Road to Paris

We trained and bussed up to the small town of Perpignan just North of the Spanish, French border. From here we picked up our 4 door Fiat and jumped on the nearest autostrada. We had a lot of road to cover and three separate truck crashes made it a long day in the car, but this gave us a chance to talk Jane's ear off about all happenings back home. Eventually we pulled into our chateau accommodation and lugged our bags up to what must of been the top floor. We hurried out for some dinner, arriving at the local country restaurant just in time for some seriously good food. In the morning we walked the green grounds surrounding the chateau snapping some handy picks. We grabbed a map off the lovely property hosts and headed out into the wine region. It didn't disappoint and we were lucky to get a sunny day in amongst two wet days so we loaded up on picnic goodies and then weaved through the rolling, bright green hills. After stopping for breath taking pics and a wine tasting we found a good picnic spot and enjoyed the local food and wine under the sun. A great day driving around some of the better countryside in the world!

We set of the next day with a smaller drive to Dijon. We dropped the bags off and then went in to check out the little town. It gave off a very old, villagey feel and we enjoyed its shops and general street happenings as well as our own attempts to communicate with the locals. We ducked home for some tennis on the TV and rest before driving back into town for a pasta feed. The next day we got back on the autostrada for the final trek into one of the Paris airports.

Barcelona

We luckily got a cheap easy flight from Palma up to Barca and enjoyed the quick transit. After checking into our central hostel we got straight out in amongst the city that promised so much from fellow traveler feedback. Within about 20 minutes it was already impressing us. We stumbled into this little cafe where the bar was covered in 30 odd different tapas all with a kebab style stick stuck through them all. Less than $2AUD each we sampled a few. I discovered my perfect pastry! It was a small square sandwich made of puff pastry and in the middle looked like just custard. That was enough to grab my attention but when I bit into it and discovered the golden syrup bonus I could barely finish before grabbing another off the bar.

 We spent the afternoon wandering the small streets throughout the old gothic part of the city and the famous Rambles down to the floating harbour complete with brand new shopping centre and movie theatre. The next day we trekked up to Gaudi's park with nice views of the complete city and also jumped on and off a city tour, learning a bit more about the dark past (and economic present) of spain. The one that shocked us most is that the unemployment for 18-25 year olds is more than 50%. Continuing in the history of the mad architect we walked through town to his famous, still unfinished church. An amazing structure as you can see from the photos with a lot going on in the exterior decorative design. Later that evening we checked out a cool city bar and got to know Alice, a fellow hostel dweller from Southern England.

The next day I headed out to the airport to pick up the little sister who was fairly exhausted after a storm ridden flight and suffering from a cold. A quick dinner with her before she passed out for some much needed rest. The next morning we started weaving our way through the city highlights with Jane. All in all a great city that lived up to the hype. 

Palma

After an afternoon in Valencia walking the streets, drinking in the square and enjoying some Paella we got on an overnight boat over to Majorca Island off the eastern Spanish coast. This was not the most pleasant of transports we had experienced. On these large ships you can choose a room or just a standard bus style seat. Unfortunately these seats that we booked didn't recline and it was a crap nights sleep. A bit dazed, we jumped in a cab and fell into the nice hotel I had booked for our stay. The hotel overlooked the city bay, full of expensive boats lining the waterside and up to the expressive castle in the city centre. We walked the city in the arvo before dinner back at the hotel. Palma is actually quite a large city and the island itself is also rather extensive. We were woken by a knock at the door and Rhi enjoyed her birthday breakfast in bed.

 We then went and rented a little car and headed 60km's out of town along the coast passed Rafa Nadal's home town and to one of the more well known beaches. We spent the day soaking up the sun, beautiful clear blue water and boobs! This was our first real European beach experience. Lets just say they (being people of both sex and all ages) don't favour bathers so much. After a shower back at the hotel we headed into town looking for a birthday feast. We found a very cool place called 'Taste' (I think its a chain so look out for it if your in Spain). This is your tapas set up with a very long yummy menu. We over-ordered and pigged out as much as our recovering stomachs would allow. The next day we lazed by the pool and checked out the local retail offerings.

Fes

A full day of travel bought us North up to Fes, and to another very cool Riad. The host of the house was great and he walked us through the winding streets to a favourite eatery of his. The large TV in our room made it movie night after that. Out and about we headed into the skinny, loud, colourful, crowded streets in search of nothing in particular. Morocco character continued to prevent us from blinking as we strolled past chickens being beheaded, decapitated camel heads, stray kittens and shops full of great bargains.

