Jamon in Madrid, Beer in Dublin!

This is it for all our faithful blog readers! We hope you've enjoyed "traveling" with us and will enjoy this final write-up of our time in Madrid.

We arrived in the evening and Steve led Lindsey around Madrid on a massive walking tour. Amazingly, he navigated each alley by memory/luck to arrive precisely at each famous land-mark that he had visited during a rather intoxicated boys-tour of Madrid last year.

We strolled past several plazas, the Plaza Major being the best known, past the cathedral, and the royal palace.



At around 11pm, when the gatos (Madrid locals) head to dinner, we stopped in a tapas restaurant in the La Latina neighborhood. Steve somehow maintained a decent grasp of the Spanish language from college, or at least enough to order plates of jamon and cheese, and great glasses of rioja.

The next morning we hit some of the city's museums, first stopping at the
Museo del Prado. The Prado holds one of the finest collections of European art, most of it portraying religious scenes. Steve's favorite are the black paintings that Goya created directly on the walls of his house after going mentally insane. Summing up the entire collection, Lindsey commented that it was an amazing museum, but there sure was a whole lot of Jesus.



Next we stopped by the Museo Reina Sofia, which houses a large collection of Picassos, including his famous work Guernica. Sadly, it was closed and Lindsey let out a little pout.

While these museums were exceptional, the Museo de Jamon stole the show. This venue dishes out plates of ham and cheese which we devoured on three occasions in our day and a half stay in Madrid.



Here's a closer look at this divine culinary experience.



Our other great stop was at a famous institution that has been serving Churros con Chocolate for over 100 years. Again, Steve discovered this by fantastic luck, having been there last time at around 6am after a long night on the town. These churros don't have the cinnamon that you might expect, but are served with an entire cup of warm chocolate.



With a great tour, fantastic food, and priceless art we finished our trip, both excited to return home. But little did we know, we had one more stop in for us.

Ten minutes into our flight bound for our connection in Dublin, the plane started to make a wide u-turn. Lindsey woke up Steve (who is generally asleep before take-off) to alert him that we were headed back. Steve responded dismissively to a nervous Lindsey: "planes turn"

Within seconds, the captain alerted us on the loudspeaker that there was an "acrid smell" in the cockpit similar to "electronics burning" and that he was headed back to Madrid because the smell was coming from under the dashboard and "he couldn't really know if it was nothing or really serious."

Needless to say, he lacked much of a filter on his communication sending Lindsey into a bit of a panic. A long eight minutes later, we landed and sat on the plane while mechanics investigated the problem. The captain, who must have been about 25, walked through the plane answering our questions! About 30 minutes later he explained that a reservoir, used to hold a type of windshield cleaner, had broken and was spilling all over the avionics electronic boards. He said that the mechanics were fixing it (maybe with a hairdryer we thought) and we'd be good to go in 30 minutes. This seemed serious, but we took off and after a rather uncomfortable flight, safely arrived in Dublin.

The delay made us miss our connection and we were put up in a hotel for the evening. We grouped up with some other young travelers, many returning from semesters abroad, and headed downtown for some pub-hoping. It was a great evening and made us both want to return to Dublin for a longer stay.



The next day we safely made it to the United States of America, touching down in our new home of Chicago. We were both excited to wrap up the trip, although in reality we'll still be traveling around the US for the next month.

We hope everyone has enjoyed the blog and that we'll see each of you in the coming month.

The End

Fes

Depsite the excitement of our engagement, we kept moving and headed north to Fes. Like all the major cities in Morocco that we´ve visited, Fes is divded into both an old walled city (the medina) and a newer French-created Ville Nouvelle. Fes´medina is believed to be the largest contiguous car-free urban area in the world, if you´re into useless facts.

We stayed in the VN and headed to breakfast at a French cafe on our first morning there. We were taken back when our eggs arrived in oceans of olive oil and had to document it!



Next we enter Fes el-Bali, or the old city. We wandered through more souqs and made a final purchase of a sheesha (water-pipe) to keep our African memories alive. Along the way we peaked in the Bou Inania Madrasa, which like all the madrasas we´ve seen consisted of an intricately decorated courtyard.



Here´s a closer look at the different texts and patterns adorning the walls.



We wandered more shops, and especially liked this one selling hand crafted bronze lamps and shades.



