On my way to the Buckingham Palace, I came across an event. It was at Green Park when I noticed all these people gathering around. For those who don’t know, you must pass Green Park in order to get at the entrance of the Palace. The park was surrounded by DJs playing loud music and portable bathrooms.
A sign showing where to start the marathon photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
It was crazy that I stumbled across this. The environment felt like a concert for a famous artist. Everybody was going around with water bottles and sitting mats. This gave me memories of the concerts back in San Francisco’s golden gate park. It was such nostalgia.
Vitality sign photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
Started walking further into Green Park towards the palace by following the signs. It’s surprising to see how green the parks are in London. Yes, we got beautiful parks in the USA. However, you still feel like you are in a city. Here in Green Park. made me felt like I was in a country side. Of course this was when I was away from the marthon.
People finishing the marathon photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
Got into the entrance of the Palace, I was stopped by the event offers. We were not allowed to cross while the runners were in the way. Who would had thought this event would affect my time at the Buckingham Palace.
People running in the marathon photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
Eventually, the runners left and gave us a clearance. I started walking towards the palace. Couldn’t wait to see what this landmark had in store.
Stay safe everyone and remember to wash your hands!
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Once the sunset passed, I was about go to sleep and write a little more on this blog. I was still trying to get used to the local time zone. Of course, that wasn’t what the course of events’ planned for me. I got a message on whatsapp, it was my local friend. She let me know that she was done with work and could show me around Tangier. I was a little suspicious of about meeting someone at night for the first time. However, she suggested we met up in a public location and she was a recommendation from another trusted friend. So, I agreed to meet up.
Outside of where I was staying in tangier photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
Tangier at night has a different feel to it. It feels like a party town. This city is like Morocco’s Miami. Beaches and parties, that is what most locals and tourist do. Always a big event happening here. With the atlantic ocean near by, it not hard to confuse this with any city in the americas.
Tangier’s city center at night photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
My friend and I started in the city’s center. We walked around and I wanted to know what locals do for fun. She suggested we go and rent a pool table. Me, not knowing a thing about the game of pool I agreed. From what she told, Moroccans love playing pool. They have intense competitions held monthly in Tangier. Although my friend didn’t get far in the competitions, she was extremely good. Learned how to play pool that night. Proud of myself for not poking a hole in the table. Also, if we would had betted money, I would had lost an arm and a leg.
French food photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
After playing pool for a few hours, we decided to go eat somewhere. I wanted some local food; however, all the local restaurants were far from our location. By the time we would get there, the restaurant would be closed. In the end, we ended up eating at a French Moroccan restaurant. Where they serve French food with a small Moroccan taste. It was the best we could do at finding a local cuisine. She did warned me it was fancy. Despite of that, the bill was no more than 40 dollars. Which we split even. I wasn’t mad because 20 dollars in New York City gets you a burger with fries or 4 tacos with a soda.
Fruit Dessert photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
The food was awesome, didn’t expect it to be so good. With french hip hop playing in the background, she told me the local life. Life is not that great for locals. She works at a tour agency translating French and Arabic for English speaking tourists. She has to sell her own custom made t-shirts to tourists to help her little brother. For the average Moroccan, she still lives extremely well. Her own apartment and studying in school, she is a hustler. To be honest, I was expecting her to try to sell me some shirts or items. To my surprise, nothing of that sorts occurred. Glad to meet and see the entrepreneurial spirt of the Moroccan people.
Stay safe everyone and remember to wash your hands!
We have partnered up with booking.com and working on TripAdvisor. Here are some links for each hope you all enjoy!Here are links to hotels and other deals.For Hotels, make sure to click here. For apartments make sure to click here. For Resorts click here. For villas click here. For bed and breakfast and for Guest houses, make sure to click the link!
After a 7 hour sit-down, I landed in London. My first thoughts about this city were how friendly the locals are. I could tell I wasn’t in New York anymore. The attitude of the people was down to earth. The complete opposite of the Big Apple. Where New Yorkers are lost in their heads. It’s funny how I went to Ireland a month before. Should had just stayed in Dublin and took a ferry to the UK. You never know where life is going to take you.
Train station in London photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
Took the Heathrow express train from the airport into town. Took the local underground train to get to my host’s location. Asked a few random Londoners where to go. They were more than happy to show me the right way.
