mygainyear2024

[mygainyear2024]

Days 89-90 And that’s a wrap on the gap quarter…

as we head from Tangier to Madrid via Ryanair, spend a short night at a hotel (with the most comfy bed in a while) and start the long haul home via Hong Kong.

This was the longest holiday I’ve had, previously a couple of 8 week stints. And the longest solo travel at 9 weeks, previous one 8 weeks.

I was particularly pleased when Rose joined me, not only for the shared memories and experience but also I’m not sure I would have been as confident, or the experience as enjoyable, in Morocco on my own.

In the future I definitely want more of staying in the one place for longer and feeling less rushed, and less time wasted and less stress of packing and repacking. I’m up for more car hire to provide flexibility and keep those neurons firing.

In the future I definitely want less baggage 🥴

I’m not much of a blogger or writer and I started doing Tumblr blogs on my first solo trip to Europe. It helps me stay present; and maybe one day my future grandkids might read it and be inspired to travel too.

I do appreciate those who patiently listened to my pre-planning that went on for months, maybe over a year, as I kept changing my mind 🥴 and for all of you who checked in on me and read my ramblings, and for your encouraging comments along the way. Not everyday was emotionally easy, but I didn’t want to bore you with my inner demons!

For those wondering, I did finish the book, "Mrs Winterbottom takes a Gap Year", way back. It was a very easy read and there was nothing too profound to be honest. Bec Wilson (Prime Time podcaster) recommended I read it before I travelled, I'm not sure why. Spoiler alert, Mrs Winterbottom and her husband retired from their general practice and struggled to find their new norm. She wanted an overseas adventure, he wanted to build a huge veggie garden and stay at home, having travelled in his youth. She went without him, on the advice of a friend who sadly passed. She took the ashes of her friend and headed to Greece. She had an emotional connection with a Greek sailor. Her husband and adult children surprised her by showing up. She reconciled things with her husband, they travelled around in the boat they bought off said Greek sailor and her insight from the Greek experience was that volunteering / mentoring younger doctors could be fulfilling in retirement.

Now I met no Greek sailor, but someone better, Rosie from Halifax. We certainly have a connection and many shared experiences, including bursts of laughter over our incontinence and much more 😂 Thank you Rosie for making my gap quarter that much more exciting and pleasurable.

What's next for me...while I was away my job changed (I'm going back to Social Security & Welfare, this time a stint in contact centres). I'm not unhappy about this, although I will miss "my" peeps in Health. I will be living out of suitcases until late August as I rented out my room! I have a long weekend in Townsville for Keely's birthday, a long weekend in Cairns to catch up with my former EA, a plan to go to Vietnam after Christmas and hopefully meet up with Rosie and a plan to go to India with another friend in March. Pending finances and anything else that might pop up, I'd like to spend my next European vacation in the south of Italy, seeing Sicily, Palermo, Portofino, Puglia and surrounds. Any tips greatly appreciated XXX

[mygainyear2024]

Days 86-88 Tangier

Today we hopped on another CTM bus for the shorter route to Tangier. We arrived mid afternoon and got a taxi to the Old Town /Medina where, with the help of Eva (Upwork) we're staying in an airbnb that's built into the old wall https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/881065883855514348?adults=1&children=0&enable_m3_private_room=true&infants=0&pets=0&search_mode=regular_search&check_in=2024-08-11&check_out=2024-08-16&source_impression_id=p3_1719348140_P3Pk_9fmTMBcM1FD&previous_page_section_name=1000&federated_search_id=ae2c5db6-9f49-4492-941b-2affde1e36cb

It's not the cleanest place I've stayed and the shower is literally in the loo, but it's quite interesting with it's exclusive balcony right near, what the owner told us, was the remains of an English castle or similar. I think there is a hotel above us, the Hotel Continental.

It's a little cooler here on the coast and we can see Spain from the balcony. We headed out for ice cream, which was surprisingly very good and we opted for self catering, basic toasties, for dinner and a random bottle of Spanish rosé we picked up from a corner store. As my cork opener got confiscated at a security check way back, we googled how to open wine without a cork screw and after a failed attempted with a knife, we poked the cork down with a mascara!

[mygainyear2024]

The sun sets on blue

[mygainyear2024]

More blue

[mygainyear2024]

Day 84-85 Chefchaouen The Blue City

This time we’re trying the CTM buses as Supratours don’t travel this route.  Both companies have low cost seats and even lower cost baggage which you pay for when you arrive.  Three suitcases costs about $2!

I’m excited for the blue city, with the backdrop of the Rif Mountains, and I’m hoping Rose is equally enthusiastic. A little google uncovered a couple of theories about why the city is blue.

The most popular theory is that after WWII, when the Jewish community in the area grew as people fled Nazi persecution, blue was painted on the walls, floors and steps as a religious practise, to represent the colour of the sky and connect the city to heaven and God. Other theories say that the walls were painted to keep mosquitos away or reduce heat in the summer. Regardless of the reason it started, it’s likely that it’s now tourism that keeps the practice of painting the walls - which is still done once or twice a year, and we saw people with paint as we walked around.

