Ait Ben Haddou

The next morning we drive by a movie studio and tour the ancient village of Ait Ben Haddou. In the past many movies have been filmed in this area because of the ancient village atmosphere. However in the last ten years filming reduced because modern technology such as AI has replaced realistic looking sets. The good news is that recently movies are being filmed in the area again including one coming up with Matt Damon.

Aït Ben Haddou is a UNESCO site that is a former ksar (or village) that was a stop along the trader route for caravans. It is now primarily used for movies and tourism. It is a wet day from all the recent rain so we walk carefully to not submerge our shoes in puddles of mud in the dirt pathways of the old city as we slowly walk towards the top. It is at the top we have marvelous views of the city below. You really feel like you have stepped into the past from this view.

While in Ait Ben Haddou we watch an artist paint in saffron, indigo stone, tea, and sugar. The art is invisible until it is put over a fire. A secret message or painting will be activated by heat. This method was used during times of conflict to pass secret messages. I purchase one of these paintings as a keepsake of the day.

Before we leave we stop at a women’s cooperative to learn how moroccan women make and sell rugs for the area. We learn the different types of rugs that are made and the symbolic meaning of images weaved into the rugs. In the past I have so much anxiety with carpet sellers that I walk away flustered without purchasing a desired carpet from my travels, but these women make me feel right at home and I even purchase my first carpet ever while traveling. I am still deciding where to place my lovely carpet back home.

We next travel to Marrakech through the Tizi N’Tichka pass. We stop for lunch and pictures at the top and the high point.

We arrive at our lunch spot to ladies and children engaged in a snowball fight. An adorable little girl whacks me with multiple snowballs while she laughs. I play along like she’s hurting me with each hit.

We visit another women’s group to see how argan oil is made.

After a stop for pictures in the snow we start our descent out of the mountains. We watch excited kids sliding down snow hills in the process. We eventually arrive in Marrakech and spend our first evening in town on our own. More on that later.

End of my travels

The next day I visit the House of flowers and the museum of Yugoslavia.

Google maps, while working fine the past two days, all of a sudden can no longer give me directions that includes public transportation options so I download a bus map to try to figure it out like the “old days”. It’s challenging because the language barrier.

I find my directions to the House of Flowers that includes a walk over a bridge and a walk uphill.

The House of Flowers is the official burial place of the beloved (and sometimes not) Yugoslavian leader Josip Broz Tito. Attached to the mausoleum are wall exhibits of photos of different events of Yugoslavia. It was truly a unique type of socialism in Yugoslavia.

Also nearby is the Museum of Yugoslavia. It is a collection of items related to the time of Yugoslavia. There is supposed to be another museum in the complex but it is closed for renovations. This museum is informative and has information in English but lacks some context for certain events, especially in the last 30 years or so. I guess it’s understandable because there are still things that can’t be discussed because there is not the political will. It’s best to just leave it unknown I guess than stir up anger. It is probably still too soon.

Later I tour the beautiful Serbian Orthodox Church the Church of Saint Sava. The church is magnificently beautiful inside. There is so much gold and bright features.

Lunch today is cevapi. Cevapi is one of my favorite Balkan dishes. The only disappointing thing is that this one doesn’t come with the amazing bread.

I decide it is time for dessert and walk to the Hotel Moskva, a local landmark known for its Russian Art Nouveau style. There is a cafe attached here where they serve their distinct Moskva cake, a cake of almonds cherries and pineapples (Moskva šnit). I enjoy the cake with a coffee and get to people watch for a while.

For the evening I want to go check out the neighborhood of Zemun for dinner. Since I know very little about the neighborhood I choose a restaurant as my destination. Google maps is still not working with the public transportation instructions. I suppose I could take a taxi but I am not familiar with how taxis work in town and I’m not in the mood to try to figure it out tonight so I hang out nearby my hotel instead. It’s almost like google maps is no longer receiving a feed from the Belgrade buses. This is quite disappointing for a solo traveler that tends to be fiercely independent and hates asking for help. Maybe tomorrow I’ll have a better go at it.