Christians celebrating Christmas in may photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
Once I was pointed towards the right direction, I came across a Christmas march. It was a group of West Africans called Kimbanguist. They were celebrating the birth of Jesus on May 25th. I was baffled and interested at this expression of their community. For starters, I never expected a group of Christians to celebrate this holiday at this time of the year. Second, anything that has to do with learning a new culture is what gets me motivated to travel more.
The apartment i was staying in photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
Met up with my local host at Starbucks. We went inside his building and he gave me the keys to my room. To my surprise, the way England has built their homes is completely different than it is in the USA. Americans, love their space! The Londoners, not so much. The way homes are built in London are hard to explain. It’s like the first floors are for walking up to the apartments or the living room. However, the floors are like narrow alleyways.
Mafia style car photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
Left my bags and it was time for me to explore. Was so excited to see what the hype was about. I hoped London will up to it’s positive rumors. Of course, I was not let down. This city had made me into a better person.
Stay safe everyone and remember to wash your hands!
We have partnered up with booking.com and working on TripAdvisor. Here are some links for each hope you all enjoy!Here are links to hotels and other deals.For Hotels, make sure to click here. For apartments make sure to click here. For Resorts click here. For villas click here. For bed and breakfast and for Guest houses, make sure to click the link!
When I learned about the possible connection, I was completely mind blown. I never expected the lost city of Atlantis having roots to the biggest desert on earth. What I’m about to say and point out, will be very controversial.
So, let’s start with what was the known map according to Herodotus. As you can clearly see in the photo above, the Amazigh world is labeled as atlantes. Herodotus is no fool. He is dubbed as the Father Of History. Herodotus got this nickname from being one of the first writers to create a system of investigations to prove his historical theories. He is not someone who would just create a random map. This map holds a lot of historical weight.
google map of where the eye of the sahara
Diving deeper into this topic, I found out the Maghreb (which is now: Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Western Sahara, Alegria and Mauritania) was all one country. From the previous post, you would know that is the Tamazgha. Meaning the land of the Amazigh or Berber people. Looking back, there many dots here to connect. All of this will make sense soon.
bird’s view of the eye of saharaanother view of bird’s view of eye of the sahara
When in the country of Mauritania, there’s a structure that historical nerds really need to check out. It’s called the Richat Structure. It is also known as The Eye of Africa or The Eye of the Sahara. If you look at it closely, the structure is similar to Plato’s description of Atlantis. Im not just jumping on random conclusions. There are a number of growing historians that are starting to support this theory.
Plato mentioned that Atlantis was a kingdom that was in it’s prime 9 thousand years ago. It’s has been over 2 thousands ago, since Plato was alive. So, we are talking about a kingdom that is over 11 thousand years old. There are many reports that the ocean levels were higher back then. Making the eye of Africa closer to the ocean. There have been whale bones found in the deserts of Mauritania. This means that parts of the Sahara desert was once underwater. Also, guess who named the Atlantic ocean? If you guessed Herodotus, then you were right. The same guy who made the map of the world with Atlantis is the same guy who named the Altanic Ocean.
Now this is where things get very interesting. The first king of the Mauri people is called Atlas. When the romans came to this part of the world, they decided to call the land Mauritania. The mountain range of North Africa is called Atlas.
A photo of Atlas photo courtesy of Wikipedia
For those who don’t know who atlas is, I will make it clear. Atlas was a titan condemned to hold the heavens for entirety. Played roles in the stories of Hercules and Perseus. Stated by the Greek poet Hesiod, the Titan was far west towards the end of the earth. In Greek mythology, he was a titan as stated earlier. However, this is different according to Plato. To him, Atlas was the son of Poseidon and a mortal woman. Poseidon is the god of the ocean. Altanic ocean means “Sea of Atlas.” Atlantis means “island of Atlas.” There’s a big connection here.
Now looking at the Berber alphabet, you can tell that there’s some Greek influces in the letters. How does this connect the Berbers to Atlantis? You probably ask. Well, the Mauri kingdom later named Mauritania is the acient Berber Kingdom. The mauri were later to be called Berbers and once Islam spread, moors. Having my last name being Moorish, it’s crazy to think I might have a connection to this lost Kingdom. Too bad of the history was lost due to war.