It is hot here at 32° as we look for all the insta spots. We had trouble finding the tiny house, but asked at the Coffee Break, where we went twice today. They have fresh milk and the only latte I've had since Madrid. Cafe Clock also won me over with their goat cheese chocolate cheesecake with hot chocolate fudge sauce!

We walk to the Spanish Mosque to view the city as the sun sets

[mygainyear2024]

Day 83 Fes

Fes is the fourth largest city in Morocco.  It’s got some US chains like McDonalds, Burger King, Dominos, Pizza Hut and a couple of brand stores.

Surprisingly the taxis are so cheap given the cost of fuel.  We walked about 45 minutes through the new Medina and Jewish area (and gold souk) to Carrefour supermarket and the air conditioned mall and to get back it was less than $2 in a taxi!

The area around our riad (Farah) is littered with cats.  They get well fed which adds to the pong.  Rose continues to request to bring one home!

I google artisan stores and find a couple as we head towards the larger tannery down the streets into the main souks.  As we walk we run into a Canadian couple who we first met on our first night on tour at the Sultan Riad.  This is the third time we’ve seen them.    They warn us about the smell, but we are given mint leaves to hold to our nose.  Luckily it doesn’t smell that bad, apparently it worse this morning.  An enthusiastic guide explains the process of first the limestone wash, then into pigeon poo (yes people collect and sell pigeon poo to them and there’s even a large pigeon poo centre to provide the poo!) Then if required the skins are coloured in natural dyes, dried, and further scraped to get the animal fat off.  We’re also shown another weaving co-op and shown cactus silk off the cactus but not convinced that it’s all legit! The scarves look suspiciously manufactured.

We head for an alcoholic beverage and escape from the heat.  The rest of our 1 litre bottle of gin is consumed at the riad and we head to Veggie Pause for dinner.  The only other customers sound Australian (I can’t tell anymore as thankfully it’s been infrequent hearing my native language) and they’re from Brisbane too and they’ve left their corporate jobs to travel for the rest of the year.  They’re applying for ski jobs in France but are having trouble securing anything as they don’t speak French and they don’t have any experience.

Two nights was enough in Fes and could be left off an itinerary in my opinion. 

[mygainyear2024]

Day 82 Merzouga, Midelt and Ifrane to Fes

Our last day with Mustafa (I later find out it's actually spelt Maustafa). As we leave the Riad I notice how pretty the dunes are. They look different today, it must be the way the light projects onto the sand. No photo I take comes close to what I see, but it is beautiful.

Today we have Mustafa's brother Mohamed on board. He is also a tour guide with a partner company and he'll take the car and a Spanish family for a 10 day private tour (four days is enough for me) and Mustafa will get a public taxi back to his parents house in the desert.

It's a nine hour day to Fes. First picture stop another Valley. Second stop a bathroom break at a petrol station (there are way more petrol stations in this desert compared to Nevada where I had to turn around in the hire car for fear of running out) and Rose really wants doritos, at 30 dirham per bag (about $5 AUD). Rose is very indignant that there's more air in the bag than the packets she buys at home!

Next experience, Mustafa is pulled over by the police, there's a photo on the police phone, they are claiming he is speeding. He has to get out of the car, and he grabs two lots of money. I ask Mohamed what's happening next. He will pay a fine or a bribe! Mustafa gets back into the car and claims he's paid a bribe, as he argued he knew where the camera was and he was not speeding.

It's been a long drive before we stop for lunch at one of many restaurants we pass. I decide to have chicken and vegetable cous cous, as it's traditional to do so on a Friday.

Then another long drive before we visit Ifrane National Park, a cedar forest with many monkeys. Now they are the cheeky ones.

Our final stop is the town of Ifrane, which is referred to as the Switzerland of Morocco, it swells in population size during school holidays.

Rose still wants avocado on toast! The back up plan is a hamburger and fortunately Cafe Clock, owned by Mike Richardson (former maître d'hôtel at London's exclusive The Ivy and Wolseley restaurants), is about 90 metres from the riad, sells them, including ones made with camel!

Right next door to Cafe Clock there is a legitimate co-op, Anou. The American guy who has helped set this up said it was part of his Peace Corp project. He says the women who make the carpets that are purchased in the Medina probably only get 4%! And yes, drivers get around 50% of what you pay in other co-ops. He doubts my carpet even has cactus silk, as they've tested this and it's near impossible to use. He's not sure about camel either, but leaning on "it's probably sheep". The pieces we see are also lovely, including some jewellery items. Check them out at www.theanou.com

[mygainyear2024]

Day 81 Camel

After waking up at 5.50am to sit on a higher dune to watch the sunrise at 6.12am (Rose complained we got up way too early, but I just did what the staff suggested, perhaps they thought I'd have a shower or something!) with sand blowing at us sideways, we now have the pièce de résistance. We see the camels and the shepherd coming over the dunes and we quickly asked for help to put on our head scarves.

It was a small challenge for me to get that leg over and the ascent from the ground was quite the experience (as was the descent later). We were off in no time and I hadn't anticipated the challenges - trying to keep my shoes from coming off, taking photos while needing to hold on (as there was quite the difference between hard and soft sand without warning) and within five minutes the scarf came off, so I was also trying to cover the right hand side of my face to protect my ears, eyes and mouth from taking on board too much sand and still take in the magnificent views, and occasionally the need to adjust my seat, as I think my saddle was on a lean!

