Our last night in Chefchaouen we met a Moroccan fellow at our hotel. Mohamed is from Fes, and speaks only French and Arabic. We had quite the evening with him trying to communicate, but it was fun. Out came the French/English dictionary, the phrasebook and lots of charades! We ended up playing a few hands of cards and swapping stories (as best we could) - it was an evening we won't soon forget. Mohamed asked if we liked olives, and I said no, but Peter LOVES them and is in olive heaven here! Mohamed laughed and pointed at Peter and said [View Full Entry]

---

---

Taking the bus through the mountains was wonderful, if not a little hairy as the driver passed every other vehicle on the road. We arrived into Chefchaouen around 3:30 pm and mercifully took a petit taxi up the steep hills to our hotel/hostel. The town is built right into the side of a mountain, so every road is either up or down, and some of them very steep! It is a beautiful setting, and a lovely little town. The people who live here have very strong legs from going up and down the streets all day! We are staying at Hotel [View Full Entry]

---

---

Tangier .... what can one say? There is a tout on every corner and a taxi stopping to offer his services on every block. Tangier is much larger than we thought, and the initial impressions were not that good. We arrived to find that the Hostel had closed and turned into a Snack Bar (which is fine I guess, if you are hungry). So we ended up down the road at Hotel Charf. Don't know what "Charf" means yet, if we find out we'll let you know. Our room overlooks the beach and the port, so we do have a nice [View Full Entry]

---

---

We left Mohammedia, a little sad to say good-bye as the people were so nice to us. I was sad to say good-bye to all the cute boys at the little dairy shop who treated us so well. Sorry, no pictures of the cute boys - next time I promise!! We rode the train this time from Mohammedia to Rabat, Morocco's capital city. We had a friendly fellow on the train help us out and the petit taxi driver was also very friendly - although he didn't believe Peter was from Canada - he thought maybe Mexican! That got a good [View Full Entry]

---

---

Bonjour from Mohammedia! We have travelled only 25 km north from Casablanca but we in a totally different environment. The bus trip here was also very different and fun! The hostel in Casablanca was centrally located and clean, it was very damp and cold. Lucky me, I got the flu - fever, chills the whole nine yards. So we decided to leave. Mohammedia was recommeded to us by the hostel guy so we trundled off to the bus "station" or rather spot on the road where the buses stop. We got all our bags on the bus, and ourselves, and sat [View Full Entry]

---

---

We arrived on Jan 28 to Casablanca. It is warmer than NY and TO but certainly not scorching - it is a little damp being winter here. I apologize for the short entry, but I am using a keyboard that has arabic on it, so it is a little different to type on. Casablanca is huge - and very busy. We are staying in the Old Medina which is the old part of the city. We have attached a few photos today. Lots of love, Laini and Peter [View Full Entry]

---

---

The train ride from Toronto was uneventful, albeit long. We arrived into New York last night around 10:00pm. What fun to arrive into NY on a Saturday night! It truly is the city that never sleeps! We headed out to see Times Square at night and what a show it is! Today, we just walked and walked around. Some highlights include: the Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, 5th Avenue, Central Park and lunch in an Irish pub! We are off now to the airport to head to Morocco - here's hoping it's a lot warmer there than here!! We've been [View Full Entry]

---

---

We've done the Planes and the Automobiles, and tomorrow we embark on the Train part. We leave Toronto for New York onboard Amtrak for 12-ish hours. We are looking forward to this next leg of the journey, but are also sad to leave behind Diane, Tanya, Claudia, Jasmine and Claude (who we didn't see, but did eat his yummy food!). We were spoiled rotten by Diane and her family. We've eaten enough food to see us through a lean month if necessary! Thank you to Diane, Claude, Tanya and Claudia! On Thursday we visited Niagra Falls - first time for me [View Full Entry]

---

---

We left Calgary with a few tears and a lot of hugs. (... and more luggage than we need!) Thank you to Mum and Dad for taking us to the airport and to Mark for coming to see us off too. The flight was uneventful and we arrived in Toronto safely. Peter's cousin Diane met us at the airport and graciously opened her home up to us. Her hospitality is second to none - thank you Diane!! We are due to leave on Saturday morning, but if Diane keeps treating us so well, we may never leave! This is the first [View Full Entry]

---

---

Although we are no longer working, we have been super busy with getting everything in order and the last minute shopping! Now comes the real challenge - PACKING! If anyone is skilled at getting lots of stuff into small spaces, please come see us! :) The countdown is on, we leave on Jan. 22 for Toronto and then on Jan. 27 we depart for Morocco from New York City. That we are leaving for an extended period of time hasn't quite sunk in yet ... however on some level we do know it, but it doesn't seem real. We'll let you [View Full Entry]

---

---