Here are some youtube videos on the topic!
Stay safe everyone and remember to wash your hands!
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Yes, I know going out is bad. We should stay at home. However, amazon takes forever to delivery groceries and target in downtown brooklyn is open. My food supply at home was running low. SO, I had no choice but to explore the wasteland known as epidemic lockdown.
The street leading to Barclays center photo couresty of Hugo Morel
When I got to the road that leads to the barclays center, I was still shocked. It hard to believe that the street where NBA games, music concerts and large events is this empty during daylight. The only time I saw this was during hurricane sandy. I watched it from home. A place usually filled with people and cars is now traffic less. It felt like I was in a horror movie.
Downtown brooklyn looking trafficless photo couresty of Hugo Morel
In case you don’t know, lockdown in new york city has been extended to the middle of June. Many people are becoming restless and are ignoring the lockdown. I’m not one of them, I’m only out to buy food. However, New Yorkers are known to not follow rules. This city’s character have always been like that. I hope another wave of outbreaks is not on the horizon. LA has already been closed down to August. Two of USA’s biggest cities are still closed. I can just hope this does not cause long lasting problems to the economy post lockdown. Only time will tell but we still have hope. That is something these hard times can’t take away from us. Unless, we let them.
Just outside of target photo couresty of Hugo Morel
Got to target and it was a mad house. I never seen a place so full before in person. The line started outside of the store just to get in. Luckily, it wasn’t too bad compared to what I have seen online. I got what I needed and it was time to go back home. Which felt like a cocoon at this point. As corny as this sounds, when this lockdown ends hopefully my “cocoon” will make me become a better person. *cringe alert*
Stay safe everyone and remember to wash your hands!
We have partnered up with booking.com and working on TripAdvisor. Here are some links for each hope you all enjoy!Here are links to hotels and other deals.For Hotels, make sure to click here. For apartments make sure to click here. For Resorts click here. For villas click here. For bed and breakfast and for Guest houses, make sure to click the links!
Getting lost can be fun when you have your phone or a back up plan to find your way around. Sadly, this wasn’t the case for me. What made it worst, my phone had died and I was in an unfamiliar city. No taxi in plain sight to be found. It was at this very moment I knew the horrible situation I was in.
The clarion hotel
Had to use my foggy memory to get back. It was a diffcult task but I had no choice. Started to retrace my steps, slowly but surely the enviorment started to look familiar. I remember the clarion hotel that my airbnb host pointed out. She said use it as a pinpoint to know where you are at. Kept walking and trying to remember the surroundings.
A home at night photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
Got back to the residential part of the city. This is where it got hard. A lot of the homes looked the same at night. The streets and curves, everything looked similar. I started to get a little nervous but, I still felt like everything will be alright. Asked a group of women where a certain street was. They claimed they didn’t know where any street was. I remember the name of the street closest to the my airbnb apartment. Normally, I wouldn’t mind being out this late and lost. However, my flight was in the morning and I left my passport in the apartment. It was no fun.
A random street full of homes that looked the same photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
Eventually, I found the street. Walked in the direction that made sense and looked fimilar. The more I walked, the more I felt calm. I found the building to where the apartment was at. I noticed it wasn’t too far from where I asked the group of women. It was hard to believe they didn’t know where this street was. However, a random guy with an American accent asking for directions at night. I’m pretty sure they probably thought I was going to rob them or something. Either way, I was happy to be back in the apartment.
Stay safe everyone and remember to wash your hands!
We have partnered up with booking.com and working on TripAdvisor. Here are some links for each hope you all enjoy!Here are links to hotels and other deals.For Hotels, make sure to click here. For apartments make sure to click here. For Resorts click here. For villas click here. For bed and breakfast and for Guest houses, make sure to click the links!
Before the arabization of North Africa, there were nomadic people who dominated the land called Tamazgha . One of the most interesting group of people. This ethnic group has a very rich culture. So much mystery is hidden within this North African tribe. I’m so excited to be sharing what I learned from this tribe, from friends and my short time in Morocco. I’m speaking about the Berber or Amazigh.
