MOROCCO: Volubilis & Fez



Carvings in Rock on
Volubilis Pathway

VOLUBILIS - UNESCO World Heritage listed Archaeological site

Population:  0, Zero, Nil, Nada, Zilch

The Capitol, Volubilis

We started the morning with a light, very light breakfast, keeping in mind Ramadan, even feeling a little sorry for those who had to cook and lay out the breakfast.  You could almost see their mouths watering, but their faith prevailed.

It was only about a 45 minute drive to Volubilis an archeological site near a town called Moulay Idriss.  We drove through wheat fields that seemed to go on forever over rolling hills.  Again it was dry, dusty and hot even at about 9am.  Out of the blue and over a rise we then viewed these amazing ancient Roman ruins sitting on a high point and which we couldn’t imagine then, but had the best vantage point to overlook the valleys and fields beyond and to the high mountains in the distance.

We were to find out that Volubilis was the most southerly and westerley city of the ancient Roman empire. Our local guide gave us an insight into the history of Volubilis which suffered 2 earthquakes, one in the late 4th century (AD), then further distruction of the site in the same earthquake that destroyed most of Lisbon in 1755.

The Grand Via

It was recorded that this once vibrant and impressive Roman city with its bath houses, mosaic floors (many still intact), grand houses with just as grand courtyards, olive oil press (now restored), water channels and aquaducts and a grand Via was still inhabited by the Romans until around 270 BC, thereafter inhabited by the Berbers, then Arabs.

There are many examples of Roman designs, carvings and inscriptions which have been just left lying around the site, and a photo below shows one of the best examples of a pillar inscribed in Latin.  If anyone can decipher the writings please let us know the meaning, cheers.



Restored Oil Press

Inscripted Ruins

For us in particular and our group we felt privileged that we had a chance to explore and climb around some of the best preserved Roman ruins in Morocco. It is recorded in history that during the 18^th century, by order of the rulers of the time, that the abandoned Volubilis marble ruins be used to build nearby cities such as Meknes and the village of Moulay Idriss which sits on the range overlooking Volubilis.   Given this we were quite surprised about how well preserved the mosaics were considering that they were now exposed to the harsh elements of this region, not to mention pilfering of artefacts.  Perhaps this preservation has much to do with the fact that the mosaic pieces were made from stones gathered in the area in and around Volubilis. 

The detail was still evident as were the colours. under the 40 degree heat of the sun.

There is currently some human intervention i.e.  archaeologists, students and volunteers to continue  digging and restoration work which will be undertaken for many years.  



Honey, let's find some more shade here ??

There is also a cultural and historic centre nearly completed which will bring in more tourists so for the Moroccans it is important to preserve this now. It will also change the whole aspect in that it may stop people getting up close and personal to the ruins by cordoning off areas with fences, ropes and barriers much like other ruins we’ve visited. 

If ever you visit Morocco, Volubilis is a 'must see'.  More information can be found on this Wikilink - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volubilis

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FEZ 

Population in the Medina:  Our estimation - 700,000
One of the Imperial Cities and the Cultural and Spiritual capital of Morocco

Just like the 3 lettered name of the city all we can say is …..OMG !!!  A real culture shock, another Imperial City of Morocco and the world’s oldest and largest inhabited Medieval walled city is Fez.  Our local guide was born and brought up in the Medina and he knew his way around it like the back of his hand and at times we had to almost sprint to keep up with him.  Inside the walls, Fez contains 44,000 dead-ends and 9,000 thoroughfares in a small area of land within the “Old city”, and markets are central to their activity.

Fez Medina is also the world’s largest CAR-free area !! Only hard working donkeys, hand pulled carts and motor scooters are allowed in here.  Cars, trucks and Petit Taxis park outside the main gates into the Medina and thankfully they do because with the public darting everywhere inside it would just mean total chaos if they were.  Actually, on reflection it is CHAOS already.

In the Medina, Fez

Busy Market in Fez

We learnt a lesson here about Petit Taxis.  These little vehicles have a fixed price for a journey, and even come in different colours in different cities.  For example the colour in Meknes may be yellow, in Fez they could be red and so on.  In Casablanca they could come in any colour as long as you pay the price the driver asks.  Simple !  Just to confuse the issue there are also Grande Taxis, usually Mercedes Benz, when those hard working donkeys or Petit Taxis weren't available.  We also learnt something just as important, and sure you are asking the question.... "Did you have to cover your head during the tour of Morocco?"   No, but it is advised the stick to a conservative dress code and western style of clothing is accepted.  No 'boob tubes, hot pants or minis, pleeeease !!