After the exhilaration of an hour plus camel ride, and like my first hammam in Istanbul, I don't think I need to repeat it, the rest of the day was spent in the local area exploring. First stop some small farming plots (dates, figs, sprouts etc). Some primary school aged children wanted us to try the small unripened figs!

Next stop to see where the nomads live, although they are not nomadic anymore, as tourism provides resources for them they've decided to stay put. The family Mustafa usually visits is most likely away for Eid, so we just have a look around their camp site. A stop at a fossil mining area. Mustafa explains it used to be mined for mascara (he shows me samples in a bottle, it looks more like black sand than mascara and I question whether he means eye liner or if it's mixed with water?), and now the site is mined for a substance I can't remember the name of that makes glass!

Next stop a Berber "depot" to look at some more carpets. Rose finds one she likes for the hallway. It's this salesman who says my carpet is not made with natural dyes, and it's cactus silk? I said I would have a chat with Mustafa about this and he asked me not to say anything as it would cause issues! Hmmm. I did say something to Mustafa and he absolutely avoided my question. Rose also learnt from her love interest, Hassan, that Mustafa would probably get 50% of the sale price. Rose is very upset that the money is not going to the Berber woman who made the carpet. And I absolutely empathise with her. But I understood this was all a possibility and that I paid too much for my carpet, but I could have done some more research and started at a much lower price. At the end of the day, it's an experience, and I won't forget where I purchased it, and meeting the 95 year old grandmother who doesn't like her picture taken. For those who are interested in buying a carpet made by women in Morocco, where the money goes to the women, don't worry I have a legitimate solution which I will post about in day 83! And there's even an online option!

We are in the car of a friend of Mustafa’s today so we can go off-road. Except it’s not registered for tourism and at one point we swerve suddenly to take a different road to avoid the police, who are everywhere! Mustafa has been constantly using his phone while driving and on enquiry it is also illegal here to be using your phone while driving! As well it’s illegal to ride a bike without a helmet, but so many do, even with kids. I did see one motor cyclist pulled over by police, so hopefully in time things will change, as Mustafa confirmed my suspicions that road accidents are high.

Next stop to listen to music played by "black" Africans, as Mustafa describes them. And then onto the eagerly awaited Berber pita, that Mustafa mentioned on day 1. Mine is chicken or turkey, but to be honest, it was a little oily and I preferred the sauce and rice that came as a starter.

Rose was quite unwell today, we stopped at a pharmacy and we were able to buy antibiotics and cough medicine and all Rose wants for lunch is avocado on rye with lemon and salt and pepper. Mustafa did try and find us an avocado (we actually received a plate in our room of 2 apples, 2 oranges and 2 avocados at the riad on the first night, so it wasn't an impossibility). Second choice is french fries! They don't usually serve french fries, but Mustafa has organised for her to have some. They are a long time coming, and she is impressed they are hand cut!

Mustafa keeps calling Rose "cheeky", I think he means "spoilt", as the day before he was describing these kind of characteristics to me. Perhaps compared to Muslim children Rose is spoilt, but she is definitely sick and was a real trooper managing the heat and being upright for so long.

We are dropped off at the most beautiful Riad Chebbi, opposite the highest dune, at 170 metres. It can be climbed, and under cooler circumstances I might have given it a go. Time to wash all the sand away and then we sleep until dinner. That rosé purchased yesterday was ok when first opened (it's not from the vineyard I was hoping to visit either), but not so good having been in a very hot car for most of today!

[mygainyear2024]

Day 80 Sahara

Exciting day, not only because our destination is the great Sahara Desert, but the other experiences were also wonderful. First to clarify with Mustafa we can change the camel ride to tomorrow morning, as Rose is not feeling great and the camel ride was pretty much the only reason she came on this trip! And we checked the weather, it's supposed to be less windy tomorrow. Our request is possible.

First stop a view over somewhere spectacular that I will get the name of tomorrow!

Then we go to Toudra Gorges. Moustafa drops us off at one end and we walk through to meet him at the other. It's school holidays and I loved seeing how the locals made use of this oasis in the heat. Cafe tables in the middle of the stream, drinks in large plastic containers sitting in the water, people are allowed to camp and they've set up blankets and cooking equipment.

Next stop a visit to a Berber co-op to learn about the art of traditional carpet making. I have measurements for a carpet for our hallway. I have been to a few carpet demonstrations in other countries and the technique of dying the wool and the sources of the colour are similar. The carpets are made from sheep (the coat taken once per year), camel (the coat taken once every three years) and silk (later research revealed that much of this might be false, except the bit about the sheep!). We are shown several beautiful pieces. One particularly captures our attention but it's too big. None of the ones the right size were as beautiful as the one we liked. There was no obligation to buy.

I enquired about the price for a carpet that would fit and then I enquired about the price of the carpet I really liked. Numbers were written on paper, backward and forwards, sold, for less than $1000 AUD. And it weighs 4.5kgs which I think I can manage. A camel hair and silk carpet, that I was informed was 25 years old and made by a woman in the mountains. Maybe the camel was 25 years old, I should have clarified if it was the camel or the age of the carpet! There is no space in our current apartment, but as the man said, we will find the right space and if not we can sell the carpet!

