Travel 2023 – Lucretia Field

December 12, 2023

Wow, Marrakech has been incredible! It’s been overwhelming and intense, but amazing and wonderful. I’ve been exhausted and excited the entire time we’ve been here. It’s truly been a really great experience. It’s been too short of a visit and I can’t wait to come back.

December 9, 2023 – Marrakech, Morocco

We started off our morning by heading to the Medersa Ben Youssef, a historic religious school, madrasa. The building was absolutely gorgeous. The carved plaster and wood, along with the tiling were wonderful. We spent a while just sitting and appreciating the space, looking at the details, and people watching the other tourists as well.

The building was constructed during the mid-1500s as a place for Islamic study. It was renovated in the 1960s to become a historical site and ceased being a place of active study. The building was able to house up to 800 students at a time spread among 130 rooms.

After spending many hours just wandering around and feeling awed, we left the madrasa and started a formal wander of some of the surrounding souks, small, narrow streets or courtyards lined with shops. On the first day, I found it very overwhelming to be constantly dodging tourists and vendors, while being passed by bicycles, carts, donkeys, and tons of motorbikes. The narrow streets are crowded and so full of people and action, it’s completely wild. Being constantly spoken to in about 5-10 different languages by the shop keepers who try to guess which language you speak and then try to get you to come into their stall, was intense at first.

At some point we found ourselves wandering away from the super touristy part and as we stood looking at our maps trying to figure out where to go next, a man invited us to check out the leather tannery “just down the street”. We quickly realized we were being led to a money spending opportunity and decided to just go with it. So, after following a boy on a motorbike who was “just showing us the way on his way home” we ended up seeing two separate leather tannery facilities. We were handed fresh mint sprigs for the smell and learned about the different methods of leather tanning: one Berber, the other Arabic. It was interesting, albeit a bit uncomfortable because we knew what was coming later. So, when we were led into the associates leather and wool rug shop, we started to feel really uncomfortable. The items they had were beautiful, but neither of us was prepared to spend the kind of money they were asking for, and we knew we had already lost the negotiation edge as well. So, I bought a small thing without being able to talk the price down, and we paid our our tour guide half of what he’d asked because that’s all we had and made our way back towards our riad.

Unfortunately, I left that interaction feeling a bit uncomfortable and taken advantage of. Even knowing at least to some extent what we were getting ourselves into, it all happened to quickly that it was hard to feel like we had any control or agency in the situation. We went back to where we were staying and I kind of crashed for a while. In hindsight it was a good lesson, but it definitely felt uncomfortable in the moment. Eventually I wandered up to the roof where Fiona was chatting with the people we had met the previous night. We went out with two of them into the streets to find food and had tagine before wandering around the Jemaa el-Fnaa market again. The tagine was incredible and it was really nice to have the company of the others.

December 10, 2023 – Marrakech, Morocco

The next day, we had a yummy brunch and watched the craziness of the traffic from a roadside cafe. The chaos of the cars, carts, horse carriages, bicycles, motorbikes, and pedestrians meshing and merging in tight spaces at high speeds and with lots of honking is anxiety-provoking and awe-inspiring at the same time. I got the feeling that if tourists were removed from the equation, as pedestrians, rental car drivers, and horse carriage riders, the whole thing would look like flawless, controlled chaos. During our whole time in the Madina, I think we saw a total of maybe 3 traffic lights and no stop signs or other traffic control methods. It all just sort of works in a confusing and impressive way.

After our brunch, we went to Bahia Palace, a 19th century grand vizier palace. Once again, the tile and plaster carving were breathtaking. The interior courtyards full of palm trees and other plants were also beautiful and I could imagine that on a really hot day, there served as wonderful oases of shade and freshness.

We saw the Grand Courtyard and learned more about the hammam bathing practices that would have taken place in the space. Once again, the tile was magnificent, and in such a large space, it took on a whole different feel of just a sea of color.

We had gotten a tip from one of the people in our riad that if one went down a side corridor, there was a portion of the palace that was not visited as frequently and would have fewer people there. We were able to find it and got to spend some time exploring portions of the palace without the crowds. It was really cool to see parts of the space that felt secret and hidden.

Unfortunately, because of damage caused by the recent earthquake, a few sections of the palace were closed, but still, we spent many hours there and only realized that they were closing when we looked around and noticed the guards beginning to wander purposefully towards the few remaining clumps of people.

Bahia Palace was definitely a highlight of the trip because it was just so beautiful and interesting. I found it hard to follow the descriptions of the people who had built it and lived in the palace because many of them had long lists of titles and family connections and political positions, but the space spoke for itself. While I wish I had a better grasp on the history and cultural significance of Bahia Palace, I certainly enjoyed the visit immensely.

In the evening, we wandered through the souks again and continued our foray into bartering. Over the course of our 4 days in The Medina, we certainly learned a lot about the process and practice bargaining. The first few attempts we made were not very successful. We’d read that one should always start the bartering process at 1/4 of the given price and never pay more than 1/3. It took a lot for us to get over the feeling that this is extremely rude. But, we had a few small wins, paying around 1/2 of the given price for some items and we started to build confidence.

In the evening, we had a lovely conversation with a shop owner who told us about the written Berber language and the meanings of a few of the letters and symbols. He told us about the nomadic culture of the Berbers and the different sects and identities within Berber culture. It was fascinating and yet I had a really hard time retaining the information and will need to do more research to get it all straight in my mind. Still, it was really lovely to speak with someone so interested in sharing. He did not seem disappointed when we left without purchasing anything, which was a bit relieving because we had gotten used to every interaction becoming an opportunity to purchase something.

December 11, 2023 – Marrakech, Morocco

On our final full day in The Medina, we were a bit uncertain what to do. We had talked about doing an excursion outside of Marrakech, but we weren’t decisive enough to get it planned, so we found ourselves with another day of exploring souks, walking around mosques, and people watching.

We ended up looking helpless enough that a merchant was able to grab a hold of us and talked us into buying a bunch of things we probably didn’t need. Still, he gave us tea and was pleasant enough. We did learn our lesson about letting him bag the items before giving the price and asking for payment. At that point, there’s no chance of negotiation, which I think we both found disappointing. He had done the math on a calculator and kept showing us that he was giving us a deal, but the end result was staggeringly more expensive than I think either of us had expected. Still, it was both a learning and a cultural experience.

After that, we wandered to try to find a museum of tombs, but it turned out to be closed, so we went to look at the Koutoubia Mosque. We were hoping to hear the call to prayer from the huge minaret and see everyone streaming in for prayer, but we eventually found out that the mosque had been damaged in the earthquake and will be closed for a few years to undergo repairs.

We were able to explore the gardens and enjoyed a relaxed afternoon of just sitting and watching, chatting, and taking it all in.

In the evening, we did some shopping. By this point we had realized that most of the tourist shops had nearly identical items in them, which made shopping around much easier, because we could realistically walk away if the price didn’t feel right and find an identical item about 5 feet away.

Fiona got very good at chatting with the shop keepers, asking them how to say certain phrases in Arabic and establishing a rapport before the negotiations began. We also started the negotiations with a bit of a joke to establish a friendly precedent and help both of us feel we were being respectful as we quoted a price to them that was 1/4 of the given price. In the end, we were able to get some items for around 1/3 of the stated price and left feeling confident.

We ended our night by getting a fresh squeezed juice medley from one of the fruit vendors in Jemma el-Fnna for 15 dirham instead of 20. They invited us up into the cart for a photo.

December 12, 2023 – In transit then Barcelona, Spain

In the morning of our final day in Marrakech, we packed up and headed into Jemma el-Fnna to chatty a bus to the airport. The square, that at midnight is packed with vendors, street performers, tourists, and all sorts of sounds, smells, and activity was nearly empty at 10am.

