Trying to Get One's Bearings in Marrakesh

Location: Marrakesh, Morocco














Back in February while working in Madrid, I took a week off and traveled through Morocco. A fellow American intern had been planning it for awhile, and it sounded really exciting after he described it to me one day. I asked if I could come along, and after he said yes, I quickly bought my airplane tickets.

One aspect I realize in hindsight is a bit strange is how trusting I was. At that point I had been living in Spain for 4 months and was used to being the sole decider of all kinds of trips abroad. But I felt so busy at the time that I never even looked at the itinerary he planned; all I knew when I departed was which cities we arrived and left from. Fortunately he knew what he was doing.

Before we get started, here are some basic facts about the country of Morocco:
-It's located at the northwest tip of Africa and is right across the Mediterranean Sea from Spain
-Despite it being in Africa, it's completely an Arabic culture
-The main languages are Arabic, Berber (local dialect), and French
-99% of Moroccans are Muslim
-The country's size is slightly larger than that of California
-The currency is the Dirham (dh), which was roughly 10 dh to 1 euro at the time

The variety of places we visited almost made it seem like 3 separate trips, roughly divided up into the large cities, the Sahara, and a small & secluded town high in the mountains. All had a very unique feel, and it was undoubtedly an aggressive amount of ground to cover in 8 days.

Marrakesh
The town where our plane landed and adventure started is called Marrakesh. Located near the nation's center (see gold star on map above), it's home to roughly a million people, making it one of the largest in Morocco. Because it is also a former imperial city and capital of the country, it also houses many of the nation's important historical sites as well.

Marrakesh itself is comprised of two halves: the ancient & walled "Medina" built in the Middle Ages, and the "Ville Nouvelle" built by the French in the 20th century. This is typical for many of Morocco's cities and reflects French colonization.

The Middle Ages were a time of great prosperity for the country as they expanded and controlled much of West Africa and most of modern-day Spain. Their empire lasted from roughly 1100-1500 AD. As such, much of the historical architecture is from this era as well.

However, after the Christians reconquered what is modern day Spain (mentioned in a previous post for Granada), the Moroccan empire was greatly weakened and fought off invaders for several centuries until becoming an official protectorate of France in 1912. By then, the country had been dealing with outside political influence from other European countries for quite some time.

Depending on who you ask, the French influence was either a godsend or a curse. But they did build numerous new structures in many of the larger cities, essentially bringing modern aspects to populated areas which had stagnated for several hundreds years.

As you might imagine, having a city built half in the Middle Ages and half in the 1900's provides quite a contrast, and indeed it is quite evident as one explores Marrakesh.

Okay, no more of that boring history stuff - lets get into the pictures and stories!


Day 1
Our first stop was the Djemaa el Fna. It's the main market square surrounded by restaurants and a large open space with rows of cart vendors selling local fruit, vegetables, and spices. There were also snake charmers, acrobatic monkeys, and storytellers (at night), sprinkled around as well. Because of its central location, proximity to the souk and exotic attractions, it is the most popular spot in the city. Which of course attracts the bargainers and con artists, which we'll get to later.

This is a view of the main market during the day.

At night, the produce carts leave and are replaced by large food tents. Imagine hundreds of people grilling all kinds of food, arranged neatly one after another in long rows. Of course each of them promotes the best food in Marrakesh and have waiters wandering around promising as much. Smoke is everywhere, and at one point I just couldn't resist taking a photo.

Here's a shot looking down at the market from a balcony of a second-story restaurant.

A little further down are groups of men huddled in circles, with anywhere from 10 to 100+ people listening to a story teller. We didn't understand a word because it was all in Arabic, but the man with the collection plate still expected us to donate a few dirhams (roughly fifty cents).

They've also got games resembling the kind of thing from county fairs setup in random areas. Here's a picture of people trying to guide a ring around the top of a soda bottle using a fishing rod. Of course, I never saw anyone win.

At one point we were trying to find something resembling a club - music, drinks, girls, etc. So we walked around and finally found a place with audible music from the outside. But once we got in, it was a little different than we expected. First of all everyone there were white tourists, and the music was playing for the sole benefit of a few belly dancers. I managed to sneak in a pictures without attracting too much attention, and one actually turned out.

