stuff and nonsense!

SAUL GOODMAN

It's coming home....

Looking good so far....

EVEN MOOR?

We recovered over night, and so regained our composure, and sallied forth for our dining reservation @ La Pergola rooftop/jazz/dining/bar/jungle/restaurant/cafe/hotel/riad/venue. (we take most major credit cards), which had been cunningly hidden from google maps down a completely different back alleyway.

This turned out to be the place to be seen in Marrakech. Full of bright young things (& some desperately trying to still be young) bustling together in clumps throughout the venue. After being asked if we had a reservation 4 times, Odd Job the bouncer ushered us to the lift to the top floor where we were eventually seated.

After a superb selection of local specialities to start, my Burger arrived, hidden in a bun:-

This was a new experience for me. It was truly delicious - blue cheese, mushrooms & juicy minced steak all in bread en croute.

The music brought us back to Moroccan mentalness again, with some beanie headed chap playing a bladder on a stick, fronting the jazz band. I guess it's an acquired taste.... Next up was "the turn" - a large Nigerian lady doing an impression of Cleo Laine through a selection of standards.

They ran out of beer, or wanted our table for the next booking (you decide) so we bade our farewells.

Back to the Riad for an exhausted sleep.

Awakened, refreshed and with a cry of "Adelante!" we sallied forth again to absorb more culture, & satisfy the demon Mammon @ the souk.

First stop, a woodworking stall. I tried my negotiating skills, and when the guy refused to budge on price, I said forget it, only to find he wouldn't leave me alone! Eventually, I realised Kim was waking away with our potential purchase in her bag. No wonder he was agitated.

After a stop for noss noss, then watching the card machine swallow my card, panicking and getting rescued by Kim who pressed the right button, we did more shopping. We bought some nice dishes, scarves, a lion and some coasters.

Off to Zoutoun for another Moroccan style lunch, which was amazing again. I consequently became tired & emotional, & went for a nana nap.

BED-ROCCO

The evening wore on... That's a very nice expression, isn't it? With your permission I'll say it again: 'The evening wore on.'

After listening to Wales's dire performance against Japan, we needed cheering up, so off to one of the few restaurants serving beer...

First to brave the chaos of chippy alley:-

And so to find sanctuary. Le Grande Bazaar, just off jamaaaaaa fnaaaaaaaaaa

Just when we thought it was getting quiet....

Did I mention that this place is madness?

Then tomorrow adventure calls! Off to the hills!

Our minibus

Unbeknownst to us, we had been booked onto Shitetours.Moc. The trip reminded me of old package holiday excursion trips, and why I hated them. First stop was a loo, or actually a loo in the back of a tourist tat shop, which you had to go through, IKEA like, and run the gauntlet of old Moroccans asking 'where you from' & 'I do you a good price'.

Carpet weaving out of rags

Then, off to a "village tour" which was a thinly disgised attempt to sell you a carpet, or one of 50 types of Argan oil products, guaranteed to cure skin spots, snoring, dandruff, hair loss and any other common ailment. Meh.

Typical village house (or hotel)

Next up was Shitelunchstop. Luckily, our hotel guy told us to avoid the food, so we ordered coffee. This arrived as we made our way back to the bus.

Then, joy of joys, came the mountaineering! 30 mins up a ravine over wet rocks, guided by a toothless antique Sherpa who was convinced my French was better than it is to see a waterfall. Goodness knows what he was telling me, he may even have been offering to buy Kim. We gave up before the final ascent on K2, as oxygen was not provided, and we didn't want to be med-evaced out with a broken part.

The final straws came on the way back. As the 7 hour trip was turning into over 8, the driver decided to stop & have a chat to his boss on the side of the road. This allowed the Romanians in our little group to also persuade him to divert to Carrefour so they could buy booze, whilst we waited in the bus.... Grrrrr. Still, you live & learn as they say.

Oh, and we saw some monkeys

بيرة الأسبوع التاسعة والستون

MOROCCAN ROLL

Another day, another Dihram...

We are settling in to the rhythm of Marrakech now, and coping better with the full on assault of the senses this city brings. It's always amazed me how soon you adapt to a new place & it becomes the norm.

The Riad is fantastic - a little haven of peace in the hectic streets, and really close to the main square, jamaaaaa el fnaaaaaa, or something like that. Far to many vowels for it's own good. There were some doped up Cobras and snarky looking monkeys there yesterday, with the odd duck & loads of cats wandering about.

Yes, we're staying here (outside)

Brekkie room (inside)

Our room

Shower unit from Tatooine

Last night @ the souk

Rooftop dining

Main Mosque

Saadist tombs

Bean soup, lentil salad & mint tea for lunch

Lovely old fashioned market street

Bahia palace

Beautiful Mooresco/Andalusian architecture

We took in the main square, the mosques gardens, the Saadian mausoleum, the El baddie palace, then the Bahia palace. My poor little trotters taking a pounding. Still amazed at the extent of the markets, every street seems to throng with stalls & shops selling all manner of goodies. The top of our road is the Marrakechian equivalent of Cardiff's chippy ally - not sure that I'd risk a £1.00 kebab from here.

Then back to the Riad for a nanny nap.

MORE-ROCCO

After an auto-da-fe last night, we are gradually adjusting to Morocco.

The airport pickup zone was a total free-for-all, with taxis, hire cars, babies, pregnant mothers all throwing themselves on a zebra crossing at the same time. Then, came the madness of the roads. Here, motorbikes, scooters, pushbikes, trucks, taxis & pedestrians all wanted to be in the same place at the same time. Luckily we only saw one collision in the 25 mins it took to travel 5 miles. The road passed through two gates, just wide enough for one car or about 25 scooters, with traffic allowed in both directions.

The nice man in the taxi then dropped us off outside the pedestrian zone of the medina. Well, I say pedestrian, but that seemed to include scooters, sports motorcycles, donkeys, tuk tuks (tok tok) over here, delivery scooter/truck hybrids, & probably camels. To be fair, Kim fought them all off and ploughed a furrow to our Riad. Allegedly 5 mins away, this took 15 & several expletives.

The Riad turned out to be down a dilapidated side alley, but the door opened to a haven of peace & beauty. What a find! Travel Agent Kim strikes again!

After chatting to Yahya (Moroccan for John) we girded our loins & entered the cacophony of chaos that is Jemaa el-fnaa. What a crazy place! More details of this to follow.

We ate in just as mad a place - a restaurant with a dj playing a theremin over records, then a violin playing dwarf playing "o sole mio", then a piped version of Alabama song by Brecht. The food was Moroccan, or pizza or sushi of course.