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France, Spain and Morocco

April - May 2016
A 42-day adventure by Sheryl Read more
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  • Sheryl BurgessFrance, Spain and Morocco
    Day 17

    Tarifa, Spain

    April 25, 2016 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    Caught the train from Granada to Algeciras today and then bought a ferry ticket to cross over to Morocco. The ferry ticket took us by bus to Tarifa and then the ferry across to Tanger Ville. Bus took about 30min to get to Tarifa and then the ferry took 1hr to get to Tanger.Read more

  • Sheryl BurgessFrance, Spain and Morocco
    Day 17

    Tanger, Morocco

    April 25, 2016 in Morocco ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Well we made it across the Strait of Gibralter (I think it is called). Pulled up in Algeciras after traveling from Granada. Left Granada at 6.45am. Got to Algeciras at 11am. Walked to the ferry terminal which is straight up the road and into the ferry termal. They were all asking us to book with them but we wanted to travel with FRS. We walked up to their counter. Good thing to as we were expecting to have to catch the ferry across from Algeciras to Tanger Med and then we did not know how we where going to get from Tanger Med to Tanger Ville. FRS had a bus to Tarifa and then a ferry leaving a half our after we got there (1pm) The ferry from Tarifa takes you strait to Tanger Ville. Only cost us 37 Euro each for the bus to Tarifa and included the ferry to Tanger Ville. Food and drink on the boat to at reasonalble cost. The trip takes 1 hour but you need to allow for about 30 minutes for disembarking and going through customs.
    FRS will also change your euro at Tanger for you into MAD. Mad is what it is like getting off the boat to. People waiting like seagulls to pounce on you and take you in a cab. We got some fella that spoke good english to and he got us a cab. Cost us 50MAD which I think is about 5 Euro but he wanted to take us on a walking tour of the city later. We were in two minds but decided to do this. He is taking us for a few hours for 10 euro each. I think this isn't too bad as we paid more than this in Granada for a walking tour that we had to share with other people and wait for the guide to speak in Spanish to the Spanish people on the tour before she spoke English (and not the best english either). He will pick us up at the hotel foyer at 4pm.
    The walking tour was very good. OUr guides name was Akrum and he took us all over the medina and kasba. We were out for 3 hours and at the end he recommended a place to eat so we left our guide and stopped and ate. Worth the money we paid. 200 MAD plus we gave hm 50 MAD extra. This was still cheaper than our tour in Granada and he spoke better english and we were on our own private tour. We tried olives from the market and crepes and stopped off at a sweets store that make backlava. Not as good as home but still good and we tried some other delights as well.
    Dinner was delicous and we had a targine each. Our first try and we liked it.    Read more

  • Sheryl BurgessFrance, Spain and Morocco
    Day 19

    Casablanca. Morocco

    April 27, 2016 in Morocco ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Got in from the train around 2.30pm. Caught the train from Tanger at 9.30am. Good trip even though it stopped many times. The toilet was interesting. It is a long drop straight onto the tracks. We paid for 1st class so we would be gauranteed a seat but we purchased the tickets an hour before we boarded. We had the 6 birth seating cabin to ourselves for a good couple of hours and I was able to lay down and have a sleep. We got company for a short part of the trip but then he disembaked an hour before we got to Cassa. We got in a petite cab and went to the hotel Mamoura. 60 MAD which is about 6 Euro. Cheap as compaired to home.
    The room is pretty good compaired to the room we had in Tanger. That was very basic but this room is flash by Tanger standards. Intrepid booked this hotel and I must say so far so good. Just waiting for our friends Cass and Megan to arrive from the airport as they are joining us on our tour with Intrepid tomorrow.
    Not so impressed with Casablanca as yet. It is very dirty what I have seen so far. The medina and the mosque has been recommended to us and we may head out there tomorrow as I think Cass and Megan may want to freshen up and relax this afternoon after over 30 hours in transit.
    Day 2 - took a cab (the 5 of us) to the mosque. Did a tour of the mosque (1/2 hr) and it was great to see. This building is incredible 200m x 100m x 65m tall) It was consturcted over a 6 year period with 3,000 people working on it. They worked in shifts around the clock.
    Walked from there through the old medina and then onto a nice resturant to have tea and a snack. Walked on from there through the new medina. From there we walked up the main street onto the market and had lunch. What an experiance that was. We had to pick our own fresh seafood and take it back to the resturant foor area and they cooked it for us. Very interesting and tasty. Luckly there was a lady dinning there that spoke english or we would not have known what the process was to eat there.    Read more

  • Sheryl BurgessFrance, Spain and Morocco
    Day 20

    Rabat, Morocco

    April 28, 2016 in Morocco ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Well the day started with leaving the hotel at 8.15am to catch the train to Rabat. We arrived after an hour of travel and walked to a cafe near cafe hawai. Left our bags there and took off on foot to the Kasbah. The Kasbah dates back to the 1300's. The Kasbah was worth seeing and looked out over the ocean. The beach was nearby as well. What was interesting was the graves that all faced meca. There was thousands and thousands of them. We got lost going back as we wanted to view the Hassan tower but took a wrong turn and walked the long way around and ended up getting to the resturant for lunch by 1pm. Had targien for lunch.
    On the train again at 2pm and heading Moulay Indress. Should be a 3hr trip.    Read more