Mustafa asked us yesterday if we wanted alcohol and we said we'd like to try some local products. Nothing was open. Today he found a restaurant that hadn't opened but was selling supplies from a side shed. Several locals were in there with us. It felt contrabandish, but Mustafa said it was totally legit. I settled on a bottle of rosé for 100 dirham (from the winery that I tried to book a wine tasting at for Saturday, near Meknes, but they are fully booked - Volubilia-Domaine de la Zouina) and the local beer at 25 dirhams each. We drink the beer in the car and keep the wine for later.

Lunch was quite late, but it was delicious and this time Rose and I shared a set menu, as yesterday Rose ate hardly any of her lunch! She had the salad and chips and I had the roast chicken, rice and vegetables which had a delicious green pepper sauce. Only a few metres up the road we stop to buy a head scarf for the camel ride and have the welcoming henna experience with our names written in Arabic.

One last stop before the drop off point, a popular market to look at the spices. Again no obligation, but I was keen to buy some saffron threads, at €7 per gram I did not need their minimum 5 grams, so my negotiation power felt consumed by asking for 2 grams! Along with some cumin, coriander and sweet paprika, I paid way too much at 360 dirham.

As we get closer the sand is blowing across the desert impacting visibility. Mustafa said it's on the more windy side today.

Now for the excitement, our luggage is swapped into a 4WD ute and we head for the desert camp. We are staying in the sane dunes of Erg Chebbi Merzouga. The driver pauses a couple of times which was great as I could wind the window down and take some shots. The pictures don't represent the height of the dunes. Hopefully the perspective will be captured tomorrow from the camel ride. It was a thrilling ride in.

[mygainyear2024]

Day 79 Heading to the desert

Today we start our private four day tour with Mustafa from Colourful Morocco Tours, Marrakesh to Fes. I had another terrible nights' sleep with a consistent headache so I may have missed some interesting sights as I couldn’t keep my eyes open 🥴 Mustafa said I missed “road”. But what I saw out the window was really interesting, a photographer's dream. I did ask a couple of times to stop to take pictures of green doors in Boumalne Dades, near where we are staying, but either it got lost in translation or Mustafa doesn't understand my obsession with doors! He said "you'll see a lot"! But I wanted to take pictures of the best ones!!

First stop was a picture opportunity of the High Atlas Mountains, which we drove through.

Then onto a local argan co-operative where Rose and I tasted argan oil with bread, interesting, a bit tasteless really, we also tried the local honey and almond butter with argan, which was very good. We purchased lip balm and hair masks.

Next stop the famous Aït Benhaddou which was used as a site in films and tv series such as Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, Game of Thrones and the Amazing Race Australia 6! Our guide said that all residents left the ksar and moved to a neighbouring area and the original Unesco town is used for business, although we did not see it thriving as many businesses are still closed due to Eid public holidays. Rose declined the walk to the view point at the top 😳

I had the best chicken pastilla at a nearby restaurant, with icing sugar and cinnamon on top, and not fried and we also tasted Moroccan olive oil. It does have a different flavour to the Italian oil I'm used to, but it is still good. I have asked Mustafa if we might pass an area to buy some. It is usually harvested late in the year, so let's hope they are not sold out or closed.

On to Ouarzazate and the Atlas Movie Studios. We decided not to spend an hour inside the studio but had a look from outside.

We drove through the Valley of the Roses, which I imagine is spectacular in May (so for those looking for travel tips, I'd definitely recommend adding this to your list at the right time of year). I asked if we could stop at a co-operative to view the products, but sadly they were closed too. Mustafa also didn’t stop so I could take a picture. I’m going to be more assertive tomorrow 😂

What has been noticeable, when I was awake, was the quality build of all the mosques in every village compared to the state of the village itself. In some small places there was a mosque on either side of the road. Mustafa said the government pay for the mosques to be constructed. And the storks and their huge nests are here as well, using the mosque as home.

Overnight we’re staying at Sultan Dades which overlooks the city of Boumaine Dades. It’s quite windy. They have an unairconditioned gym! While I was in the gym Rose went with Mustafa and a friend of his to find vapes, I just asked for water 😂

[mygainyear2024]

Day 77-78 Argan Oil & Eid & back to Marrakesh

After a late breakfast on the upper deck of Riad Baladin we’re in search of an authentic argan oil shop, Essauoria was listed as the place to purchase it.  Many stores dilute with water. Felix, the Manager, gave us instructions and instead of showing the two taxi drivers I asked the full instructions, they saw half, as I’d folded the paper in half 🤦‍♀️

A young man approached us and said he’d heard us ask two drivers something and could he help.  He lives in Switzerland and also had a place here and a car.  He offers to drive us. And as I explained to Rose, I just didn't randomly jump in a car with a dude, I did a quick risk assessment! But he couldn’t find it either, again with only half the instructions! Websites and instagram pages led us down more rabbit holes.  He worked out, as I’d seen when I originally google maps the name, it was back in the Medina 🥴😂

We stocked up, careful not to go overboard given the weight! The authentic product is about the same price as the crappy stuff I buy at the supermarket at home, 250 dirham for 250mls.

