Friday, April 23, 2010

Sangria in Seville

Arrived in Seville on Tuesday after a three hour bus from Tarifa. Found our hostel, only a block from the Seville cathedral, dumped our bags and went for an explore.

By chance, the spring fair is on at the moment which creates an incredible party atmosphere in the city. Everywhere you look there are women in traditional Spanish floopy dresses and men in fancy suits and wide brimmed hats riding round on horse and carriages. The main festival area is just on the other side of the river. There are thousands of tents set up with tables for tapas and dance floors. Each day the fair kicks off around midday and lasts well into the early hours of the morning. We wandered around the fair, both during the day and at night, experiencing the overload of bright colours and music.

Wednesday evening we caught up with a friend we had met in Morocco and the four of us went out for Tapas. We did surprisingly well considering that we could understand no more than a few words each in the menu. We had some delicious dishes and a good jug of sangria.

Much of the evenings have been spent on the rooftop terrace, admiring our view if the cathedral and drinking mojitos and sangria.

Highlights of the city include the cathedral, plaza de espana, parque de Maria Luisa, the tower where they keep the gold that was 'aquired' from the Americas (torre del oro), the gelato and the riverbank. Yesterday we also spent half a day exploring the royal palace (real alcázar) which was amazing. There was a huge amount of Islamic art, which we understood and appreciated so much more after having been in Morocco. The gardens were spectacular (more like a huge park really) and there were fountains all over the place as well as a little pool with fish in it.

Today we have a few more hours yo explore before we head for the Spanish-portugese border town of Huelva for the night.


-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Calle Dos de Mayo,Seville,Spain

Monday, April 19, 2010

Surprise stop in Spain

This morning we got up early to catch the train from Fez to Tangier. We arrived in Tangier at 12.30 and managed to grab a cab to the port, buy tickets, dash through immigration and make it on the 1.15 ferry to Tarifa, Spain.

We arrived in Tarifa at 4pm Spanish time (2pm Morocco time). Our plan was to get a bus to Algecerias and from there to Gibraltar. But first we needed to find Internet to check whether the only hostel in Gibraltar would be able to take us. We wandered around the beautiful little Spanish seaside town and eventually stumbled across the tourist information centre, where we were told to go to bamboo cafe for wifi. Well, we couldn't use their internet without buying something so after a pitcher of sangria and an hour enjoying the sunshine we decided to skip Gibraltar and hang out in Tarifa for the night.

Bamboo cafe - excellent sangria

We found ourselves a very nice hostel and headed to the supermarket so that we could make use of the first kitchen on our trip so far. Chicken salad was on the agenda.

Before dinner we went for a walk along the beautiful beach, admired the hundreds of wind turbines on the hill side and the castle-type fortresses scattered across town. We also enjoyed some delicious gelato before heading back to the hostel.


The beach with the wind turbines on the hill behind

Fortress


Looking back towards Africa



Beautiful town


Tomorrow Jill plans an early morning swim, then free hostel breakfast before we attempt to catch a bus to Seville.

-- Post From My iPhone





Location:Tarifa

Two days in Fes

After an 8 hour train journey we arrived in Fes, dodged about 8000 people offering us taxis and started walking to our hotel. Then it rained. A lot. Eventually made it, checked in and ventured out during a break in the rain for a traditional Moroccan dinner of takeaway pizzas, which we enjoyed from the couches of our hotel terrace.

Next day we explored the old town of Fes. Poked around the souks, tried not to get too lost. We had a nice luch on a restaurant terrace, looking down on the bustling medina below. Highlights of the day include the amazing palace walls and the city walls, Brad getting sideswiped by a donkey and Jill getting excited by Astrolabes.

On the way back we stopped at a museum of morrocan culture which had a mixture of art, clothing and instruments. We also peered through the fence of more than one closed park with guards outside to stop us taking photos.

Lowlight of the day was walking across town to find the only supermarket in Fes only to find our instructions were wrong. Found the place eventually and stocked up on food for our epic trip tomorrow. Plan is to catch a train to Tangier, a ferry to Spain then a combination of buses to Gibraltar. Have only the train booked so far, we will see how successful we are tomorrow.