The berbers come in almost every skin color. A lot berbers, especially those near the Mediterranean Sea, can be mistaken as European. My Algerian friend that is of Berber descent looks Italian. She even gets annoyed when no one believes she is from Africa. Other berbers, look Sub-Saharan. However, most look somewhere in middle.
The berbers (Amazigh) are nomadic people. One of the few African tribes that crossed the natural barrier of the Sahara desert. From what my friends told me, the moors of Spain and Southern Europe were arabized berbers. Meaning, this group is responsible for the conquest of Spain. As mentioned before in this blog, my last name is Moorish. The last name Morel(my last name) means being or having dark skin like a moor.
Not only do I have roots from the Middle East (Lebanon), I share a lot genetic make up from North Africa. From the Canary Islands to the Spanish moors, these are my roots. When spain kicked out the moors, many left to the Spanish colonies of the Americas. Also, the Canary Islands natives’ culture was losted in one generation. Due to mixing and wars, a complete lost of an entire culture. The Canary natives had more in common with the Berber population and is considered a part of the Berber World. Spainards mixed with Canary natives left to the spanish colonies as well. Specifically the countries of Dominican Republic, Cuba and now the Usa territory of Puerto Rico.
The Amazigh flag
The Amazigh flag has a lot of meaning to it. It’s not a flag for one nation, it’s a flag for a culture. Everything on that flag represents something of value to the berbers. The color blue is for the Mediterranean Sea. The green represents the mountains and the yellow symbolizes the Sahara desert. The yaz, or this symbol (ⵣ), means free man. Going back to their culture of being nomadic. This flag means the togetherness of the Berber world. Also, it’s the center of Berber Nationalism.
The Berber Nationalism has become a strong force in the North African landscape. Starting in Algeria and Morocco, this movement was to bring back the Berber language. They wanted to keep their culture before the arabization of the region. Many would prefer being called Berber than Arab. My Algerian friend is very strict on this. She left islam for a number of reasons; however, I suspect her pride of being an Amazigh was one of the factors. This political movement is to keep their roots and culture. So learning about this really got my interest. Although my roots to this region is only about 13 percent of my genetic make up, it’s still a part of me. However little, this is me. These are my people and this is a part of my history.
Btw, next post will be somewhat mind blowing and possibly controversial. Stay tune.
Stay safe everyone and remember to wash your hands!
We have partnered up with booking.com and working on TripAdvisor. Here are some links for each hope you all enjoy!Here are links to hotels and other deals.For Hotels, make sure to click here. For apartments make sure to click here. For Resorts click here. For villas click here. For bed and breakfast and for Guest houses, make sure to click the links!
After eating that awesome Indian food, I had more of limerick to explore. To my surprise, limerick closes really early. It was only 10 pm and everything was nearly closed. Yeah, that entitled new yorker in me was annoyed at this.
Being the only one on the street photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
Sometimes people have midnight cravings. Yeah, it’s kind of a new york or big city thing. It felt like a ghost town. The moment was a little creepy. Gotten used to having people out and about after 1am. So, it was almost like the locals know something that I don’t know.
The Treaty Stone photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
I randomly found this Memorial. I learned about it from my airbnb host. This stone is very important to the city’s history. It is said to be used in the signing of forming limerick. It ended the williamite war which was a war related to the independence of the republic of Ireland. Another awesome moment of experiencing history.
dowtntown photo couresty of Hugo Morel
another emypt street photo couresty of Hugo Morel
The streets looked really empty. It’s clear this place is not for the younger crowd. This is more to raise a family. I like the quiet and calm amtoshpere. Being in new york city, time moves too fast. You don’t really get to appericate the moment. Here 30 mins felt like 3 hours. It was defintely a great dose of fresh air. Sadly, I was just reminded I had to go back and I forgot the way. Took my phone out to find there was only 3 percent of battery left. Checked to see the address of host’s home and the phone died before i could write it down. With my bad memory, the address was gone. I had to find a way out of this mess soon.
Stay safe everyone and remember to wash your hands!
Sorry for posting on Thursday. Had a wild day yesterday.
We have partnered up with booking.com and working on TripAdvisor. Here are some links for each hope you all enjoy!Here are links to hotels and other deals.For Hotels, make sure to click here. For apartments make sure to click here. For Resorts click here. For villas click here. For bed and breakfast and for Guest houses, make sure to click the links!
