This update could also use one of Kanye
West’s more eloquent quotes “I was splurging on trips” as a title, but it would
be a bit misleading as the trips below are a mix of business and pleasure, with
the former not requiring a splurge. Instead his profound utterance, “How we out
in Europe, spending Euros” may do the trick, notwithstanding the minor detail
that only one of the recent destinations described below uses the Euro.
In any case, this post is about recent
trips I’ve taken. Arguably my favorite aspect of London is its’ status as a
launching pad for the rest of Europe and Northern Africa. It is extremely easy
to travel throughout this part of the world, and I’ve ticked off a lot of countries
in a short amount of time.
This post will run chronologically and also
include visits by friends and family to London.
1. With Tucker in London
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| The Wicked Set |
Rewind two weeks from his arrival in
London, I was sliming around one night catching up with Tucker on facebook
chat, when we decided it would be relatively dank if he came to visit and see
Europe. A few facebook messages later we had the bulk of the trip planned.
Did much of the tourist London stuff,
including changing of the guards, Parliament Square, Trafalgar Square, WW2
stuff (highlighted by the Churchill War Rooms), pubs, and Tower of London.
Favorite part for both of us, irrelevant of how surprising it may sound, was
the theatre. We got cheap tickets to Wicked, a musical based on a novel about
the witches in the Wizard of Oz. Going in not knowing what to expect, we were
blown away by the quality of the acting and singing, the depth of the
storyline, and production.
The final day in London was unique, as I
had a home doubleheader (we swept), then we went to the pub with the team as
per tradition, then right to the airport for a 6am flight to Marrakech the next
morning. Did not shower after the game and did not sleep much at the airport,
but we got on the plane.
2. With Tucker in Marrakech
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| On a camel |
During the planning as we discussed places
to go after London, it turned out that we had a five day window to go pretty
much wherever we wanted. Many famous European cities were discussed, including
Paris and Barcelona, but we ultimately decided on something completed
different: North Africa. Never ones to settle for boring and always ones to
chase the interesting experience, we touched down in Morocco with little idea
of what to expect.
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| The Souks (shops) |
After getting ripped off by the cab guy,
who told us that our Riad (B&B) was right around the corner, we discovered
that the hotel was in fact not right around the corner. We had an address to
look for, but it was to no avail as almost nothing was marked. With all of our
luggage in hand and a confused look on our face, we presented the perfect
opportunity for a local dude to earn an easy tip. With little choice, we
followed the dude to a door we never would have knocked on ourselves, but no
one answered. He then happened to remember that there is another place with a
similar name a few blocks away, so with little choice, we followed while we
wondered if we were in too far over our heads in this new country. There was
someone at reception at this place, but he informed us that our reservation was
actually for the other place. Luckily, they had a partnership with our Riad, so
he walked us back, let us in and served us our first of many delicious Moroccan
teas while we settled in.
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| Tuck getting sold a magic box |
Our next challenge was finding the place to
meet for the bike tour that Tucker’s aunt set up for us. We asked no less than
a dozen people, had a bike shop owner place a phone call for us, and were well
over an hour late before we finally found it. The tour itself was great save
the three to four near death experiences one can expect from riding a bike
through Moroccan traffic.
Marrakech is unique in how it consists of a
very old traditional city and a new, upscale part of town. The old city, known
as the Medina, has a massive city wall built in the 11th century and
small clay and mud houses on tiny streets. The center of the Medina is one of
the most famous traditional open markets in the world, and also features tiny
streets with hundreds to thousands of “souks” (shops) where one can buy magic
boxes, leather hats, and anything with “Marrakech” written on it. The new city
features McDonalds, Starbuck, French Cafes, and the business district.
The second day we went on an Atlas Mountain
tour led by our new friend Abdul. He picked us up in the company Range Rover,
easily one of the nicest whips we saw in the entire city, and took us out into
the mountains. We did a small hike up to some waterfalls, where we tried to
swim before we chickened out because it was too cold. Tucker got sold some
cheap junk on the way back down, while I thoughtfully bought fine, expensive jewelry
for a few of my family members. One of the highlights was definitely the lunch
at a local house. They set up a table on a terrace with a full 360 degree view
of the beautiful countryside, and served us a proper authentic meal cooked
traditional ways (ie not in the oven or microwave). Cous Cous is the dish of
choice there, with delicious veggies and usually caramelized onions too. Great
for a vegetarian!
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| Goats in a tree |
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| View from Lunch |
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| Rooftop Terrace |
The next day we had a walking tour planned
but our guide shut us right down so we slimed real hard around the city.
Started to check out the park we were in before we saw what we thought were
rabid dogs, so we left real fast and got back on the sidewalk. This was the day
that we had no less than three stops for tea and no less than three stops for ice
cream. Everything is super cheap in Morocco, so even a few recent college grads
without big incomes can eat in the nicest places in town, including a rooftop
terrace in the nicest part of town that we frequented.