In the morning I walk down to Kalmegdan to see the old fortress and get views of the city.

I take a break from the heat and pack my things since I leave early tomorrow morning for my long flight home.

I have one last early evening walk.

I stop at a rakia bar try some different flavored rakija, one specifically thyme flavored. I grab a sampler pack to take home with me tomorrow.

Soon I’m off to bed for my early morning flight.

In the morning I am dropped far away from the airport entrance for some reason. I slowly drag myself to the check in and then start the long journey home. There isn’t a fast and easy route to get from this part of Europe back to the USA. My travels were amazing but I am happy to be home. I don’t yet know what is next for me but I am sure I won’t stay still for long.

Salzburg

In the morning I do a walking tour of the city. First I splurge for brunch on the roof of my hotel.

Walking tour

I run off after the tour to see a concert in the nearby church. At some point tears come to my eyes. It is magical listening to a performance in this cathedral.

After the concert I try to eat a street dog but I don’t love it and throw half of it out.

That’s ok because I want to try a very large egg white dessert called Salzburger Nockerl: a dessert with egg whites, flour and sugar. It is interesting to try but not sure I would order it again.

I shop and buy the Mozart chocolates I’ve been wanting to try as well as some cheese.

Finally the last day in Salzburg I head up to the fortress. I walk by that quiet beautiful cemetery on the way to the funicular. I am glad I take the funicular because the walk is long and hot, all uphill.

I tour the fortress and surrounding grounds. As far as fortresses go it is average but what is impressive is the views it has over the city.

Marionette museum

I almost missed the state rooms and the magical theater. They are both very impressive.

Even though my admission ticket includes a return ticket on the funicular I am going to walk to the bottom because the goal is to walk down to the Augustiner brewery and have lunch. However for some reason I cannot find the path that leads straight to the brewery as suggested by others the other day. Instead I walk down through the old city, following along the cliff side. I see people making the difficult trek up by foot. The pathway is long and steep and it is very hot. When I reach the bottom I see the funicular line is quite long. I see now how walking uphill could be seen as a good alternative to the funicular line but definitely not on a hot day like today. I hope no one dehydrates on the way up. I pat myself on the back for my early morning start.

I walk towards the brewery and though I finally see another side of town I realize the brewery does not open for at least another 2.5 hours. I am hot and the hanger is about to set in. I settle for a beer and pizza across the street. Once again the food is impossibly salty. I’ve been eating out quite a bit so I should be used to the highly salted food but I guess I am not. Do other people not notice it? I could come back later to the brewery but I know me, once I head back to the other side of town I am not coming back, especially on this hot day. I walk back along the water and take it easy the rest of the day. Tomorrow I move on to Graz.

Prague Castle

Today I wake up early to tour the Prague castle grounds. I splurge for the audio guide to assist in my visit. I use my combo ticket to get into the St Vitas cathedral and a couple minutes after my entry the audio tour dies. Before I exit I ask if re-entry is available since I have to run back and get another device. When I am unplugging my headphones from the device something seems weird but I ignore it and carry on – I realize later that I probably dropped something at this moment. I obtain a new audio guide. The cashier seems puzzled but I assure him this is normal for me (I’ve had my share of audio guides die on me or be in the wrong language). I head back to the church to start my tour again and realize I no longer have my ticket. I thoroughly search my purse and look around the floor of the church and it is no where. I head back to my audio guide guy with my sob story and he tells me I need to buy another ticket. I dump my purse out on the bench in the office and the ticket is still not there. I huff in frustration at my stupidity but in the grand scheme of things the ticket isn’t that expensive so I get my credit card out to purchase another one. When I get to the cashier he has a smile and a ticket for me free of charge. I guess a little dramatic show sometimes works. I am very grateful.