Three hours after leaving Casablanca, I was in Tangier. This city was at the northern part of Morocco. Close to the Mediterranean Sea, this city has such a strong Spanish influence. Some of the buildings have Spanish architecture. This area’s history with Spain goes back several hundreds to thousands of years. It almost looked like I was in Latin America.
The view from the airbnb apartment photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
Got to my Airbnb apartment, it was near the beach. This looks a like an awesome place to visit during the summer time. The cold breeze with the beautiful beaches confused me. I felt I like running downstairs to jump into the water. What stopped me was the need to have my winter coat with me. It was like a very cold Miami without the heat.
View of the beach photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
Some of the people here speak Spanish. You can tell where someone is from originally because of how they speak Spanish. The history this place has with Spain is interesting. When the Spanish Jews and Moors got kicked out of Spain, they had to settle in different parts of North Africa. Others converted to Christianity and left for the Spanish colonies in the Americas. So, the Spanish Moors and Jews that went back to Morocco settled in this region of the country. The Jews settled more in the “Blue city” or Chefchaouen that’s about an hour away by car.
Another view of the beach photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
Went to a mall near my accommodation. I wanted to eat out and try some Moroccan food. To my disappointment, all the food was American globalization flavored. I did have a conversation with a local that spoke Spanish. He couldn’t speak English and my skills towards this country’s governmental languages are horrible. Spanish was our common language. My new friend let me know that he learned Spanish from his parents. He even spoke Spanish with a Spaniard accent but he looked Latin American. It was surreal to experience this. I felt like the biggest history nerd knowing this guy has roots to the Moors and/or the sephardic jew. Spanish is taught at home by being passed down generationally. Same goes with judaism.
The beach with the hill in the background photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
Came back near the apartment I rented, I was a little annoyed. I went to Morocco to eat hamburgers and french fries. There’s a French joke here, but I’m not going to touch it. Anyways, I wanted to eat Moroccan food. Sadly, I started to noticed that local food is hard to come by when you are staying in the touristy areas.
Stay safe everyone and remember to wash your hands!
Sorry for posting on Thursday. Had a wild day yesterday.
We have partnered up with booking.com and working on TripAdvisor. Here are some links for each hope you all enjoy!Here are links to hotels and other deals.For Hotels, make sure to click here. For apartments make sure to click here. For Resorts click here. For villas click here. For bed and breakfast and for Guest houses, make sure to click the links!
Sometimes when you are out and about, you tend to forget that food is needed. Out of nowhere, your stomach starts to yell. You are reminded that you are hungry. However, when you are out at night in an unfamiliar city. You have to eat what you can. Especially, if the city closes everything early.
The entrance to the Indian restaurant photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
I stumbled acrossed this Indian restaurant. At the time, seeing an Indian restaurant in the middle of Ireland seemed out of place to me. Looking back, since the Republic of Ireland was once part of the U.K. It just make sense the Indian food scene should be good here. Oh, it is very good.
The stair to the restaurant photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
When you enter the restaurant, you are greeted with stairs. You can hear Indian music playing in the backgroud. It felt like I was stepping into a little India. The restaurant looked like any typical Indian eating place. The difference is the music playing in the background. It was a woman with a high voice singing in Hindi. It really gave an authentic experience. I kind was hoping that people jump out dancing like in the Bollywood movies.
The food came and my stomach became happy. Still yelling but this time with joy. Stuck with chicken because I’m not as adventurous as most people think. Every time I see goat on the menu, I keep being remind of those youtube videos of yelling goats. Moral of the story, careful what you stumble on the internet.
Sitting on the table photo courtesy of Hugo Morel
The food was amazing. The spices on the chicken were really good. It tasted a lot better than majority of Indian restaurants that I went to. This experience made me want to go India one day. I know the food will be different in India than the USA or Ireland. Yet, this made me excited about India. It was around this time, I noticed I left my phone charger. Who knew that would create a problem in the near future.
Stay safe everyone and remember to wash your hands!
We have partnered up with booking.com and working on TripAdvisor. Here are some links for each hope you all enjoy!Here are links to hotels and other deals.For Hotels, make sure to click here. For apartments make sure to click here. For Resorts click here. For villas click here. For bed and breakfast and for Guest houses, make sure to click the links!
