Ice Bar

It's getting much chillier here in Morocco, which reminded me about this spectacular experience I got to share with my parents and cousins Jeff & Tina - ABSOLUT ICEBAR!

The Ice Bar is no joke - they import ice from Northern Sweden and carve it into furniture and other decorations. Here's how it works:

Step 1: Get outfitted with your beautiful blue cape. This metallic masterpiece not only comes with a fur-lined hood, but it also has gloves attached.

Step 2: Step into the freezing ice bar, where if you're a real man, you'll kick it in shorts like cousin Jeff. Who needs long pants when you're in freezing temperatures?

Step 3: Head to the bar and order a drink made with Absolut Vodka (you are in the Absolut Ice Bar after all and there are a variety of options to meet your tastes). Doesn't my mom look cute in her fur lined cape? Kind of reminiscent of her wedding dress, eh?
Step 4: Make sure to put on your gloves first, then take your ice cup from the bartender and sip your fruity or spicy vodka cocktail. If you're still thirsty when you're done, just suck on your cup of ice. It will eventually melt in your mouth.
Step 5: Cosy up for warmth in a beautiful ice throne. This picture totally doesn't do the intricate carving justice. It rocks in real life.
Step 6: Leave before your whole body goes numb. When you buy your ticket for the ice bar, you only get to go in for 45 minutes. Sure that doesn't sound like a lot of time - until you're in there. We lasted 30, I think. It's pretty cold, like freezing.

Return Trip: When you return to the ICEBAR, there will be a new setup. They like to change up the decor pretty often so people keep coming back. Maybe next summer, I'll check out the updated look, but for now, I'm fine with freezing in my own home.

Team Efforts

Planning a successful wedding is a ton of work. I spent the evening after I got back to the States helping with the wedding of the century. A month before the wedding, Aunt Jane still had a 4 page to do list, so I has happy to lend a hand.

Wrapping candy bars was a team effort. Tom took the Hershey's bars out of the 6 pack boxes and distributed them to Erin, Aunt Jane, and me. We were in charge of using double sided tape and an intricate folding process to put Erin and Ryan's picture over the Hershey's logo. Check out how focused we were!!

Uncle Kev played an integral role in the process. I bet you're wondering what his job was. If you know my Uncle Kev, you could probably guess - drinking beer and keeping the conversation going. He was the entertainment to spice up an otherwise mundane task.

Things I Love About America: Part Deux

Here are a few more things that I love about the United States of America:

1. Variety: It seems like every other week, M&Ms and Doritos come up with new delightful flavors. Here in Morocco, you get Nacho Cheese, Sweet Chili, or Sweet Barbecue Doritos. That's it. There are regular and peanut M&Ms. That's all. In the US, you can find delightful treats like Doritos Collisions, with flavors like Ranch/Pizza or Buffalo/Bleu. M&Ms aren't slackers on the variety front. Dark Chocolate Peanut M&Ms are totally my new favorite candy. I'm also really interested in trying the Limited Edition Coconut M&Ms.


2. Pork: There are places like Rib City in the beautiful town of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. They serve all sorts of delicious ribs in a variety of sauces. Yum! Thanks for showing me the wonders of Rib City, Mikey!

3. Really Low Calorie Beer: My new fave - Miller Genuine Draft Light 64. Only 64 calories per beer. The best part? They are so watered down that you can drink all night and still stay hydrated! Ont was a real trendsetter when she introduced everyone to 64, my new drink of choice!

4. Scenic Views: I really do love the convenience of living in a big, dirty city, but I totally miss these kinds of views. This picture of a sunset with trees, the Puget Sound, and the Olympic Mountains was taken at beautiful Carkeek Park. Located in Northwest Seattle, it's a great spot to have a barbecue with good friends and enjoy the scenery. It's not even like it's a huge trip to get to.

5. Lunch Special: This one is definitely my fave. The cheapest lunch in town, the Costco polish dog, comes with a refillable soda and only costs $1.50. In Washington state, where there is sales tax, the grand total for lunch is $1.64. The price definitely makes it grand, which only gets better as the polish dog burps continue to remind one of the yummy flavor for the rest of the day.

Wakeboarding

My happy place is definitely our family cabin on Georgetown Lake in Montana. I love sitting out on the deck for coffee (Diet Coke for me), playing pool, and chillin' on the party boat. This summer, I added another activity to my favorites list - wakeboarding on Jen and Scott's boat.

Here's Katie and Sydney - all smiles as we cruised around the lake watching everyone take a turn at wakeboarding or skiing or tubing.

Shout out to the best boat driver ever - Jennifer Hackley! Jen was so encouraging and made it so easy to get out of the water and have fun.