It was explained  to us that Morocco is more 'liberal' in its thinking about women's rights and the wearing of headdress (burka) in today's Morocco is only carried out by hard line traditional Islamists, or jealous husbands who maintain their wives cover themselves in public.  But today, the 'new' thinking  is mainly due to a young King Mohommed VI, the current King, but also due in part to his wife (only 1), Salma Bennani, a Computer Engineer who worked for a company owned by the Royal Family.   Princess Salma is the first wife of a serving King to have a public profile and often photographed with their 2 children.  This was unheard of in the past. 

Like our Guide, the Royal Princess was born in Fez and to describe it as a maze would be putting it simplistically!! Actually if there is a description for something more than a maze, this place is IT. 

With our guide we were taken to the different craft making areas, again much like the Medina in Meknes - the metal working, the meat (why does that one stand out – is it the smell or gross displays of produce eg. Goat brains, awful Offal, hooves and tails, but probably worst/best of all was the camel head – eyes, tongue and those protruding teeth they have ?). Thankfully our Group of 8 had stomachs for such things.  Even Mike who we found out was vegetarian. 

Might be timely to mention here that at this stage, only a couple of days into the trip that the ‘Upset Tummys’ were starting to take each of us down. We were trying to work out what had caused it – was it the food - soups made by the side of the road, the Tagines, the water (and we were drinking bottled water only), the heat, the bottled Coco Cola or a combination of all of the above. In fact, on this trip we made another Best Friend – Immodium !!!

Coco Cola OR ALOC OCOC as it
is written in Arabic (backwards)

Now back to Fez…. It was named as a UNESCO Heritage site in 1981 and our Guide gave us some pointers as to which laneways were dead-ends and which were thoroughfares, all 44,000 and 9,000 respectively. So after our group had been walking around for about an hour in the Medina, dazed, confused and disorientated from heat exhaustion and the crowds and smells, he turns to ME (ME… !!! – have I got something written on my forehead) and asks "Do you think this is a Dead-End or a Thoroughfare?" To which I replied – a Dead-End. His reply – OK off you go. It would have been an insult if I didn’t, so I bit the bullet and guess what – I was right, it was a Dead-End !  My theory was because unlike the main streets, the dead-ends have less people and few donkeys. 

Our guide knew that close by was a main thoroughfare, which I had walked passed. Thank God! Imagine, lost in FEZ.  Even Google Earth doesn’t show the true extent of how many laneways/streets/walkways there are in this Imperial city because many are covered or dug out (or caved in) into what seemed like underground channels and so close together. I also had a fear that he might just ask our Group of 8 to navigate our way back to the Hotel Fez Inn where we were staying in this huge city, the second largest in Morocco with an overall population of close to 2 million. We'd rather find our way into one of those little Riads (home) and sleep on a rug on a floor rather than find our way out of this one !!! 

And just going back to the topic of donkeys, it was interesting to find out that 'Fezzers' ie. people of Fez (not their real name), shoe their donkeys with rubber boots so that they don't scare people as they carry goods through the markets.  Instead, their masters call out  رحلt  رحل  (move, move) as they move through the crowd, or get stomped on.  It is also thought that putting rubber shoes on the donkeys reduces their noise and stops them from slipping over on the cobblestones which are wet down to keep dust levels to a minimum.

Being curious, at one stage I popped my head into an open doorway. It was actually someone’s home or Riad. It was made up of packed earth and crude earth bricks, and all that was contained within were rugs and mattresses on the floor, cushions propped up against the walls, a little 1-burner gas stove and a little table and small cupboard. There was No TV that I could see, no bookshelves or other furniture that would be basic for us. In having said that, we went to a site which overlooked the Old and New City of Fez and the thing that stood out the most on the rooftops were satellite dishes, thousands of them.   



Satellite Dishes in Fez

Writings about Fez explain that it is a living monument and instumental way back i.e. 12th to 15th centuries in arts, architecture and town development in Northern Africa and this was still quite evident.  And is still regarded as an important imperial city and to this day and contains the Royal Palace, the Army headquarters and the fortifications of early times along with the maze of laneways and crudely built houses which are protected under the UNESCO Development plans and Framework.  We aren't totally sure on this point but we thought that the Framework may have meant the walls being held with timber or scaffolding.


The UNESCO Framework (overhead)

There is no denying that the "Old City" is deteriorating and  over populated, and under UNESCO has been determined as a non-construction zone.  Of course, this means "Urban Sprawl" and Fez is no different from any other place on this earth.  In fact, our hotel, the Fez Inn is located in the "New City", the new part which is called the Ville Nouvelle, but is adorned in the tradional Moroccan Mosaics, all of which are hand cut and made of natural colours from the earth, minerals and rocks.  We were to see this craftsmanship first hand when we visited a Ceramics and Pottery workshop to see how they were produced.