St Vitas Cathedral

Prague castle

Prague castle was built during the time of the Kingdom of Bohemia. It is supposed to be the largest ancient castle in the world. I tour it and it doesn’t seem that large but maybe they are including the whole set of buildings nearby. Also some of the palaces are privately owned and are separately ticketed. The St. Vitas gothic church is pretty great but my favorite part of the complex is probably the area called Golden Lane. It is a row of houses that are set up to be representative of places in the past.

St George’s Basilica

Golden Lane

Golden Lane (Zlatá ulička) is a small street where goldsmiths, among others, existed and also contains the former home of Franz Kafka’s sister where he is famed to have written there as well.

After I leave the castle complex I enter an old medieval pub to escape the sun and heat. U krále Brabantského is medieval style, eating with hands and the waiters act at times like they have attitude. For instance when I got my check it arrived stabbed into the table with a knife.

I head back to my hotel and clean up for my wine tour in a couple hours. More on that later.

Budapest

I wake up, check out of my hotel in Ljubljana and head down to the bus station. I have an all day bus ride today and we are heading to Budapest, Hungary. We leave on time but while still in Slovenia we are stopped to check ids. It gives me a chance to run to the bathroom.

There are no border checks Slovenia to Hungary. I can’t believe I don’t have to go to the bathroom again. Either I am getting real good at monitoring my liquid intake or I’m dehydrated. At least I am not having to pee every 45 minutes!

I arrive in Budapest at what I believe is the most convienent bus station of the two stops. Google tells me to take the 3 line on the metro. I haven’t had a chance to find a bank yet; I have a new currency to deal with here. Luckily I can buy metro tickets with credit cards. I buy a 72 hour transportation ticket because I will at least be here that many days – It’s a good thing I do. I get stopped almost immediately by someone who works in fare enforcement. There are signs warning you everywhere of this but it is hard to believe until you get stopped. I meet a couple later who actually had to pay the fine because they couldn’t figure out the ticketing system.

From my stop it is about a twelve minute walk according to google but with my bags and me being me it takes about twice that, plus I stop to admire things around me. It becomes clear that my apartment is in the “happening” part of town, the Jewish Quarter in Pest. Hopefully I’ll have some stamina to stay out late a night or two.

After settling in my cute and convenient apartment I head out to get a proper meal. I’ve only had snacks all day. I go back and forth about what I want but end up at this nearby restaurant where I order something local, Chicken Paprikash. It is satisfying but I can’t say its the best dish I have ever had. I’ll have to try my luck again later with Hungarian dishes.

Budapest wasn’t originally on my itinerary this year because I didn’t have it high on my priority list. I noticed I had a extra slither of time to dedicate somewhere between Slovenia and meeting my friends in Norway. I feel like I already had good amount of time in Slovenia and Norway is too expensive to add extra days this year so Budapest seemed like the only logical choice.

Budapest is the capitol of Hungary and formed by the two former cities Buda and Pest (and also Óbuda). Buda and Pest are still distinct parts of town today separated by the Danube river. They used to be part of the Ottoman then Habsburg empire, a nazi occupied territory, a communist dictatorship and now a member of the European Union.

The next morning I am up way earlier than I should be. Today is my Buda day. I plan to spend the entire day exploring Buda on the hill. Buda is the name of the part of the city of Budapest on the west side of the Danube. It contains government buildings, the Buda castle, wealthy residents and some good museums. I start my day at a breakfast where I order some avocado toast, a staple from back home.

I start walking toward the funicular to get to the upper part of Buda. The famous chain bridge to cross the Danube is closed for repairs for pedestrians so I cross another bridge. I am enjoying the architecture on the way.

I take the funicular up and enjoy the views from top.

Not doing much research besides figuring out what time things open, I have no idea where to start today. I end up at the Buda Castle History Museum. I have booked a tour at 12:15 to see the newly restored St Stephens room so I wander the museum as I wait. One thing I notice is the ruins of the old town underneath the buildings. This and the fact that there are so many buildings destroyed from wars outlies an long history, one that the government wants to preserve. In fact today I discover all the nearby construction is because the government has a project to recreate each destroyed building as they were originally in place using the detailed records that fortunately still exist. It is a long and expensive project that I am not sure I have seen replicated anywhere in my travels.