Kaylee got the award for cutest flag lady ever! Her very important job was to raise the flag when skiiers were in the water.

I was a little nervous about popping up on the wakeboard.

I got up on my second try!! Once I got up, I realized that I was a bit unsure about how to proceed. It's been a long time since my cable skiing days at Lakeland. I can't wait to refine my skills next summer at the lake - I have to work on my jumps!

Molecular Explosions

Favorite Trip Quote

Dad: "You may not know this, but when you get to high altitudes, pressure increases which causes explosions of toiletry and other packaged items."

Katie: "Dad, I may not have climbed a mountain before, but I have been in a few airplanes. I get it."

Example:
Gary figured this out when he went to open a new can of powdered milk when we were pretty far up the mountain. He was quite surprised when the powder decorated his sweatshirt.

Mountain Chow

Alright, I know it's been a long time since I've posted, but I've been doing a bunch of travelling on the North American continent and haven't found time to blog. I'll post about those adventures soon, but I wanted to get a few more Kili posts up.

Our food situation on the mountain was impressive. Not only did our porters have to deal with carrying everything we needed to our various camps, but they also had less than perfect kitchen facilities.



Note the cleaning and cutting of vegetables in between tents on the ground. Not quite sure what this guy is cooking, but I know all the food we ate was delightful.


For hot lunch, we got to stop at gorgeous places such as this cave, named "Second Cave". I'm not going to try and claim that the stools were comfortable or the table even. Sometimes, I came pretty close to falling over, but that's what you get for being clumsy.
Our dinner was cooked and served to us in this tent. Here's just part of our group having tea after our plates were cleared away and magically cleaned by the cleaning fairies.

We were even fortunate enough to have dessert along the way. This pudding and biscuit combo was a very welcome treat after a long day.

Mountain Injuries

We were so lucky to have no major injuries along the route to summitting Kilimanjaro. In fact, I got back down without a single injury, which is pretty surprising since I can injure myself doing absolutely nothing.

Katie wins the prize for most injuries on the mountain. Well, for our family, at least.

Her first issue came on day 2, when we stopped for our hot lunch. She cut her finger and Dad took out his trusty first aid kit to get it all cleaned up. Quite a pretty spot for a medical fix up.

Soon after, at our Day 2 &3 camp, the first (and only) blister of the trip was dealt with. Dr. Pops to the rescue again!

Things I Love About America...

I'm taking a quick break from the Kili posts to share my excitement about being back in the US. Here are some of the things that I didn't realize that I missed so much.

• Ice: they serve these frozen bits of water in drinks here. On my flights over, I was given full glasses of ice with my soda, rather than empty plastic cups. I particularly like when I can get the ice myself out of the soda machine.

• Family: Nothing's better than showing up at the Bert Mooney Airport to Aunty Jane, Gramps, and Uncle Kev. Well, except maybe waking up to this delightful breakfast at Grandpa's house.

• Pox: I love my car. He was washed and ready to go when Gramps and I picked him up this morning. I have been having fun cruising around Butte with the sunroof open, listening to CDs I made forever ago. I may retract the love for driving once I have my first 10 hour road trip tomorrow, but for now I'm loving it.

• Pork: it's on all the menus here - bacon, ham, etc. Luckily, Butte happens to be the home of the best pork place in America - Porkchop John's. Gramps and I had deep fried porkchop sandwiches for lunch. Yum!
• Efficiency: I ran all of my errands today in a single morning! Well, I've got some more to do this afternoon, but all the big stuff got out of the way in a mere couple of hours. Same errands would have probably taken me a week to do in Casa.

I am so stoked about the rest of this vacation. Can't wait to see everyone!

Standing on the Roof of Africa

Well, folks..we did it! My dear father, sister and I climbed up to 5895 meters (19340 feet) and stood up on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. After 6 grueling hours of slowly walking in zigzags uphill, we came upon this gorgeous sight.

The sunrise wasn't the only beautiful sight from the top of the mountain - check out this glacier and the sea of clouds below it.
Katie summitted the mountain by running the last few meters at about 6:45 a.m. Dad and I came "pole pole" (slowly slowly) afterwards. I think I was about 5-10 minutes behind my dear sister and Dad was already up by then. Even though it was absolutely freezing cold, we still took a break to get some photos before heading back down.

Out of 14 people in our group, 14 of us summitted the mountain. Our fabulous guides and sheer willpower and determination were a huge part of our success. Here's a pic of all of us at the top of Uhuru Peak, the tallest point in Africa.

Summitting Kili was a huge accomplishment and a great time. I was so lucky to get to do this with my dad and sister, as well as the many new friends we met on our journey - wouldn't have been the same without you all!