And that was our foray into the risque side of Marrakesh. In hindsight, it was really stupid of us to be looking for something resembling a night club in the old part of town because of the predominance of the Muslim culture. These people aren't exactly known for drinking or womanizing, and never in public places. But hey, learning these kinds of useful insights is what makes for good traveling.


Day 2
We awoke early the next day and headed into the Souks, also one of the most famous aspects of Morocco. Souks are essentially local markets, and in Marrakesh they are narrow & covered streets sprawling off from the main square like tentacles for very long distances. They consist of wall-to-wall shops on both sides, and the street itself is no more than 10 feet wide.

It's also a very loud place, and shopkeepers are always shouting at you in all languages imaginable. We found we had better luck if we didn't say anything so they wouldn't know which language to harass us with. They mostly started with French or English, but I tried to pretend that I didn't understand them. Considering most of them speak 10 languages, I'm sure they didn't believe me.

It's also a very fast-paced place. People walk very quickly and consistently dart in and out of side streets. At one point I was almost run over by a donkey-drawn cart, driven by a kid carrying dead animals to the local tannery. All the roads twist and turn, making it almost impossible to keep a sense of direction. And the smells are, shall we say, interesting.

The souks themselves are divided into sections based on goods. The sections we saw were mostly clothes, jewelry, carpets, ceramics, wood products, and metal crafts.

At first, the feeling of walking through was pure insanity. It was so much to take in and utterly impossible to not be bothered every 30 seconds. Shopkeepers were consistently stepping in front of us, forcing us to stop and listen to them. Most conversations went like this:

(With thick Arabic accent and large hand motions) "Hey! What you looking for? I give you good price. Come on - step into my shop and I give you good price. Very nice things. Hey, hey - where you from? My shop very clean. Have many nice things. I give you good price".

All of this while we were side-stepping him and trying to get around, only to have it happen 10 feet later. It literally felt like running a gauntlet.

We made the mistake of talking to store owners for awhile (after all, as a Westerner we're accustomed to answering someone if they ask us something). This was a big mistake, and made our journey through considerably more challenging until we stopped.

After about an hour, I found myself unwilling to say anything, even to my friend, because they would hear English and it would be all over. And I kept my sunglasses on at all times and only looked at stores from my peripheral vision; even turning my head to look at someones goods would incite the conversation above.

One part of the souks contained shops which specialized in gold, and I was lucky to get this pic while the shopkeeper was distracted with my friend.


Because of the craziness of the situation (not to mention the bad idea of pulling out a camera in public), I unfortunately don't have any pictures on the main streets. However, I did snap a few later on in another city called Fes, which are below. Keep in mind these show a souk much cleaner and less crowded than those of Marrakesh, but still conveys the general idea.


And this to prove I'm not just stealing photos from the internet :)

There's lots of other good Moroccan stories to tell including snakes, monkeys, and even camels. Plus I'm planning on talking about the food next post (which was surprisingly good), so stay tuned!

And if you absolutely can't wait to skip ahead, all other photos I took in Marrakesh can be found here.

And Now for Something Completely Different

Hi all!
Before you say anything, I know I haven't been very good about sharing my recent stories. I am currently about half done with my first post which starts into my Moroccan adventures. There's a lot to cover and condensing it has seemed a bit overwhelming, so I've repeatedly pushed it right to the back burner. I'm sorry.

Now that we've covered that, I do have something new to share. I recently accepted a new job with the Department of Energy, and I'm moving out to Washington DC tomorrow. I'm feeling the predictable mix of excitement and nervousness. It's a city I've never stepped foot in. I expect to be quite occupied the first week with finding an apartment and getting settled, and the following week my job starts. Oh boy!

The last few months has been a fantastic opportunity to re-connect with family & friends, do a little reading, and catch up on movies. But truthfully, a part of me is looking forward to getting back into the faster pace of life. We'll see how long that lasts.

That's all I have for now. I promise I will continue to publish my past stories, and probably sprinkle in some new ones as they come along. I'm told DC might even have a notable historic site or two :)

Tapas and Moorish Architecture...Life Doesn't Get Much Better

Location: Granada, Spain














Granada is a city located in Southern Spain, roughly 5 hours by bus from Madrid. It's one of the major sites to see in the South, so I decided spur of the moment to catch a bus after work for a weekend trip. I was also hoping for a respite from the cold Madrid weather, but that didn't pan out.