The rest of the day was spent browsing the shops and grabbing lunch at KSOU rooftop.  The food was good, but we ordered too much. Rose wasn’t keen to come to Carrefour, 2.8kms each way for oat milk and tonic! I walked the back streets and excuse my frankness, it is a “shit hole”! Eva did offer up an alternative destination and perhaps I should have taken her advice, I think it was near Agadir. Carrefour was well stocked and slightly exciting to be honest.  They had mounds of spices, cheese, olives, Moroccan sweets, even fevertree tonic! I forgot to check for coffee pods 🤦‍♀️

Rose decided to come with me for a walk along the beach front.  It was certainly more picturesque than the back streets, but windy and bloody cold. 

Given many restaurants were closed, dinner was at Brunch & Co and it was disappointing. It was my issue in making assumptions, even with google translate. I wanted a vegetable tagine and mistook tagine with egg for vegetable and egg.  It was three fried eggs with some cherry tomato and red onion cooked in the tagine 😂 with more bread 😂 and my fourth egg for the day. Rose enjoyed her quesadilla with fries.

I had a very bad sleep, fever, headache, body aches and pains and a very slow start to day 78, it was hard to stay upright. Luckily breakfast was served to 12 and checkout was 12.

Felix warned us about the sights we might see on the streets. Mainly sheeps' heads being burnt. It was certainly an interesting experience, many huge bonfires with charred sheeps' heads, sheeps' skins in wheel barrows (later we learned they'd be taken to the tannery), sheeps' poo on the streets, burnt hooves and all sorts of bits that the stray cats would no doubt sort out. One man apologised for the site and his mate and I both said at the same time there was no need for an apology, it's their celebration. The more distressing sight was heading around the corner to go back to our Riad and seeing a young woman trying to sweep away the thick blood. Felix was surprised at this as well. He said the sheep are killed on the rooftop and the blood is washed down the drains onto the streets. We had to step into it to get inside.

Riad Baladin is owned by a German beer brewer who has two other hotels, one in Tanzania and one in Italy and they are renovating a restaurant nearby, but not for serving beer!

We caught the bus back to Marrakesh to witness the same sights. Even our driver said it was crazy. We stay at the Riad for dinner, aside from seeing the butchers cutting up the remains of the sheep for sale, there is nothing else opened.

[mygainyear2024]

Day 76 A Supratours bus to Essaouira and I’m taking my coffee black!

After seeing the open UHT milk stored under the sink I’m now having a long black and the pods I purchased for myself are splitting my portable machine, so I’m using Rose’s Starbucks coffee. Lucky for me she’s not interested in black coffee as we have a limited supply 😂

When we arrived in Marrakesh we noticed a lot of sheep being moved around the city. Hassan says everything will be closed for three days and people will head home to family.

Despite Rose telling Hassan she has a “made up” boyfriend at home, it does not deter either of them! Anyway I’m getting my incessant questions answered via their instagram chat from the bus. He writes to Rose and explains it’s the Muslim festival marking the culmination of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca and commemorating the sacrifice of Abraham. When I google shop opening hours I see Eid al-Adha, hours might differ!

The driver to the bus station explains to me that Marrakesh is now one of the safest destinations to travel, particularly in Africa. I enquired about what makes everyone so helpful. He said it’s the religion, culture, networks of businesses that work together to look after each other and the tourists, the responsive of government (eg lights in streets, cameras everywhere, more police).

A British tourist on the bus says each sheep costs 6500 dirham (that’s about $1200 AUD) and if you can’t afford a sheep to sacrifice you can swap for a goat that’s 2500 dirham. Rose confirms this with Hassan.

The three hour trip to Essaouira is comfortable with a loo stop about one hour out. When I look up from typing my blog into notes I see the occasional donkey pulling supplies, one part of the highway has a beautiful garden up the centre strip, there’s lots of dirt, a car crosses sides in front of the bus and the driver never looks our way and a young boy plays chicken with the bus driver on his bike at a roundabout!

After noisily wheeling one suitcase through the Medina for about 15 minutes to our Riad we head out for food. I read a blog of some recent digital nomads and I’m keen to try their street food pastilla recommendation. When we passed by it looked like he was all out. We went back and he made us fresh ones. We waited about 15 minutes, delicious but oily at 45 dirhams each. Keen to grab coffee I’d listed about four places where photos told the story of the possibility of a decent latte. Sisterhood Coffee & Shop is closest, the oat milk latte is passable but Rose’s iced oat milk latte looks like dirty water and maybe a good idea that it has no ice!

Given the imminent closure of business we prioritise looking around the shops. A lovely find was a large jewellery store with beautiful pieces. I hear an Aussie accent and engage, but she’s an unwilling participant. It looked like her and her offsider were potentially doing larger business with the store. Anyway I picked a beautiful pair of earrings with the help of the patient saleswoman, crafted locally using filigree (which I’d also seen in Portugal, the sales woman says it originated from here) and the Essaouira flower, the daisy (one of my favourites). It also has the Moroccan triangle and now I forget what this symbolises, but I recall it’s female related.

Dinner was at Triskala, another of the bloggers recommendations, and their menu focussed on whatever fish is caught and purchased on the day. I think because we had an 8pm booking we missed the sardines (maybe I’ll miss this season altogether, recall I was too early in Portugal) and we have the sea bass with roasted veg instead and a starter of smoked sardine pastries (Rose not a fan!)

