Berlin in Frankfurt

And just like that, Tax Day, the end of April, and SPRING. It seems like Frankfurt burst into its spring song overnight. Things are lush, green, and absolutely covered in pollen. Itchy eyes aside, here are some spring highlights from life lately:

Morocco 

In mid-March, I went on a trip to Morocco with a group of ten girlfriends. It was both an amazing experience and exhausting. Here are some highlights:

Merzouga Desert 

We drove approximately 5-6 hours from our hotel in Ouarzazate to the Merzouga desert (near Algeria) to stay one night in a desert camp in the sand dunes. Along the way, we stopped to see the Valley of Roses where numerous products are made with local rose oil and then the Dades Gorge which was stunning. After arriving, we drove ATVs in the sand dunes which was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. At night, we listened to Berber drumming under the stars.

The Merzouga desert dunes. I’ve never seen anything like it.

With our Berber guide

Camels at sunrise. They were not super pleased about it.

We woke up early the next morning to ride camels and stopped to see the sunrise, then started the trek back to Ouarzazate so we could fly back to Marrakech that night. Along the way, we stopped to see some views and stopped in the lush Draa Valley for lunch and to sample some local dates and walk along the fields.

Marrakesh

The taxi ride to our hotel and our two-night stay (can’t recommend you stay at the Chems Hotel – it was pretty terrible) in Marrakech were not great experiences. But, I would definitely visit the city again and would recommend staying in a more traditional riad in the city center instead of just outside like we did.

Cooking class

We did a group cooking class in Marrakesh which was SO fun. We met our guide then went to the local market to buy ingredients to make a traditional chicken tagine.  Our class took place on the rooftop of a riad in the center of the city. The tagine turned out so delicious – afraid to try and recreate it at home!

All ready to be cooked

Adding spices before we cooked it!

Shopping 

I had a fun time haggling in the Marrakech souks (street markets) for some interesting things for our house and a few accessories. Here is what I ended up with:

German Class

In February and March, I took A1 and A2 levels of German (each 30 days) at the Goethe Institut here in Frankfurt. The classes run from Monday thru Friday 9 am – 4 pm with a lunch break in between so it was definitely intense and mentally tiring.  That said, I loved the experience. While German is a grammatically complex language and has many exceptions, it was fun to be in a classroom for the first time in about 8 years. German also has a lot of phrases and compound words that I find hilarious – I think I’ll write a separate blog on it. Learning another language (besides high school Spanish) has also created deep respect and appreciation for those who quickly have to learn new languages for a job, to acclimate to a new country, or otherwise. It is mentally exhausting!

My A1 Class

My A2 Class

Schlemmerwanderung

A few weeks ago, we went on our first Schlemmerwanderung which means “Gourmet Hike” – an all-day hike through numerous vineyards with food truck style stops along the way. This particular one ended at some castle ruins with a DJ. It was very cool and you only had to pay 2.50 Euro to buy the wine glass and then you could choose whatever wine and food you like at each stop. It was fun to see all ages joining in the fun and many people brought kids in strollers and dogs as well. There is another hike in June we hope to attend. 

Travel

We just returned from a trip to Tuscany (as well as a last minute overnight trip to see the tulips in the Netherlands) and have some more travel coming up soon – hoping to stay a little more on top of sharing our adventures and writing now that I have more free time.

Lastly, one of my favorite spring poems – a little late for Easter, but still lovely:

Awake thou wintry earth.
Fling off thy sadness.
Fair vernal flowers,
laugh forth your ancient gladness,
Christ is risen!

– Thomas Blackburn