It has been a while since I have graced the internet with my writing, so i have a lot to go through. Since my last update my family and I left Barcelona and took a flight into Morocco. After a dodgy landing in a cross wind we were in yet another country.
Mom had organised for us to be met by a driver from the tour company we had organised the Morocco leg with, and in hindsight this turned out to be a very good decision. Morocco, and Marrakesh in particular (the city we landed in) has tendency toward large numbers of tight, crowded alleyways guaranteed to make the average tourist lost. I do not believe that we would ever have found the Riad that we were staying in without them. Resembling a flat roofed 3 story apartment with a big rectangle cut out of the middle to form a court yard, Riads are the most common type of hotel/motel/guest house to be found in Morocco. We did discover, however, that the hotel staff had misunderstood our booking slightly, and the room my brother and I were to share only had a large queen sized bed in it... At least the pillows were fairly substantial and prevented William from rolling onto me in his sleep. The Riad staff did sort this out before the next night though.
Our first full day in Marrakesh involved a foot tour through the alleyways and markets that made up the city with a 20 something year old tour guide named Jamal. We wove our way through spice shops, littered alley ways and exquisite artisian show rooms as part of our tour. William even got to see snake charmers in action and we both had snakes put around our necks, fulfilling one of the categories on his "holiday Bucket List".
The second day we did something that I think has been the highlight of the trip so far. When mom and dad were planning our trip over seas, they decided NO MOUNTAIN BIKING for a change of pace for our travels. However, in the end we just couldn't resist going for a ride in the majestic Atlas Mountains. Under the supervision and guidance of local company Argan Extreme Adventures, who are also the local Giant importers, we went for a guided tour through the mountains. Steep climbs at altitude of over 1000m in 40C heat meant we went through water like a bucket that has been dealt to with a nice big axe. However, the rocky, fast descents through Berber villages were worth the climb. Hicham, our guide, and Cj, our driver from Argan were great and if you happen to be in the area I would reccomend them.
One of our break through moments in Marrakesh was with the jack of all trades at our Riad named Hazma. Hazma lives in a tiny room under the stairs of the Riad that lead to mom nick naming him Harry Potter... he was genuinely enthusiastic, very friendly and a good cook to boot; always willing to help out. However, his english was very broken; it was hard to communicate with him. That is, until I found out that he spoke fluent spanish, and not the catalan dialect i struggled to understand in Barcelona. Pretty quickly I could translate everything he said and we were able to happily talk to him. One of the highlighting moments of the trip.
The days following were quite a rush. We spent two of them with another driver, Khaled, working our way up the country through gorges, mountains and even a local wedding. We visited a remote "Kasbah" which is the local equivalent of a small palace and met a Berber nomade named Ali who showed us around. An absolute character; after all, how many nomads would you expect to break out singing "Rock the kasbah" as they show you the view...
Back on the road again, we got to fulfill another one of William's "Bucket List" items; we took an overnight camel trek in the gigantic Desert Dunes of Erg Chebi. Sleeping under a Super Moon in the desert is a surreal experience that I will remember for a long time, along with learning to play the bongos.
Our last stop in Morocco was Fes. What came first; the city or the hat? Apparently, the hat, and although I really wanted to buy one we had no way of preventing it from being crushed in my pack so it had to pass. I did however earn the nick name "Hagglemeister" from my family after managing to argue 50% of the price off an ornamental dagger. Have YOU heard of the Hagglemeister???
Fes was a much cleaner city than Marrakesh, and harder to get lost in. However, it was always a relief to return to the Riad with air conditioned rooms in the 45C heat. The takings? 2 ornamental daggers (one for me, one for william), A large carpet, and a lot of fabric that mom and dad have plans for.
The final day in Morocco was a rushed one; up early to catch a train to the coat of the country for a passage to Spain. We travelled first class (which in Morocco means you don't have to share your seat with a goat and a chicken) and soon found ourselves at the coast, with the sea breeze keeping the temperature at a lovely 25C. However, this same sea breeze meant that there were rather large waves during the ferry crossing to spain; I have never heard so many people be sea sick simultaneously. I, who usually does not succumb to sea sickness, came very close to joining the crescendo too. Thankfully the trip was only an hour and a half.