Moroccan Tagines and Pottery

This is when Ari had some fun because she put her hand up to "spin" some pottery. We weren't sure if she was excited by having actually made container with lid in clay, or she was recalling the scene in "Ghost".  Remember, Ari and Brian were on their honeymoon.  Just look at her expression in the photo.



Another highlight, not necessarily for the smell, was a visit to the centuries old Tannery in the centre of Fez. Here they still use the same methods of skinning, dying and drying skins of various species of animals as were used in times past.  To prepare us for the smell we were given large spigs of Mint to beathe in.  The smell was so bad that it screwed our faces while the workers were smiling as if they were working in a perfumery.  Just awful!!! 

Even though we were gasping for some fresh air, which there wasn't any within a 1.5 kms radius of the Tannery, we could breathe enough to take a photo of the process.  There were men almost swimming, well up to there knees at least, in  these Dye Pits of different colours. 

I found a You Tube clip with a really good video of the process.  Note: the top of Photo 2 - the white  (acid) pits - it is where the fur, fat and meat is separated from the hide.  Not sure where Mike was at this point, actually not sure if he was even there.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qnz1j_hYcvM

Tannery Photo 2

Tannery Photo 1

We also visited another Mosque in the heart of Fez and now that Tony knew what to look for he again, made his way around the mosaic walls with their beautiful inscriptions and held his hand over just about every letter there. Again!   And by this stage Moroccans were starting to mistake him for a Moroccan.....here we go again.  Secretly I think he was enjoying the attention because he seemed to have this knack of getting their attention too, the only difference they were wearing their Djellabas, the traditional Arabic men's dress. 

The following day for us in Fez would be a free day - if we wanted to go back into the Medina and the old city for some more market shopping.  Far out!!…Did we want to tackle all those dead-end streets and laneways again, this time without a guide to show us around?  You betcha we did, because this was probably the only opportunity we’d have to ever do it again.

Only 4 of us decided to go.  It is at this point where Rachel, Brian and Ari really came out on their own when it came to bargaining – all in different way.  For example, Rachel had read up in the “Lonely Planet” that when you show interest in buying an item and ask for a price, you should always go about a third lower, then keep bargaining up or down until everyone is happy with the price.  And there were some great bargains to be had – shoes, jewellery, berber carpets, scarves, handbags and just about anything else you fancy.  If they didn’t have the item/size/colour, they knew another market stall holder who would.  Usually they would say it was their brother, their uncle’s brother in law, their cousin’s cousin, their mother’s neighbour’s father who would – and at the “GOOD” price, or BEST PRICE, of course.  We were almost ready to hear “their donkey” who also had a great bargain”.  Brian had a different style, he would just bargain DOWN, DOWN, DOWN.  At one point he even had a guy following him all the way up this laneway, continuing to reduce his price, and Brian still didn’t budge.  But apparently another tactic they use is to ask you a series of questions, such as – Where are you from?.. Do you like Morocco? …What would you like to buy?... Would you like to come to my shop?  Usually when you have answered the first question ie…Where are you from? They assess your level of wealth according to country and base a price on that.  Good economy – high price and so on.  They do their homework.  Some will even say they have been to your country….Yeah right !!!

But to put it mildly we were harassed by touts to a point where it wasn’t fun anymore, and it came to a point where this one guy kept following us, asking questions and wouldn’t relent.  And because of all the little laneways it was a little hard to get away from them and this is where I got frustrated, turned around and said, “Yes, we are enjoying Morocco, but please Sir, leave us alone because we do not want YOU to make this an unpleasant experience for us.”  He left us alone.  We saw him later harassing some more folks in the same way. 

Thankfully Yacine was at the agreed meeting point at the time he promised later that afternoon.   علي الله

God Willing.

  

Just window shopping AGAIN
How many pairs of shoes have
you bought now Ari????? 

The honeymooners were in shopping heaven and I forget how many pairs of shoes Ari bought, but she was in here element, as was Brian.  FEZ OMG it was an experience hopefully never to be repeated unless you are armed with the right answers, know what you want to buy and most of all - have a large emply suitcase with you for all those souvenirs.   

The adventure continues.  Till the next episode.

Liz and Tony. 