Fiona did some last minute shopping and we grabbed some breakfast of fresh made flatbreads. One had honey and the other had chocolate spread. They were wonderfully greasy and sweet and incredibly cheap. We grabbed another one with cheese to bring on the plane with us.

Then we headed to the bus stop and waiting around for slightly longer than was comfortable for the airport shuttle bus to show up. We had left enough time, but it was certainly a bit concerning when twice there were expected buses that never showed up.

We did eventually get a bus and headed to the airport. We managed to check in on time and got through security and border check with time to spare, but less than I like to have. All in all, it was as uneventful, short flight.

We arrived in Barcelona and made our way to the apartment where my parents were already relaxing. It was wonderful to see them after over 3 months away and it was exciting to be in Barcelona with them.

We headed out to get dinner and had a pleasant first evening in Barcelona all together.

December 23, 2023

December 8, 2023

I’m now leaving France, so here’s the rest of my time in France.

December 4 – Avignon, France

After checking into our hotel/hostel the previous night, we crashed a bit from the travel and ate the dinner we had brought with us from Juan les Pins. Then we spent a lot of time trying to make plans for the rest of our trip and headed to bed.

The next morning, we checkout out the hotel at 10am, had some leftovers for breakfast, left our bags at the hotel, and headed out into Avignon. It was pretty cold, windy, and a bit rainy, but we couldn’t figure out how to pay for the bus, so we walked into old Avignon along the Rhône River. The first part of the walk was very industrial and business park like, with no sidewalks and limited shoulder to walk on. But eventually we made it to a path along the river and it got a bit more pleasant.

We arrived at the old city and spent the day wandering around. We walked along the inside of the city wall, wondering if there was an easy way to climb up them – we didn’t find one. We wandered our way behind a cool looking church and found some Roman ruins there. It’s wild to me to be able to just stumble upon some Roman ruins, but I guess that’s how these things go in Europe.

We had some food and then strolled our way over the the Palias de Papes to admire the outside of the seat of Western Christianity during the 14th century. We walked up to the associated church, Notre Dame des Doms d’Avignon, but it was closed, so we decided to walk through the Jardins des Doms to the Pont Saint-Benezet, also known as Le Pont d’Avignon. We got the audio guide for the bridge, but really, of course, our goal was to dance on the bridge. So, after reading some of the information in the gatehouse and listening to some of the audio guide, we setup a camera and speaker system and danced on Le Pont d’Avignon. It was really windy and cold, but we had a lot of fun!

After that, we headed to the Musée du Petit Palais to look at early Renaissance paintings. We saw works by Botticelli and others with lots of gold and colors. It was almost entirely religious art and the descriptions were mostly all in French, so Fiona graciously helped translate when I got confused about what was going on. Unfortunately, they closed earlier than we had expected, so we didn’t quite finish the museum before we were kicked out. But, we did get a bit lucky to be kicked out when we were because we left just in time to see the sunset over the city.

Then in the evening we headed back to our hotel to pick up our bags, incurring the annoyance of the bus driver because we still couldn’t figure out how to get the transit app to allow us to buy tickets, even after we were on the bus already, and then headed to the train station to head to Lyon.

After 2 different trains and a bus, we arrived at my friend’s place in Bron, France, just outside Lyon and had some tea while we caught up with him before heading to bed.

December 5 – Lyon, France

We took most of the day to try to organize ourselves by replying to emails, talking to family, and just generally doing the sorts of personal housekeeping chores neither of us had done in a while. It was nice to be in a place where we could relax, spread out.

That evening, we went out to dinner with my friend and had what we were told was a fairly authentic Lyonnaise eating experience. The food was very yummy, albeit a bit pricier than most of the place I have been eating recently. Overall though, it was a very lovely evening in Lyon.

December 6 – Lyon, France

We went to the Musée de Confluences at the confluence of the Saône and Rhône Rivers. On the way, we wandered around an old cemetery. The museum has interesting, very modern architecture and great views of the city and the the rivers. In addition to being a cool building, it’s also an interesting museum itself. We experienced an immersive exhibit about Antarctica with soundscapes and projects. We spent a long time in an exhibit called Species: The Way of Life which was all about animals and the natural world. It contained a huge exhibit about beetles and butterflies that was really beautiful and interesting. There was also a lot of birds, mammals, and other creatures. It was a really interesting and informative exhibit even if I had to rely on Fiona for some translations.

We stayed at the museum until the bitter end and were shooed out at closing time. We then headed back to Bron and had a really yummy Raclette dinner. It’s hard to go wrong with melted cheese on potatoes with charcuterie meats. We also had a lovely tour of our host’s liquor cabinet and enjoyed some aperitif. It was all very fancy and festive for the holiday season!

December 7 – Lyon, France

We went into the old town of Lyon and wandered around a cathedral, some Roman ruins, and a basilica. The Lyon Cathedral was beautiful, with lots of stained glass. From there we walked up many flights of stairs to get to the Roman ruins and Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourviére. On the way however, we wandered into a museum about Pauline Jaricot and the First Christians who were martyred by Romans in Lyon. It was a bit heavy on religious information in a way that I don’t think we quite expected, but it was still interesting to see and it was free.

From there we made our way to the remains of a Roman theater and Odéon. The views of the City and the French Alps was incredible. While the photos of the views didn’t come out very well, I think the photos of the ruins really do speak for themselves.

From there we went to the Basilica and marveled at the mosaics on the walls, the paintings on the columns and how decorated the entire place was. It was also nice to be inside, out of the wind and cold.

Just before mass was about to start, we realized we had run out of time to go to the Roman museum, but we also needed to grab some food before making our way to the place where we would meet our host to go see the lights festival.

So, after grabbing some quick food, we met up with our host and his friend to go explore the Féte des Lumiéres. What followed was many hours of walking around in the cold, pushing through crowds to gawk at magnificent temporary light installations all over the old town of Lyon. It was incredible. As someone who is an absolute sucker for light shows, I was a bit like a kid in a candy shop. So, here are some photos that don’t do justice to the event at all, but can give an idea of the scale and scope of the festival.

December 8 – In transit then Marrakech, Morocco

This morning we packed up and headed to the airport for the all day travel event of a less than 3 hour flight to Marrakech, Morocco. As a nervous flier, I pressured us to get there probably a lot earlier than we needed to. However, it worked out well for us because a nice gentleman walked past and offered me a voucher for 10€ worth of free food at any of the establishments. While I sat with the bags, Fiona went out and got us a whole feast for 11€ and only had to pay 1€. It was a really lovely to receive such kindness from a stranger and the person at the shop who also threw in a pastry for free.

Once we got our Moroccan stamp in our passports, we got on the flight and had lovely views of clouds and right as we got over the Strait of Gibraltar, the clouds cleared and we got a magnificent view of the Strait as we headed over Morocco.

So, here we are in MOROCCO! It took a lot of effort to get our phones setup and to get from the airport to our hostel, but we eventually did and so far, it has been beautiful and amazing. Yummy street food, lots of people yelling at us to buy things, the whole thing. More to follow in another post.

December 9, 2023

December 3, 2023

I have now been in Juan les Pins for the past 19 days and it has been absolutely wonderful. Here’s a bit of an overview of how I have spent that time.

November 16-18 – Juan les Pins, France

The first few days in Juan les Pins, I worked on sanding shutters to prepare them for repainting and explored the area with my friend, Fiona. We ate lots of pastries and bought baguettes most days when we went for walks to admire the Mediterranean. The place is absolutely beautiful, with amazing sunsets and palm trees all over.

We wandered into various marinas with extremely fancy yachts. Some of the boats were gorgeous, some were gargantuan and most of them were registered in places like the Cayman Islands and other tax-haven places. We had fun trying to guess where boats were actually from by looking at the flags they flew and just in general marveling and scoffing at the insane display of wealth while simultaneous daydreaming about working on one of these boats.

These first few days were about getting accustomed to the area and getting started on the sanding project. We started planning the rest of our stay and just soaked in a lot of sunlight and warm days while working outside.