The directions to the hostel had an explicit warning that it was hard to find. Well, here I am getting off a bus around midnight (at least an hour after check-in had closed) trying to figure my way around. Apparently this part of town is considered a maze. Here it is on google maps.
It's actually even harder than it looks because most of these streets aren't marked and/or are incredibly narrow, making it impossible to see ahead.

Amazingly enough I found it without getting lost (thank you to the shuttle driver who dropped me off nearby). My elation was quickly deflated because no one answered the door when I rang the bell. Or the next time. Or the next. This went on for 20 minutes until someone answered...meanwhile I'm weighing my odds of catching a cab back into town and finding another place. Not fun.

Thankfully the night improved significantly when I walked into my room and found my roommates to be two Australian girls. Go figure - a room with 10 beds and only me with two Aussie girls - what are the odds?

I awoke early Saturday morning to take a walk around and get a feel for the city. This is typical of the narrow and windy streets around my hostel.
This is the first square I came to. As judged by the abundance of crowds, clearly I was wandering around at the Spanish rush hour. But then again they do like to party until 7am, so maybe I shouldn't have been too surprised.
And just a few minutes away was this river which transverses Granada from west to east. Convenient when one gets lost in that part of town...
And another one which shows off the the narrow one-way road, river, and old buildings.
Some local graffiti not far from my hostel. I was impressed to see something this good on a random wall tucked away in an alley.

Alhambra
By far the largest attraction in Granada is the Alhambra, which is a palace built in the 1300s during Moorish rule. The name itself translates to "red fortress", which refers to the red clay on the outer walls.

(Pepesaura, 2005)

For roughly 100 years it housed the Muslim rulers before falling into the hands of the Christian Spanish when the city was conquered as part of the Reconquest in 1492. This event is especially seminal because it marks the end of a more than 500 year dynasty where the Moors ruled the majority of modern day Spain. And the Battle of Granada was the last great battle of Spain's reconquest.

This was taken shortly after entering the grounds. It sort of looks like the start of a hedge-maze (something out of The Shining maybe?), but is the opening walkway. Still pretty cool though.
This is the exterior view of The Palace of Charles V, built in 1527 and intended to be a permanent living residence for the king.
It's main highlight is the impressive inner courtyard, which looks like this.
This picture was taken overlooking some of the outer ramparts and inner ruins.
There were also great panoramic shots of the city on the other side of the same tower, showing a beautiful day. You can't tell by the pictures, but it was also the coldest morning of the year. I myself was wearing at least 4 layers.
Because the Moors controlled Spain for so long, one can find their architectural influence in several buildings scattered throughout the country. I had already seen some of the Moorish style, but the Alhambra is unparalleled in scale or detail.

Likely the best gem of the entire ground is the Fuente de los Leones (Fountain of the Lions). It's considered to be the most impressive piece there, and I admit it does have a commanding presence. Unfortunately it was under renovation when I visited, but I was able to find some great pics of it online.

One side note - it was also inside a nearby reception room where Christopher Columbus received his support to sail to the New World.

This is probably my favorite picture of the entire grounds.

(Jamesdale10, 2008)

An inside shot of the palace which shows off the incredible attention to detail which is so characteristic of the Moorish architecture.
Another pic of one of the ceilings.

(Wires, 2007)

Right outside one of the palaces called The Partal. This also illustrates the sometimes frustrating aspect of having strangers take your picture. Every now and then you get one who can't even get it level (NOTE TO PHOTOGRAPHER: Thank you for taking my picture, even if I do bitch about it).
The same courtyard on a sunny & clear day, with a more talented photographer.

(Jamesdale10, 2008)

One of the side gardens along the outer wall which overlooks Granada.
Another ceiling which shows off their attention to detail. It still blow me away to this day.
The Alhambra also has lots of fountains and flowing water, as shown below in one of the courtyards inside the Palacio de Generalife.
The grounds also include a large park with wildflowers, roses, orange trees, and imported English elm. It takes easily an hour to walk through, and my favorite part was the large outdoor theater.

Tapas
The other famous highlight in Granada is its tapas culture. Actually, the tapas culture is alive in many parts of Spain, but Granada is well-known to have the best dishes and largest portions. Historically, the tradition came about when servers would include a small plate of food on top of drink glasses to keep flies out of the patron's drink. But of course restaurants started to specialize in certain dishes to distinguish themselves, and it took off from there.