Royal Palace in Fez
1 Gold door for each day of the week

Mosaics around the Archways
of the Royal Palace, Fez

Detailed Gold Doors of the
Royal Palace, Fez

MOROCCO: Casablanca, Meknes

Casablanca to Meknes, Morocco

 21 July, 2012

We weren’t sure why the delay in leaving Malaga, but it was interesting sitting in the terminal watching the other planes landing and taking off.  We were supposed to depart from Gate 20 and there was already an Aer Lingus plane in the dock. Thinking that Air Maroc and Aer Lingus had some business partnership arrangement, we thought this was our plane, and like all the other passengers we waited patiently for boarding to open.  Waiting, waiting, and still waiting.  Tony joked about a particular plane that landed and berthed at another gate further down.  It was a Dash 8 propellor twin engine, seating capacity of around 65 passengers, similar to the ones we would catch between Brisbane and Bundaberg.  Still waiting and waiting for our plane. Thankfully we were in the air-con in the terminal because the outside temperature was 40 degrees.

Air Maroc Dash twin Prop

 Then ‘Bing’ on comes the Boarding signal, at gate 8.  What the?? We were sitting at gate 20!!! A little confused we watched as the Air Maroc staff ushered people down the gangway…….onto a waiting shuttle bus to take all passengers to ......the waiting Dash 8 prop.  OMG - for a 2 hour international flight across the Mediterranean.  

Now this would be scary you would think, but actually the flight was great.  What was scary was about to happen.  Australia has CASA for airline and plane safety, Air Maroc has NOTHING.  For example, just before the plane was about to take off people had their window blinds closed, they had their trays down but the worst of all was this bloke directly across from Tony who jumped up as the plane was taxi-ing along and went to the back asking the crew for some (any) food and large bottle of water.  They gave it to him! Then later during the flight when refreshments were being served this same guy was trying to help himself to the food tray and reaching in for even more sandwiches.  Not sure why, because the sandwiches were also a health & safety issue ie. tasteless cheese, stale and hard and if used as a projectile could have caused some serious damage inside that plane.

We finally landed in Casablanca about an hour later than the allocated ETA.  Thinking it was all for now, as we were hurtling on the runway at around 200 kms per hour we were suddenly thrust back into seats at about a 75 degree angle when the plane made a quick right hand turn into the tarmac towards our landing gate -wheels screeching and skidding all the way.  We were sure that the passengers on that side of the plane were looking directly at the bitumen, if not the crew would have been a lot of cleaning up to do afterwards. Perhaps Moroccan travellers are used to this happening but for us it gave us a taste of the Moroccan driving habits….and it would only be a short time before we’d find this out.  By this I mean after clearing through security, passport checks, immigration etc. our taxi ride to Casablanca would make up most of the time we lost through the airport delays…and it was still a whopping 40 degrees outside and this was around 7.30pm.

This was our welcome to Morocco and a further taste of our travel adventures. We weren’t sure if it was excitement or the onset of anxiety attacks but we were looking forward to 14 days more adventure and meeting our new travelling companions at a Welcome session with our Moroccan guide Yasine (or Yacceen) whose birthday is either in June or September – more about this later) then a group dinner afterwards. Our stay for one night would be the Moroccan House Hotel in central Casablanca. 

Foyer of Morocco House Hotel, Casablanca

Now Moroccan House Hotel is another adventure on its own that we weren’t quite expecting (it was almost like “dejavu” and felt as if we were sitting back in Bobadilla train station again) ie. mosaic walls, staircases, internal atrium and fountain, just incredible in design. 

The Boudoir

But wait…there is more… each individual suite is decorated in a different colour and style, not just any colour, but fluros – bold and the beautiful.  My description is more like a boudoir and maybe a bit tarty.  I’m thinking of maybe something similar in our bedroom back home (HaHaHa)  

The next morning a buffet breakfast fit for a king or, queen, then at 8am off to Meknes with the Pack of 8, Me and Tony, Brian and Ari (Canadian and Mexican), Tony and Lynette (UK), and Mike and Rachel (US) and Yacine.  Our new BFFs for the next 2 weeks along with Yacine and our bus driver. 

L-R:  Ari, Brian, TJ, Mike, Rachel, Tony, Lynette and Yacine

But before we start talking about the travels, we should mention here that we arrived in Morocco at probably the most Holy time in their calendar year, Ramadan.  We were to find out a lot more about Ramadan, Islam, the mosques and the symbolisation of the religion and how it plays an important part in the everyday lives of Muslims.  We were intrigued with the "Call to Prayer" which could be heard across cities, markets and villages, the 5 pillars of Islam and  that during Ramadan it was important we DO NOT take direct photos of people and to show sensitivity if taking photos in public. This was hugely difficult because there are situations that could only be captured on film to truly define a moment in time.  In fact, there were a couple of times when focussing the camera that people would turn away before the shutter 'shuttered', or they would gesture that NO photos to be taken.  There were also times it was the opposite - they would put on the biggest Moroccan smile they could. 