[mygainyear2024]

Day 75 More doors of Marrakesh and Rose continually wants to rescue all the cats and their kittens

Today’s carby breakfast includes a hard boiled egg, yay!

We head out in search of jewellery for Rose. I keep stopping at many enticing shops through the maze of souks.

On the way out of the narrow alleyways to grab a taxi we spot some stylish stores which I pin to come back to.

Lunch was pre-booked at Amal, a not for profit training school for girls. They are also raising funds for the earthquake victims (I later ask Hassan about his experience during the earthquake. He recalled the sounds he heard just before, the uncertainty about what was happening, his emotions and shock symptoms after and showed us some cracks in the riad walls) .

Lunch was truly delicious. Friday is cous cous day at Amal. The chicken was more tender than yesterday and the sauce and chilli sauce sides added heaps of flavour.

The afternoon was spent doing more shopping in the heat. The pinned street had lovely clothes and accessories I really wanted to buy about four dresses from Kissa, but my luggage 😢 we settled on some eau de toilette in very cute bottles. The beauty products and fragrances here smell expensive. The sales woman mentions they work with French perfumeries.

We went to the recommended Kabana for a cocktail, at €16 each (about $30 AUD) we left. I found another nearby rooftop bar with €8 cocktails, Sky Bar WOW. The setting was equally appealing plus there was the addition of spray mist, that Rose had mentioned was required at the first place and we got peanuts and popcorn snacks on the house.

Next stop our hammam experience at Riad Elise & Spa. Rose only wanted a deep tissue massage, not feeling sure about being exposed to the other treatments (I get it, I had the same mindset before my first hammam). I opted for the Moroccan experience which included full body soaping, a very vigorous scrub, clay body mask, hair wash and a one hour massage. The therapist spoke to me in French and at one point wanted me to feel what I think was all the skin that had left my body (it did feel like the peelings from my teenage years of sun baking with baby oil 😳) It was very relaxing. Rose then declared her disappointment at missing out on the clay mask 🤷‍♀️ 😂

My first hammam experience 11 years ago in Istanbul I think will remain unsurpassed. Unlike today, underground with black tiles, the slab I was lying on was directly below a hole in the ceiling where the light shone on me and the marble was white. I didn’t notice the hardness of that marble slab quite as much. It was a surreal experience, so hard to describe. The therapist was very maternal and I don’t recall she spoke many words to me at all. I had a honey massage that day after a big sudsy body wash and scrub.

Dinner was at Falafel Terrace and Brunch, nobody’s recommendation, just good google reviews, and it did not disappoint. We were the only diners. We shared a plate of falafels, roasted veg, hummus and the best pita bread I’ve tasted thus far. The falafels didn’t taste deep fried and the blend of spices in them was deliciously noticeable.

Hassan has been hitting on Rose, sending multiple messages on Instagram. Asking if she misses him and him saying “Ayes miss you”! He is a lovely young man. And by the afternoon, or was it yesterday, I can’t remember, he wants to marry her and he can find me a Berber husband too! I told him I’m very independent and difficult 😂

Rose needs a little help managing the attention. She thinks he’s too old for her, at 27. We legitimately can decline the late night invitation on the rooftop and the offer of him playing the guitar as we are both coughing, sometimes uncontrollably and need to rest. Hassan offers to make us some herbal tea and brings out the good honey.

[mygainyear2024]

Day 74 In the "jungle"

I'm up at 7am. Hassan said he'd leave some fresh milk out for me. I wrap a scarf around my shoulders and head down in my pjs and thongs to find UHT (I thought this was a strong possibility). I make myself a coffee and sit on the little walk way between our bedroom and the bathroom, open the curtains to the open area, and really enjoy the little birds flying around in the trees right outside the verandah. They come quite close and make some very cute sounds.

After a big carb and sugar load that was breakfast (four different kinds of "bread", the pancake one was the best) with jam and honey and one sim card (as Hassan could not get mine working), we had the Riad phone, an actual map, offline maps and the sim and we opened the front door and head out into the "jungle" and immediately went the wrong way! He did say turn left, but that was after we turned right LOL!

We're heading for Jardine Marjorelle and the Yves Saint Laurent Museum. We hugged the walls of the medina, on narrow streets, passing motorbikes, cyclists, donkeys and carts and trailers with sheep (more on this later). Rose hung on pretty tight as we crossed roads outside the medina where no-one stops for pedestrians. I did quickly notice that most tourists weren't covering their shoulders and knees, which was the advice I'd read.

We make it on time for our pre-booked 11 am time slot. The gardens are an instagrammers paradise, so many women had dressed accordingly and were creating long queues. Rose didn't want her picture taken, as she had dressed down (even though I had mentioned people dress up) and said she didn't realise what we were doing today! The museum was interesting but not as crowded, and the short video about the influence of the man himself was educational. Some of the gowns on display, particularly from the 60s and 70s were glorious, sadly no pictures allowed. The gifts in the gift shop were alluring, but pricey.