So how's it work nowadays? Traditionally (and still in Granada), one orders a drink in a restaurant and receives a small plate of complimentary food. And since the drinks aren't particularly expensive (roughly 1.50€ for a glass of wine or beer), it's a really cheap way to eat if one enjoys several rounds of drinks. The only downside is the customer doesn't get to pick what they're served. Each place typically has a half-dozen different dishes which they rotate between customers. And usually the server makes an effort to never repeat a dish if they've already had it.

This form of dining quickly became my favorite Spanish culinary experience. It's really cool to go between several tapas bars and have a drink with free food at each. Kind of like restaurant hopping and ordering a single appetizer at each restaurant, except it's free.

Back to my story. I asked the guy running the hostel for tapas recommendations. Actually, I specifically asked where the local Spanish go to get away from the local college crowd. He thought for awhile and gave me the name of a place which he thought matched my description. The only catch was that it was a little hard to find. The Aussies and I fortunately stumbled upon it with little problem, but it was indeed not well advertised. It was at the end of a dark alley with only a very small and unlit sign outside.

When we walked in, we were literally the only people there except for the bartender. We had arrived around 8:30pm, which may sound late but is quite early for dinner by Spanish standards. The girls were new to Spain and thus found this quite odd, but having lived in Madrid awhile, I talked them into staying for at least a drink. It quickly picked up; a half hour later there were no seats, and after another half hour there was almost nowhere to stand.

One of my favorite aspects of this bar were the restrooms. They were nothing special on the inside, but I got a chuckle from the door signs...
We actually wound up staying at this place the whole night because the drinks were cheap, the atmosphere was fun, and the tapas were amazing. This picture is of our first plate, and is comprised of toasted bread with a Spanish-style omelet called tortilla (no relation to the Mexican food) with a spicy mustard sauce.
The dishes became more and more elaborate with Spanish ham and even seafood, but I was having so much fun I didn't remember to get any pictures of them.

The following day, I ate at a restaurant called La Bella & La Bestia (Beauty and the Beast). The beer (and hence the free tapas dish) cost a whopping 2€. Gotta love Granada!
Fortunately the traditional tapas culture is also alive in Madrid. But in other parts of the country, tapas are not free and one is expected to pay for them. However, one can pick what they want, making it analogous to ordering an appetizer. Barcelona is a good example of this for instance. Madrid is roughly half and half, meaning half tapas bars give food for free and the other half don't. But once one learns which are free, it's a really cool experience!

Additional photos from the trip can be found here.

Here's Johnny!

Hello everyone,
Greetings from California! It's been far too long without word on my end, but rest assured I made it through all the European and Middle Eastern travels safely. I am now taking some R&R and taking the opportunity to visit family and friends. It's mostly living out of a backpack and couch crashing, ironically enough.

One funny side note: my first impression when I stepped off the plane in San Francisco was an automated voice over the loudspeaker which informed me that we were currently at the threat level orange. The guy behind me mumbled to his friends, "Christ, do we still have to put up with this shit?" It was a great re-introduction into American life.

Despite the impending threat of orange, it is really great to be back. I'm mostly enjoying the small things, like being able to have long conversations with strangers. Partially this is because it is comforting to have everything in English again, but also because I encountered so few Americans abroad. Australians and Canadians were much more the norm...we (as a country) apparently need to get out more.

And now the good news - I do expect to be continuing the blog shortly. Some people may find this odd, but my desire to share my experiences with those close to me do not change even if they are a bit late.

As I mentioned before, I was behind in February even before I stopped writing. While this means more work for me, this is great news for you. You may be thinking there is only 1 or 2 months of stories to cover, but in reality the true amount is almost double that. The pace I publish them may fluctuate depending on circumstances, but my resolution to see this through to the end has never been stronger. So sit back, tell your friends, and expect a new posting soon!

And most of all, thank you for all your patience and support.

Delayed Gratification

Hello loyal readers,

As you´ve likely noticed, its been pretty quiet here for awhile. While the short-term reason for this is that I was on vacation all last week in Morocco (which will make some great later posts), the longer-term problem is simply that I am accumulating stories much faster than I can write about them. I currently have 5 such unpublished trips.

Unfortunately, this pace is only about to accelerate even further as my work ends and I exclusively travel for the month of March. Rest assured that I will have my camera in hand as I trek through Dubai, Oman, Scotland, and Italy.

