To Morocco (and back...?)

Arty at the Louvre.

After arriving in Paris from London we decided that 3 days would be enough for us. Time was running out on our Schengen rules and we need more time in Spain. We did a lot of walking in Paris and ate some very nice food.

So what did we see in Paris? Le tour de eiffel, Le Louvre, a fantastic building that houses the African art collection, Notre Dame, Sacre Cour, lots of train stations and so many people on the trains. Our line out to Clichy is obviously one of the lines with all of the "others" on it. The trains were so crowded you had to push and push to get on, and sometimes to get off.

 

 

Maths appreciation...

Our room in Clichy was quite small and quite stinky! I found out why it stunk so much after a bit of detective work. Yep the pipe from the toilet was broken leaving a gaping hole for all of the fumes to exit from. Nothing that a bit of glad wrap covered by alfoil wouldn't fix. I knew it would be no point asking down stairs for it to be fixed.

 

Paris was fun and we enjoyed going out and seeing things but it was quite cold and we knew it was time to move on. This time by plane! To the sun!

 

 

Art appreciation...

 

 

Snail appreciation.

 

 

We arrived at Malaga airport after a nice little flight from Paris. How much this place had changed there is even a train station here now. We took the train to somewhere and then walked down the hill to Carahuela arriving eventually at our hotel for the next few days, Hotel Miami! We went out for a beer and tapas which were initially quite uninspiring then to the next bar which had better tapas. I had a tortilla here for you Jimmi! Back then to the hotel for a swim in the pool and to decide on the next few days. It was at this time we decided to go to Morocco and also change out flights home. Dinner on the first night was what I had been waiting for - fish as I remembered it. I was a bit disappointed though. Deep fried everything.

 

 

Our digs in Carahuela.

Some of you reading this will know that I lived in Torremolinos and in the nearby hills for a few years many lifetimes ago. It has changed a great deal, so much bigger and everything is built up. There is even a train to El Chorro now. Although there are changes, I also saw that some things hadn't changed. My dentist was still there, he must be old by now! And the fish restrauants at La Carahuela still serve the same fish delights. Sol y sombre still tastes delicious. We stayed at one of the oldest hotels in La Carahuela and it was an extremely good choice. They say it was designed by Picasso's cousin.

 

 

So we sauntered around Malaga a bit, lay in the sun a bit, ate delicious tapas a bit, practised our Spanish a bit, and did not that much a bit. All good really.

 

Early in the morning we caught the bus and arrived in Algeciras bus station after a long wind down the coast. I couldn't see Mijas as it was too foggy. Fuengirola was so huge it pretty well went all the way down through Marbella to Estapona. Buildings everywhere, but also a great freeway and huge Corte Inglese stores in each town. It was crazy. Many of the towns have improved from this development.

 

At Algeciras I noticed the bus next to us was going to Tarifa so we got onto that and after half an hour we arrived in Tarifa, one of the most southern parts of Spain and also the windsurfing capital. We walked through town and eventually found the ferry port, booked a ticket which was for the 12 , no that's cancelled, the 1 no, that one is cancelled as well, so the two o'clock ferry to Tangier. As we had a few hours to kill we went to find food and were most surprised to find a fantastic little place called Bamboo that served modern, healthy and interesting food. Not that we have anything against raciones or tapa's, we have had some delicious meals but sometimes it is nice to get something you would make yourself on a daily basis. The coffee was quite good as well.

 

 

Finally we got onto the ferry and took off across the water towards Morocco. Most of the trip was spent in a line on the boat to get our passports checked and stamped. We arrived in Tangier and by passed all the touts and headed into the town to find our hotel. We walked straight to the place Paul had marked on the map only to find it was a quite seedy looking apartment block. Great, no hotel! I was busting for a 'Noddy' as it is called now. No hotel and no idea where we were. Great!

 

Then out of the blue Lawrence arrived on his horse with his gilabra flowing into the wind. Actually it was Ibram in parachute pants, a few teeth and some hair. He collected Paul into his arms and said he will save him. I just tagged along behind with my head scarf and fully covered arms and legs. We walked up hill and down dale Paul and his mate had a fine time laughing and high fiveing when something was said. Every now and then they would glance back to see if I was still tagging on. After about 1/4 of an hour I was getting a bit over cooked and really beginning to question whether we were going to end up in some crazy situation. Then after about half an hour of walking there we were in front of our hotel - amazing! And it only cost us about 6 times the taxi fare. Haha.

 

The view from the train to Meknes. Surprisingly normal.

 

 

We were quite tired after all this adventure so we distanced ourselves for a bit of time, Paul down to the bar with the only Internet we had in the hotel and me 3 floors up for a bath, trying to get back some of the fluid I had lost in my walking race through Tangier. We were wrecked and I thought we might not get outside but we did and we had a wonderful time walking through the streets of Tangier looking for a place to eat. No one hassled us and we eventually found a really nice place for a meal, which was wonderful. Paul drank two Moroccan beers that were alright. Thank you Tangier.

 

As I look out the window at the train stop Gare de Sidi Kacem I wonder what will be in store for us at Meknes. I am watching the arrival of the 2.12 to Marrakech and know in a few days that will be us... All aboard on the Marrakech express ...

 

 

Our room in Meknes. Not as normal.

Our room in Meknes. Not as normal.

 

But first it's Meknes. An old town that they say is more relaxed than Fez or Marrakech. They must be nuts cos this place is busy. Friendly, not too mad, but busy. Our room is in a beautiful Riad, like a traditional house with lots of tiles, narrow stairs, courtyards, roof top seating areas, that sort of thing. Pretty nice. It's in the Medina, so the old part of town with narrow alleys and stuff piled on top of stuff. It's cool.

 

Look closely...

 

 

We headed out to the main square to check out the action. Awesome. Berber buskers, snake charmers, (snake charmers!!) ostrich eggs for sale, people selling things that I have no idea what they were, and even a clown. Fantastic. We cruised the market stalls, drank mint tea, got a bit lost but not much, soaked it all in and somehow found our way home.

 

 

Spices, but check the coloured piles!

 

 

Relaxing near the town gate.

 

Snake charmers are cool.