Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Hunnakah, Eid Mubarak and so forth...
It seems a lot has happened since the last post... (I should just make it so that automatically becomes the opening line of all my blogs!)
When I left you last we (with Kate in tow) were preparing for our escape from France via a 17-hour bus ride to Madrid. Our mood wasn't helped by an arsehole french bus driver who refused to allow any food on the bus. Being the cheeky (and hungy) bunch we are, we managed to sneak on our shopping bag full of chips, biscuits, etc. under hana's jacket..
Madrid was cool but a bit of a let down. Another one of those cities that didn't really live up to expectations. Had a hilarious night out with a bunch of yanks (et al). One had been to madrid before so took us out to this 'really cool bar with 1.20 beers and you get free tapas with every drink'... after leading us round the block a few times we eventually got to 'Museo del Jamon' (museum of ham), which was completely lit up and the mirrored walls were covered in legs of ham (at this point you really need a photo because my description lacks something). To be fair beers were 1.20 but we only managed to fit one in before they closed at 12.00 and had to find a new place. Also discovered chocolate con churros which has been one of my favourite european menu items... Spanish doughnuts with a big mug of chocolate to dip in.
Went south from Madrid to Granada, which I loved. We had blue skies and sunshine for the whole time there (though it was still fucking freezing) and our hostel had a terrace with an amazing view of the alhambra. There were more staff at this hostel than guests but they were welcoming enough (they shared their drugs) and good fun was had by all. Especially the french girl who couldn't stop saying, 'I'm so exciting (sic), wooo!'.
Took a quick bus over to Seville from Granada where I met up with my parents for Christmas. Seany, georgie and selena all came for the big party. Lunch was lovely, dad did his best without an oven - it was the best microwaved turkey I've ever had! Being with my parents was profitable and took some pressure off the remaining couple of months of my trip.
Flew up to Barcelona for New Years, where mum and dad had an apartment rented in the delightful pakistani quarter. Had a bad impression of the city after the first few days, but after New Years the weather improved and we moved to the other side of the La Rambla and ended up satisfied. New Years was fun but a bit of a let down. Ended up on the roof of the apartment block watching neighbours recreate the Battle of Britain by dropping fireworks onto the opposite terrace. From Barca we all finally parted ways - Seany heading for Birmingham, Kate to Portugal and Hana and I for Morocco.
The plan was originally to fly to Malaga, catch a bus to Algeciras then get the ferry to Tangier. By the time we actually decided what we were doing flight prices had gone through the roof so we settled on the sleeper to Malaga. By the time we reached Asilah (a small beach town 45 minutes from Tangier) we had been travelling for 27 hours (a significant proportion of which was spent at the ferry terminal in Algeciras). By pure fluke we ran into a couple of Hana's sister's friends, Joel and Rowan (female) on the bus from Malaga to Algeciras. They were heading to Morocco for about a week so we made it a foursome.
Morocco is amazing. Particularly in the medinas (old arabic sections) of towns there is just so much energy. We didn't hang around in Tangiers, which has a bit of a bad rep and got the train straight to sleepy Asilah. On the 45 minute trip there we managed to make a couple of friends (one aussie and a local) and piss off a local. To be fair, we didn't really do anything to piss him off and in retrospect he was just trying to intimidate us into staying at his hotel in Asilah, but he really gave us a hard time. Luckily we had also met Imane, a girl living in Fez and who seemed to have a crush on Joel, who sat in our compartment on the train and told this guy to fuck off. Apart from that guy, Asilah was the perfect introduction to Morocco and gently eased us into the whole thing. We didn't hang around there long though, and the next night we caught the train to Fez.
The downside of second class tickets in Morocco is that there are no allocated seats. So because we were one station out of Tangier on the way to Fez, we ended up sitting in the aisle for most of the journey. We spent a few nights in Fez essentially chaperoning Joel and Imane. I had a pastilla for dinner one night (a pigeon pie coated with icing sugar) which sent me straight to the toilet, and I ended up paying for something that was already half way to the atlantic.
We left Imane behind in Fez (along with her hopes of emigration to Australia) and headed to Marrakech. Marrakech is crazy. Walk for five minutes through the main square and you're likely to see a snake charmer, a few monkeys and be offered orange juice by ten people at once even though you already have one in your hand.. For all that it was a fairly uneventful few days. On the morning Joel and Rowan left us we left on a three day Sahara trek. Were recommended the company by Hana's friend Katesy but in the end paid an arm and a leg to sit in a minibus for 3 days. Camel Trek was amazing though - finally a real desert, made of sand! Just for tommy managed to get a photo of a sand dune and the moon a la windows XP backgrounds.
Returned to Marrakech yesterday and spent a subdued day here again. Leave for London again tomorrow early and then head to South America for a month. Have decided on spending more time in Bolivia, possibly at the expense of the Inca Trail, but we'll have to wait and see. Love to hear how everyone's summers are going. Next post will be from yet another continent...
It seems a lot has happened since the last post... (I should just make it so that automatically becomes the opening line of all my blogs!)
When I left you last we (with Kate in tow) were preparing for our escape from France via a 17-hour bus ride to Madrid. Our mood wasn't helped by an arsehole french bus driver who refused to allow any food on the bus. Being the cheeky (and hungy) bunch we are, we managed to sneak on our shopping bag full of chips, biscuits, etc. under hana's jacket..