We continued past the University of Al-Karaouine, thought to be the world´s oldest university and stopped for lunch at a B´sara stall. Surrounded by locals in a cramped closet of a restaurant, we devoured our bean and olive oil soup with thick pieces of bread. It cost about 40 cents each.

Our last stop in Fes were the doors of the palace. Their scale and details made them a worth-while sight.





Other than these sights, we spent more time in Fes making plans for our return home. We changed our flight and will arrive back in the states on the 17th of June! Our first stop is Chicago to find a place to live, followed by New Orleans to look at wedding venues.

Currently we´re in Madrid and loving the wine and ham. Stay tuned for the last blog post of the trip!

Stop, Pause, and Relax / We're Engaged!

Eight years ago, a Frenchman was horse-riding through the Morocco wilderness outside of Marrakech. As he crested one of the rocky hills, he spotted a small oasis of palm, fig and olive trees. One this site, he dreamed of building a hidden retreat that would become La Pause. Over the years he slowly added different mud and straw adobes, berber tents, a pool, and various natural gardens to create the ultimate private resort.

We heard all this as Frederic drove us from Marrakech to La Pause a few days ago. As we turned down an unmarked dirt road, passing villages of dried-mud, we couldn't wait to see his vision.

Along the way Frederic explained that he'd recently hosted a wedding at the resort and to reward his employees (mostly locals) for their hard work, he was taking them on a one-day beach vacation. We looked at each other wondering if we'd be making our own meals, but were quickly assured we'd be taken care of. He was right. He also explained that because of this we'd be the only guests at the resort and that he would put us in the "big house."

Upon arrival, our bags were carted up a rocky trail to our "room" at the big house.



We were shocked and surprised as we toured the two living rooms, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and kitchen. It was larger than some of the tourist sites we've been to. The rooms are simply decorated with Moroccan rugs, low-lying couches, and enough candles to light the electricity-free hotel.



In awe of the privacy, space, and quiet that we've missed for some time now, we sat on our patio and took it all in. The staff brought us some olives and made arrangements for our evening sunset horse ride.

Around 7, we saddled up and a guide led us up and down the surround hills. We took in views of the Atlas Mountains, wheat-blanketed slopes, and old fortified casbahs. Lindsey galloped ahead up and down hills while Steve tried his hardest to hold on and slow down his horse.



By the end, though, he looked like a cowboy. A young pony followed us for the whole ride.



When we returned after sunset, the stars had come out against a deep purple sky. We cleaned up for dinner and Steve asked Lindsey to change into one of her only dresses. She was a bit curious as to why she needed to, but agreed nonetheless. Steve had wine, olives, and candles set up on the patio where we both sat down for a drink before dinner. It was one of our few glasses of wine in the last four months!

Moments later, Steve asked Lindsey to be his wife. She agreed rather quickly and cried for a very long time.

After we held each other and the tears stopped, we headed down to dinner to celebrate, which like all meals at La Pause, is an endless supply of amazing food. We absolutely gorged ourselves. Steve bragged about having proposed while wearing Patagonia and adventure pants.



When we finished, the trail leading to our house was lit by lanterns and every room within it was lit by candles. It was a very romantic setting for us.

The next morning (hardly even hungry) we enjoyed a massive "petit" dejunier at a new dining location. Each of our meals was set up at a different perfectly chosen site. We were both still excited, but Lindsey was a tad frustrated she couldn't call anyone without electricity. Steve thought it was a perfect way to enjoy it for a day.



We followed our massive carb-intake with a hike down the river bed. We passed some beautiful hillsides and local homes.



After an equally large lunch (this time set in a berber tent), we clenched our stomachs in pain and surrendered to an afternoon nap.



That evening we mounted camels and took a shorter tour of the surrounding area. Our temporary dog, who followed us everywhere and slept on our doorstep, joined us.



Our last morning, we enjoyed breakfast, some pool-time, and lunch before bidding farewell to La Pause. We took some of their self-bottled olive oil as a memento to an amazing and special stay.

Back in Marrakech, we loaded Skype and began the phone calls. We were both excited to call our friends and family to share the good news. For those of you just finding out, we are hoping for a spring 2010 wedding in New Orleans and will be holding an engagement party in New York City on July 11th. We can't wait to celebrate our engagement and wedding with all of you.

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