Oh Fractious Day! Callooh! Callay!

I am feeling better, still not 100% but much closer than I was yesterday. Today, I went and explored the small town of Chefchaouen. It is really quite quaint and pretty.

We looked around the shops and I love the leather bags but I think I will have to save that to the end as carrying multiple bags could be quite tricky! Tomorrow we have another bus ride which I hope will go better than the last but just glad to be feeling better.

It sucks being sick because I don't have much experience with mild illness for the past year. So when I get sick I get a bit angry with myself. I sort of tell myself off like "you are not dying, you are still alive, you are lucky look where you are! Stop being such a wuss!" but I have to remind myself that I have only been out of hospital for six months and I am still weaker and more susceptible than the usual person.

But hey! I am here so who cares!

Sick As A Dog

Today I feel as sick as a dog. I was meant to go exploring Fes but instead have been lying in bed with the contents of my stomach going out both ways. However I haven't been sick in over an hour so hopefully things are looking up.

So I ended up not getting any better and spent the whole day in bed. I woke up feeling slightly better but still not great and hoped onto a bus to take us to Chefchaouen. It was a pretty drive but sadly I felt sick as a dog and having a quick vom and spent the rest of the afternoon in bed. However I am now feeling better now and hopefully will keep my dinner down and i will head into town tomorrow.

I won't post a photo with this blog coz its really not been all that pretty!

A Big Day

Last night we got to Moulay Idriss and it is stunning. We are staying in a guest house of a lovely local family and it is way nicer than I thought it would be. They made us the most lovely dinner! They even showed us how they cooked! It was really interesting and yummy!

The next morning we woke up and walked around Moulay Idriss and saw the Mausoleum which the city is famous for and walked to the highest point and looked out across the valley.

Then we all jumped into these cabs and I am being generous when I call them cabs because they are OLD Mercedes and feel like they will fall apart or blow up at any minute.

We made it to Voulibus which is an old roman city. It was really interesting walking around. Tom would have loved it so I could not help but miss him a bit while walking around but don't ever tell him that!

We saw some really interesting things like apparently they used to put carved penis's as arrows to your nearest brothel and they used to play drinking games, much cooler than those we play now.

They also were so unbelievably smart. They would actually have running water and sewage and warm baths which every hotel in Morroco I have been in so far has not managed to have. They all have Luke warm water and it's sooo cold you have to jump back into bed after a shower.

We then went and hoped back into the Taxi's and headed off to Meknes. When we got here we had trouble getting to the hotel to drop off our bags to go exploring because there was a big protest going on about unemployment rates.

However, we made it to the hotel and then dropped off our bags and went wandering. We went to the old grainary which is really quite impressive and then walked past the kings palace but sadly we couldn't really see in. It was the cleanest area of Morocco I have seen so far though. We then went into the local Medina and had some tea and then went off on a hunt for a camel burger which was surprisingly good! We then headed back to the hotel to pick up our bags only stopping to see how the decorated their plates.

After that we jumped onto the train and went to Fes. We were so tired by this point we all basically collapsed after going out for a lovely dinner having ye another tangine. They are delicious though so no complaining here!

Rabat

Today we headed to Rabat early in the morning and I mean EARLY! We had to leave the hotel and 8AM which is basically a criminal offense! Anyway, I decided not to press charges as we were heading to Rabat the capital of Morocco.

I liked Rabat much more than Casablanca as it was very clean (in comparison) and it was sunny which is good because it is warmer and not raining so you don't get wet. However hot and appropriate Muslim attire sometimes are not the best combination. I cannot understand how people could travel in summer here!

We went to the Kasbah which is the oldest part of the city and basically a walled city inside a city! It was stunning and such a picturesque place and the doors were so tiny, obviously not made for people like dad or Tom! We also went to Mausoleum of Mohammed the V which is where the last king has been laid to rest!

The whole city was so pretty and so different from any of the European cities I have been seeing. Love the mixture of cultures that have come to create this country! It makes it such a fascinating place.