There were also a few times when we encountered 'altercations' and very loud arguments, where Moroccon men would 'huff' up like a rooster without any punches or biffs from either party, then walk away (a good thing) as if nothing happened.  When asking Yacine if this was part of the culture, he explained that because it was early days of Ramadan, people fasting combined with very hot temperatures, that their emotional levels rise.  My explanation is that they are males....enough said!!

 We were to find out at dinner on our first meeting night that Yacine had already been fasting for 2 days and his dinner, or should I say his “breakfast” is at 8.30pm.  He hadn’t eaten since 4.30am that morning, not even taken water and this would continue until 18^th August. We were to also find out that many stores or mini Supermarches, which are generally open during the day would be closed. This might make it a little difficult for us “Westerners” to get lunch or an early dinner, so we had to prepare ourselves.  We also had to prepare ourselves with a bunch of toilet paper just in case we haven’t got the stomach for Moroccan food.  More about that later too. 


Already at this stage we’d decided that this area of Casablanca is very similar to Peru, dry and dusty, people riding donkeys down the main street, motor bikes carrying 3-4 pigs on the back, Utes full of sheep in the back, but at least the heat was bearable.  It had cooled down a little overnight with Casablanca only about 20 kms from the coast. But already we could see that this country was very different especially the language and from day to day we would never know which language would be spoken because of the diversity of the culture.  We would experience French, probably the most spoken, Arabic, Berber and then every other language we have encountered on our travels, which included Spanish, German, Dutch and of course good ol’ Aussie English (LOL….). 

We were only about 1 hour into the trip towards Meknes when I realised that I had left a very, very important item back at the Moroccan House Hotel – my USB’s with our IDs, photos and copies of other life saving documents needed for our extended travel.  And it was only Day 1.  My heart sunk, I checked everywhere – they WERE still back at the hotel.  Yacine became the saviour.  He phoned back to the Hotel and made arrangements with his contacts to have them sent on to Meknes.  Not only was he devoting himself to the Holy Ramadan, but in my eyes he was Holy too.  From that time on there was a standing joke, and a special intro each time we’d get on the bus.  It would go something like this….. Yacine:  Has everyone got their bags?  Has everyone got their cameras?  Has everyone got their Passports?  And I would throw in:  Has everyone got their USB’s?  After a while we would add something new such as, Has everyone got their Husbands? Wives? toilet paper etc.  Don’t laugh…we needed that toilet paper because the Moroccan food affected each one of us and swept through the group at different stages along the journey. Oh! Except for Lynette, but we found out her secret – she just wouldn’t eat particular foods, unlike us…When in Rome etc etc. We weren’t exactly sure what caused it.  Was it the water, the Mint (Menthe) sweet hot tea, the Tagines, the Moroccan soups, the Rotisserie chicken dinners, the brouchettes?  Who cares….it was all delicious!

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MEKNES


Our bus ride to Meknes, built in the 17th Century and one of the Imperial Cities of Morocco, would take around 4 hours. We would stop in between for a stop to buy some groceries for lunch and other supplies (ie. toot paper). 

Meknes artwork

The "Old" city and medina (markets) of Meknes are fortified by clay brick walls which once upon a time housed the Royal stables (holding 10,000 horses), a grainery and the Mausoleum of Sultan Moulay Ismail, the cities ruler in the 1600s. our local guide,  Abdullah was thorough in his description of the city and its history and rather than go into too much detail here the Wiki link below accurately describes the story of Meknes.    We were all in awe of discovering the Souks (more markets), the huge Squares, Mosques and the  Bab Mansour Gate. 

Allah

We were all in awe of the inside of Mosques over the next couple of weeks and to find out the history of many including one that Abdullah took us into in Meknes.  One of the features that captured our imaginations, and repeated around the walls was the way in which Allah is written in Arabic.  After shown how the word is symbolised by the hand Tony went most of the way around each Mosque fitting his hand over the wording. 

Abdullah in the stable of 10,000 horses

Bab Mansour Gate

You would think that would be easy to remember the name of the Gate because it was the same name as our hotel.  Wrong and there is a story that goes with this!  After a tour with our new local guide for the day, Abdullah, we were left to our own devices to navigate our way back from the Bab Mansour Gate to the Bab Mansour Hotel, after we had become disorientated in the Medina, in the souks and all the little laneways contained within.  This Group of 8 was being tested. We really didn't know each other very well at all - it was much like a bonding session, and the only directions we were given was that the Bab Mansour Hotel was straight ahead  in 'that' direction, about 2 kms walk. 

