To Fez

Going away from Casablanca

Rabat. Driving out of Casablanca: dry, industrial and goes for miles. There are 30 million people in Morocco,  quite a few live here. The air is hazy here, probably due to their oil refinery and oil fired power station.

A truly awful place.  Rabat, a different story.  Well, the king lives there for a start.  A much nicer and more interesting city of 800,000.

Rabat

A look at one of the king's mausoleums. Took ten years to build. Marvellous workmanship. Four soldiers on guard, plus two more at the entrance on horses, stood still in the hot sun. These guys are tough.

The Mausoleum

Onwards to Fez, and yet another opulent hotel.  The Royal Mirage Hotel.

http://www.royalmiragehotels.com/fes/fr/index.php.

Beautiful swimming pool.  After a swim, out on to the street in search of a cheap meal. Two pizzas for about ten dollars.  

We will be here two nights, and tomorrow we visit a Berber village, where they live in caves.

This note is written  a year later: I realise I have left out the bit where we did a tour through the old town, some 2000 years old(?).  This was total culture shock for me, but a memory that will remain with me always.  This was clearly the best experience of the trip.  Our guide led us into the old town through very small and winding passages.  High walls every where, donkeys, stalls, people going about there lives in here.  The area where they do the fabric dying.  Just wonderful!

Madrid

Feels a little bit like Paris.  The main roads are wide, sometimes with trees, and lots of good buildings, both old and new.  Throw in the odd giant fountain or sculpture and it passes the test of being a beautiful city. Pity you have lots of people on the sidewalks to cope with.  My pedometer says we did 20,000 steps today, so we have covered some of the main area.  

We did a city bus tour, which covered the bits we missed.

Off to Casablanca tomorrow morning early.

It would be nice to put in about 5 photos of Madrid so a feel for the place could be had...here is my best selection:

Frankfurt-Madrid

Today was taken up with travel, mainly to the Frankfort airport, Getting there far too early, and having to sit around Frankfurt airport for hours.

I overheard an elderly couple, who sounded like New Zealanders.  Getting in the bus to the plane, the elderly lady sat down next to me, so I asked if they were from NZ. No, Australians, but they go to NZ regularly, to visit a relative in Pukerua Bay.  Hmmm....guess where my daughter lives?  Just what are the chances of this happening?

Lufthansa gave us a meal on the flight, which helped pass the time.

From the air, the land looked very dry.  

Because the shuttle taxi called in at several places, it gave us a good look at the city.  Our initial impression was it is a big place, a bit dusty, and hot.

We were not sure how our hotel would be, and we were  pleasantly surprised to find a spacious room with a posh bathroom.

Out for a walk, and coffee first. Three euros for two cups.  Nobody here speaks English....what is wrong with these people? Oops, it is raining, back inside for dinner, eggs, chips, and sausage x two plus a glass of wine for 14 euros.  Feeling heavy, a walk around the block is called for.  A tour of the Plaza de Epana and a look at a statue of Don Quixote, nice.

Maastricht and Trier

The Nederlands has a misty atmosphere.  I'm not sure if it is like this permanently, or just that there  is not a lot of wind at the moment. 

Apparently millions of cars, and the odd power station is the cause.

We are on our way now to Frankfurt, via the towns of Maastricht and Trier. Travelling in the Nederlands is through flat farmlands of wheat, potatoes,corn and other crops by motorway. As we near Maastricht, the land gets a bit more rolling.  Maastricht is where Andre Rieau has his concerts.

We stroll up and down cobbled streets to a where a restaurant has tables under big old trees and they have a Latin American band playing.  Ideal time for a small beer. An important subject this is.  Apparently the Kiwi way is to serve beer in a thick glass with no head of foam. Funny, I never noticed this!

Apparently, according to some people, is not correct.  The correct way is in a thin glass, with about an inch of foam. Oh well, slurp...  I can't think why my weight is increasing.

Our hotel is about 10 k away in a small town called Valkenberg.  It has a couple of streets where there is one restaurant after another, all with outside dining.

Onwards to Trier, stopping in the small town of Monschau.  Very pretty with a small river and old buildings .  Coffee and delicious cake.

Trier is about the size of Hamilton, a wealthy German town with nice shops and cobbled streets and an old Roman gate at one end.

Today we head for Frankfurt, probably arriving around noon, to a hotel near the airport.  Ben is going to drive all the way back in one hit.  He reckons about six hours on the motorway.

Eurostar

Eurostar.

Up early, planning to walk to St Pancreas. In the end we caught a cab, and just as well, as it was a busy bunfight just getting on board. We ended up not able to see out much, but there was not a lot to see.  At Brussells the fun began as we we arrived the southern station, so I parked Rose on a seat and went madly searching for the next train.  At the Northern Station about half a k away.

Somehow I managed to buy some tickets and we got on a much grubbier train. My impression of Brussells is not good-unfriendly, dirty.

We had to change trains two times,  and the first change allowed us six minutes to find the next train.  Not enough apparently.  I tried to ring Ben who was to meet us in Breda, but he was on a motorway and I was in an echoing train station. Oh well, catch the next train in one hour.  

Much lugging of heavy suitcases up and downstairs and at last arrive in Breda.

Ben has assumed we had missed a connection and is there on the platform.