Cool fountain in Fes new town


Stop sign


Gate into the medina


-- Post From My iPhone




Location:Fes, Morocco

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Morrocan Mountains

Yesterday we went on a day trip excursion to the High Atlas mountains. We were collected from our hostel at 9am and taken into the crazy traffic, through the main square and out onto the open road. The view during the drive was incredible- flat plains in front of us with these huge snow capped mountains in the distance.

Oureka Valley

First stop was a Berber house, nestled in the hillside and made of terracota clay brick. There was a beautiful view of the Oureka valley and we were treated to a traditional Berber breakfast and yet another mint tea ceremony.

Mint tea ceremony


Berber house

From there it was time for our camel ride. We clambered up onto our camels, posed for photos then took them for a walk. Awesome!

Camel ride

Next stop was a dodgy bridge over a river for photos of the mountains then it was off to the waterfall. The walk up the the waterfall was pretty hard going, mainly a result of the huge numbers of tourists trying to do the same thing, but we clambered up and over the rocks and eventually made it. We enjoyed a quiet relax by the waterfall before heading back down and to our lunch stop.


Waterfall


Lunch was at a random resturant in the middle of nowhere. We were seated on a terrace with amazing views up the valley. A huge feast was put on with a morrocan salad starter, couscous, a beef dish and the most amazing chicken tagine, with fresh fruit to finish.

On the way back we had time to "pop in" to see a friend of the tour guide who grew and traded spices. Interesting visit, even if our guide was surprised and disappointed we didn't feel the need to buy anything...

Spice stalls in the Marrakech spice markets

Overall an awesome day, well worth the effort.

-- Post From My iPhone






Location:High Atlas Mountains

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Made it to Marrakesh

We made it to Marrakesh after a night in the overly orange Easyhotel at the airport and an early morning Ryanair flight. The first thing we were amazed by was the bright terracota airport, followed by some of the slowest immigration officers we've ever encountered.

Our ride to the hostel was waiting for us when we made it through and it was straight into the chaotic Marrakech roads. Brad managed to spot a camel on the way and before we knew it we were drinking mint tea in the courtyard of our hostel.

After a helpful explanation of Marrakesh from the owner (where to go, how much is fair to pay a snake charmer etc) we went out to explore the Medina.


Mosque

Place Jnnaa el Fna is the largest town square in Africa, and was our first stop. It was filled with street market stalls selling fruits and nuts, old ladies doing henna tattoos, snake charmers and the occasional monkey on a chain. After a quick explore we went to the supermarket for food then lay in the sun on our hostels roof top terrace for a few hours.


Markets

One of the many Donkeys

We returned to the Jnnaa el Fna for dinner. At night the square is filled with stalls cooking and selling morrocan food. We shared a Tagine, lamb kebabs and couscous with unidentifed meats. Good food all round.





-- Post From My iPhone

Monday, April 5, 2010

Chocolate, Cooking and Cycling in Cambridge


For easter weekend we were lucky enough to have use of Julz and Ollie's appartment in Cambridge. We caught the train up from London on Friday with our bikes and found our way to their appartment. First stop was the nearby ASDA to stock up on ingedients for a weekend of baking (they have an oven and we don't). Friday afternoon/evening was spent making bagels, eating garlic bread and roast lamb.

Saturday we went on a big bike ride through the Cambridge countryside. First we went into town, wandered around the markets, marvelled at the big old buildings of the Cambridge Colleges, and admired the river. Then before we knew it we were out into the country. We made a stop off at the American Cemetary (from world war two), a little village with a church and nothing else, a little village without a pub, and a tiny little village with a pub.



St Marys Church


Narrow streets in Cambridge



The river Cam in Cambridge




Thatched House



The Cambridge countryside


Sunday we went for a ride into town again, and wandered around the pedestrian streets. In the afternoon we cooked up a roast chicken for lunch with some homemade ciabatta bread, and spent the afternoon relaxing and reading our books. We also made chocolate easter bunnies!



Kings College



Easter Bunnies


Today we pottered about in the morning before heading back to London. Back to work tomorrow.