We found the very handy cafe (clock cafe) in amongst the streets and enjoyed some westernised food after being a little tajined out. We worked our way up to a great view of the city after lunch an then pretty much packed it in for the day. It was cooking lessons planned for the next day so after breakfast, out we went with Yousif into the streets. Ordered a fresh (still alive) chook and then went hunting for the complementary fruit, veg and spices. Eventually we returned to the Riad and into mum's kitchen. Chicken and Lamb tajines were on the menu along with a traditional Moroccan soup and salad. We watched on as some of the more colourful spices you have ever seen were added to the brothing brilliance. The two of us sat and slowly consumed as much of the spread as we could. Later that evening after a dodgy fruit salad or water Rhi fell in and we ended up staying in Fes for another 2 uneventful days and Rhi recovered and eventually made our way north.

Essaouira

We caught a three hour bus West to this small, walled town and got a usual man+trailer deliver us and our luggage to the riad we were staying. A bloody nice one at that! Four stories of pinks and purples in this a beautiful (if not slightly feminine) maintained building complete with lazy chairs, hammocks and our top floor suite (pic-above right). This cute little town reminded me, in areas of Fremantle and had the restaurants and hippie market shops to boot. We strolled around soaking up the salt air and handy wood crafts by day, enjoyed lemon chicken tagines at sunset and retreated to the royal purple riad by evening for tea in comfy chairs and hammocks. A very pleasant town indeed.

Marrakech

Well from the comfortable high twenties we flew and in the blistering forty plus did we land. Marrakech airport reminded me of Perth's (in a word.. shed) and the atmosphere reminded me of landing in Broome. We got the dodgy taxi to the border of the town and from there a boy pulling a homemade trailer transported our bags to our riad's front door. We settled in, loaded up on a bottle of water each and headed for the main square close by. This was a shock to the system. The large square in the evening hosts a market full of restaurants, all temporarily set up for tourists convenience. Having said this the odd shop were popular with locals. As the sheer mass of people did in Turkey, the level of harassment in Morocco shocked us. Every restaurant in the market (round 120 in total) have a marketing 'genius' out the front mentally and sometimes physically coercing you to their seats. Even after eating I gestured towards my extending stomach only to cop "you so skinny. we fatten you up. please sit down". The general strategy is "where you from" soon to be followed by either "g'day mate", "crikey ay", or "summer heights high!". Don't be afraid to be brash in pushing these muppets aside. Especially if you have already eaten. Having said this we did have a handy eat in this square for about $5AUD for the both of us. Earlier in the same square we strolled along and as you do when you travel, panning around 180 degrees focusing at about 30-40 metres ahead of you. You wont do this in Morocco for long. Suddenly I saw an aesthetically challenged male Moroccan heading at a speed in my direction with a scabby monkey on his shoulder. This monkey was not happy, and why would he/she be, chained to a boss. I noticed it attempting (and succeeding) in biting the man on the side of the face. Anyway he threw it in my direction and I naturally gestured 'fuck off' in universal body language. He then tried to throw it on Rhi's shoulder and the monkey reached out, grabbing her shirt. At the same time (seconds after) I focused in on about 10m ahead of us. Three jet black cobra's sitting up paying serious attention to their flute playing dictator. My brain was ticking over at a rate rarely accomplished on a one year hiatus. So your pre warned before you go. Its a tad full on at first!

 

Rhi getting some natural skin care

 
This being said, you get use to it. I must also warn all future visitors of the scammers, which is every local! Love them to bits and their country is beautiful but give them a chance and they'll demand cash. For example, if you take a picture of the monkeys/snakes from even a safe distance of say twenty metres a man will promptly appear at your side, hand open pronouncing "snake. photo. you pay!". This applies to a lot of photo taking. I took a pic of a group of young (>10years) up and coming soccer players, only to be swamped by them demanding remuneration for their modelling prowess. Another common scam is for someone to give you directions and then ask for cash. Easiest way we got around this is to ask shop keepers so they cant leave their premises. So this may not sound like such a great place, but thats just it. Its hot, the locals are full on but it makes for a place chock full of character. The shops are fantastic, and if you are a budding barterer you can do quite well in amongst the mazing souks. Souks are the streets of the city that are lined with shops and that you will get lost in. Its almost like the whole city is a marketplace and you loose all sense of direction. We checked out a couple palaces and famous Riad's but to tell you the truth, as a westerner the whole city is a sightseeing experience in itself.