For the last day we took a day tour to Essouria,
a coastal town they told us was two hours away but was actually three hours
away. There is an old Spanish fort, a nice beach, and lots of cool shops in
this laid back coast French tourist town that we could have easily inhabited
for a few weeks. I bought a painting of goats in a tree for my wak sister at
one of those shops after being inspired seeing it in real life on the ride
there. Dudes actually go around and usher the goats into the same tree so
tourists can get a cool photo for a small fee. Imagine that – the dude
legitimately makes his living putting goats in a tree!
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| Dude who paints goats in a tree |
This was certainly the experience we wanted
to chase, and it went a long way to broadening our global perspectives. Apart
from this dude who tried to sell us some turbans, everyone was extremely
friendly and eager to show us their home. Sure, they wanted our money, but they
went a long way to making it a worthwhile experience for us. I’d definitely go
back to Marrakech, and will definitely go to other parts of Africa.
3. With the London Mets in Karlovac, Croatia
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| Adriatic Sea |
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| Zagreb |
Short turnaround and I was off to Croatia
with my club team to compete in the European Cup Qualifiers (for the best club
team in Europe). On the field we played under our weight and finished fourth
out of the five teams in our pool, but it was a good experience and helped
bring us together as a team. Especially as a new player not knowing many of my
teammates very well through half a season, this was a great opportunity for us
to spend some time together off the field. From a baseball perspective, the
other big positive was the addition of two youth players from our roster, who
learned quite a bit about the game on the trip. It was a fantastic opportunity
for us to mentor them and teach them aspects of the game they had never
considered before. We had a 15 year old catch three of the four games four us,
and the difference between him game one and game four was astounding.Off the field, we spent our off day at the beach. Croatia sits on the east side of the Adriatic Sea (part of the Mediterranean), and the Mediterranean climate and culture is apparent on the coast. Pizza and Seafood, sunshine and clear water, it was a terrific day of relaxing and enjoying the sun.
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| Jumbo Challenge |
I also had the opportunity to go into
Zagreb for a day with a teammate, which was very worthwhile. Zagreb, the
Croatian capital, has beautiful architecture, some history, cheap food and
great sweets. We spend a total of 30 Kuna ($4) on real food and 80 Kuna on
gelato and candy. Money well spent. Speaking of food, I also conquered the
jumbo pizza challenge on this trip. After practice the first night, we were so
hungry we thought we could eat anything, so three of us ignored the advice of
our teammates and ordered a jumbo pizza that typically serves 3-4 people. It was
a struggle and the last three pieces were not enjoyable, but I am proud to be
the only one to eat the entire thing. One teammate made the mistake of ordering
a jumbo special that came with half a kilo of garlic cream sauce…it wasn’t
pleasant rooming with “Crime Scene” the rest of the week.
4. With the Family in London
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| Mother's favorite work |
The next adventure was the family visit,
which was quite an adventure. Their first domestic flight within the states got
delayed so much that they had to rent a car to drive from Baltimore to Philly
to make the connecting flight to London on time. They barely made it, as the
flight to London was delayed so much that we were not sure if we could make it
to the theatre to see 1984 on time. We decided to go straight to the theatre
from the airport, and Mums, Julia, and Aunt Becky had to get changed in the
restroom at the Heathrow tube stop. We rocked up to the show tired, hungry, and
with baggage in hand, but enjoyed one of the most intense but best plays we had
ever seen.
We saw two more shows over the next two
days: Wicked (yes, it was that good that I was happy to see it again) and Miss
Saigon, my mom’s favorite musical. All three were great in their own way, and
debates about the ranking for the shows will likely go on for many years.
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| Dinos! |
Apart from the shows we were usual
tourists, seeing the many great museums, monuments, and eating pub food (mother
loves pub food!). Borough market was a huge win for the taste buds. We found a
significant generational gap in our appreciation of the art at the Tate Modern,
as Mother had a tough time appreciating a piece that was just a mirror and a
piece that was just grey.
I’ve talked plenty about adventures in
London already so let’s move on to Paris. It was very cool to share my London
experiences with the family, and instead of telling them about what I’ve been
up to, getting the opportunity to show them. Oh, and also Julia and I got to
see the dinos at the Natural History Museum. That was a big win.
5. With the Family in Paris
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| Bones! |
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| First Parisian Crepe! |
On a recent day in my life, I woke up in
North London, moved into a new host family in far west London and then went on
holiday to Paris. The move took longer than anticipated and I made it to the
train to Paris with no more than five minutes to spare. Got to Paris and found
our place quite easily, but no one was there to meet us. Ended up going to an
internet café to make a phone call but still the host took mad long to get
there. We were tired hungry and rattled, but Julia and I did get to see the
Sacre Cour during this time. We eventually settled and then went for a wander
around the city but didn’t even stop for any crepes. So lame. I wouldn’t make
that mistake again.