My summary of Morocco runs like this:
GOOD
The people here are genuinely lovely and happy to help out. With one exception, all off our guides were engaging ad brilliant.
The scenery is a huge change to what we are used to, and large parts of the country are quite beautiful in their own way.
Mountain biking.
BAD
Due to water quality almost guaranteeing some kind of intestinal parasite, you have to buy bottled water for every thing.
The Food. It tastes good, but the only bloody thing they seem to serve is Chicken Tagine! Also, the portions are ALWAYS three course meals with each course being enough to feed several people as an outright meal. Those portions are ridiculous...
So, we are now in Spain again, this time the southern region of Andalucia. We are slowly working our way north and are currently in the village of Ronda. Stay tuned!
Robin
Friday, June 28, 2013
Thursday, June 20, 2013
A Gaudi day to be a tourist
Today marks our second day here in Barcelona; we have now been here for twice as long as we had yesterday! Barcelona is famous for its architecture designed by one Antonio Gaudi, so that was the theme today. After a quick breakfast we bought a multi use train ticket and found ourselves on the Spanish metro.
I have never been on an underground train system before; the auckland train system is above ground for starters, and cannot really be used unless you are happy being late to wherever you are trying to go. A proper metro system, on the other hand, has none of these problems. Trains arrive every 3.5 minutes on the dot and there are stations all over the city. I found the whole experience quite painless and easy; it would be nice to have a similar system back home instead of the hundreds of buses that form the auckland public transport system. After all, you can fit a lot more people in a train and can get them on and off the train faster than a bus can. Now back to the story.
Our first stop was the Sagrada Familia, easily the largest cathedral I ever have and probably ever will see. Still under construction, it was a project started in the 1800's and is still in progress. They estimate that it will be finished in around 2028, although some catharsis have been known to take 600 years to build!
I am not a religious person but even I can appreciate what Gaudi and the Spaniards have done with Sagrada familia. The outside is incredibly ornate, with carvings and status telling the story of Jesus Christ and other biblical stories. The amount of symbolism present and the level of detail is astonishing. The inside however, is different to any of the cathedrals I have ever visited. Surprisingly lacking in statues, Sagrada familia gains is sense of awe from its architectural merit instead. The columns are made of different types of stones to give them current colors, and are all carved into hyperparabolic patterns. Again, the level of detail is astonishing. The walls are almost entirely constructed from stained glass; the light from which makes the interior of the cathedral glow in a myriad of colors. Anyway, you know you have a good cathedral when even visiting Muslims seem to like it!
We opted to take a guided tour of the cathedral. If you ever get the chance to visit I highly recommend one; you will discover so much more about how the place has been built and all the symbolism involved. We also had the chance to visit the top of one of the cathedrals towers; Will and mom found it induced wobbly legs and almost paralyzing fear from vertigo but I enjoyed the view. All and all very worth visiting; it's worth the round the block queue. The entry fee covers the costs of building the place as it is funded entirely by donations do it is worth it even if it is just to say that you own a tiny part of Sagrada familia.
The second part of our Gaudi trip was the park güal. Built in the hills of Barcelona the park features a few kilometres of waking paths and sons typically Gaudi architecture. At the summit of the peak we found ourselves, and along with a few others, face to face with the most eclectic, eccentric and down right nutty busker I have ever seen! With leopard print pants, a singlet, some cheap sunglasses and a guitar he danced around singing badly trying to get people's attention. It soon became clear that he only knew one song, and also that he fancied himself as a bit of a catch because he would start purring like a cat every time a pretty girl walked past, and would persist in following whoever his latest fixation happened to be for the next few minutes. It got to the point where I wasn't sure if he had crossed the line from hopeless romantic to downright creepy; I was assured by others it was well into the creepy category.
The rest of the park was beautiful to say the least. Arched bridges, stone seats, gardens of flowers and mosaic were in abundance with Gaudi abstractness present in each one. I enjoyed it a lot but it was shadowed slightly by the nut job up on the hill, but enjoyable nonetheless.