In short, this blog is far from dead and should be considered very much alive, with some of the best content yet to come. It will be awhile until these travels bear fruit here, but I ask you hold tight on the promise that it will be sweet.

Yours,

Cash

The Coolest Monastery EVER!

Location: El Escorial, Spain













Around early December (yes I am quite far behind) I hopped a local train out of Madrid to head North about an hour to El Escorial (full name is Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial). I knew very little about it, but a coworker recommended it for a great day trip. It was raining badly so I didn't want to venture too far out of Madrid, so I figured "what the hell" and just went. Maybe it was my initial low expectations, but it ended up being one of my favorite spots in all of Spain.

As I mentioned, it was raining like crazy in Madrid. The easiest way up North was to hop on a local commuter train which runs above ground. As we were leaving the city limits I noticed we were beginning to climb slightly, and within a half an hour the rain had turned to snow.

This seemed strange, to say the least. It was the first time I'd seen snow in Spain at all. Perpetually clear skies and lots of sun come to mind when I think of Spain...but here it was snowing right out my window. Other than wishing I had dressed a bit warmer, it was kind of exciting.

Although El Escorial is the name of the town, its most famous landmark, the Monastery, also goes by the same name. This provided me quite a bit of confusion when I walked off the train and saw no signs for anything resembling what I wanted. So I walked around a bit and asked some locals what appeared to them as stupid questions. They were kind enough to point me in the right direction.

At one point I entered a park and talked to a guard. He pointed me in a direction and said it was about a mile up, which meant I essentially had to cross the entire park. But I was still riding high from there being snow and didn't care.

Along the way I stopped and took this. As you can see there were not many people around that day (notice the lack of footprints).
Eventually I found the Monastery, at which point it was snowing hard. It still shocks me to think this picture was taken near Madrid.
And my favorite shot of the Monastery from across the street.
The building itself has been transformed over the centuries (common for many structures in Spain I've noticed), and although it was constructed as a monastery in 1595, it was also meant to house the king and his entourage on vacations. There is a whole host of cool things inside, and we'll get to soon.

Here's the entrance, which I admit is pretty bland by Spanish standards. Especially for royalty.
Unfortunately photos were not allowed to be taken inside, so many of the following are not mine. I've given credit wherever possible, and I was able to sneak in a few for myself when the guards weren't looking.

Hall of Battles
Our first stop was barely mentioned in my guidebook but was one of my favorite rooms. Called "The Gallery of Battles", it is a 55 meter (~180 feet) hallway which is entirely covered by frescoes. Philip II (the king at the time) had them commissioned to include famous battles during his reign. As such, there are 9 separate pieces each depicting a different battle of his war against France, plus 2 sea battles where he conquered Portugal. I found them all incredible not only for their size but also their detail. Notice, for instance, this entire wall is one single piece.

(F. Avila, 2007)

Library
The library is often considered one of the most prized possessions of the grounds. Although it was built prior to his reign, Philip II gets credit for having it expanded to its current state. It houses over 40,000 works brought or lent from all over the ancient Spanish empire, including several original pieces in Latin, Greek, and Arabic.

The ceiling comprises of frescoes which represent Philosophy and Theology in large depictions on the ends with 7 additional and smaller pieces in the middle representing anything Grammar to Music to Astrology. The differences in sizes lends an insight into how religion still dominated academics (indeed, this was before Newton and the birth of Science altogether).

(ATPM - 2006)

Royal Pantheon
The next picture explains the main reason why the Monastery is considered royal. One of its most important functions is to house the remains of all the Spanish kings, queens, and other royalty. After decomposing next door in the Pudridero ("Rotting Room"), they are transferred into urns. In this room are four centuries of monarchs, kings on the right and queens on the left, in chronological order. It's a circular room with a high domed ceiling; almost everything is made of marble, bronze, granite, and gold. Pictures cannot capture how beautiful it is.
Directly down the hall is the Infantes' Pantheon for other royalty, most notably princes and princesses. These span for several rooms but are mostly all done in white marble.

(Reenen, 2006)

There is a separate piece (not shown) which at first glance looks like a very large wedding cake but is a twenty-sided structure which holds the remains of infant children. It was a little eerie to walk past that one.

There are other sections which include bedrooms for past kings (surprisingly not that big), a small collection of paintings, and a chapel. But none were quite as photogenic as the places above, and although the outer grounds were impressive, the snowstorm hindered me from getting anything good from the outside.

