Dans Le Noir- Dinner "in the dark"

Have you ever ate in the dark? Complete and total darkness. When stripped with one of your five senses, everyday tasks change a great deal. Having to rely on touch, smell, taste, and sound is very difficult for someone who is used to having the gift of sight. However, some people do it every day and get along fine. Dans Le Noir is a dining experience where the two roles are reversed, and you can enjoy dinner in the dark, led by a blind server. This experience may sound a little strange at first and not everyone wants to step out of their comfort zone. As soon as I heard about this I immediately wanted to go. This experience is supposed to enhance your taste buds and allow for you to enjoy a dinner without first judging the food by the looks.

I made reservations a month in advance and had been stoked for this dinner for a long time. Finally is was Saturday night and Laura, Sarah, Maria, Nolan, and I headed out to dinner. Since we have adapted to the Italian lifestyle, we were running about 15 minutes late and missed the introduction about the restaurant Luckily, I had briefed everyone about the experience and the menu options. You can choose between the Meat Lovers, Fish Lovers, Vegetarian, and Chef’s Choice surprise dinner and whether you want a 2 or 3 course dinner. We ended up choosing a good variety of 2 meats plates, one vegetarian, 2 chef surprise, and also appetizers, dessert, and a bottle of red wine. We put everything we had on us in a locker and headed to the dining room.

Right before we entered we were introduced to our wonderful server, Thomas. Standing in a line, with our right hands on the shoulder in front of us, we were led through the 3 layers of curtains into the dining room. It was indeed, pitch black and your eyes never adjust. Here we immediately heard forks scraping, glasses clinking, and chatter from the other guests. I’m guessing there were about 10 other tables with guests that were just as confused as we were. We were told to wait and then Thomas came over and led me to my chair. I immediately started feeling the table to get my bearings. The HRA girl in me went crazy. First of all my knife was horizontal, which was strange. The fork was on the left. A napkin was placed in the middle with a simple tri fold I’m guessing. We had two glasses, a bigger one for water, and a smaller cup for wine. It was driving me crazy not actually being able to see the room, but I drew up a layout in my head. I listened to the other guests to gather their reactions. Throughout the night we heard other tables drop silverware, glasses, and lots of “Ohh noo”. Not us, we did pretty well. Thomas returned with a bottle of wine. He handed me the bottle and told me to pour and enjoy. HOLD ON. I just ordered red wine and he wants me to pour it in the dark… He then politely explained that I hold my glass with my finger in it and simply just pour until it touches my finger. Ya, it is that simple, as long as you make it in the glass... which I thankfully did.

Our dinner conversation was quite interesting. It’s strange to communicate without seeing someone else’s reaction. Sort of like a 5 way telephone conversation I guess. It was kind of fun because you can react however you want and nobody will ever know. Later I found out that Sarah was making faces and rude gestures the whole night. Jerk. We had a great time discussing our food and trying to guess what it was. My favorite memory is when the table next to us (at least we think) decided to start singing “The 12 Days of Chirstmas”. I’m pretty sure that everyone in that room joined in. I’ve started to notice that when people are in situations that are different from their normal life they seem to bond real fast and act like they’re been friends for a long time. I guess it’s a way to find comfort in a situation.Antother fond memory is when Maria informed us that if you lick someone and they don’t see it, that  they won’t actually know. So guess what, it’s true. No details though. What happens at Dans Le Noir, stays in that room. Although, I would pay a great sum of money to watch a video of that dinner. I can only imagine how silly we would all look attempting to eat.

