Brian and I were recently in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (this includes Cologne, Bonn, and Düsseldorf, most notably) to celebrate Karneval (or Fasching, or Fasnacht, or Mardi Gras, depending on where you come from), and it was… an experience. Before I delve into our trip specifics, here’s a quick lesson about this holiday,…
Last week, Erin and I went to Morocco (Marrakech, mostly) with a couple of friends from college. It was my first time on the continent of Africa, so I was excited and ready to be amazed. Erin wrote more generally about our many experiences in Morocco, but here, I want to write about one of…
Before our trip to Morocco, I read about the possibility of seeing the snake charmers in Jemaa El Fna, Marrakech’s main square. I know that it’s really just for the tourists at this point, but I still wanted to see it, and was prepared to pay a small amount to take a picture, since this…
This past weekend, Brian, Britt, Julia, and I took a “4”-day trip to Morocco. I use the number 4 pretty liberally, as we arrived late Friday night in Casablanca, took a 3-hour train to Marrakech on Saturday morning, and then Brian and I headed back to Casablanca early Monday morning to catch an afternoon flight…
Couchsurfing (v.) – “Referring to the practice of moving from one friend’s house to another, sleeping in whatever spare space is available, floor or couch, generally staying a few days before moving on to the next house.” (Wikipedia) Brian and I discovered CouchSurfing (this time it’s an organization, not a verb) while here in Freiburg…
These are a few of my faaaaavorite things. (I’ll be slightly disappointed if you didn’t sing that line in your head!) Brian and I just got back to Freiburg from a ridiculously awesome trip to Lisbon (Portugal), Málaga (Spain), and a side trip to Gibraltar. We spent two full days in Lisbon, and probably half…
Prior to seeing it in person, whenever I thought of Gibraltar, I imagined a tiny place with almost no permanent residents. I also imagined it to be largely flat, save for the Rock of Gibraltar, which I assumed was a rock roughly the size of a small apartment building just off the coast (for some…
On our way home from a trip to Luxembourg City last weekend (to be discussed in a later post), Brian and I decided to take a side trip to Trier, which really couldn’t have been more “on the way.” Trier is located in Western Germany, just 40 minutes by car from Luxembourg City. I didn’t…
Recently, Erin and I rented a car and drove to Luxembourg City. It was a new country for both of us, but to be honest, I expected the city to be like any other wealthy, multi-cultural European city – indistinguishable from some of the others (Basel comes to mind as an example). Fortunately, I…
Erin and I both teach on occasion in Waldkirch, a small town to the northeast of Freiburg. The train station there sits on the edge of the town, and just beyond it is a hill with a medieval castle. We can see the castle every time we walk back to the station from class, and…
The Wildly Ordinary Life 