And there I am, freezing my butt off with a smile!
However, on a clear day the grounds apparently look more like this.

(Duran, 2007)

Unfortunately there was originally a second part of the trip planned which I had to skip because I barely missed the last bus out. I don't know why but they stop running them around 3pm. Weird.

Still, a wonderful place to spend an afternoon if one happens to be in Madrid!

Additional photos may be found here.

Así, Así, Así Gana el Madrid

Location: Madrid

I was originally going to write these as separate posts, but since they are obviously related I have decided to just combine them. The short version is that I have now gone to two Real Madrid fútbol games.

The first was a long time ago...all the way back in September. I was living with the host family then, and by chance we had 4 Swiss girls come and stay with us. (Side note: Life can be so cruel!)

They were here in town only for a couple of weeks, and since they were Europeans (or just not Americans) they were really into fútbol. And since Real Madrid is so famous they were really motivated to go. Fortunately they were kind enough to let me tag along.

The tickets wound up costing 35€ each, which were for the nosebleeds in what was widely anticipated to be a terrible game. I say "terrible" because the opponent was the lowest rank team in the division. But we'll come back to that.

This is what the stadium looks like at night.
The area outside was insanely packed. The stadium itself can seat 80,000 people, and I can only imagine how much worse it would have been had they been at full capacity.
This was our view during the match. We actually didn't feel that far up to me, probably because the stadium itself is so steep.
And just to prove I wasn't making it all up about the Swiss girls, here they are. They were the equivalent of seniors in high school and were in town on a school exchange to brush up on their Spanish. They could all speak better than me, which was particularly frustrating because it was their 5th language! I swear they could all be professional translators. They had a great time teaching me naughty words in other languages.
Some of the fans seemed absolutely crazy. Take this guy who was 2 rows ahead of us; after every goal he apparently felt the need to remove his shirt and swirl it around while yelling and humping the air. It was quite the spectacle.
Occasionally when Real Madrid did something really good, the crowd would start a cheer which went "así, así, así gana el Madrid". I wasn't able to get it on film so I snagged this one from youtube so you could experience it too. I think it's the equivalent of us doing the wave...pretty cool stuff.

This was the final score. Yes you're reading it right...7 to 1. It didn't even look like Real Madrid was trying, so turns out the other team was indeed crap. And it also meant a lot of dry humping for our friend above. The girls were having a great time yelling obscenities at him in German whenever he started his thing.

So that was my first experience at a Real Madrid game.

"First", you say? Well yes, I wound up going to another game some months later. And this one literally fell into my lap.

It all started when I was sitting at my desk. One of my coworkers came over and said he had something big and asked what I was up to the following night. I said I didn't have any plans, to which he smiled and said "well then I have some good news for you".

Apparently my company has season box seats which they use for high-end clients, but since there was nothing planned for this particular game our manager had two extra tickets. Everyone else in the office was occupied (one of the few advantages I can think of having coworkers with children), so one of the tickets was for me if I wanted it.

Of course I wanted it. This was my first experience with box seats for any sport. I'm not sure how it's done elsewhere, but this was pretty cool.

First, we skipped the lines and went through a VIP entrance and shown our room. It was fairly intimate and could seat about 12. This is what our room and view looked like. There were <10 people in the box that night, and as you can see they were kind enough to lay out snack food for us.
This was our personal server for the evening, complete with a cute little skirt and high heels. My apologies for it being a bit blurry; I didn't use a flash because I was attempting to be covert. About every 10 minutes she brought a different tray of food and passed it around. This particular one was cured ham; my coworker assured me it was absolutely top notch (I believe him because the Spanish are crazy about their ham qualities).
By half time we had already made the transition from beers to rum & cokes. For the break everyone emptied into a common room where they had buffet lines with more food for all the folks in the box seats. This was also the first time we saw the servers in the other boxes; I found them to be some of the best looking in Madrid. It's probably better for everyone involved that we didn't have them in our box; nothing good could have come from that.
After a few more drinks it became obvious the game was a blow out, so I went over and chit-chatted with our server. She probably found having an American hit on her funny, but I'd like to think it was an opportunity to hone my Spanish skills.

Clearly not a bad way to spend an evening. I assure you that smile is real.
After that my coworker and I stopped by an Irish pub near the stadium and had a few pints before heading home. "La vida es dura" (life is hard) as they say here. It certainly was that night!