Attempting to eat… well this was quite an experience. All I knew was that I was getting a “Meat Lovers” dinner and a dessert. Once my entrée arrived I picked up my fork and knife and hit my plate. Missed. Opps. Once I found my food I started to cut and took a bite. I liked it. Not sure what it was, but it was good. I continued to eat bite after bite. After awhile I gave up and just started pushing things on my fork with my hand. I kept tasting many different flavors, but I couldn’t detect them. I knew I was eating some sort of roast and I tasted some balsamic vingerette. Even when I recognized a flavor, most of the time I couldn’t figure out what is was. We rely so much on looking at what we eat that our taste buds are often overlooked. There was only one thing on my plate that I didn’t like, and I’m still not sure what it was. The “red wine” we had was a simple wine. I was extremely excited to try and figure out what it. In my wine service class we taste 2-3 wines and class and describe them. However, without seeing the wine I felt lost. I’m not sure why since I was searching for the aromas, but I didn’t really smell much. However, once I started eating my meat platter, the wine changed. It was very flavorful and brought out the flavors of the meat. The mystery wine was a good choice. Then the dessert came. OH MY was it good. I broke the faint chocolate shell and tasted the chocolate and raspberry mousse. I got so excited because it was delicious and I actually knew what it was that I announced it to the table… a little too loudly. Sorry to everyone else in the restaurant for ruining the surprise. Luckily we were one of the last tables there, so it wasn’t a big deal. I wanted to lick the plate and I really should have. Or maybe I did, no one will ever know.

After the meal, Thomas led us back out and we were able to see what we ate. It turns out the meat plate was split into 4 sections, each with a different meat and sauces. Thinking back I guess that’s how the plate was set up, but I don’t really know because at the time I was just scraping my fork around until I found food. I was spot on with my guess of the dessert, right down to the strawberry and jello on the sides. I can’t exactly say what I ate for the sake of secrecy, but it was good. And the experience is priceless. I can’t stress how much I would recommend this place. It was great with a few friends or would be a really funny date (especially a first “blind” date). Talk about really getting to know someone. If you have the chance in New York, London, Paris, or Moscow be sure to check it out. http://www.danslenoir.com/index.php

Tag me in at "Africa" - Morocco Fall Break Part 1

Sarah, Laura, and I spent many hours trying to plan a fall break adventure. After going to a SnoworSand travel group presentation we fell in love with the idea of going to Morocco. This was unlike any of our other trips and we were really excited. I honestly could not think of a better way to spend my fall break. One of the best parts about my trip was the 12 other people I spent the trip with. We laughed, danced, and became a little Moroccan family for the week.

The trip started off well with a train ride to the Pisa Airport and on the train this little head pops up and asks "Are you guys going to Morocco?!? Ya? Ok My name's Stef, I'm going to film you this week. I'm with Snow or Sand." It turns out our trip was being filmed to be used in the promo video for Snow or Sand. Sounds good to me! Plus, Stef a.k.a. Hookah Mama turned out to be a good addition to our little Moroccan family. We ended up meeting with the rest of the Florence crew at the airport and got acquainted. We all bonded with the complete chaos at the airport. Most of my flights have been on this budget airline called RyanAir. Yes, you get 9 Euro flights, but you have to play their insane game. This includes booking in Italian, not adding on luggage, you only get 1 bag (under 22 pounds and no other items on you like a purse or shopping bag) or you get charged more. You also don't have assigned seats, so you must stand in a line at the terminal so that you can get a good seat. Well, our flight was majority Moroccans and Moroccans don't really follow the line concept. Once the flight attendant opened the gate a mad dash of pushing and shoving occurred. Flight attendants were yelling in Italian, Moroccans yelling back in Arabic, and the 10 little Americans just shimmied our way through and made a dash for the plane. The flight was a circus, as usual, with them trying to sell you anything you can imagine and coming on the intercom every 10 minutes announcing something ridiculous. My personal favorite is the jingle that goes off when you land, "Do do do...Congratulations!!! You're one of the many on time flights of RyanAir. RyanAir is the #1 airline for on time flights in Europe!" This went off when we landed... 10 minutes late. Anyway, the plane landed and we met our guide Mohamed a.k.a DJ MOMO.