Only in the country about 24 hours and it was already assumed we could read/understand French, Arabic or whatever other language to find our way back.  It was funny - we were all trying to remember signs, landmarks and other names along the way.  One that everyone remembered was the McDonald's - can you believe?  We nicknamed it McMaronald's and it was open even with Ramadan. The sun was setting pretty fast and we all just wanted to get back to the hotel - safe !!



Which way to the Bab ??

We were also pretty hungry after the big walk, and it was "Breakfast" (Ramadan) time, and what a better time to have a rotisserie chicken which we all spotted earlier in the day.  No sooner had we sat down, and these Chicken Shop guys just started bringing out baskets of bread, bottles of water, bottles of soft drinks, and half chickens with rice - NO ONE EVEN ORDERED ANYTHING, it was just placed in front of us.  We'd heard stories about "fixing" a price before you buy, so we were a little anxious this had happened because it was just brought to the table. You wouldn't believe this feast cost us around $6.00 each !!  Coincidently the currency for Morocco is the Dirham and is abbreviated as MAD.  A very good description because of the way in which traders, touts and marketeers try to bargain down to an agreed price.  Sometimes you would think they are MAD because of how cheap they would sell their goods for or sometimes you get MAD because of the way they try to badger you into buying something you don't really want.  For me and Tony it was fairly easy because we were always mindful of the weight of our baggage and the time we have left to travel.  There was no way we wanted to be carrying excess baggage for the next few months! 

Meknes also the first city we were to have our first experience with the Markets.  It also brought out the bargain shoppers in our Group of 8.  Brian and Ari take 1st prize in this catergory as they were Christimas shopping for their families.  And as is for Mexican families distant relations means anyone who is remotely related or even knows a relation is counted as family.  So you could imagine their shopping list was exhaustive.  I'm sure I heard along the way that they we considering buying themselves another larger bag for the gifts they were buying.  By the end of the trip they had.

The markets are a world of their own and get even busier as the day goes on, even busier in the evening when those who have fasted during the day go out to shop for sustenance.  We also found the each Medina seemed to contain a variety of "Quarters".  For example, the metal working area, leather, meat, clothes and jewellery, spices, ceramics/pottery, carpets and shoes to mention only a few. 

What we couldn't understand was how these people knew their way around the "souks".  They were like mazes with tiny narrow lanes, houses, bakeries and shops contained within, crowds of people wandering in every direction and many of the buildings looking like they would tumble in at any time.  Us 'westerners' have our superstitions about walking under ladders, and there were many occasions whereby we would be hesitant about passing under buildings, some built in the 16th and 17 century, now being held up by timber as shown in the next photo.  There were many across the country like this.



Timber holding up walls in the Souks

Us 'Westerners' also have our saying that things happen in 3's.....on this day it was 3 happy things.
1.  We found our way back to Hotel Bab Mansour safely and in good company.
2.  We made our way around the Souks without the walls falling in around us.
3.  We were on an adventure of a lifetime and if this day is anything like the rest of the trip, we are in for a real treat starting with Volubilis tomorrow - the most southerly Roman ruins in this part of the world. 

The downside.... it was bloody hot, let's hope the air-con in the bus doesn't break down along the way.

Guys on the left knew their photo
 was being taken

Till next time.......

Liz and Tony


Freshly baked bread near the markets

 

SPAIN: Granada and Malaga

GRANADA 
Population (2011) 240,100

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Granada is the name for one of the 17 autonomous communities in Spain and shares the same name as the City where we would be staying for 3 nights at the ....wait for it.....a typical Spanish name - the "Don Juan Hotel".  Really comfortable, great price with buffet brekky included and central to everything the picturesque city has to offer. It even had a TV with English channels ie BBC and Sky but tend to get a little repetitive after a little while.  But let us refocus - this is not a Trip Advisor review but our adventures in this Andalucian city which was founded in 1492.  Granada is at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains and as you would imagine there are streams running through the city with the mountain backdrop.  In addition the food (Tapas) is always worthy of mention.  



After catching the overnight train from Lisbon and changing stations from one side of Madrid to the other for our connection at Atocha Estacion we checked our bags into what is called "Left Luggage".  Thinking this sounds a little ambiguous considering the events in recent times at that particular station we weren't surprised at all to find that our luggage had to be X-rayed by security before we could use the facility.  During our travels we regularly heard at rail and bus stations and airports via intercom that any "unattended left luggage" would be removed by security/law enforcement and destroyed.  Started us thinking about what they would do with our luggage, maybe a chance to get a new wardrobe, but NO - the luggage was still there when we got back - the boots that had reached Macchu Pichu, the T-shirts that were starting to fade and maybe the real reason why they didn't want it was because of the build up of dirty laundry in there.......!    Granada stream with Alhambra in the background Olive Groves surrounding the Granada region It was an opportunity also to set us free of the baggage that has been following us around for the past 4 months across 3 continents (even it if was only for a few hours). This allowed us to visit a couple of our favourite places from our first visit in Madrid ie. Parque de la Retiro and the lakes within, the Museum and Gardens area, what has now become famous on the Johnson Food Hit List - the "Museo de Jamon".

