after a few runs! It was time to take on the next level! 2015-03-21 19.58.15

We went down Sunnega runs on the first day to get myself better acquainted with the runs and how you’re supposed to move your body; I fell a lot.

We ski’d for close to four hours before my body finally gave out. Luckily, my colleague showed me mercy and we stopped at a cafe near the bottom of the mountain. It is tradition to stop for a Swiss beverage before you leave the slopes–my favorite kind!

Once at the bottom, we walked to a nearby pub for a post ski snack and much needed Swiss beer to reward ourselves for a job well done. What started as a “reward” turned into dinner as we stayed longer than we anticipated 🙂 Food and drinks seems to be the biggest expense in Switzerland so be sure to plan for 8-10 Franc beers and 20 Franc cocktails.

On Day Two, I opted to take in the sights of Zermatt rather than hit the slopes again,- no big surprise coming from me! But the walk through town was actually quite charming. Zermatt is nestled in the Swiss Alps so you see mountains everywhere you look.

In all, Zermatt is AMAZING. Even if you don’t like to ski, you should not pass up a chance to come to this delightful town. Simply plan your trip around the spring/summer time and enjoy the Alps while hiking 🙂

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Steer Into The Skid…Welcome!

I am an American expat in my late twenties living and working in Belgium since 2012. So much has happened in my life in these two years that I decided to write some of it down. This blog will mainly serve as a tool for travel tips and answers to questions that I seem to get from friends and family; however, I will also share a bit of what it’s like to live in Europe as an American expat. The title of this blog is a philosophy I have adopted since living abroad. Number one thing to remember while traveling is to let go of things you cant control and just have a great time no matter what happens!

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