The airport was gorgeous! Later we found it is the airport where Sex and the City 2 filmed their scenes, in addition to many parts of Morocco that we saw! Of course I watched the movie last week and got really excited when they were in the airport and shopping in the souqs. We drove through the town of Marrakesh and were dropped off in the city center. It was a beautiful chaos. Street vendors everywhere selling fresh squeezed orange juice, spices, lamps, cds, and everything Moroccan you can imagine. We headed to our Riad (basically a Moroccan Bed and Breakfast, you won't find very many hotels here, the local Riads are the way to go) through the streets and alleyway. At dusk it seemed like it was so far away, but by the last day we were roaming the streets of Marrakesh like we lived there! We arrived to our Riad and were immediately greeting with a Bonjour and welcoming arms. I was so so so excited to use my french, which is slightly better than my Italian. Sedia, the Riad owner, doesn't speak any English, and I enjoyed the broken conversations I had with her. We went from room to room admiring how beautiful our Riad was. Moroccan decorations are so full of color and have such detail, I wanted to buy everything!

The first rule of Moroccan hospitality is to serve Mint Tea. That night I had my first taste of tea and fell in love with it. Mint is one of my favorite flavors and combined with a little bit of sugar the tea is fantastic. The trick to it is the pouring method. You pour a glass, put in back in the pot, and pour again lifting the teapot high up to avoid getting mint leaves in the glass and for perfect presentation. We headed back into the city center for dinner in the souqs. DJ MOMO lead us through big white tents full of people with food being grilled and tables everywhere. Each place we passed we were asked to sit down for "the best food" and "good price". DJ MOMO lead us to a stand where we enjoyed our first Moroccan dinner. We started off with olives, bread, and some salad. Everything was so flavorful and extremely different from all the pasta and pizza I had been eating in Italy. We were then served meat and vegetable kabbobs followed by potatoes, hard boiled eggs, sausages, and fries. We thought is would never end! We all got acquainted and talked about the excited week we had ahead of us! After dinner we went to a local restaurant for some more Mint Tea. Mohamed attempted to teach us some Arabic and Berber. I officially know 3 words in Arabic: Assalamu'alekum (hello), Shukrun (thank you), and Haram Baram (cheers). But my personal favorite is "cheers" in Berber: Libito Bito Limabito Mabito. Try saying that 3 times fast.

Our first morning I woke up around 5am for the call to prayer. I knew of the call to prayer, Adhan, but I had never actually heard it in person. Five times a day all practicing Muslims repeat this summary of their statement of faith. I fell back asleep and woke up in time for my breakfast of bread, butter, honey, and tea. A nice change of pace from Italian croissants and espresso! We headed out for our tour of Marrakesh. First up was the Musee Dar Si Said, a museum of ancient art and crafts. Here we saw old woven rugs, pottery, clothing, and original decorations of the palace. Once again I was amazed by the beauty of Moroccan artwork!

 From here we walked around the streets of Marrakesh, which are always a great adventure. Always be sure to watch out for the bikes and donkeys. I was almost run over multiple times. Along the way you are sure to pass a dozen street cats. They are EVERYWHERE. And so adorable, unless you're a hater *cough Stef*. Even in the desert, which is why every cat on this trip is now referred to as "desert kitty". If you want to feel popular, just take a walk through the souqs. Every vendor will call out to you and call you beauitful. Talk about a self-esteem boost. If you tone out the noise and just look around you will notice the amazing products. The spices, clothing, lamps, jewelry, and decorations are all so incredible and you just want to buy everything. Bartering is an experience you will either love or hate. Most things are priced way high with the expectation that you will barter. I always start off with confidence and suggesting a ridiculous low price of about 20 Dirhams (about 2 Euro) for everything. This either starts off with laugh or makes them angry. I figure it's a good strategy because then I decide whether I like the guy. Chances are the same thing is being sold a few stands down, so I choose what to buy based on a fair price and if I liked the vendor. If you really want a good deal take my friend Izzy. She seemed to always walk away with a deal!

     

Next up was the Herboristerie for some Moroccan herbs and medicine. We were given a short explanation about different Moroccan medicines and how they were used. I'm a big nerd and was fascinated by everything. I typically hate taking pills and getting shots, but I love herb medicine. It's natural and I feel like it's better for the body. Not only was there medicine, there was tons of beauty supplies from argon oil to eyeliner and lipstick. I think the group spent a couple thousand Dirhams there! The shop was great and I was sure to walk away with some mint tea, package of spices, argon oil for my hair, and some special Christmas gifts!

