European Wrap-Up In Seoul! (specifically Starbucks)

Fact: I am horrible at updating. In fact, I've been in Seoul for about a week, and this is the first post of Susan's adventure in Seoul.

Anyways, before I talk about Seoul, I need some closure and will briefly reminisce about Paris, Morocco, Portugal, and Italy. Maybe one of these days I'll get to talking about my time in Seoul.

Paris: There's a reason why so many tourists come here - there are a lot of things to see! Since I had 5 days in Paris (it was the last city I visited during my spring break), I was able to enjoy Paris at a leisurely pace and not go through the frantic tourist mode. I enjoyed going to these touristy places, like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, since they've been idolized and I had a chance to be there! Eiffel Tower at night exceeded my expectations, though I was underwhelmed with the tiny and heavily guarded Mona Lisa. (I think the people taking pictures of the Mona Lisa were more fascinating than the actually work. No offense, Leonardo.) Paris was pretty clean (despite the large number of people and pigeons) and it was well suited for tourists on the hunt for awesome pictures. The city was like a urban garden and I'm glad I got a second chance to visit.

Morocco: I went to Morocco to visit my good friend, who was studying abroad in Rabat and had enough time to be my guide for 4 days. I went to Morocco right after I came back from Paris (I missed two days of school, but no one really cared including me). Jenny took me to Tangier (sketchy), Asilah (beautiful!), Fez (ugh...), and Meknes (good memories). Tangier is at the northern tip of Morocco and extremely close to Spain. It was sketchy (meaning that you shouldn't walk around by yourself if you are a single female tourist) but the older buildings gave the city a kind of charm. It was probably unsuited for me, since you needed four wheels to get around, and the only four wheels we had access to were taxis that liked to rip off tourists. Asilah was a small, gorgeous town on the western coast of Morocco. Jenny and I stayed there for a night, and it was wonderful to see the sunset on the Atlantic ocean with the breeze blowing in your face. Asilah has an annual music/arts festival in the summer (the town's busiest time of the year) but because we went in the spring, it was empty (it felt like we were the only tourists in the entire town). Since Asilah is relatively close to Spain, the people we met actually knew more Spanish than French. The medina of Asilah (the oldest part of the city, with walls surrounding it) was colorful and clean. I really liked the different mosaics on the walls of the white buildings, and the quiet gentleness of the medina. Fez's medina, though, was another story. I've never been hassled like that until I came to Fez. The venders in Fez really like to push themselves onto tourists, and I was exhausted from just walking around the medina. I didn't have really fond memories of Fez because of all the pushiness and the numerous times we were ripped off, but looking back on it, Fez as a city was pretty. To me, though, the people we encountered made it less attractive. The people of Meknes, though, were so nice! Jenny and I went to see Volubilis (a Roman ruin that's about 45 minutes outside of Meknes) late in the day, and went at a time when there weren't many taxis. Our taxi driver, who took us from Meknes to Volubilis, was worried about us because there were known to be a lot of muggers in the area after daylight. Being two foolish college girls, we thought it would be fine and told him in leave, but he actually waited for us. I'm so glad he stayed because when we were done with Volubilis, there was nothing except one mugger waiting for us. Who knows what would have happened if the taxi driver didn't stay with us till the end... I don't want to think about it, so I'll think about the lovely taxi driver :) I think I had a little crush on him because he was so nice (he also had a really nice smile). When he was done driving us around and waiting for us, he gave us a fee that was much lower than we expected. Of course, we paid what we thought was appropriate and I thank God that he was our taxi driver instead of some scumbag who likes to take advantage of tourists. I'm happy that I got to spend some time with Jenny, and I want to go to Morocco there again! (excluding Fez) In general, the people in Morocco were extremely nice to the point where it was almost suspicious (I'm not including the vendors, who I realize need to make a living but just rubbed me the wrong way) and the places I saw in Morocco were so lush and beautiful.

Portugal: I went to Portugal with the same group from the program that went to southern Spain in the beginning of the year. Portugal was beautiful, but it didn't have the Paris-refined beauty, which was fine with me. The coastal areas and the remains of a once-wealthy empire were the most attractive parts of Portugal. Portugal is one of the poorer countries in Western Europe, and you could see it in Lisbon (which was surprisingly tiny). There were a good number of shanty houses by the highways, and it had a much different feel than other European capitals. We also went to Cascais, a coastal and wealthy town. It was pretty and colorful, and besides the beach, there were many parades and dance shows (that day was a Portuguese holiday). Apparently, the little terror back in Madrid has a home in Cascais. We also went to Sintra, a foresty region, to see the National Palace (another wealthy area). Even though Portugal as a country is not very wealthy, we ended up visiting the most privileged areas of Portugal (i.e. the touristy places). They give you a different image than the rest of Portugal, and it's a little unfortunate that most tourists end up only seeing the cleanest and richest places.

Italy: I went to Italy with my sister and mother. We went to Rome, Florence, and Venice. Rome = chaos. Florence and Venice = chill and for that reason, more fun! I think Italy was the most beautiful country, considering the landscape and the cities. Granted, I had a chance to see more of Italy (since we traveled by train to the different cities), and I want to go back to see more!

All this traveling as a tourist gave me a different experience of Europe. In Spain, I lived there and had a permanent address, and rarely went to the touristy places. In Spain, people didn't see me as a tourist (they probably saw me as a Chinese immigrant). In these countries, though, I only went to the touristy areas. Being a tourist makes you deal with different attitudes from the people who actually live there.

Next up: Seoul updates!

Susan