November 19 – Antibes, France

We walked in to Antibes on Sunday to go to the Marché Provençal, a market in Antibes that during the winter months only happens once a month.

We explored the old village in Antibes and walked along the Sea until it was time to head to the market where we bought some cheese and olives to have lunch overlooking a sailing school lesson. The market was really lovely, with lots of fish, cheese, olives, spices, and vegetables for sale along with some arts and clothing booths.

The day was absolutely gorgeous and Fiona was able to practice French with many locals while I sat by trying to understand what was being said.

Once we had eaten our food we wandered around the marina in Antibes, admiring once again, the obnoxious display of wealth while also being amazed at the beauty of the sail boats in particular. Once again, we had fun imagining ourselves on some of the boats and wondering about the people who own them.

We finished off the day in Antibes by walking around the old Antibes Fort, although we arrived after it had closed for the evening, so we couldn’t go in. So as the sun began to go down, we watched the sail boats returning to port.

November 20 – Juan les Pins, France

After another day of sanding and hanging out around Juan les Pins, Fiona and I went to a BalFolk event at the location of the Marché Provençal without really having any idea of what to expect. It ended up being an event led by an Italian man who lives in Juan les Pins and wanted to bring BalFolk to the area. He plays recorded music from a speaker and teaches dances to a group of around 15 people.

It was fairly chaotic, because some people seemed quite new to dancing, but really really fun and the enthusiasm level was amazing. The man leading the class, Valerio, taught the dances in English, French, and Italian, which was impressive and fun to listen to the different languages all describing a similar dance.

We ended up getting drinks in a pub after the event with the class leader and another nice guy. The conversation wandered all over the place and was in a mix between English and French. They were very surprised by our experience with BalFolk in the US.

It was a really fun event, and it ended up giving us some social connections to Juan les Pins and Antibes beyond the people in the house with us. Also, it was really exciting to get to do BalFolk in France and learn more about where the dance form comes from and how it has continued to evolve.

That night, after walking back from Antibes, we both were excited enough from the dancing and socializing that we had a hard time getting to sleep.

November 21-22 – Juan les Pins, France

The next few days were more working days around Juan les Pins. I had been moved from shutter duty to a sewing project making covers for our host’s massage chair. I enjoyed the challenge of making curved, removable covers and fitting them carefully to the chair. For two days I was covered in teal fuzz from the fabric, but it was very fun.

We had lots more baguette, croissant, and yummy homemade food. Took evening walks to watch the sunset along the Sea and enjoyed the sun as much as we could. Just a bunch of nice days of working and hanging out around the house getting to know our host and other other people staying in the house with us.

November 23 – Nice, France

On Thanksgiving day, we went to Nice. We had plans for another BalFolk event in the evening, so we decided to make a whole day of it.

We started out by going on a walking tour of Nice which took us around the old town and gave us context for what we were seeing as we wandered around later.

After the tour, we ended up wandering around with three other people who had been on the tour with us. One from Miami, Florida, another from Mannheim, Germany, and the third from Santiago, Chile. It was really cool how after the tour was over, we all just sort of turned to each other and asked, ‘well, what next?’ We proceeded to spend time walking and admiring the sights while not being 100% sure where we wanted to go exactly.

We went to the marina and tried to guess which of the boats there might be Elton John’s boat because we had learned on the tour that he has a house in Nice and had seen it from afar up on the top of a hill where no one (else) was allowed to build.

After a quick snack, we found our way to a park that had a playground built into it, including trampolines built into the ground. It was a stunningly beautiful day, and was so pleasant to be outside running around and exploring.

We all grabbed a drink on the waterfront to watch the sun go down and continued to get to know each other and chat about ourselves and just generally have a good time.

By the time the sun had gone down, we were getting hungry and wandered off to get food. We ended up dubbing the meal we had “Francegiving” because we shared a family-style meal with these people we had just met and had some really yummy, not traditional Thanksgiving foods. We had muscles with fries, two different types of pasta including one with truffles, and some escargot. We went around the table saying what we were thankful for and just had a really pleasant time enjoying a spontaneous day of new adventures and new friends.

After dinner, we convinced the others to come with us to the BalFolk event. It was in the backroom of an Irish Pub and while we only knew one person from the Antibes class, he was very welcoming and even seemed enthusiastic about the fact that we had brought complete novices to the event. He was very gracious in teaching the other beginners, doing very basic dances, and having Fiona translate for us when he couldn’t explain things in English. The atmosphere was once again, amazing. This time, there was live music, and more like 30+ people. It was a really wonderful end to our Francegiving day of making new friends.

We had to leave fairly early to make sure we caught the last train back to Juan les Pins, but it was still an electric night of really fun music, lots of French I couldn’t understand, and many smiles and laughs as we danced. These are the kinds of experiences that make travel like this really special. Meeting new people and sharing a real connection, even if just for a fleeting moment, is powerful and exciting. While I don’t expect any of the tour group friends we made that day to keep dancing BalFolk, I know they at least had fun for a single night and it was wonderful to be able to bring them into that space for the evening.

I am also really thankful that Fiona was a good catalyst at getting me to the dance in the first place. Her ability to speak French and make connections with people really opened the door for our invitation to the event. Her excitement and enthusiasm about BalFolk and the opportunity to do it in France was infectious and helped get me excited about something I would have likely been too nervous to do on my own. So, thanks Fiona for making my Thanksgiving this year such an exciting and memorable one.

November 26 – Juan les Pins, France

After our adventure in Nice, we had some work to catch up on, so for a few days we continued our routine of working and going for walks and buying bread. It’s a routine I cannot complain about and feel super lucky to have gotten to do.

On Sunday, Fiona and I hosted a more traditional Thanksgiving meal for our host and the other two people staying in the house with us. It was the first, and ultimately, only meal all five of us ate together the whole time, but it was really lovely. We spent a good chunk of the day cooking mashed sweet and regular potatoes, a lentil/nut roast, Brussel sprouts, gravy, stuffing, a pumpkin pie, and an apple crisp. It was a great feast!

Right before we sat down for the meal, Fiona found some fall foliage outside and we decorated the table. Our host provided wine for us and we all, once again went around and said what we were grateful for. This whole experience of getting to travel through Europe, visiting friends, family, strangers, and making connection has been an amazing and unbelievable experience. I feel so extremely thankful that I get to do this and expand my own comfort zone, experience new cultures, languages, and just meet so many wonderful and amazing people while getting to see a small fraction of this amazing and beautiful planet.

November 27, Juan les Pins and Antibes, France

The following day, we decided we had done enough work the previous day to deserve a day off and wandered off to the Cap d’Antibes to check out more of the surrounding area before heading back to the dance event that evening.

We had a bit of a late start because we have both managed to shift our sleep schedules thoroughly into the wee hours of the morning. But once we got started, we wandered around a part of Juan les Pins that we had not been in before. We wandered past very fancy houses and eventually found our way to the Antibes lighthouse.

The views from the base of the lighthouse were really lovely even though we arrived as the sun was getting somewhat low and the clouds made everything pretty dark. Still, it was really nice to contextualize the surrounding area from a very high vantage point where we could see all the way to Nice on one side and to the edge of Cannes on the other.

We also stepped into the church up on the hill which was being setup with Christmas decorations and was cozy and warm. Then we headed back down and made our way to Antibes where we had dinner before heading to the outdoor BalFolk event once again. It was slightly more sparsely attended this time, but still great fun.

November 30 – Cannes, France

The next few days, we stocked up on work hours. I had finished the massage chair cover and had moved on to recreating cushion covers for an outdoor sofa. The first cover took more than twice as long as the second, which I suppose proves I had learned something during the process. I made quite a mess of the room and the space, but this time the culprit was small red fringe from the canvas fabric. I have yet to see the finished cushions because new foam needs to be cut, but I hope they turn out well once they are completed.