  • Sheryl BurgessFrance, Spain and Morocco
    Day 21

    Moulay Idress

    April 29, 2016 in Morocco ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Arrived at Moulay Indress this afternoon by taxi. What a great little city this is. It sits up in the hills and is sourounded by farmland.
    The riat we are staying in is lovely and Clint and I have the penthouse right at the very top of the building. It is 5 stories up and we have to climb the stairs to get to our bedroom. The room is simple but clean and the view is amazing.
    We did a walking tour of the city this afternoon with a guide. Lucky we had a guide cause we would not have fournd our way back. He only charged us 20 MAD each for this tour and we were gone for a couple of hours. On our return we watched the lady of the house make cous cous. We then sat down for dinner with Moroccon salad and olives, bread, next course was moroccon soup which was beautiful and then main course which was a meatball targine and a the cous cous with chicken and steamed vegies. Desert was sliced oranges with cinammon on them. Suprisingly tasty. Finished of with verbena tea. Fantastic place. Loved it a lot.    Read more

  • Sheryl BurgessFrance, Spain and Morocco
    Day 22

    Volubillis and Meknes

    April 30, 2016 in Morocco ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Started the day heading out to the ruins at Volubilis from Moulay Idress. How amazing these were. I could have stayed here all day amongst these Roman ruins. Just loved them.
    They were apparently one of the Romans most remote bases which remained affluent until the 8th century. The main structures remained intact until they were damaged in an earthquack in the 18th centurary. Much of the marbel then was taken from the site and used for construction in nearby Meknes.
    Onto Meknes were we toured around the royal palace and ate a camel burger before heading off to Fes.
    Fantastic day    Read more

  • Sheryl BurgessFrance, Spain and Morocco
    Day 22

    Fes

    April 30, 2016 in Morocco ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Started the afternoon in Fez arriving at the hotel Olympic. Had dinner at this awesome resturant Resturant of Marrakech (tangien of course). Ready for anothe full day tomorrow.
    Next day we visited the potters and seen the mosaic tiles and pottery items and how they make them. The next place was a view of the city and the medina from the top of the hill. We visited the medina and the tannerie within the medina and the copper/silver smith were i bought a camel tea pot. Onto the silk maker . We had lunch somewhere in the medina. Big day but a great day.Read more

  • Sheryl BurgessFrance, Spain and Morocco
    Day 24

    Chefchaouen

    May 2, 2016 in Morocco ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    Arrived in Chefchaoun yesterday afternoon. The group took a bongo van taxi into the city from the hotel. It was Labour Day and crazy busy in the city. In fact it was too busy we were flat out getting through the crowd. We did mandage to get from were they do the washing down through the medina into the square next to the Kasbah. We went for dinner at this really nice terrace resturant called something Aladin. We where still full from lunch but had the vegetable soup and Moroccon soup. Very nice it was and only 25MAD. We caught a cab back to the hotel (15 MAD). It was late by the time we got to bed but there was a lot of noise going on outside the hotel. The hotel whilst comfortable and adequate is noisy.
    The second day was spent as a free day and we took a cab into town. We walked up to the mosqu on the hill and whilst the mosque is closed the view is amazing and it was just lovely to sit on the wall and admire the view for a while. The day was spent meandering around the medina. Very easy to navigate and a guide is not really necesary.
    The hena I got done in the square near the Kasbah. It cost 30 MAD.
    We have discovered that being able to speak French helps a lot. Not that we can, only bits and pieces.    Read more

  • Sheryl BurgessFrance, Spain and Morocco
    Day 27

    Marrakech, Morocco

    May 5, 2016 in Morocco ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Arrived in Marrakech after traveling on the overnight Marrakech express from Tanger. Inntersting trip. Recomend earplugs and a eye mask for sleeping as well as wet wipes as the toilet facilities are not the place you would liketo freshen up. Pack some snacks to if you get hungry as the food and drink cart is pricey, but you would expect that to be the case.
    Walked to the medina to have a look around. Got lost. Had a great burger in one of the smaller squares off the edge of the souk. Walked around that afternoon and a hail storm came over. Apparently this is not usual and it certainly was interesting for us. Later that evening at dinner there was a hail storm again. Too cool.
    We visited the Ben Youssef Medrasa. Was an Islamic college and was the largest medresa in all of Morocco and was built in the 14 century.
    There was a runaway horse and carriage in the square this afternoon which we missed but by the look of it I reckon the people that paid for that ride would have got more ride than they paid for. The two stalls it crashed into were still shut the next day.
    Did a bike ride this morning which went for two hours. Think it was a little overpriced but the highlight for me was the riding through the traffic. That was interesting. We stopped for fresh squeezed orange juice in the square at stall 35. No ice and still cold.
    Had a quiet afternoon at the hotel La Caspian were we are staying. We have 4 people leaving our tour but we have two new ones joining us from Australia for the second leg of our Morocco Encompassed trip with Intrepid.    Read more

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