Wednesday, February 26. Chillier with some elevation now.
Fellette is reading in bed and I just woke up the single employee in this little hotel in the colourful Medina in Chefchaouen. The Cutler's will appear nearer to breakfast at 8:30.
I just want to write a bit about our trip in Morocco, so far.
It is a truly exciting and vibrant country, much more progressive than I had ever thought, but when do we ever hear much about it, let alone it's place in the world. So far, along the Atlantic coast where we have been travelling and a bit in the Med. it has been modern, industrial, excellent highways and infrastructure. It is like the Mediterranean did not exist and this is southern Spain, Portugal, France, or Italy. It was certainly not that 60 years ago, it was a creepy backward rather spooky place to be.
[The now-awoken young man just bought me a cup of coffee and hot milk.]
In the riads we have stayed in, everything is very nice, clean and welcoming. The plumbing is right out of a Better Homes and Garden magazine. However, they were installed by Third World tradesmen, by people with minimal skills. The knobs twist, leak, are loose just not up to any standard.
To get hot water in our sink you turn the knob to the left, in the shower you turn it to the right. There are absolutely no safety features in the shower or tubs I have ventured into. This morning when showering the 'shower wand' would not hold in place so having a shower was: holding a bar of soap in one hand, the wand in the other and waving the wand around in the direction of something that needed water, rather like watering your plants!
On safety: forget it. The streets in the medinas, where we are housed each night, are a mine-field of uneven cobbles, missing cobbles, uneven cobbles and broken cobbles.
On food: I get some comfort in the fact that we ate too much on the ship, so we can afford to lose some weight in Morocco. The breakfast so far have been continental-ish, with some strange breads and buns etc. Lots of jam, honey and a general sweetish tendency. The oranges are delightful and bananas are filling and safe to eat. I tried a poached egg but it did not taste familiar!
We have had some delicious meals however, I had lamb chops in Casablanca and yesterday we had a carnivores delight at a road side stop that our guide located by phone from a friend! Last night was a spaghetti dish that I disliked.
In the areas we are housed there is no such thing as Burger King, or a milkshake or all the terrible stuff we don't eat at home but now seem to crave!
We think that Gail had a touch of food poisoning a few days ago that knocked her for a loop, we have no idea where it may have come from. Jim is the adventuresome eater in the group. An upset stomach is just a slip of the tongue away for us, the tap water is not fit [for us] to drink although it looks fine.
Call to Prayer: This happens five times a day, Around 6-7 am, around noon, after noon, after dinner and before bed. The mosques are all equipped with 360 loud speakers and seem to be within earshot of each other. I estimate that there must be about 3,654,794 mosques in Morocco!
Algeria our neighbour to the east: In 1994 some Algerian terrorists killed some tourists in Marrakesh. Algeria wanted the terrorists back and Morocco said no. As a result, the border has been shut for 26 years! in 1960 when I was in Europe, Algeria was the one place that we were advised to stay away from. I don't think we have anything to worry about tough, I just mention it in passing.
I am beginning to think about home now, our daughter Jeanette sent some pictures of our garden beginning to bud out and we are anxious to be there for the garden season. We mentioned this to Gail who said that she would rather be travelling rather than at home for the spring. I understand that statement completely, it just goes to show how people have different interests in life and it makes it all the more interesting!
Nine more sleeps and we fly on the morning of the tenth. Then we get back to our real world.
So far, I am more than happy with the two week Moroccan extension to our cruise that is already fading from memory.
Jim had a bit of a stomach issue last night apparently. We are all very conscious of health issues when travelling. Jim and Gail have travelled more than anybody we know, so it is not a matter of carelessness, it can just happen.
Jim had a bit of a stomach issue last night apparently. We are all very conscious of health issues when travelling. Jim and Gail have travelled more than anybody we know, so it is not a matter of carelessness, it can just happen.
Please remember that these are my personal thoughts only and do not speak for the group.
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