Morgan Through A Lens

I lived in Pretoria on and off for about two years, and over the years I've found a few places that I love to eat. Now, keep in mind, I am not a foodie. In fact, I prefer inexpensive, chill, local spots. So, if you are looking for high-end, fancy, Pretoria hotspots, this is the wrong list. But if you are looking to hang out with your friends and have a chill, fun meal, keep reading.


1. Capital Craft (craft beer + great food)
Capital Craft is one of my favorite restaurants, not only in Pretoria but in the world. Capital is a craft brewhouse that serves locally brewed beers and ciders as well as great food. I love their jalapeno poppers! $$


2. Nandos (peri-peri style)
Okay, I am well aware that Nandos is a chain restaurant, but it started in South Africa and even though the UK thinks of it as their own, it isn't haha. We don't have Nandos in America (at least when I was last there) so I had no idea how amazing it was until I tried it in South Africa. Nandos serves Brazilian/…

The last stop of our 5-week America tour was New York City. Alex was highly anticipating NYC because it's probably the most popular city in America and it's really hyped up to foreigners. I lived in New York City for three months when I was 21 so I am pretty familiar with the city and was excited to show Alex around. I also have two friends in the New York area that I got to see, which was awesome! We packed in so many classic NYC activities in only three days that by the time we left we were completely worn out. Here is our insane, three-day, NYC itinerary.


Guggenheim Museum

I really liked the Gug (as it shall be henceforth be known). I normally get bored in modern art museums but the Gug was well organized and easy to take in. The spiral structure of the museum made it easy to follow and you didn't feel like you were missing anything. Even Alex enjoyed it and I was worried he would struggle. Tickets are $25 with discounts available. 

Explore Chinatown and Little Italy
M…

The West Wing of the White House houses the Office of the President of the United States and contains the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room, the Situation Room, and the Roosevelt Room. If you watched the show, The West Wing, you get it.

The West Wing is normally closed to the public for security reasons, but my sister interns at the White House and arranged a tour for our family when we visited D.C. (for more about visiting D.C., check out this blog post).

The West Wing tour only starts after the president has left his office, therefore we had to wait until almost 10pm to get into the West Wing. Also, since there is no official tour, our "tour" was led by my sister's boss. We even saw Trump's Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney, giving a tour.

Many people don't know that the White House and West Wing are actually quite small, so a lot of the White House staff works out of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door. It's on the White House property but it is ra…

After spending a week and a half in Florida, my family, Alex, and I flew up to Washington D.C. to visit my sister. D.C. is the capital of the United States and holds a lot of historical and modern-day significance to the US and the world. We only spent about three days in D.C. but here are the highlights of our trip.


Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History was our first stop after getting off our 7am plane ride, so I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty tired walking through the museum. The SNMNH is also massive so you could spend the entire day there and still not see everything. However, the exhibits were really well done and the museum is free! The SNMNH is home to the Hope Diamond. Here's the thing, the Hope Diamond is pretty hyped up but when I saw it, it did not live up to my expectations. It's not that big, it's in a necklace, and it's blue (I was expecting a massive, clear, free-standing diamond). If anyon…