And so ends day two. I have found that my Spanish is becoming rapidly more fluent even though we are in an area dominated by catalonian, and I gain confidence every day. All is good. Onwards and upwards!
I have never been on an underground train system before; the auckland train system is above ground for starters, and cannot really be used unless you are happy being late to wherever you are trying to go. A proper metro system, on the other hand, has none of these problems. Trains arrive every 3.5 minutes on the dot and there are stations all over the city. I found the whole experience quite painless and easy; it would be nice to have a similar system back home instead of the hundreds of buses that form the auckland public transport system. After all, you can fit a lot more people in a train and can get them on and off the train faster than a bus can. Now back to the story.
Our first stop was the Sagrada Familia, easily the largest cathedral I ever have and probably ever will see. Still under construction, it was a project started in the 1800's and is still in progress. They estimate that it will be finished in around 2028, although some catharsis have been known to take 600 years to build!
I am not a religious person but even I can appreciate what Gaudi and the Spaniards have done with Sagrada familia. The outside is incredibly ornate, with carvings and status telling the story of Jesus Christ and other biblical stories. The amount of symbolism present and the level of detail is astonishing. The inside however, is different to any of the cathedrals I have ever visited. Surprisingly lacking in statues, Sagrada familia gains is sense of awe from its architectural merit instead. The columns are made of different types of stones to give them current colors, and are all carved into hyperparabolic patterns. Again, the level of detail is astonishing. The walls are almost entirely constructed from stained glass; the light from which makes the interior of the cathedral glow in a myriad of colors. Anyway, you know you have a good cathedral when even visiting Muslims seem to like it!
We opted to take a guided tour of the cathedral. If you ever get the chance to visit I highly recommend one; you will discover so much more about how the place has been built and all the symbolism involved. We also had the chance to visit the top of one of the cathedrals towers; Will and mom found it induced wobbly legs and almost paralyzing fear from vertigo but I enjoyed the view. All and all very worth visiting; it's worth the round the block queue. The entry fee covers the costs of building the place as it is funded entirely by donations do it is worth it even if it is just to say that you own a tiny part of Sagrada familia.
The second part of our Gaudi trip was the park güal. Built in the hills of Barcelona the park features a few kilometres of waking paths and sons typically Gaudi architecture. At the summit of the peak we found ourselves, and along with a few others, face to face with the most eclectic, eccentric and down right nutty busker I have ever seen! With leopard print pants, a singlet, some cheap sunglasses and a guitar he danced around singing badly trying to get people's attention. It soon became clear that he only knew one song, and also that he fancied himself as a bit of a catch because he would start purring like a cat every time a pretty girl walked past, and would persist in following whoever his latest fixation happened to be for the next few minutes. It got to the point where I wasn't sure if he had crossed the line from hopeless romantic to downright creepy; I was assured by others it was well into the creepy category.
The rest of the park was beautiful to say the least. Arched bridges, stone seats, gardens of flowers and mosaic were in abundance with Gaudi abstractness present in each one. I enjoyed it a lot but it was shadowed slightly by the nut job up on the hill, but enjoyable nonetheless.
And so ends day two. I have found that my Spanish is becoming rapidly more fluent even though we are in an area dominated by catalonian, and I gain confidence every day. All is good. Onwards and upwards!
Monday, June 17, 2013
Barcelona
Well, here we are! Staying in an amazing little apartment in Barcelona next to a cafe with an amazing selection of croissants, biscuits and other baking. Need I ask for more? I like this country...
The Flight over was normal although it did take thirteen hours. other than that, we are good.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Welcome
Bienvenidos Amigos!
Here I will be writing about my travels around the world; to Spain, Morocco, Japan and hopefully one day even further! I hope you enjoy reading about my travels and what I get up to overseas.
Hasta Pronto!
Robin
Here I will be writing about my travels around the world; to Spain, Morocco, Japan and hopefully one day even further! I hope you enjoy reading about my travels and what I get up to overseas.
Hasta Pronto!
Robin
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)