The RENFE train hit speeds of around 145-150 kms per hr and was going faster than the shutter speed of the camera so I was lucky to get a shot of the vast tracts of olive groves, there was also vineyards, wheat fields, the Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance, the villas, and thankfully that train was air conditioned because it was a fiery 40 degrees outside, and thankfully we wouldn't arrive in Granada until around 8pm.  Because of the time and distance from the station we caught a local taxi and for some reason the driver was really excited that he had a couple of Australian passengers which seemed really strange, but what we didn't know until he tuned in the radio was that the Spain and Australia Men's Basketball teams were in a playoff in preparation for the Olympics.  In all places ...Granada on this very night. He must have thought we were heading to the game.  We had to disappoint him by saying our destination was the Don Juan.  Unfortunately the Aussies lost - score 75-69. 

Spain beats Australia 75 - 69

The next day we hit the attractions of Granada reasonably early until it started to get quite hot again.  By 2pm the shops started closing.  SIESTA time of course!!  Apparently story has it that Siestas were introduced so that the farm workers could get out of the heat during the hottest part of the day, have a little rest, then go back out to work in the fields.  Now, if that is the case for the farmers and field workers - Why do the office workers, retailers, bars and cafes shut up shop and close for around 3-4 hours then re-open again at 6 or 7pm?  Here were 2 very thirsty intrepid travellers wandering around looking for refreshments at 2.30 in the afternoon and not one shop open.  Even the streets were deserted!  It was really strange because even though we'd travelled through many other places in Spain this was the first Siesta time that was really obvious to us, and in some way explains why the Spaniards party all night.

2.30pm - Empty streets it's Siesta Time

The sites and attractions around Granada are many and one we didn't get a chance to visit was the Alhambra  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alhambra because advance reservations had to be made and there is a limit to the number of tickets released each day. Knowing we would have the chance to see the 'Little Sister' of the Alhambra (Alcazba) in Malaga, we decided to find a Laundromat for that washing building up in our luggage.  This was a laugh because we Googled to find one and after walking about 3kms to the address listed we'd found it was closed, empty, nothing inside. Thinking we had the wrong address which was not the case at all, we wandered around for about half an hour until in a little lane way we spotted a "Correos" delivery lady (the Spanish equivalent to Australia Post).  What a better person to ask about where there was a laundrymat - and our hunce was spot on because she knew where one was...  Left, right, slight turn and there it was Lavos Bubbles laundromat.  Mentioning Trip Advisor before - this one just had to go on their website as a Review for Laundromats in Granada. 

We did see the Gothic Cathederal, walked the Gran Via de Colon and Ronda, Plaza Gran Capitan, Plaza Trinidad in the old city and Plaza Neuvo where the walked the river Darro which used to be a crossing to the Alhambra until part of it was closed over due to flooding, but relics still stand.

For some reason Granada could be described as the San Sebastian of the south of Spain, perhaps because of the Tapas, the little lane ways, the old city feel and historic buildings.  The only difference is that the climate was much hotter and drier and probably the first city where we've seen a large concentration of backpacker hostels and "environmentalists" (people with huge dreadlocks).  Getting back to the Tapas, it should be mentioned here that when you buy a drink, alcoholic or non-alcoholic, you get the tapas FREE as part of the deal.  The drinks would usually cost between $3-6 and you could order a place from an extensive complimentary tapas menu.  This could be either plates of ham and cheese selection, bread rolls with Spanish sausage filling (Morcillo), Chorizo (not like the Aussie Chorizo), olives of course and other tasty morsels.  You might want to check out Tony's Food and Drinks blog for some mouth watering photos. TJ's Food and Drinks Blog link

Granada's Narrow streets

Although we found an open fruit, vege, meat market which sold every conceivable part of the animal, we tended to be drawn to the local supermarket just to see if it was any different from other parts of Spain was had visited.  Probably because it smelled nicer too!  We found there was one BIG difference for example, we've seen Moto-taxi ranks in Peru, limousine ranks and Horse buggy ranks in New York, Bicycle racks in other US and European cities, but never have we seen Shopping Trolley ranks anywhere before where shoppers bring in their trolleys and chain them up (chains, keys and rack provided by the store) while they do their shopping.  Novel to say the least. 