 

 One thing we were promised and very excited for, was to see some snake charmers and take picture with monkeys. We sure got our money's worth! I am slightly afraid of snakes, but I figured... I'm in Morocco, why not. He put the snake around my neck and I lasted about 10 seconds before I decided I was done. We also got to hold monkeys. I'm usually a big fan of mammals, but these guys were crazy. The monkeys pulled hair, bit people's faces, and peed on Caitlin! But at least it was a good photo opp, especially for Sarah.

That afternoon we got lunch and we all experienced fresh squeezed ___ juice. Apparently you can juice just about anything. I ordered Jus de Pomme (Fresh squeezed apple juice), but the most popular was Jus de Banane which was delicious! We also enjoyed kabobs and fries. Yumm. The gorgeous Jardin Majorelle were the next stop in Marrakesh. The gardens were originally the painter Jacques Majorelle's, but after his death they were restored and now open to the public. They were filled with green everywhere and the prettiest color blue for the buildings. They were truly a sight and these pictures do not do it justice! On the way back to the city center we all decided to take a horse drawn carriage so we could take in the city view!

 Our next experience was one for the books. Keep in mind we met each other less than 24 hours ago, but we truly bonded over our Hammam Bath experience. We had all heard a little about the Hammam Bath. Most Moroccans go at least one a week to get extra clean and it's a typical cultural tradition. For an American, it's quite a bit out of your comfort zone. In the words of Ryan Gosling on Jimmy Fallon describing a Turkish Bath. (http://blogs.indiewire.com/carynjames/ryangoslingfallon) " I expected to walk into a spa with palm trees being waved at me and being fed grapes." Not quite. It was more like clueless American girls being sent into a empty tile room and meeting a large Moroccan woman who only spoke Arabic. Not a bit of English or French. We stood there in our swimsuits with our little bags of soap and scrubbers from the herboristerie and followed where the lady pointed. After walking into the next room we clearly saw that our swimsuits weren't needed. We decided to go for the Moroccan experience and lost our tops and headed to the "hot room". There were buckets everywhere and most women were sitting around the buckets and scrubbing the dead skin off. We all sat around and started to do the same while we chatted and giggled. Just when we thought we figured it out, a Moroccan woman came and gave us instructions in rapid Arabic. Finally she grabbed Caitlin and started scrubbing her until her skin was red. One by one we each got flopped around like a fish on the dirty tile ground and scrubbed 5 layers of dead skin off. Since we couldn't communicate, we were just pulled and flipped and got real close to this very large, very naked woman. Although this may sounds little terrifying, I have never felt so clean. We all were a little shocked at first, but now it's just a funny experience and I would recommend it. Heck, they do this every week!

After being scrubbed clean we came back to the riad for some henna tattoos. Most of us got cool hand art, but I think the winner went to Carly and the snake on her arm! We had dinner again in the souqs. Multiple course were served once again, but my favorite was the soup!

Hookah Mama enjoying her soup.

Which leads me to our next activity. Hookah! DJ MOMO led us across town and into the basement of a building where we found a pool hall and hookah bar! I have never actually smoked hookah and was excited to try our apple and mint flavors. We had a great time and were all full of laughter. DJ MOMO and Stef had quite a show down for who could smoke the best. This is how Stef received her nickname: Hookah Mama. I tried and tried, but could barely get good smoke rings until the end. At one point I realized that I was holding my hookah like a clarinet, which was strange since I haven't played since Jr. High. I guess some things just naturally sneak up on you. This led to Sarah and my extremely impressive musical number. Needless to say, my first Hookah was a success. 

                             Hookah Mama and Me                  DJ MOMO and I face off... guess who won

                                Sarah and I Hookah together!                           Champs.

Next up we head to the Sahara, but more to come on that later! Hope you enjoyed the photos/ me rambling!

Yeahhhh buddy! Ireland!

Last weekend Laura and I went to Ireland! To sum it all up- everyone was extremely nice and the pubs were fantastic!