On November 30, we headed to Cannes for the day. It was a quick 10 minute train ride into Cannes. When we arrived, we immediately found ourselves in the commercial district, surrounded by fashionable clothing stores and cute cafes. We wandered around the shops for a little while, popping into some of the stores admiring the things and trying not to look at prices.

Eventually we made our way towards the old part of the city and found a little Christmas market on the way. We admired the decorations and window shopped a bit before heading to the port to look at the big boats. After looking at boats, we went to find the walk of frame handprints of various movie stars who have visited Cannes as part of the film festival, or who have filmed in the area.

Then we made our way up into the old village which is up on a hill and wandered around there enjoying the view and the sights. We went in the church and made our way to a museum where Fiona had a lovely conversation in French with the people working there before they decided to switch to English to speak with me and even threw in a bit of Spanish as well.

The views from up there were really nice and despite the grey, somewhat windy day, it was a nice way to spend an afternoon.

When we made our way back down, we wandered through the lower part of the old town a bit more and grabbed a baguette and a pastry near the site of the local market, which was not open, before heading back to Juan les Pins.

December 1-2 – Juan les Pins and Cannes, France

December 1 was a very chill day which we used to get ourselves organized for the next legs of our journey and finish up various tasks.

Our final full day in Juan les Pins, we actually went back to Cannes and took a ferry to Île Sainte-Marguerite where we wandered around the island enjoying the natural beauty of a forest, crashing waves, and a lagoon as well as the human built beauty of a fort. The water getting out to the island was really choppy but the weather was absolutely gorgeous with a brilliant blue sky.

It was a really wonderful day of exploring and island before we headed back to Juan les Pins to prepare to head to a BalFolk Ball.

That evening, we got a ride from one of the people we had met dancing in Antibes to a ball in Contes. The headlining musician was Rémi Geffroy and he was absolutely incredible. The music was amazing, the dancing was great, and just in general the whole event was fantastic!

I’m not really sure how to put into words how amazing the ball was. Everyone was so welcoming, it was well attended, and the music was absolutely amazing. It was just absolutely so much fun and so amazing to get to do BalFolk dancing in the region where it comes from. While there are a variety of dance traditions that get caught up in the umbrella term of BalFolk, much of the tradition seems to be from the region we were in, which was really fun.

After the event, on the hour long car ride back, we had really great conversation with the two Italians from the Antibes class and ended up heading over to Valerio’s apartment to continue the party there. We stayed till almost 4am and had just a really wonderful sendoff with them to end our time on the Côte d’Azur.

December 3 – In Transit and Avignon, France

We spent the morning sleeping in after our very late night out, then cleaned up the house and headed to the train station to make our way to Avignon for the night.

I have officially used every one of my rail pass journeys at this point, just in time for the December 5 expiration. The Eurail pass has a handy map visualization of all the trips I took using it which is really fun to look at. While this doesn’t include trains I paid for separately or buses I took, and obviously doesn’t include airplane travel either, it is a nice visualization of some of the journey I have had so far!

December 6, 2023

November 15, 2023

Well, that’s a wrap on Scotland. It’s been absolutely magnificent! Here’s a look back at the last few day in Glasgow and my 24 hour train adventures.

November 13 – Glasgow, Scotland

On my final day in Glasgow, I did some of the things I actually got to spend some time exploring the city, which was lovely. I went to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and enjoyed the sort of random assortment of exhibits there. These ranged from art by The Glasgow Boys, a collective of young artists in the 1880s in and around Glasgow, to taxidermy animals to marble busts, and much more.

After the art gallery, I went to the Riverside Museum to enjoy the exhibits there. There were lots of trollies, bicycles, and cars all over the museum as well as information about the people and histories associated with different modes of transportation. I appreciated the openness of the museum which made it easy to just wander and see things without needing to follow a particular story or path. In this type of museum, with just about an hour to kill, it was useful to be able to just wander over to whatever most interested me at any given moment.

After that museum, I went to a physical therapy appointment to try to address my shin splint issues. I had a pleasant time speaking with the clinician who gave me some exercises I need to remember to do going forward. The good news is that there doesn’t appear to be an acute injury, just stress from overuse without properly strengthening. So, here’s hoping I can fix this problem.

After the physical therapy appointment and some food, I walked around the University of Glasgow campus. The architecture is absolutely amazing and despite the grey day and rain, it was a lovely way to spend my last evening in Scotland.

November 14 – In Transit

I woke up bright and early on Tuesday morning to start my 24 hour train journey. I took the train from Glasgow to London. We were slightly delayed because of flooding on the tracks, so of course I got a bit nervous about missing my next two connections. However, it ended up being okay. I made my way from London Euston Station to St. Pancras International and got my second stamp from “Londres, France” which I find very funny.

The next train took me to Paris where I transferred stations and got a glimpse of the top of the Eiffel Tower way off in the distance because it was after dark and it was lit up. My train out of Paris was delayed, so I ended up having a long time to wait. I probably could have wandered and seen a bit of Paris, but these sorts of things are always hard to predict and are very upsetting to miss.

When my third, and final train arrived around 10pm, I realized I was up at the top of a three bunk berth. So, for the next 12 hours, I shared a very tiny compartment with 5 other people who I was too nervous to attempt to speak with considering my lack of any French vocabulary.

It was surprisingly comfortable for sleeping and while I didn’t sleep well, my sleep was not terrible. For 21€ (with my train pass) and the story of the adventure it was definitely worth it to take the train. I was pleased that the connections all worked because otherwise, the trip would have been very different.

November 15 – Juan les Pins, France

After 12 hours on the sleeper train, I finally arrived in Antibes, pretty exhausted and pretty out of it. My friend, Fiona, met me at the station and we grabbed some coffee on our way to our host’s place in Juan les Pins, about a 30 minute walk away. It was lovely to step off the train into t-shirt weather, although I had to tie my jacket onto the back of my bag because I did not want to wear it. Everything was so sunny and felt extremely Mediterranean.

I was pretty out of it and took a shower and a nap to try to clear the train trip from my system. My first day in Juan les Pins was very relaxing and low-key, which I greatly appreciated after my day of travel.

December 1, 2023

November 12, 2023

November 6 – In Transit then Arrochar, Scotland

Sidney and I met up in the morning to catch a train to Arrochar where we began our Highlands tour. It was rainy, but with hope that the forecasted sun would hold the next day, we headed to the Arrochar and Tarbet station, passing Loch Lomond on the way. The views from the train were really lovely, even in the rain.

When we arrives at the station, we were the only people to get off the train and step into the rain to head towards our hotel. It had been a long time since I was in a hotel rather than a hostel and it felt pretty strange at first. It quickly became clear we were not the typical hotel attendees as we straggled in with our wet clothes and big backpacks. Still, they were nice and let us drop our luggage while we waited for the check-in time to roll around. We explored the small cemetery and looked out at the water and the surrounding mountains.

That evening, we made dinner by heating soup with the electric kettle in our room. It was a pretty funny, but honestly very yummy meal. It was certainly the more economical way to eat and I think despite the strangeness of the meal, we felt pretty good about it.

November 7 – Arrochar, Scotland

In the morning we woke up to a brilliantly sunny day and started our hike up The Cobbler mountain. All along the way, the views of Loch Long, Arrochar, and just the surrounding landscape was gorgeous. It was slightly chilly and as we got higher up it got windy, but it was perfect weather for hiking.

For the first part, the path was in trees, but once we broke out from the tree line, the views really became spectacular. Despite the previous day’s rain, we somehow didn’t encounter much mud and the hiking was pretty easy for most of it. The final assent however became very scrambly. We were essentially climbing in a small stream bed that was nearly vertical. We stopped for lunch with a fantastic view. I think we both had a hard time believing that it was all real because the vistas were just so amazing and otherworldly. After lunch we decided to head back down rather than continuing the scramble up to the top where we had heard the winds were even more intense.

