Prague, Czech Republic

One amazing advantage of living in Amsterdam, is the fact that there are endless possibilities of flights all over the world. Surprisingly, the flights tend to be quite cheap and departs daily. I have mainly been travelling around in Asia, but never had a focus on travelling in Europe. 

As my best friend since 10 years back was celebrating her 25th birthday, a weekend getaway to a new destination is never a bad idea. We all agreed to meet in Prague to spend a weekend together and celebrate. I arrived a day earlier and checked in to the Marriott. The location was great and everything was within walking distance from the hotel. The next morning, my friends Josie and Sarah arrived and we started wandering around the city straight away. The city is gorgeous, the architecture and atmosphere was spectacular. The small stands and christmas markets made the city even better. 

To finish off our trip, we went to the Beer & Wine Spa - Lazne Pramen. We had our own room with two tubs, unlimited beer and a bed made of hay to relax in afterwards. For our birthday girl, we celebrated with dinner at the Marina Restaurant, and we all passed out afterwards. 

Unfortunately, time flew and I wish we could have had more time. However, it definitely gives me a reason to visit Prague again. 

Sunny Beach, Bulgaria

As my best friend Josie decided to spontaneously book flights and accommodation, I thought I could do the exact same. We both desperately needed a one week get away where there was no pressure of doing anything at all and just be able to spend some quality time with each other. We were staying at a very simple all inclusive hotel at Sunny Beach where everything was within walking distance. As wild as Sunny Beach sounds, we mostly spent our time by the pool and the pub next door. One of our last days we decided to see Nessebar, which is a small city nearby and also listed as a UNESCO World heritage site. Definitely worth visiting! Bulgaria became my 37th country that I have visited so far and I wish to reach for 40 by the end of this year!

Last thoughts - Morocco

Usually a two week holidays goes by very quickly and time literally flies. In this case, I feel like I have had such a long vacation, I've managed to see a lot, experience new things, new cities, and met some incredible people. I was expecting my first week to be hectic, busy and not relaxing at all. Luckily, I had one week in Marrakech to be able to slow down for a little bit. 

I was definitely expecting the locals to be pushy, beg for money and even be aggressive at times. This I have experienced on many occasions. It feels sad that the locals only wants to help if they get something for their kindness, and if someone kind enough reached out their hand to help the visitor will decline due to the thought, "If I accept the help, I need to pay". 

Bargaining, what a tiresome event. If you have the energy for it, it's always fun to see how you can manage to negotiate to a price that suits you and feel like you are a winner. At times, it's exhausting. For every small thing, you will have to negotiate and come up with all kinds of tricks and small lies in order to get the lowest price. Sometimes it's such a relief to enter a store or restaurant and the prices are clear. 

All in all, I had a good time. It was perfect to spend some time alone but also be able to catch up with Annika for the 2nd week of my vacation. During my first week I realised how boring it is to go out for dinners by yourself and not being able to share it with anyone. 

To summarise everything, here are some pictures that has yet to be posted. Thank you Morocco, I might be back one day!

Last day - Morocco

The last full day and we managed to see both Bahia Palace and the Bab Aganou, both in pictures below. We also did some shopping and walking around new areas.

Last day in Marrakech was mostly about relaxing. Annika and myself decided to do a full treatment session at the Hammam De La Rose. The treatment started with a proper wash, or as it's called hammam, and after we enjoyed a one hour massage. It has been a while since I felt this relaxed. 

Le Meridien N'fis

During my holidays I managed to use 3 different hotels within the Marriott brand. Tempting to start thinking about work when you are staying at a hotel which promotes the same loyalty programs as you are used to. In Marrakech we spent 6 nights and booked it all with points, because as SPG says: "The best nights in life are free". The property is located close to the airport, closest mall was just across the street and the medina was approximately 30min away by foot. The hotel had an amazing pool area, the garden was beautiful and especially the concierge was out of this world. Attentive, remembered our names without introducing ourselves on our first day, that's just great. We did not spend much time at the property, but for the amount of points that were used, it was definitely worth it. 

Zagora Desert - Morocco

Two long days and finally back at the hotel. Our tour to the Zagora Desert started on thursday with a pickup at 7AM. The Atlas Mountains delivered some amazing views during our very long drive to the desert. On our way to the Zagora Desert, we made a very interesting stop at the little town called Ait Ben Haddou. What's so interesting about this small village is that it's been recognised as a UNESCO Heritage site due to the TV productions that has been created here since 1960. To mention just a few: Cleopatra, Prince of Persia, Gladiator, Indiana Jones and most recent Game of Thrones. As I'm a fan of Game of Thrones, the village was used to represent the slave trading city of Yunkai. 

Our journey continued and we were finally able to ride into our small camp in the Zagora Desert. At the camp we had some tea, a Moroccan dinner with live music. After a long night sleeping in the extremely hot tents, we got up at 5:30 to watch the sunrise. Breakfast was served and soon after the journey started back home. Our driver was apparently a huge fan of Celine Dion because this was the only music he was playing during our trip to the desert and back. 

A lot of hours spent sitting in the car, and I would definitely recommend to do a longer tour in order to possibly spend more time at the camp, riding the camels or see proper sand dunes.