The beautifully restored St Stephens room is a great choice to tour today.

After the museum I walk over to the labyrinth and I watch someone lock the doors of the attraction. Apparently it is closing for lunch. I’ll go somewhere else and come back.

I try to visit the Hospital in the Rock Bunker but it is thirty minute wait for the next tour. It is expensive, no photos are allowed and reviews say you are rushed through the whole thing by the tour guide. I decide to skip it or come back later if I change my mind. It’s late afternoon and I haven’t eaten lunch so I decide to try one of Jamie Olivers chain restaurants for lunch. Foods ok and what I would expect from a chain. It gives me the energy to walk over and look at the Matthias church and nearby Fisherman’s Bastion.

I visit the Fisherman’s Bastion (fortress) and nearby cathedral (Matthias Church), although I did not pay to enter either.

My lunch was light so I visit a stand selling langos, a food I want to try. Langos is basically fried bread with your choice of sweet or savory toppings – like a pizza. I order a standard one with popular ingredients of sour cream and cheese. I don’t have high expectations for this food item but I am pleasantly surprised; It is very good. While I eat I watch all the extra tourists that are in town today because the Europa final is tonight. Throughout the city I’ve been hearing Italian and Spanish.

You think I am done with eating but I had my eye on this cake earlier – Chestnut Chocolate Cake. It is unique and surprising good.

Now that I have food and dessert out of the way I head back to the labyrinth. Again I didn’t know what to expect but I get a very bizarre and creepy experience. The visit starts with statues of mostly famous people then leads into a wax museum type experience with wax figures acting out an opera….with the opera music playing in the background. You then have the choice to continue on the well lit path or follow the pitch black path. I am up for adventure so I went the dark way. When I say it is dark, I mean it is dark. There is an occasional green light on the floor but I spend the majority of my time with my hands against a stone wall following it around listening to water dropping. Occasionally there will be music playing and a hidden creepy wax museum figure behind some bars. There is a little rope part of the way you can grab to take you along so I started using that eventually. I got creeped out and returned to the light. Only after looking at the tunnel map I realized it isn’t a true labrynth so I really wouldn’t have gotten lost. In fact a tour guide tells me later that these tunnels actually connect many of the residential buildings in the city through basement openings. They utilized an existing cave system to create a sort of alternative entrance and exit situation for the city. Kind of fascinating to think about it.

Eventually I get to the whole vampire lore part of the tunnel. There is a story that Dracula (the man or vampire) was captured and kept here at one time but no official record confirms that – it is just a fun story.

I have a Buda Castle vampire tour scheduled this evening and still have time to kill so I do more walking and photo taking. I forget to bring my phone charger aI head to a bar to have them charge my phone and get a drink (It’s a necessity!). For a short while I am living like I did before cells phones were everywhere. I just have to people watch and enjoy my own company.

I grab my slightly charged phone and head back down the hill to meet my tour guide. We know right away it is him because of his long black coat and top hat. He gathers us then slowly takes us back up the hill telling us story after story of mostly vampires or vampire adjacent creatures in Hungary’s history. He even includes his version of the “true story” of Vlad the Impaler (Dracula). He is a good story teller and I enjoy seeing Buda all lit up for the evening.

The tour ends and I just miss the bus that would have made my journey back much quicker so I make the silly decision to walk back the way I came this morning (40 or more minutes). It is 10:30 PM and I am exhausted but I do it anyway, enjoying the city in lights. I am tired but I am very surprised I still have this much stamina when most days I do not. I will definitely pay for this tomorrow in body aches.

I finally get to my district and as I suspect it is lively but not as lively as I thought it would be. Apparently that Europa match is still on and they have just started overtime and penalty kicks. I watch for a bit while walking down the really long party street that is two blocks from my place. I really need to go to bed so I head back.

What a long day. I have a feeling I am going to get a late start tomorrow !