Off to Parc de Keivit, which is a holiday camp with smallish houses.  While his house is not huge it is spacious enough and his section is a large 800 sq m. The pic above is of the Parc de Keivit- the houses are hidden by the trees.

Pine trees everywhere, and he has a small pond with goldfish and frogs. Squirrels can be seen ripping up and down the pine trees.

This is a small cafe in Baarle-Nassau, nearby to Parc de Keivit where we had breakfast....nice!

The next day, off to Eindhoven for a day trip.  Hard to describe in words the countryside, and the city centre.  Safe to say not a lot like NZ. Pictures say it best. This is Eindhoven:

Saturday, off to Amsterdam, via Leiden. Sitting on a canal tourist boat right now.  Glass roof, about 40 deg in here. Moving now,  yay!

Well, who would have thought Amsterdam would have canals from one end to the other?

Aviemore to London

Glasgow -another city with the usual old buildings, bars and restaurants.

Not as neat and tidy as Liverpool, but still a lot of characterful buildings.

Going North from Glasgow, first stop is Loch Lomond, and a boat trip there.

Worth the money and it is amazing how unpopulated this place is.

Narrow winding roads, a loud bang: it appears a campervan  coming the other way has removed our driver side mirror.

A few photo ops for views of hills and flowering heather, then Aviemore, where we will stay for two nights.  There is a side trip to Skye the next day, but we flag it away in an attempt to cure Rose's swollen feet.  Laundromat and a walk takes care of the day.

The next day, off towards Edinburgh, stopping at Blair Castle along the way.

Heavy peasant investment has taken place here. Other people probably thought it was marvellous,  but anything resembling antiques gives me the shivers.

Edinburgh.  Our hotel is about two miles from town, but is spacious and we have a wonderful view of the city with it's castle on a hill and church spires.

Our hotel is a Holiday Inn, about 3 miles out of town, but on the plus side, very nice and spacious.

It is Monday, 19 August,2013. Today we are on a tour of Edinburgh.  We were driven around the New town and then the Old town.  A quick look at Holyrood House.  This is where the Queen comes and has a tea party for 8,000 people. Seems a tall story.  Not a hugely impressive palace.

Then up the road to the Edinburgh Castle. Great views over the city.

That night, we went to the Edinburgh Tattoo.  I managed to acquire a mild head cold in Aviemore, so I was not looking forward to freezing myself for one and a half hours. To prevent a severe case of pneumonia, We went shopping in the main street, Princes Street, for a suitable jacket.

I was pleased to pick one up for 3 pounds. With bits of plastic wrapped around  my legs, I  thought this should be fine. No.  Normally I would not willingly subject myself to a show like that, but it was quite enjoyable.

To be on the bus trip with a cold is very embarrassing. I was quite pleased when I found out that at least four other people at the same cold at the same time.

From Edinburgh the next stop was York. As seems to be the normal on this tour, we only have a brief time to look at a small part of the entire city. Narrow streets with cute looking pubs and cafes. All the churches are starting to blur together. Another Holiday Inn.

On the road again. Stopped at William Shakespeare's birth cottage. The last stop  is Oxford. There are 39 colleges in Oxford, and we only looked at one of them.  If all of them are as  wonderful and nice as this one, then lucky students.  You could spend a month wandering around all these wonderful old buildings. Then back to London, dropped off near Waterloo station. We have a suspicion that a taxi ride in London is going to set us back around 50 pounds which is New Zealand dollars $100. So to trim that down, we decide to drag our suitcases all the way across Westminster Bridge.  Somewhere around horse guards, we flag down a cab.  14 pounds, including tip. What is for dinner? We could order room service, how much would that be? About 82 New Zealand dollars. So we check out Euston Station, just across the road. Burgers for 24 NZ dollars.

Liverpool

Liverpool.

Cardiff was a nice modern town.  Being a bit tired, we had dinner at the hotel restaurant.  I'm not saying all English are deceitful, but our waiter took the prize.  I asked  for a Merlot and what arrived seemed to be a Rose.  A crap Rose at that!  If you know me, you know I never want to make a scene.  I then asked the waiter , but he swore it was a Merlot. 

So I turned to a man at the next table, who happened to be French, and asked him. He just laughed.  So I took the glass up to the bar, and asked to see the bottle that it came out of.  The barman then tried to tell me it was a Rose/Merlot blend, and would I like a red wine instead.  Tired of arguing I accepted a new glass.  

From Cardiff, going up the Wye Valley to the monastery ruins of Tintern Abbey. An abbey without a roof or windows, way up in the country, miles from anywhere.  The British countryside is beautiful, I thought it would only be nice in patches, but no, there is miles and miles of mature trees. After that, the town of Ludlow, which was quite cute. 

Liverpool was a nice surprise, some industry, but the town centre was impressive.  We had a local guide come on the bus and did a tour of the city.

She said she was fifty, and when she was a girl all the buildings were black.

Lots of new buildings, and reuse of docklands warehouses.

From Liverpool, first stop was Lake Windermere, where we got on a large launch and went down the lake.  Very scenic and worth the extra.  Trafalgar have a system of optional tours, which you have to choose on about the third day.  Most are not expensive, so we have opted for those, of which the lake trip was one. Most of this day has been spent humming quietly down the motorway, so I have slept some of the way.  A quick stop at Gretna Green to see some shops and a Scottish piper.  One the motorway again, bound for Glasgow now.