Stay tuned for more Kili pics and stories!

Heading to Kili

It's time. My bags are pretty much packed and I'm almost ready to go. This evening, I'm leaving on a jet plane (an Ethiopian Airlines jet plane) and headed to Kilimanjaro. Please pass on positive thoughts starting on Sunday, when my dad, sister Katie and I will be starting our ascent up the tallest mountain in Africa. I'm sure that I will have plenty to blog about when I get back, so stay tuned! I've got a couple of posts coming up while I'm away, but the best will be once I'm back on July 5th. Then it's home to the US on July 8th. Here's to a kickass summer!!

Happy Father's Day!

There are a lot of different things that I love and appreciate about my dad, but here's a short list.

1. He gives a kickass bike tour of London. The man loves biking and he loves London, so he's the perfect guy to show you around.

2. Dad likes to have a good time and he's up for anything. Whether it's dressing up for Mardi Gras or dancing the night away at a family wedding, the guy sure is fun to be around.

3. My Dad's one of the most family oriented people I know. He talks to his dad every day on the phone (Markoviches are awesome at talking on the phone) and he keeps in touch with all his siblings and kids. He also is great to my mom and there's no doubt that he loves her bunches.

4. Pops isn't afraid to get his hands dirty for the greater good. Last Thanksgiving, the turkey's gizzards and such didn't come in a nice little bag - he had to actually pull them all out of their places in the turkey's chest cavity. He did all that with a smile on his face.

5. Dad can be pretty selfless - on our Kenyan safari, he let everyone else get the nice view from up front.

6. My Dad encourages all his kids to seek out adventure and pushes us to not give up on our dreams. He's a pretty inspirational guy that way.

I'm really looking forward to the awesome father/daughters bonding that Dad, Katie and I will get to experience climbing Kili next week. HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, POPS!

I Love This Place!

Question: What do you think this is a symbol for?

Here's a hint - it's not a different version of Pac-Man!

The Answer: Dragon's Den

Something you should know about me: I love dragons! It was my excitement and obsession that got Mum to hike down a 135 step spiral staircase just a few months after her bunyan surgery. She's a trooper!

It was well worth it. We spent a little bit of time exploring the Dragon's Den. There's something about a dark cave that thrills me.

Here's the story of the Dragon's Den, taken from our trusty Rick Steves' Eastern Europe book.

Once upon a time, a prince named Krak founded a town on Wawel Hill. It was the perfect location - except for the fire-breathing dragon who lived in the caves under the hill and terrorized the town. Prince Krak had to feed the dragon all of the town's livestock to keep the monster from going after the townspeople. But Krak, with the help of a clever shoemaker, came up with a plan. They stuffed a sheep's skin with sulfur and left it outside the dragon's cabe. The dragon swallowed it, and before long, developed a terrible case of heartburn. To put the fire out, the dragon started drinking water from the Vistula. He kept drinking and drinking until he finally exploded. The town was saved, and Krakow thrived.

I would love to marry the Prince and become Princess Krak. I doubt that will happen so in the meantime, I'll just pose for photos under the belly of a dragon.

Sunscreen Lessons

Look closely at this hot leg! It belongs to my darling sister, Katie. She is in dire need of Sunscreen Application Lessons.

We did not allow her to apply her sunscreen the next day without supervision. We didn't want her to end up with another crazy streaky sunburn!

Cheapest Beer in Town

While in Essaouira, we went to Casa Vera for 1 liter beers. A liter of Flag Especiale costs 90 dirhams.

Here's Amanda shocked at the prices, yet enjoying the ice cold beverage while overlooking the beautiful ocean.

Later that night, we met up with some people from our hostel at a little hole in the wall place simply called "BAR". Whoever thought up that name should win an award for creativity!

"Bar" was pretty much just a porch right on the ocean with a few plastic tables and a single menu item. The only beverage they served was small bottles of Flag Especiale for 13 dirhams a bottle. Definitely the best deal in town.

Special Treat: Homemade Lard

While Mum, Katie and I were in Krakow, we were able to experience to some awesome traditional cuisine. Apparently, homemade lard is a pretty common appetizer in Poland, because we saw it on pretty much every menu that served traditional cuisine.
At one Restauracja, we were served bread, cheese, and lard to start our meal. What better way to serve homemade lard than in a cup. (Side note: check out the gorgeous sheets that were the backdrop of our booth - remind me to decorate with floral sheets if I ever own a restaurant!)

Here's the closeup! I must say that I didn't sample this delightful looking treat.

My mum got stuck having a bite when she was posing for this picture and the waiter came by and asked how she liked it. She then had to take a bite in order to be respectful. Judging from the look on her face, I don't think she was a big fan...