Morocco: Better Than A Taco

Earlier this year, I did a post on Ethiopia, which is one of my top dream vacation spots of all time. I've realized, though, that that was really the only post on Africa I've done on this entire blog! And that ain't right, cuz Africa's pretty cool. So I figured that I owe Africa another post, and since I've already written about a jungle-y sort of country, I though I'd write about a sandy one: Morocco.

Since Morocco is a sandy-ish African country, I think I ought to visit some sand dunes; what trip to a sandy African country is complete without sand dunes? I would love to go all movie cliché and get a camel to ride out there while I watch the sun set, too. That would be cool. Believe it or not, even though the desert is thought to be some sort of barren, lifeless nothingness, there is actually a fair deal of wildlife out there that really isn't found much elsewhere, including but not limited to: ostriches, chameleons, hyenas, gazelles, and jackals (who doesn't love a good jackal, am I right?).

A camel caravan crossing the sand dunes of the Sahara in Morocco.
Image Courtesy of: Guide4Tourist

One place in Morocco that I have heard is absolutely gorgeous is a little mountain town called Chefchaouen. Kind of a weird name, but it's supposed to be pretty cool. First of all, it is situated in the Rif Mountains, which are very foggy and green and cool-looking in all the pictures I have looked at. Secondly, the entire city (well, almost) is blue! How cool is that?!

I've officially found where I'm gonna live as a retired old lady.
Image Courtesy of: Gallivant Girl

Another thing in Morocco that I would love to do is stay in a riad. A riad is basically just a traditional Moroccan home that has been converted to a hotel, kind of like a Moroccan bed and breakfast. Riads are generally cheaper than normal hotels, and any one who knows me really well knows that I love to save money (it's a genetic thing), so this is a major plus. Besides the lower prices, riads allow you to get a better sense of Moroccon architecture than just staying in a Hyatt or something. What's not to love?!

The courtyard of Riad Chouia Chouia in Marrakech.
Image Courtesy of: Hotels and Ryads

Finally, while in Morocco, I would love to visit the city of Fes. Like Chefchaouen, Fes has gorgeous architecture, but gorgeous in a much different way. It's got the more typical Moroccan type of architecture, with the fractals and stuff. I am absolutely obsessed with Moroccan styles, so I would be more than content just walking around and checking out the buildings and tiles and mosques and stuff. Fes is also well-known for its leather tanneries. Usually, I'm not a big leather person, but these look pretty cool.

The beautiful fountain of Fes.
Image Courtesy of: Trip Advisor

Morocco is a fascinating country with a ton of history, beautiful architecture, and life. I would love, love, love one day to visit this amazing place.

The Perfect Cross-Country Road Trip (Part 2)

In my last post, I talked about the West coast portion of my dream cross-country road trip, ending with Montana, and of course, no cross-country road trip would truly be cross-country if it were limited to the West coast, so this post, we continue the road trip on the East coast!

7) North Dakota
Jk lolz. Nobody likes North Dakota. It's just South Dakota without Mt. Rushmore. Moving on.

7, for reals now) Chicago
I have only been to Chicago like three or four times, and most of the times I went, it was winter and freezing cold out, so we didn't really get out much, but the times I have gone and not been a hermit have been pretty interesting. I would definitely want to hang out at Lake Michigan and get some good deep-dish pizza (I had this once and it was delicious) while visiting Chicago.

8) Cleveland
I know, I know, what the hell's in Cleveland, right? Well, my family, for one, and my grandma is a doll, so I would want to visit her. Plus, last time I visited my family out there, we visited some Amish country and it was actually really interesting; they had these kittens running around and really good food and you got to ride in a horse and buggy sort of thing. Maybe I'll hit up some Amish country with my Grandma!

Some lovely ducks I saw on my trip to Ohio Amish country.

9) Vermont/New Hampshire/Maine
I think it would be amazing to visit any of these states in the fall, just to see all of the leaves, even though it is probably a mosquito hell. I visited Dartmouth (which is in NH) with mi amiga Sage last year, and I loved the whole old colonial thing they had goin'. I would also want to stay in a B&B in some town on the coast of Maine, because I think that would be really cute.

10) Boston
I have been to Boston a couple of times, and I absolutely love it. I love the style of all their buildings, and all the cool colleges they have there, and their food is simply *kisses hand and mwahs like an Italian*. I once ate myself into a cannoli coma in Little Italy there.

Side note: If you ever go to Boston, go to Mike's Pastry. Their cannolis are heaven rolled up in a crunchy little waffle thing.

Cannolis are love, cannolis are life.
Image Courtesy of: Oderi's Italian Bakery

11) New York City
I love New York. I love the sirens, I love the lights, I love the skyscrapers and the food and the subway and the people with all their different stories and the fifty-five gajillion languages you can hear walking down the street. Needless to say, New York would most definitely be one of the stops on my East Coast road trip.

12) Washington, D.C.
Museums, monuments, and memorials, oh my! Actually, I kind of hate all of those things, and I just wanted to make that really nice play on words while I had the chance. Anyways, D.C. is a pretty cool place. There are a lot of really cute, old neighborhoods (I love Georgetown) and hipster restaurants and what not. And, my uncles live there, so that's a plus.

DuPont Circle is the adorable D.C. neighborhood where my uncles live.
Image Courtesy of: Wikipedia

So that pretty much concludes my cross-country road trip, as anywhere below the Missouri Compromise Line is not of much interest to me (and yes, I realize that includes D.C., but it is towards to the North-ish, so I'm not counting it). Hope everyone is having a great break! Let me know what you have done/are doing!