At the end of our wonderful day of hiking, we had another creative hotel room dinner and headed to bed. While it would have been nice to have made it to the top of The Cobbler, it was still a really amazing day and it was probably the right call to turn back when we did. Overall, we had a really nice stay in Arrochar.

November 8 – In Transit then Fort William, Scotland

We checked out of the hotel in the morning but had some time to kill before our train, so we sat in the lobby and appreciated the view of the mountain we had hiked the previous day.

We spent a good chunk of the rest of the day we spent on the train to Fort William. Again, it rained on a day when we were traveling. We arrived at the hostel a bit early, so I helped myself to a free hot chocolate to warm up. After checking in and relaxing for a bit, we grabbed some groceries for the next few days. This hostel had a very social atmosphere, more social than many of the others I had been in recently.

After dinner, some of the people working at the hostel decided to throw a bit of a party. I chatted with some people in the lounge area while a game of drunken Twister was going on around us. Unfortunately, this did mean that there was loud conversation and partying happening until about 2am, so it wasn’t the best night of sleep.

November 9 – Fort William, Scotland

The next morning, we tried to catch a bus to the Steall Waterfall in Glen Nevis, at the base of the UK’s tallest mountain, Ben Nevis. Unfortunately, after waiting about 15 minutes we realized that the bus we wanted to catch is a seasonal bus and had stopped operating about three weeks prior.

So, instead we decided to wander around Fort William and walk up to Old Inverlocky Castle and just see what we could see. It ended up being a really nice day for strolling and we basically just wandered around exploring. We went in a few cute stores. It was nice to just experience what the town is like and see the beautiful views.

We had a picnic lunch and then shared a dessert at a cafe inside of The Highland Soap Company building. When we got back to the hostel, we made dinner again and prepared to head out in the morning for Mallaig.

November 10 – In Transit then Mallaig, Scotland

The train ride from Fort William to Mallaig is supposedly one of the most beautiful train rides in the UK (some people say the world) and it did not disappoint. Unfortunately, as often happens, the photos cannot do justice to how beautiful the scenery was on this trip.

We went over the Glenfinnian Viaduct, which is featured in many of the Harry Potter films, along with other media. It was impressive to go over on the train, but I have a feeling that is a bit more spectacular from a vantage point other than on top of it. It was still very picturesque despite the pictures really not being able to do it justice at all.

When we arrived in Mallaig, we had a bit of time before we were able to go meet Sidney’s friend, Charlotte. We wandered around a small, second-hand bookstore for a little bit until the bookseller gently told us he had to head out and we realized we’d kept him 20 minutes after his posted closing time. While digging through the stacks I found some fun books including a small book of Scottish Folk songs from the early 20th century. Unfortunately, it was clearly a collectable and cost £30, which I wasn’t willing to pay.

Then we wandered around the docks and had lunch on a picnic bench. When we made our way up to Charlotte’s place we realized what a fantastic view of some of the isles of the Inner Hebrides, including the Isle of Skye she has from her place. It also made it clear how small of a place Mallaig is. Charlotte was lovely and we hit it off immediately. Sidney cooked dinner for us and I did the best I could to help. We chatted over dinner and eventually made a bit of a strange plan for the next day and headed to bed.

November 11 – Mallaig, Scotland

The next morning we grabbed the 8:40am ferry to the Isle of Skye. It was a crystal clear day, which once again showed that some sort of weather god was smiling down on us because the typical weather for mid-November, we were told, is rain, darkness, and cold. The ferry took about 30 minutes and was absolutely gorgeous. Charlotte had brought binoculars and while we didn’t see any whales or dolphins, it was still really cool to look at birds and the surrounding islands with them.

When we got to Armadale, our destination on Skye, we hopped off the ferry long enough to plant our feet firmly in the ferry terminal parking lot before hopping back onto the ferry. Because it is the winter season, the next ferry back to Mallaig from Skye would have been after sunset and without a car, we weren’t sure what we would have done on Skye all day. So, this was phase one of our crazy plan for the day, and it went off without a hitch. In fact, it went better than we could have imagined because while on the ferry, Charlotte started talking to someone who turned out to be the parent of one of her students who lives in a remote part of Knoydart, which was our intended next destination. He offered to take us in his boat to Doune to check out the workshop and facilities of the inn/B&B he and his family runs.

Before hopping on the boat, we grabbed pastries from a bakery Charlotte had been really excited about going to. So, with pastries (and unfortunately, coffee on my part) in hand, we boarded a tiny inflatable boat with Andrew and his partner, Rebecca. The boat ride was a bit bracing and my coffee ended up spilling quite a bit and what remained was really cold when we arrived, but it was amazing. Being so directly on the water, rather than riding high above it was really exciting. The views from the water were fantastic and despite my fear and the cramping in my hand from gripping on so tight, I hade a really amazing time.

When we arrived in Doune, a community of only about 7 people, a bunch of chickens, some dogs and cats, Andrew and Rebecca invited us in for coffee. We shared our pastries and chatted with them about their business operating an inn in such a remote part of world. They were lovely and we had a fantastic conversation. The entire time I kept having to remind myself that this was really happening because it felt like such an amazing turn of events that I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it.

After our drinks and chats we went for a tour of the grounds including their workshop, greenhouse, and the guesthouse which is undergoing some renovations. They kept mentioning that they have volunteers, so before we parted I got their contact information for potential future volunteering. It was fantastic, we even spotted a whale out in the water between Doune and Skye.

Once we finally pried ourselves from the conversation, we set off on the walk toward Inverie where we hoped to catch some live music and eventually a ferry back to Mallaig. We had spectacular views on the walk and lovely conversations as well. We had been walking for probably an hour when Rebecca and Andrew’s dog, Rua ran up to greet us. Thankfully we had Rebecca’s phone number and were able to call her to come pick the pup up in her van. While waiting for Rebecca, we ate the rest of the things we’d bought at the bakery for a late lunch.

When we arrived in Inverie, we went to The Old Forge Pub, a community owned and operated pub that claims to be the most remote pub in Britain. We were really excited that a jam session was happening. The music was great and we attempted to play pool with a group of guys from Fort William who had been biking in Knoydart. It was really cozy and nice. We watched the sunset with hot chocolate and then got some soup before heading out to look at the stars while we waited for our ferry.

Overall, it was a really fantastic and amazing day that felt like a dream the entire time. It turned out to be a pretty perfect day and made me fall even further in love with Scotland. I feel so lucky that we had such amazing weather and am conflicted about whether I want to keep reminding myself that it typically rains almost constantly during the winter, or if I just want to keep living in my blissful perfect memory of it.

November 12 – In Transit then Glasgow, Scotland

After such an amazing day, it was hard to leave Mallaig, but we boarded our bus at 10am and set off back to Fort William. Unfortunately, we were on a bus rather than a train because they were doing track work. I got a bit car sick on the bus to Fort William, which was unpleasant, but the second bus, from Fort William to the Arrochar and Tarbet train station , where we would finally get back on a train, was actually really beautiful. It was sort of funny to be retracing our steps from the previous week, but it also felt very symmetrical and lovely.

After a complicated string of travel, we finally arrived back in Glasgow and I checked into my hostel. I grabbed some groceries, ate dinner, and did some laundry before heading back out to meet Sidney at the Ben Nevis Pub for more live music as a final goodbye.

The music was a really nice final chance to chat with Sidney before we parted ways and was a really lovely way to end an absolutely amazing Highlands tour.

November 22, 2023

November 5, 2023

November 1 – In Transit then Edinburgh, Scotland

I spent the night at my friend’s place in Islington, London. Her flat was lovely and it was great to get to see her, even for such a brief visit.

Around noon I caught a train to Edinburgh, where I check into my Hogwarts themed room at the Castle Rock Hostel before heading off to meet up with a dance friend I met in Stockholm. She had invited me to join the advanced Scottish Country Dance class in Edinburgh. The class was lovely, and after class, many of us went out for drinks and I got to meet some of the people I would meet in Glasgow at the Autumn Gathering.