Madrid was cool but a bit of a let down. Another one of those cities that didn't really live up to expectations. Had a hilarious night out with a bunch of yanks (et al). One had been to madrid before so took us out to this 'really cool bar with 1.20 beers and you get free tapas with every drink'... after leading us round the block a few times we eventually got to 'Museo del Jamon' (museum of ham), which was completely lit up and the mirrored walls were covered in legs of ham (at this point you really need a photo because my description lacks something). To be fair beers were 1.20 but we only managed to fit one in before they closed at 12.00 and had to find a new place. Also discovered chocolate con churros which has been one of my favourite european menu items... Spanish doughnuts with a big mug of chocolate to dip in.
Went south from Madrid to Granada, which I loved. We had blue skies and sunshine for the whole time there (though it was still fucking freezing) and our hostel had a terrace with an amazing view of the alhambra. There were more staff at this hostel than guests but they were welcoming enough (they shared their drugs) and good fun was had by all. Especially the french girl who couldn't stop saying, 'I'm so exciting (sic), wooo!'.
Took a quick bus over to Seville from Granada where I met up with my parents for Christmas. Seany, georgie and selena all came for the big party. Lunch was lovely, dad did his best without an oven - it was the best microwaved turkey I've ever had! Being with my parents was profitable and took some pressure off the remaining couple of months of my trip.
Flew up to Barcelona for New Years, where mum and dad had an apartment rented in the delightful pakistani quarter. Had a bad impression of the city after the first few days, but after New Years the weather improved and we moved to the other side of the La Rambla and ended up satisfied. New Years was fun but a bit of a let down. Ended up on the roof of the apartment block watching neighbours recreate the Battle of Britain by dropping fireworks onto the opposite terrace. From Barca we all finally parted ways - Seany heading for Birmingham, Kate to Portugal and Hana and I for Morocco.
The plan was originally to fly to Malaga, catch a bus to Algeciras then get the ferry to Tangier. By the time we actually decided what we were doing flight prices had gone through the roof so we settled on the sleeper to Malaga. By the time we reached Asilah (a small beach town 45 minutes from Tangier) we had been travelling for 27 hours (a significant proportion of which was spent at the ferry terminal in Algeciras). By pure fluke we ran into a couple of Hana's sister's friends, Joel and Rowan (female) on the bus from Malaga to Algeciras. They were heading to Morocco for about a week so we made it a foursome.
Morocco is amazing. Particularly in the medinas (old arabic sections) of towns there is just so much energy. We didn't hang around in Tangiers, which has a bit of a bad rep and got the train straight to sleepy Asilah. On the 45 minute trip there we managed to make a couple of friends (one aussie and a local) and piss off a local. To be fair, we didn't really do anything to piss him off and in retrospect he was just trying to intimidate us into staying at his hotel in Asilah, but he really gave us a hard time. Luckily we had also met Imane, a girl living in Fez and who seemed to have a crush on Joel, who sat in our compartment on the train and told this guy to fuck off. Apart from that guy, Asilah was the perfect introduction to Morocco and gently eased us into the whole thing. We didn't hang around there long though, and the next night we caught the train to Fez.
The downside of second class tickets in Morocco is that there are no allocated seats. So because we were one station out of Tangier on the way to Fez, we ended up sitting in the aisle for most of the journey. We spent a few nights in Fez essentially chaperoning Joel and Imane. I had a pastilla for dinner one night (a pigeon pie coated with icing sugar) which sent me straight to the toilet, and I ended up paying for something that was already half way to the atlantic.
We left Imane behind in Fez (along with her hopes of emigration to Australia) and headed to Marrakech. Marrakech is crazy. Walk for five minutes through the main square and you're likely to see a snake charmer, a few monkeys and be offered orange juice by ten people at once even though you already have one in your hand.. For all that it was a fairly uneventful few days. On the morning Joel and Rowan left us we left on a three day Sahara trek. Were recommended the company by Hana's friend Katesy but in the end paid an arm and a leg to sit in a minibus for 3 days. Camel Trek was amazing though - finally a real desert, made of sand! Just for tommy managed to get a photo of a sand dune and the moon a la windows XP backgrounds.
Returned to Marrakech yesterday and spent a subdued day here again. Leave for London again tomorrow early and then head to South America for a month. Have decided on spending more time in Bolivia, possibly at the expense of the Inca Trail, but we'll have to wait and see. Love to hear how everyone's summers are going. Next post will be from yet another continent...
posted by YT at 1:12 am
1 Comments:
Tommy here.
About time you posted! As far as my summer holidays are going, I'm currently engaged in a subject which runs 9-5 every day this week and that's it. Six easy credit points, although it has been tough working 6-10 afterwards and then backing up the next day.
Other than that, been working plenty for both Safeway and White Cleland. With you, Seany and Johnny all overseas in the last two weeks as well as Carmel and Dan both working full-time, its been striking a balance between those two jobs and twiddling my thumbs on the couch.
I actually have some really great news too, but it will have to wait some weeks at least, maybe until you get back.
Oh, and glad you made the call to go to Morocco.
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