The train to Amsterdam was good and easy. Cruised through France and Belgian all hooked to our iPods and arrived in this wonderful city late afternoon. Everyone was tired. No wifi but I discovered that the pub over the road has wifi so that is where I am. Very civilized sitting on the edge of a canal with a glass of Portugese red wine. Had dinner at the pub the first night as it was about as far as anyone could move (and I took Ken and Kates order and they came over when it was ready). Yesterday wanted in towards [View Full Entry]

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Marrakesh was wonderful. We were very close to the souks (markets) and wandered around then most days. Bikes were always racing past which was a bit crazy at times but Dad only managed to bowl one person over… Not too many people and not too hassly. In fact overall we found everyone to be great and no problems. Lucy was a tough haggler and bought herself quite a few things. The shawls we’d bought in Korea to cover the girls shoulders were perfect. The best method of transport was horse and cart - to Lucys delight, and we managed to get [View Full Entry]

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Ken and I had a balloon ride early one morning, leaving the girls with their grandparents. We drove out of Marrakesh for an hour to a little village where the balloon was waiting. It was an amazing experience, first time for both of us. I was expecting it to be really scary but it wasn’t at all. Very peaceful just floating over the countryside looking down on villages and hills. After the ride we stopped in a village for mint bread and freshly baked bread. [View Full Entry]

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We all went on an organized day trip to the Ourika Valley. It was an interesting day driving through and looking up to little villages that clung to the hills. The highlight was undoubtedly when we stopped for a camel ride. [View Full Entry]

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We had a 7 hour train trip from Marrakesh to Fez which was a very easy way to travel. Very dry predominantly rural areas although we also passed Casablanca and Rabat (the capital). There were lots of olive groves but not nearly as many as Spain. Unfortunately there were also vast quantities of plastic shopping bags. We saw them everywhere in Morocco, with fields covered in them and trees full of them. Its very sad and seems to be part of a general problem with rubbish. For us it wasn’t too bad but certainly noticeable that there is a terribly casual [View Full Entry]

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For our first day in Fez we had a guide organized by the owner of our house. Worked out well as we got our bearings a bit and he told us about the places we visited. On the other days we just wandered. As well as general walk through the medina we went to a Medersa (religious school), the Blue Gate, saw into a Mosque (but we were not allowed inside) and of course were taken to the tanneries which are amazing but were neither as colourful nor as smelly as we’d expected. A big difference from Marrakesh is that instead [View Full Entry]

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I had a cooking class booked at Café Clock as a birthday present from Mum and Dad. Lucy was desperate to come too so she spent the day with me. We had a great day with 3 Americans and our Moroccan cook. Once we’d chosen what to make (beetroot salad, eggplant salad, chicken pastille and macaroons) we headed to the market to buy the food. It was a great experience with Saoud explaining everything to us. Then we spent the next few hours cooking. Lucy was the photographer and took everyone photos on their own cameras. Finally we sat on the [View Full Entry]

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We had arranged a day trip to Volubis, which is about an hour and a half away from Fez and is the main Roman ruins in Morocco. It was a good day and not too hot, in fact we actually needed our jackets at the ruins which to us seemed wonderful! We stopped by a lake on the way and took lots of photos, in fact there are so many photos taken that it is taking me ages to sort through them and it will be a huge task to get them sorted for albums (I had hoped to start while [View Full Entry]

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As well as my cooking day we had also booked a half day bread making for my family with Mum and Dad able to join in they wanted. Mum decided to come and Dad was going to watch and wander. We had a great day, same place and teacher as before. Lucy wasn’t feeling so good, mostly tired we think, so she spent the time lying down on the couch upstairs and chatting to the bellydancing teacher who came in and playing with her Littlest Pet Shop things. I was glad she’d had such a great day cooking with me earlier. [View Full Entry]

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Our Marrakesh riad advertised belly dancing but with a family of dancers I thought it would be more fun to have a lesson than watch it. I know, seems completely ridiculous but it turned out to be a great idea and lots of laughs and quite good exercise (which some of us need…). So we arranged it in Fez (our house manager organized it through Café Clock). The teacher was an American woman who had started belly dancing 10 years ago when she was 45 and has since learnt in Paris for a few months and is now married to a [View Full Entry]

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