After drinks with the dance group, I caught a bus to head to a cocktail bar to meet up with the niece of a friend from Berkeley. She and her two friends were leaving Scotland very early the next morning, but we had a lovely time enjoying fancy cocktails at Panda and Sons which is apparently one of the best cocktail bars in the world. While I have to admit that I couldn’t tell the difference between a normal cocktail and my fancy, ‘special methods only used here’ cocktail, it was still a lovely way to end the evening and nice to meet new people.

November 2 – Edinburgh, Scotland

I woke up to rain and decided to seek out indoor activities as much as possible for the day’s adventures. I started by walking to the St. Cecilia’s Hall Museum to check out their instruments. It is a free museum, which I always appreciate, that I had found on a list of things to do in Edinburgh for someone on a budget. There were Harpsichord’s, Virginals, and many more predecessors to the modern day piano. There was also a room with many different instruments from various wind instruments to percussion, to tons of different strings, and a few different types of bag pipes. It was a small, but lovely museum and perfect spending about an hour and a half in on a rainy day.

When I left the music museum, I wandered along the Royal Mile and stepped into the Museum of Edinburgh to avoid the rain. What I had wrongly assumed was just a small, local museum turned out to be a very large collection of fairly random items from the city’s past. I kept thinking I must be nearing the end of the exhibits, but found another room. The building itself was also interesting and lovely. It was a nice way to spend a few more hours on a rainy afternoon.

After that museum, I strolled along Grassmarket, popping into and out of touristy kilt shops. I eventually made my way back to The National Portrait Gallery where I spent only a few minutes before realizing I could go buy dancing shoes (ghillies) if I headed out quickly. At the museum, though, I did get to see the painting that inspired the Scottish Country Dance “The Minister on the Loch” although the title of the piece is a bit different: “Reverend Robert (1755-1808) Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch”.

So, then I rushed off to the dance store and purchased ghillies before heading to the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society headquarters, just to take a peek. I had a brief, but lovely conversation with two women who were working in the office there.

After some dinner, I went back to the hostel to prepare for a pub crawl I had signed up for at the hostel. The pub crawl itself was a bit rushed, overly crowded, and hyped up in a way that I found a bit off putting, but I had a nice time chatting with people and a few of the places we went were really pretty cool. One of the pubs had a ball pit in it which was very strange, slightly gross, and also very cool.

November 3 – In Transit then Glasgow, Scotland

I checked out in the morning, after breakfast at the hostel, but I was still able to explore the hostel, finding interestingly painted hallways, staircases, and some cozy lounges.

Then I caught my train to Glasgow, walked to my new hostel, did laundry at an outdoor laundry machine and met a friend for dinner before the evening dance.

The evening dance was huge and I found myself a bit overwhelmed. At one point I estimated it at 32 4-couple sets, making about 256 dancers, but probably I missed a set or two somewhere. Unfortunately, my shin pain started acting up again, so I was a bit ginger with with dancing, but I got to wear my new shoes, which was exciting as well. It was really nice to see some people I had met in Stockholm again and even a few from the Toronto dance event back in May. It was a nice start to the weekend

November 4 – Glasgow, Scotland

There was a morning dance class, taught by the teacher from Edinburgh who I had met earlier in the week. His style of teaching was wonderful, he nicely balanced technique with manageable dances and interesting comments about the development of certain dances over time. I was able to dance and greatly enjoyed it.

Then there was a “youth services” meet and greet that I went to with a group of friends. It was interesting to have a conversation with official RSCDS people about young adult and youth participation within Scottish Country Dancing. We just chatted about the differences in the groups we each dance with and ways to promote more youth participation in an activity often attended by an older crowd.

After Indian food for lunch, our little group went back to the hall where Annual General Meeting of the RSCDS was taking place. We arrived late, so we went up to the second floor to watch from above. Unfortunately, the room below was sound proofed well enough that we had to make up our own commentary about what was happening. I think we had more fun watching from above, making up our own story about what was happening than we would have had we sat in the meeting itself. The gist of what was happening was the Society was voting on various changes. I found myself distinctly aware of the slow bureaucratic process of how change happens in institutions like this and struggled a bit to not feel disappointed by that.

After the AGM, I went back to my hostel to get ready for the evening ball. Unfortunately, by this point in the weekend, my shins were hurting fairly persistently. So, I didn’t get much of a chance to dance at the ball. It again, was attended by over 250 people, likely more like 300. The six-piece band was incredible though and I often had people to chat with while I sat out and watched.

Post dance, I had a really nice time hanging out with some friends before heading to bed around 2am.

November 5 – Glasgow, Scotland

While there was a morning dance class, I decided my legs needed a rest, so I showed up late to meet up with friends and say my goodbyes. As disappointing as it was to have to miss out on dancing, the fear of doing permanent damage to my legs was a strong motivator to hold off.

Lunch with a bunch of my new friends was nice and after saying more goodbyes, my friend, Sidney, and I rushed to catch a bus to head to a community center to volunteer with a painting project. Sidney has been researching tool libraries and community art projects, so she wanted to make a connection with some of the people in Glasgow and found this event. She invited me along. When we showed up, they were nearly finished, but we were able to help with finishing touches and with cleanup, which made it feel worthwhile.

In the evening, I went to the Ben Nevis Pub to meet some friends and listen to live music. The jam session was really great. When I first arrived, around 9pm, it was packed, but by the time I left, a bit before 11, the number of musicians probably outnumbered those who were there just to listen. At one point I counted 7 fiddles, although they didn’t all play the whole time. The energy was electric though and was a really nice way to end my first stay in Glasgow.

November 15, 2023

October 31, 2023

The past week in Norway have been really nice, albeit fairly cold.

October 23

I arrived in Oslo, dropped by bag in the hostel, and pretty soon after set off on a walk to the Oslo Scottish Dancing class. It was a lovely group of people. Unfortunately, the floor of their dance space was all concrete and after dancing all day on Saturday, my legs were pretty worn out. Still, it was lovely to meet new people. The class teacher was really wonderful and walked me from class to the bus stop where I got a bus back to my hostel. It was a really nice first evening in Oslo.

October 24

Tuesday morning I walked to a hardware store to pick up a lock. Somehow up to this point on the trip, I have managed to not feel the need for a padlock to lock things up. However, this hostel felt like the kind of place where that was needed, so I now am the proud owner of a padlock. I imagine it will come in handy again, as well.

Then I went for a stroll along Akerselva, a river running right near the hostel. It was beautiful, with walking bridges over it, waterfalls, and an abundance of autumn colored trees. It was chilly, but the natural beauty was amazing. I kept thinking I would just walk to the next river bend before turning back, and then I would see the next bend and want to walk on. Eventually I made it to the market I had been vaguely aiming for an got a cinnamon roll and some coffee for breakfast. From there I started following a walking tour route I had found online.

The tour was lovely and took me to the Opera House where I got to see really lovely views of the city and fjord from on top of the roof. From there I walked to the Akershus Fortress and thorough a bunch of parks. It was a chilly, grey sky day but overall a really nice time walking around to see the sights.

October 25

I started my morning by walking along the main touristy/shopping street, Karl Johans Gate, to the Palace. From there I headed out in search of Hartvig Nissens Skole where a Norwegian TV show I like was filmed. Unfortunately, it was under construction and completely wrapped in scaffolding and plastic. The whole school site was fenced off. It was rather amusing to have walked 40 minutes in freezing temperatures to see a building wrapped in plastic. But I suppose that is how these things go sometimes.

In hindsight, I should have gone from there to Vigelandsparken while I killed time before the changing of the guard ceremony, but I didn’t plan very well, so instead I sat in a cafe for a while before heading back to Palace for a ceremony that was much less of a production than the one in Stockholm had been. To be fair, the Norwegian guard has a ceremony every day while the Swedish ones only do the ceremony on Sundays.

