The Air Maroc flight was uneventful, and I was back in Istanbul. A taxi to the hotel and then meet the roommate, and down to meet a new group. This time there were a group of 8 friends from the US and four Australians. Istanbul or at least the Sultanahmet was a now familiar and welcoming place having been through back in June. The sounds of the call to prayer, the hustle on the street were all as it should be. We had an enjoyable dinner in the one of the restaurant areas and a small wander through the area in the evening. The following day was a guided walk where we went inside the Blue Mosque to admire it’s architecture, although we timed it so there were large numbers of groups from some cruise boats ... read more

The ride to Fes began with squeezing into tiny taxis to get to the bus station, where we zoomed around corners with little regard to chickens, dogs or people along the way. At the bus station we had to go up a set of stairs to the office where someone came out to tag all our baggage with numbers, then we proceeded back down the stairs with our luggage to find our bus. Apparently in Fes our luggage would be taken off the bus like you would at an airport terminal and you retrieve it later. The coach we had, needed new suspension and shock absorbers, so we bounced and rocked our way over the windy and dusty roads to Fes. We had a stop halfway for a toilet break, it’s amazing if you have to ... read more

Jerez - September 20 Our trip then headed back into Spain, to a small town called Jerez (pronounced more like Hereth) which is the home for Sherry. We had a large hotel room which was great to spread out. Tapas for dinner, before an orientation walk around the town. The following day we had a visit to the famous Tio Pepe winery (called Gonzalez Byass) with an informative tour regarding Sherry and Brandy making, as well as the famous signatures on their barrels that they had collected for over 100 years. There is also a tradition at this winery to look after the local cellar mouse. They leave out each day a glass of wine, and a tray of food, complete with tiny ladder so the mouse can reach it. The family history holds that this ... read more

Lisbon: September 16-17 We travelled by train to Lisbon, which was quite different from what I had expected. I think I’d seen a Sean Connery movie years ago that showed the colourful buildings set into the hill overlooking what I took to be the sea. However, what the water actually was is an really large estuary. The town of Lisbon is much less pristine than the towns I had visited in Spain, and you notice that Portugal’s economic situation must be lower than that of Spain. However, it certainly has a vibrancy to it that was quite different to Spain. No ned for white tableclothes here! On our orientation walk we visited the local church and the Castle/fort on the hill which provided great views across the city. From the top of the hill I saw ... read more

Salamanca - September 13 The following day we made the journey to Salamanca, first by metro and then by coach. Salamanca is a university town and is known for speaking the purist Spanish (and therefore gets language students from around the world). We arrived there during their week long festivities for their Saints day. There were food stalls and bands playing in the square that created a lively atmosphere. We wandered the streets of this town and visited the House of Shells which is actually a place that pilgrims would come to stay on their 1000km pilgramage through France and Spain. We also visited a freeze that hidden a hidden frog in it that we needed to search fo. We learned a little of the struggles of the Spanish revolution and the history of Spain’s alliance ... read more