This evening I am heading to a small pilgrimage town called Moulay Idriss. We are staying with a host family in their guest house. This is very different from all of the tours that I have done because we don't have a bus or minivan and we are catching public transport everywhere.

When mum and I booked this we didn't quite know what we were getting ourselves into and got a bit of a shock when we got the breakdown of the itinerary and then another one when we got here.

It's fine though. We have only almost been stuck on a train and had to jump off while people held the doors from closing and been very lost with a photocopy map that nobody could understand but this is an adventure and what is an adventure without a few close calls.

We haven't died, yet. So off to Moulay Idriss we go!

Just The Beginning

I made it, just. I was a little for a while that we wouldn't. The plane was late leaving Zurich because it was snowing then we get to Lisbon and we get on the smallest plane I have ever been on!

The plane only fit 20 people. You had nobody sitting next to you. It was one seat and then the isle then another person. The isle was raised in the centre to accommodate the engine. You could even see out the front of the plane because the pilots weren't even separated from the rest of the plane!

We made it though and arrive into the hotel! We arrived quite late so we were really hungry so we went out and had a lovely dinner. Everyone smokes inside here though shisha and cigarettes so I am going to stink this trip.

Casablanca is an odd city, it's not what I expected but I don't really think that I had any idea what to expect but it just wasn't this but that is not to say that it is a bad thing.

The city is very alive and not really made from tourists. It is an odd mixture between and Islamic country and an African nation. They are really lax about islamic practices here though. I think this might change as we go to smaller towns.

Today mum and I went on a tour around Casablanca and I was surprised at what I saw. It is not a beautiful place in the traditional sense of the word but the people are friendly and the place is incredibly interesting mix of cultures and heritage.

This evening we met our tour group and I am the youngest by about ten years and surprisingly mum is not the oldest! The tour is a lot more basic than what we thought it was going to be. It should be interesting!

This is truly the beginning of an unforgettable adventure.

Zurich - Part 2

Back to Zurich, hard life right? But mother is coming to meet her. When I started to make my plans for this trip I really wanted to go to places like India and to the Amazon and Africa and my Dad looked at me as if I was mad. He said to me "you realize you won't have even been out of hospital for six months when you start this trip. Are you insane?" Not his exact words but general gist.

However, we came to a compromise. Mama has always wanted to go to Morocco so she is coming with me!! So she flew to Zurich to meet me. Jannie and I met her at the airport and she honestly looked like she had been in the car for an hour not a fourty hour plane ride.

Since she was here we have been snowed in for a day and it has been very cold so we have been taking it very slowly as Mum needs to get over her jet lag but we did manage to squeeze in some Swiss choccy, sweets and all things naughty and shameful. A wee excursion to see Breaking Dawn Part 2 was even on the books. 

It's been wonderful to relax at a home and catch up on some reading, tea drinking me time. Tomorrow however we are off to Morocco so I thought I probably should update the blog as it is a new beginning. 

So Africa, watch out, here I come.

Life Is Hard On Lake Como

So I left the hotel in Milan with sadness as it is the most beautiful place I have ever stayed and it was hard to leave such beauty behind not knowing what the future holds but as all of us must I left and had good faith. We drove an hour to the beautiful Italian Lake Como!

We had a good time driving in Italy even if it was a little adventurous like driving into a tunnel at which the road suddenly finished and having to back up a good two hundred meters on a tiny Italian street. We made it to Lake Como which can't help but take your breath away and when I saw where Jannie had booked for us to stay...

We stayed at the beautiful Casta Diva which were old lakeside Italian villas which have been restored to their former glory. That afternoon we went on a lake cruise in an old Italian boat around this truly picture perfect lake. It is so picture perfect it has been the set for movies such as 'Quantum Of Solace' and 'Star Wars.' Celebs like George Clooney even have houses there and not for the first time I was amazed that this is my life. It was as perfect as it sounds.

After this we went to the spa and had such a lovely time! Jannie and I then dressed up and went to have   light dinner in the bar area and there was a celebrity chef who had been cooking with this group and they were having hors d'oeuvres served and free wine and because we couldn't have dinner while this event was going on we were invited to join them.

Life is hard on Lake Como.