Next stop a cooking class. By this time we were hungry and out of water and I only had Euros. We bypassed many possible options on our way back to the meeting point, including walking into and sitting down at one exorbitantly priced restaurant, Les Jardins du Lotus. I said to Rose I'm sure the cooking school will help us grab a street food snack (that won't make us ill) and water with Euros. However, there was a bit of chaos at the meeting point. A "helpful" man asked us if we were going to cooking school and then proceeded to lead us further away from the meeting point. I hotspotted with Rose and messaged the owner and we headed back. There was a crowd of 15 of us and I did mention our food and water needs to the organiser but I don't think she quite understood. We got some water at the class and then proceeded to share the pistachios I'd kept in my bag from Spain as we listened to the introduction!

On the menu, after collecting the veg, chicken and bread from the nearby streets, there was caramelised carrots, tomato salad, charred aubergine dip (my favourite), potato salad, followed by chicken tagine, vegetable tagine and a very basic pastilla dessert. Despite the chicken just being killed prior to us collecting it (Rose confirmed she saw live chickens out the back), it wasn't as tender as I'd expected (perhaps because of time, as the tagine was pressure cooked for 20 minutes and then put back in the tagine itself for 20 minutes). Interesting fact, I did learn that the spice mix, ras el hanout, will be different, as each family chooses the spice to include and the quantity. I also think I should have checked the price of saffron in Spain, as it's quite expensive (I can't recall the price quoted at the class but I will check at the various places we're going).

We head to Hotel Ali, the recommended currency conversion option, and the queue was quite long. I wanted to steer Rose into the main square to see the snake charmers and the monkeys. They were easily spotted on the outside of Djemaa El Fna. We passed a fresh fruit juice stand and were offered a sample. The woman at Sixt car rental in Santander had told me she got fresh orange juice everyday for €1. The mixed juice sample was tasty. Rose and I ordered our own versions and for €2 each it was so good and the owner meticulously peeled and cut the fruit while we waited.

We made a dinner reservation at the Riad owner's recommended L'Mida near our Riad for 9pm. My first taste of savoury pastilla, described as vegetarian but included scrambled egg. It was tasty with a beetroot, feta and caramelised walnut salad that we shared. This restaurant didn't serve alcohol. It was quite pricey! About $47 and we only had water with it!

We had a can of tonic from Spain, grabbed some ice from Hassan, and opened our second 1 litre bottle of Barcelonian gin.

[mygainyear2024]

Day 73 Farewell EU and your 90 day visa rules, I'm/we're off on a bucket list adventure to Morocco

Rose and I spent the morning playing tetris with our luggage, particularly as we're flying Ryan Air from Santander to Marrakesh. We duck out to grab some cash and Rose wanted to look at a different Pull & Bear shop. One of the great things about Europe has been the late checkouts, 12 noon at Hotel Chiqui.

I made a reservation at BNT Street Food for lunch, a place on the water I'd seen the first night I walked (no google, no Fork App, just intuition!). First stop the seals and lone penguin at Parque Marino de la Magdalena. This is a free park with ocean on either side and a lovely green space for hanging out.

Lunch did not disappoint. The view out to the beach/ocean, the wine and the burgers, yum. And Rose offered to buy me a cocktail, I opted for the local red instead, so smooth and good with or without the food, I had two!

Our suitcases were both 2kgs over. It worked out ok, we were allowed to remove stuff and jump the queue to bring them back as he'd ticketed us. And no-one really checked our excess carry on!

I was excited to arrive in Marrakesh and it wasn't horrid through passport control. I even practiced my very poor French with the Officer. Sadly the perfume Rose has been desperate to buy in Australia, and we found at Duty Free here, was only available in the departures area, not the arrivals area, despite me pre-ordering. Fingers crossed the pre-order at Tangier Airport on our way out will be available.

We pre-arranged transport with the Riad, and were expecting to see a sign with "Bohemian Jungle" on it and Hassan waiting. But nothing. Luckily the free airport wifi worked outside the terminal, as I left the purchase of a sim card as the Riad owner, the usually very responsive Anna from the Netherlands, said Hassan would help us with all of that. I rang Anna several times, and the Riad, and no answer. I wondered at what point I just get a taxi knowing that we still needed to walk at the end. After about 20 minutes someone else showed up with the scatchings of "Bohemian Jungle" on the back of his sign and said "I'm not Hassan, and handed me his phone to speak to Hassan to confirm we should get in the car!" It was a very exciting ride, even more exciting than any Asian country I've been to. Big cars, down narrow two way alleyways, motor cycles, cyclists, pedestrians, chaos. We entered one medina, passed the Kings Palace, and exited that one and in and out of a couple more. Rose said "I thought we were going to the jungle". My reply "it is a jungle of sorts"! We reach our destination, and I said to Rose, we'll be met and need to walk the rest of the way. The driver and Hassan seemed to be having several heated conversations. I think it was about how far he needed to drive us in. Thankfully Hassan was there when we stopped and we walked about 300 metres around several corners and we arrived. It is magnificent. Hassan served us traditional mint tea and biscuits, gave us a map and explained the important sites, a book with pictures of how to get out of the Riad and back again, and an old phone to ring if we get lost. He's already suggested to Rose that they share shisha, having given up alcohol. I heard them talking and Rose said something like "my mum won't let me"! I sang out and said "I don't mind it's up to you"! We asked for some ice so we could make a start on the second 1 litre bottle of gin! And I asked if there was fresh milk I could have for my coffee in the morning, already googling that fresh milk is available in Marrakesh, but best bought early before the sun affects it!!