We started off the trip in Galway to see some Ireland country. When we checked into our hostel, the front desk man gave us a map and circled the pubs we needed to go to and "have a pinttt"  (in his cute Irish accent). We started off at The Skfff. This was your typical Irish pub, with a couple singing Irish folk songs and everyone drinking Guinness and cider. I liked to pretend that I knew the songs and get into them, but the only one I recognized was Galway Girl. Perfect first Irish pub to go to. Here we ran into a group of girls from the college nearby that wanted to show us a good Irish time. One of the girls loves Americans and seems to think that we all go around saying "Yeahhh buddy". We humored her and continued to use that phrase all night and taught her to start saying "for sure" when agreeing with someone. They led us to a nearby disco, Karma. Here we finished the night with lots of dancing and talking to some Irish boys. :)

The next day we booked an all day tour of Connemara. We wanted to experience old Irish towns and this trip included a castle, a true Gaeilge speaking town, and lots of countryside. It did not disappoint! Our tour only had about 12 people and our tour guide was quite funny. He kept saying to yell at him to stop the bus if there was anyplace we wanted to stop and take a photo. We started off with a quick tour of Galway and then  went on our way. The first stop was the bridge from the John Wayne film "The Quite Man". I've never seen the film, but it sure was pretty! We went on to a tiny town where we stopped for an Irish coffee (delicious!!!) and went on to the Abbey Castle. It was built by a young couple that were in love and had a large chuck of money. From there is was sold a lot and turned into an all girls boarding school until a few years ago. It was very pretty and the gardens were amazing. The rest of the tour included sheep, Connemara ponies, and some Irish history lessons.

That night we took a bus back to Dublin and were ready to see the other side of Ireland. Dublin was a perfect mixture between a historic and modern lifestyle. I loved it, and I still can't get over how nice everyone way. Everywhere we went we were welcomed with open arms and people wanted to show us around. For dinner we went to an Irish pub (go figure) and got some typical Irish food... sort of. I got a ceasar salad, because I haven't had one since the states. Dublin gave me a little taste of American foods to hold me over. I also got Quiznos (honey mustard!), McDonalds, and Starbucks. Starbucks did laugh at me when I asked if they had Pumpkin Spice Lattes... I guess I'll have to wait until December for that one.

We met up with Aideen, a friend of Laura's friend Clare, who was kind enough to let us stay with her and show us Dublin. We had a typical Irish breakfast of sausage, eggs, brown bread, and black & white pudding. Not the pudding like Americans have, these were different and I can't say what was in it. It's best if you don't know until after you try it. Not bad though! This hearty breakfast gave us energy for our tour of Dublin. We walked around the city center and looked at the main points of Dublin. Aideen took us to a pub that has flea markets on Saturdays. They had the cutest stuff and I was sure to buy a scarf for a souvenir. The rest of the day turned into the drinking tour of Dublin. The Guinness factory was first on the list. I learned all about the art of making, pouring, and drinking Guinness. I successfully drank my first Guinness on the top of factory with a 360 degree view of Dublin. Up next was the Jameson Whiskey factory. At the end of the tour Laura got to take the official whiskey tasting where she compared the Jameson with a scotch and some American Jack Daniels. Luckily she didn't finish them so I could have a taste of them all. Jameson was my favorite! Sorry American, Dublin wins this one. I also got my complimentary drink of Jameson and cranberry which was delicious. We headed back to Aideens where she had dinner waiting for us. It was absolutely delicious! After dinner we went to her friends house and met a few other girls for drinks before we went out. They were a lot of fun and we chatted a lot about American/ Dublin life. She brought us to a Reggae bar where her friend was playing. After a few songs there Laura and I headed to an Irish Pub. We figured if you're in Ireland, you have to hit up Temple Bar! We walked down Temple Bar street and found a place with live music, Gogartys Pub. Here we met 3 Irish guys - Steven, Alan, and Henry that wanted to show us a good Irish time. They were a ton of fun to hang out with. We listened to the band, did some dancing, and had a good time. Afterwards we went to a disco with them and walked around Dublin. What a perfect Irish night!

My time in Ireland was amazing. I walked away singing Irish tunes, with a rugby jersey, and a Starbucks in my hand.