Shopping Trolley Parking Bay in Granada

On Friday 20th July it was time to leave Granada on the RENFE bound for Malaga via a little place called Bobadilla (pronounced Boba-dee-yah) and is the change over stop on the line between the two cities.

Not much of a drama you would think but when we arrived in Bobadilla we were only 2 people hopping off the train, ME and TJ, and the station appeared to be like one of those stations you see in the old western movies.  You know the kind one shop/bar outside, surrounded by wheat fields, silos in the distance and it was a whopping 42 degrees, and NO station staff in attendance either (Siesta time ??). All that was missing was the tumbleweed rolling down the dusty street.  But once inside it was like something you could not imagine.... it was wall tiled in beautiful colours and we had to wait 2 hours for our connection (we could be forgiven for thinking we had magically arrived in Casablanca already).  AND inside was air-conditioned !!! We could handle that.  After a while another 2 people arrived so we stopped being a little anxious. 

Our RENFE train from Granada to
Malaga via Bobadilla






Tiled walls Inside of Bobadilla Station

MALAGA

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Getting comfortable on the train we saw more plenty of wheat fields, vineyards and olive groves.  Good thing we like bread, wine and olives ... and not necessarily in that order.

Malaga is famous for a couple reasons (1) it is the birthplace of Pablo Picasso and (2) the birthplace of Antonio Banderas.  It is also only 100kms east of the Strait of Gibraltar, a landmark we would be flying over tomorrow evening on Air Maroc flight No. 985 direct to Casablanca.  We were to find it is famous for many more things and even though we were only there 1 day and night we tried to fit in an much as we could in the short time there.  And being close of the Mediterranean Sea we were given some light relief from the high temperatures we experienced in the past couple of days so walking the sites shouldn't be a problem.



View from Alcazbar towards Puerto Maritima

Firstly we had to get to the Alcazaba, the "little sister" of the Alhambra in Granada, and on first observations you can understand why, but it is still an impressive site on the closest high point to the city of Malaga.  From the top you can see across the harbour were cruise ships berthed.  The history of the walled Alcazaba dates back to the 11th century and was built as a palace-fortress for the city's governing Muslims.



Although there is now a lift to service access to the Alcazaba we decided to scale the original stone steps from the outside of the site taking in the views of Puerto Maritima and plenty of photo opportunities.

While we were trekking around this ancient site we came across other tourists doing much the same as we were.  Except I got a good laugh out of this one.

You know how the old story goes ....."A funny thing happened on our way around the Alcazaba"!  As it turned out a woman in passing very politely said "Bonjour Madame!".  Now why would she say Bonjour when we were clearly as far south in Spain as you could be and so close to Africa that you could almost smell the Camel dung from across the Mediterranean.  It wasn't until struggling up the hill I looked down and noticed I had on my RED TARGET Tee-shirt printed with a big black Eiffel Tower on the front and the word PARIS in big bold BLACK print. She obviously thought I was French.  And of course I so, SO politely replied in my best ever French Accent "Bonjour" back to her.  Now that was a laugh.  Did I say Target or TARGET (Tah-sczhay) ????

Little Sister of Alhambra



Town Hall, Malaga

On to another impressive modern site but still retaining its historical building facades is the Marques De Largos Mall which houses designer and high end name shops, restaurants and cafes.  What is most noticeable are the overhead drapes covering mall.

Marques De Largos Mall

Again, typically in Spanish style we found there were cobbled stoned narrow streets in Malaga as well as large Plazas, people gathering places where you would find fountains, waterfalls, garden promenades or statues of famous people.  We were surprised to find a life size statue of Hans Christian Anderson in Plaza de la Marina during our discovery walking tour.  As we understand it the statue was sculptured by a Spanish artist Maria Cordoba and dedicated to the writer for the time he spent in Malaga during a cultural tour, and having mentioned the city in one of his books.  Nice!



Statue of Hans Christian Anderson

We could have spent more time in Malaga because there were so many other sites and attractions to see.  Maybe next time !!

Malaga Tourist Information web link

We needed to get to Morocco that evening by 6pm to meet up with our G Adventures Moroccon travel guide and our new fellow travellers who we would be spending the next 14 days with.  

Our hopes of making 6pm are zero when you take into account clearing Customs, Immigration and Passport checks, Security etc   ......all that sh...t AGAIN.  AND the airport is 25 kms from our accommodation at the Morocco House Hotel in the city centre.

OK, add to that another 50 minutes..... the plane is that late for take off already.

The next instalment about Morocco, coming to you from Morocco, will probably be late TOO !!....

Till next time.

Liz and Tony

Malaga