After the ceremony, I took the tram all the way to the end, to Frognerseteren to see the city from a much higher vantage point. On the way up, there were many teenagers wearing intense skiing outfits and “skis” with wheels on them. It was fascinating to watch them glide onto the tram as if there was snow the whole way.

When I got to the top, there was snow in the air and a very slight dusting on the ground. Not much of it stuck, but it was still exciting. Unfortunately, due to the snowy conditions, the view of Oslo from above was a bit obscured, but still really lovely from the top of the hill. I got hot chocolate and a pastry at a cafe and then started walking down towards the ski jump at Holmenkollen. The walk was cold and beautiful. The ski jump and surrounding area were lovely, but I didn’t stay much beyond taking photos because it was just a bit too cold to be comfortable. From there I took the tram back to the hostel, getting back after the dark had fully set in.

October 26

In the morning I had to deal with doing laundry and it was a bit of a nightmare. The place I went was being deep cleaned so all of the machines were running on high temperature and had to cool down before they could be used. Then I had to download an app to pay, which is frustrating and always annoying. Anyway, eventually I got my laundry started and wandered off to pick up my “Too Good to Go” order. I paid 390 NOK for a mystery bag of pastries that were going to be thrown in the garbage otherwise. It turned out to be a large bag of pastries, which felt really great. I sat in a park to eat my breakfast while the wash finished.

After I successfully cleaned my clothes, I went back to the hostel to hang up the things that weren’t quite dry and make a plan for the day.

By the time I actually got started, it was nearly 2pm and I was feeling slightly grumpy about the ‘wasted’ time during my final full day in Oslo. Anyway, I eventually got going and walked to the Oslo City Hall to check out the art there. The Norse mythology wood carvings on the outside of the building were beautiful, but the murals inside the building were magnificent. It was hard to imagine it as a functioning city hall because it felt more like a museum.

From there I walked to Vigelandsparken to look at the sculptures and park. It was a brisk, gray, but nice day to be out looking at the fall leaves and sculptures in the park. I really enjoyed the sculptures and the park, but would have preferred if I had done them the pervious day instead of killing time at the cafe. That would have given me time to actually go to a museum in Oslo, but instead I did it the way I did, which is fine too. Because it was getting dark around 5pm, the day felt fairly short and it was hard to be motivated to go out into the city to do much else once it got dark.

After heading back to the hostel on the tram, I had my first real hostel chat session in quite a while. The people in the room were having a full conversation, which was a different vibe than the previous few nights had been. It was nice to actually have a solid interaction with a group of strangers. I had missed that from previous hostels I have stayed in and found it pleasant.

October 27

Friday morning I headed to the train station to start my journey to Voss. The trip was beautiful and uneventful. The snowy mountains we passed over were gorgeous and made me want to get off the train and explore.

When I arrived in Voss, my friend, Marta, met me at the train station and we walked the few minutes to the place we were staying for the Osafestivalen music festival. I met the rest of the group and we had dinner in the apartment. After dinner we headed out to a concert. It was really fun and while I didn’t understand any of the lyrics or banter of the performers, it was still a really cool experience.

October 28

Another day of the festival. Having stayed up quite late, we had a bit of a slow start, but it was a cozy and pleasant morning. Marta and I went out for a walk at one point and caught up while admiring the beautiful scenery of Voss, Norway. It was another lovely day. All of the people in the group were wonderful and although they spoke Norwegian more than English, they were kind in including me much of the time.

We went to a few more concerts and in the evening, we went to the folk dance event. Unfortunately, my shin splints were acting up so I was nervous about dancing on them too much. Marta was very kind though and helped me through some of the Norwegian folk dances. It was really fun, although also very crowded on the dance floor. When I decided my legs had had enough, I sat down and just listened to the music and people watched. It was very fun and I wish I could have danced more without feeling it in my shins. Oh well, it was still a great atmosphere to be in and the music was fantastic!

October 29

Sunday morning, we went to a few different concerts. I really enjoyed the solo accordion concert but was a bit confused by what felt like very experimental music with strange non-word vocals and funky things being done to a piano. Eventually we cleaned up the apartment, said goodbye to everyone and headed out. We took a complicated travel route to Bergen including a car, train, bus, and city tram.

October 30

Marta very graciously took Monday off from her internship to spend time with me. We went to a second hand store and I bought a second hand Norwegian sweater. It’s very cozy and will be a wonderful reminder of this visit and the whole adventure in general.

Then we headed out into Bergen to see the city. We took a tram up Fløyen to look at the view of the city and then walked back down. The view was gorgeous! I have been told that it rains in Bergen 270ish days out of the year, but somehow I managed to visit on a day with a crustal clear blue sky. While we were initially bothered that we missed a tram just as we arrived, we ended up being lucky because we got to sit in the front and watch the city disappear below us as we climbed.

The walk down was beautiful with the blue sky peaking through the yellow leaves. We wandered into a mini troll forest and enjoyed a troll statue. Descending from the mountain, we wandered the streets of Bergen for a while enjoying the cute little streets, small pathways, and most importantly for me, the slide.

We saw the famous old Bergen buildings along the water and then wandered to the store to get food for dinner and firewood. After a yummy home cooked dinner, some knitting practice, and a few episodes of the show Hilda in Norwegian, we headed back out to go to a sauna.

The sauna was beautiful in the moonlight on its floating dock. We sat in the sauna until we were warm enough to go jump in the harbor before rushing back in. The water and air were both really cold, but combined with the sauna, it was a really fun experience. Over the course of an hour we did at least 5 jumps into the water, only staying in long enough to dip under before grabbing the ladder to pull ourselves out again.

It was really fun and felt like an important cultural experience to have while in Norway. I was glad to be able to do it with something. It was much more pleasant than doing it on my own in Oslo would have been, I think.

We went back to Marta’s place with wet hair, but only had to wait a few minutes for a tram and then we got enjoy the warm cozy fire back at her place. All in all, it was a really wonderful. A great way to end my last full day in Norway.

October 31

Today I’m leaving Norway. After a day inside catching up on some life planning things, like trying to figure out my next parts of the plan, I headed to the airport.

Unfortunately, it has become time to say goodbye to my sneakers. After serving me well for at least 1.5 years of lots and lots of walking, the holes I have worn int the sides and the lack of tread on the bottom were strong indicators that it is time to let them go.

November 1, 2023

October 23, 2023

Today I’m leaving Stockholm. It’s been a lovely visit, with lots of fun connection with other Scottish Country Dancers.

October 20

I explored Stockholm on foot and on the metro. I walked around a bit, just looking at the buildings, parks, and atmosphere of Stockholm, trying to warm up to a very cold place.

When the rain picked up and I started getting very cold, I retreated into the metro system to go look at the decorated subway stations. Following the instructions of an art map app, I went to 5 different metro stations to look at the art. It was beautiful and wonderful! While I imaged having a wonderful, colorful daily commute on the metro, it was also clear that locals have grown accustomed enough to the art that they don’t notice it anymore. Still, it was wonderful and a really nice experience to get to do on my own time.

After the adventures in the metro, I went back to the hostel to warm up. I met up with a few Scottish dancers who had just arrived and we went to the Vasa Museum. We arrived just in time to see the film explaining the history of the Vasa ship as well as the preservation process.

The Vasa is a ship that made it 1300 meters from the Stockholm shipyard before sinking due to design flaws. This happened in 1628 and it sat on the seabed until it was brought to the surface in 1961. The museum was really interesting and getting to see the ship was very cool.

When we got back from the Vasa, I moved into my new hostel room and met some really fun dancers before heading to bed to prepare myself for an early morning.

October 21

At 9am, after a nice breakfast at the hostel, the group headed over to class. We had a whole day of Scottish Country Dance classes. It was great to get to meet young dancers from all over Europe. By the end of the classes, I was pretty exhausted but a group of us ventured out to find Swedish meatballs. The meatballs were delicious and the atmosphere of the restaurant was very cozy. It was a nice break from dancing before we headed back to the hostel to prepare for the evening ball.