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| Can't remember what this was called |
First full day we headed out to the
Catacombs and waited in an absurd line to see a bunch of bones. Mother loved it!
Just kidding. She ran through. Julia and I saw an opportunity for some quality
selfies while we also took time to admire the brilliant stacking abilities of
whoever arranged the bones. The skulls were in perfect lines resting upon the
thick ends of femurs and…ok you get the idea. We took shifts waiting in line so
we got to see some cool gardens and eat my first crepe – nutella banana and
cream – fantastic!
That night we took a river cruise on the
Seine, starting at the Eiffel and going up the river to Notre Dame and back
again. It had just stopped raining so the city had a bit of a glow and looked
beautiful from the water. Paris is easily one of the most beautiful cities I’ve
ever seen, with the unique architecture, endless landmarks, and history, we could
have stayed on the boat all night. After that we got on a bus for a bus tour
where we saw the Arc de Triomphe, drove down the Champs Elysees, and a few
other sights not seen from the boat.
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| Aquatic Ornament Game Strong |
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| "Liberty Leading the People" |
The next day we went to the Louvre and were
astonished at the sheer magnitude of paintings and artifacts on display. While
I thought Britain’s National Gallery and British Museum were large, they are
tiny compared to the indoor city that is the Louvre. We saw the Mona Lisa of
course, but it was far from our favorite. I took a liking to the French artwork
on display, especially “Liberty Leading the People” by Delacroix, which was an
inspiration for the people during the revolution and for Victor Hugo’s novel
“Les Miserables.”
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| One of the "original" relics |
After that we got a tour of Notre Dame and
saw what were claimed to be two relics from Jesus of Nazereth. The relics were
very interesting but I call BS on the originality. Nevertheless, Notre Dame is
beautiful inside and out, and also has a few crepe places nearby (including a
place that had a two for five Euro deal on Nutella crepes!)
We ended the day by climbing the Eiffel
Tower and got some magnificent views of the city. We went up as it was still
light, stayed up as it got dark, and got to see the city at night. It’s a huge
tourist thing, but well worth it for anyone who goes to Paris.
6. With Family in Cambridge
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| Punting with a Big Stick |
The final leg of the family trip was two nights in Cambridge. A quaint college town, it gave them a better taste of the UK apart from historical landmarks in London. We battled the rain to go "punting" on the River Cam, which is a fancy way of inviting tourists to try to legitimately power and steer a boat using nothing but a wooden pole. I am proud to say that apart from a minor bumper boat game in the beginning, we successfully navigated the waters and didn't even fall in (although I came close!).
The other highlight was seeing the town from the top of the tallest church in the city. We climbed the spiral stair with moderate dizzyness, but the effort was justified upon reaching the top. We had a full 360 degree view of the city and beyond, much of which is comprised of fantastic architecture on academic buildings.
Other than that we slimed around the academic buildings, ate at a famous old pub, said hello to the goats outside our hotel, which was a traditional English farm. Saying it was well kept and had nice shrubs would be putting in lightly; the greenery was beautiful.
7. With the GB Cadets in Belgrade, Serbia
The final trip of this update was a
tremendous coaching opportunity afforded me with the Great Britain National 15U
Team at the European Championship Qualifiers in Belgrade. I was able to learn a
ton from the GB coaching staff, not to mention having the honor of representing
GB at an international tournament. International sports have been and always
will be my favorite form of competition, and it was surreal to finally have the
opportunity to experience one from the field. Our team battled hard and
finished fourth of seven teams, which was not enough to advance to the Euros
next year. Still, the development of the players was a huge positive over the
week, and I’m confident that every kid on the team returned as a much better
player.
The other benefit to international baseball
trips is the opportunity to see and experience baseball in a new country.
Having not known about Serbian baseball before the trip, it was rewarding to
have the opportunity to hear about it from the locals, as well as meet players
and coaches from other teams.
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| The Field in Belgrade |
As a country, Serbia is on the rebound from
the more-recent-than-you-think war. The best example of this came when we came
to learn that the Croatian team received a full police escort from the moment
they stepped across the border. Croatia played a game against Serbia in the
tournament, with the home team earning a close victory. There were police at
this game but no issues. I haven’t experienced anything like this before, and
it was a bit of a wakeup call on the legitimacy of global events. It’s easy to
flush out the news from places like Serbia (I bet most of my readers, like me
before I went, couldn’t identify Serbia on an unmarked map), but seeing
evidence of lingering fear of tension made it become real.
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| #Squad |
As a business trip I didn’t do much
touring, other than an afternoon at the manmade lake by the field. The
government, looking to increase tourism, built a large lake with pebble
beaches, nice establishments, sports fields, water games, and even bungee
jumping and a zipline. It was a beautiful oasis in a hot country and would be a
great place to spend a few relaxing days.