[mygainyear2024]

Day 73 Farewell EU and your 90 day visa rules, I'm/we're off on a bucket list adventure to Morocco

Rose and I spent the morning playing tetris with our luggage, particularly as we're flying Ryan Air from Santander to Marrakesh. We duck out to grab some cash and Rose wanted to look at a different Pull & Bear shop. One of the great things about Europe has been the late checkouts, 12 noon at Hotel Chiqui.

I made a reservation at BNT Street Food for lunch, a place on the water I'd seen the first night I walked (no google, no Fork App, just intuition!). First stop the seals and lone penguin at Parque Marino de la Magdalena. This is a free park with ocean on either side and a lovely green space for hanging out.

Lunch did not disappoint. The view out to the beach/ocean, the wine and the burgers, yum. And Rose offered to buy me a cocktail, I opted for the local red instead, so smooth and good with or without the food, I had two!

Our suitcases were both 2kgs over. It worked out ok, we were allowed to remove stuff and jump the queue to bring them back as he'd ticketed us. And no-one really checked our excess carry on!

I was excited to arrive in Marrakesh and it wasn't horrid through passport control. I even practiced my very poor French with the Officer. Sadly the perfume Rose has been desperate to buy in Australia, and we found at Duty Free here, was only available in the departures area, not the arrivals area, despite me pre-ordering. Fingers crossed the pre-order at Tangier Airport on our way out will be available.

We pre-arranged transport with the Riad, and were expecting to see a sign with "Bohemian Jungle" on it and Hassan waiting. But nothing. Luckily the free airport wifi worked outside the terminal, as I left the purchase of a sim card as the Riad owner, the usually very responsive Anna from the Netherlands, said Hassan would help us with all of that. I rang Anna several times, and the Riad, and no answer. I wondered at what point I just get a taxi knowing that we still needed to walk at the end. After about 20 minutes someone else showed up with the scatchings of "Bohemian Jungle" on the back of his sign and said "I'm not Hassan, and handed me his phone to speak to Hassan to confirm we should get in the car!" It was a very exciting ride, even more exciting than any Asian country I've been to. Big cars, down narrow two way alleyways, motor cycles, cyclists, pedestrians, chaos. We entered one medina, passed the Kings Palace, and exited that one and in and out of a couple more. Rose said "I thought we were going to the jungle". My reply "it is a jungle of sorts"! We reach our destination, and I said to Rose, we'll be met and need to walk the rest of the way. The driver and Hassan seemed to be having several heated conversations. I think it was about how far he needed to drive us in. Thankfully Hassan was there when we stopped and we walked about 300 metres around several corners and we arrived. It is magnificent. Hassan served us traditional mint tea and biscuits, gave us a map and explained the important sites, a book with pictures of how to get out of the Riad and back again, and an old phone to ring if we get lost. He's already suggested to Rose that they share shisha, having given up alcohol. I heard them talking and Rose said something like "my mum won't let me"! I sang out and said "I don't mind it's up to you"! We asked for some ice so we could make a start on the second 1 litre bottle of gin! And I asked if there was fresh milk I could have for my coffee in the morning, already googling that fresh milk is available in Marrakesh, but best bought early before the sun affects it!!

[mygainyear2024]

Day 72 The second “G” (and a sticky situation)

Eva (Upwork) had so many recommendations for the Basque Country, including food, as she used to live here. I couldn’t get to all of them. Today we ticked off some.

First stop Comillas for the second “G”, Gaudi, and the El Capricho, to view his early work. It was okay, particularly to show Rose, but not as impressive as the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

But first busting for the loo! Luckily I see a WC sign in the public carpark, unusual but a relief. I had been thinking about pulling over earlier. I grabbed the used tissues from the console and I raced in. I made it! But then I realise one of the tissues had some old gum in it, and I’ll leave out what happens next 🥴 On next glance I saw there was toilet paper on the roll 🤪

Next stop San Vicente de la Barquera for fresh seafood as we couldn’t find anything over a 3.8 rating in Comillas. I think I just drove a Camino trail route though🤷‍♀️ The squid was delicious, as was the wine. Rose wasn’t so keen on the mussels. We had a lot of pimentos and ordinary hot chips.

We then went to Monumento Natural de las Secuoyas del Monte Cabezón but the weather was a bit ordinary and neither of us felt like bush walking and it was getting late and we still had one more stop.

So on to Santillana del Mar, our last stop. Sadly many interesting looking jewellery stores were closed but it was a pleasurable stroll around a medieval village.

I really wanted to go to Oviedo, featured in a few articles that crossed my emails while I’ve been travelling. However my hips and back weren’t up to the distance. Another time.

Last stop before the hotel, top rated cheesecake La Quesona. I couldn’t find a park so after driving around the block four times I asked Rose to jump out, I put the hazard lights on, needed to do another round, and she jumped in and declared there were only cakes, not slices. Luckily she grabbed one! That’s ok, we can eat it! It was good, but not as good as La Vina.