The evening ball was wonderful! I got to wear my dress and dance with lovely people to amazing music. It was a great way to end an exhausting, but very good day.

In the morning, many of the dancers gathered for a tour of Stockholm. While most of the places the tour went turned out to be places I had already wandered around, it was nice to hear a bit more context about the places.

After the tour, I got food and watched the Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace. Our vantage point made it slightly difficult to see the actual guards and the changing, but we had a great view of the marching band. It was really nice to get to catch that event, even if I understood none of what was supposed to be happening.

Then I joined up with a different group and got a bit more food before heading to the Medieval Museum to look at the remains of the old Stockholm city wall. The wall was discovered during a project to put in an underground parking garage and a museum about the history of medieval Stockholm was created around it. My sleep deprived mind found some of the descriptions amusing and greatly enjoyed the whole experience.

In the evening, I hung out with more people and once again found myself staying up later than was strictly reasonable.

All in all, it was a really lovely weekend in Stockholm. The balance of socializing with new friends, exploring the city on my own and in groups, and visiting interesting museums and beautiful underground train stations made it really pleasant. Stockholm is beautiful and I mostly managed to stay warm and dry enough to really enjoy it. My feet and legs certainly hurt after a full day of dancing, but I am really pleased with the trip and am excited to see what Oslo holds as I head that way now on the train.

October 24, 2023

October 19, 2023

I am in Sweden and it’s snowing!

Okay, but back to Germany, I have a lot to catch up on.

October 12-14

While I was in Schriesheim with Steph and Nancy, we bicycled everyday and did at least one touristy thing everyday. The pace was perfect because it was relaxed while still being interesting and fun.

One of the days we explored Shriesheim on bike and foot. The small town vibes were lovely and the scenery was beautiful. While we were walking around Schriesheim, it was fun to come across a Camino de Santiago (Jakobsweg) marker.

We went to see the Monastery of St. Michael on a lovely fall day. The views were beautiful and the monastery ruins were beautiful as well. While we were up there, we also saw the Heidelberg Thingstätte which is an open air amphitheater built by the Third Reich. While the space has since been repurposed as a concert space and social gathering place, it was still scary to see the massive size of the space and imagine it filled with immense hatred. There was a tour group of incoming Heidelberg students who raced up the step, significantly lightening the mood.

That evening I went into Heidelberg to have dinner with a friend. We walked around and got to briefly taste the Heidelberg nightlife culture.

On my final full day in Schriesheim, we went to see the Heidelberg Castle. We took a tour in English which gave us access to the inside of the castle as well as a guide to provide context. I enjoyed how cluttered the architecture of it is. The castle was built over such a long period of time that it is a really strange mix of different styles. I struggled to imagine what it would be like as a functioning castle because the size is just so immense that it seems so impractical to actually run as a functioning place. I really enjoyed the tour and the views of Heidelberg from the castle were also really beautiful.

In the evening of my final day in Schriesheim, Steph and I went to the Schriesheim Floorball Game. Think of floor ball as hockey without the ice. I got much more into it than I expected to. Being at a local sporting event was really enjoyable and the crowd’s enthusiasm was infectious. Unfortunately, the crowd did get a bit rowdy in a way that felt unkind to the opposing team which did not feel quite as warm and cozy as the rest of the game had. Schriesheim won the game and the fans were very excited. It was a fun way to end my time in Schriesheim. So much of this trip has been in large urban centers or in tiny villages without much of anything happening in them. Schriesheim split the difference very nicely and I am very grateful to Steph and Nancy for hosting me and showing me around their lovely hometown.

October 15

I took a morning train from Heidelberg to Stuttgart where I had a little bit of time before my train connection to Tübingen. I had enough time to quickly rush over to the Schlossplatz to look at the Stuttgart castle and surrounding monuments and things before I had to head back to catch my connecting train.

My third cousin, Tommy, met me at the station and we walked through Tübingen to a bus to get back to his place so I could drop my bag off. After a pretzel and coffee, we set off on the Tübingen tour. We saw many groups of first semester students doing various city activities including asking strangers wearing red to take a selfie with them. We were targeted a few times, but came out unscathed.

The city is beautiful and I did feel like I got a good sense of the place on our tour. We saw the city hall, walked along the island in the Neckar River, saw the spot where Goethe supposedly puked out a window, went in a church, saw the castle, and got dinner then looked at the start over the city. It was a really nice day of walking around looking at things. Tommy was a wonderful tour guide and it was really nice to get to know him.

October 16

Spent most of the day on the train where I finished sewing my dress. I again had some time in Stuttgart, so I briefly saw another park as well.

Dress update: The dress is done!

For context, I was worried about having too much stuff on this trip (which it somehow feels like I still do when I have to carry it around on my back all the time, although having to rewear things many times before I can wash them makes me think that might not be true), so before I left, my mom and I put together a pattern to turn my sleeping sack into a dress for the Stockholm dance event.

So, that’s what I’ve done. At Julie’s house in Bosham, I cut out the pieces and started sewing it. On the various trains I’ve taken since, I’ve seen the whole thing together. It’s come out quite nicely, although I have not put a hem on it, which hopefully doesn’t end up being too obvious.

Photos from the ball will follow.

When I arrived in Berlin, I took the metro to my friend, Dean’s house and from there we went to the local Berlin Scottish Country Dance class. It was fun to be a part of something I know and understand in a foreign country and they were kind enough to speak English most of the time.

October 17

I crashed a bit. 6 weeks of traveling wore me out I guess. So, despite being in a new city and wanting to explore, I spent most of the day snuggled in warm blankets watching Netflix. Sometimes, that’s just what you need on a cold, gray day.

When I did finally manage to get going, I meet with my third cousins, Gillian and Annika, for dinner and had a lovely time. Annika, her boyfriend, and I then went to a bar before heading back to her place for the night. I am 95% sure that the bar we went to was one of the few places I’ve actually been to before in Berlin. It was really surreal to walk in and realize that when my friend Tristi and I were in Berlin in 2018 we went to the same bar that Annika happened to invite me to this time.

October 18

I got coffee with Gillian and we walked around a bit. It was a much nicer day, so being outside was much more pleasant than it would have been the previous day.

When Gillian had to go, I decided to wander around on foot to see the central part of the city. I walked for a few hours just looking at my surroundings and enjoying the feel of the city.

In the evening I got dinner with friends and headed back to Annika’s apartment to pack up and get ready to leave in the morning.

October 19

So, here I am in Stockholm! I had a pleasant conversation with a Scottish man in a kilt who was next to me on the plane. He is not going to the RSCDS Youth Dance Weekend, but instead going to a wedding in Manchester and says that wearing the kilt is the best way to carry it.

I made my way to the hostel and did laundry while I unwound from the flight. Then I wandered out into the city a bit to find food. As I was outside it started snowing. There was not enough snow to stick, but it was still really lovely. So far I have managed to not buy new clothes on this trip, but I think gloves may be in order, I might have to switch out the shorts and sandals to make space for warm clothes, we will see.

October 19, 2023

October 11, 2023

After a fairly grueling day of travel yesterday, I arrived in Schriesheim. Here I’ll be visiting Steph and Nancy, my dad’s second cousins for a few days. I was quickly welcomed into their beautiful home, fed dinner, and had nice conversations.

Today, we biked in Heidelberg for the afternoon. We walked up the Philosophenweg (Philosopher’s Way) to get beautiful views of the city. Then we headed back down into the town and got lunch at a the University.

After biking back, Steph and I played the game Hive, which made it worth my having carried the (extremely lightweight) cardboard game around with me for the last month and a half.

We had a wonderful dinner and worked on a puzzle. It was a nice first day in Germany!

October 11, 2023

Category: Travel 2023