Easter break (part II)

So, Morocco... wow.

It is first necessary to mention that the trip got off to a bit of a rough start. We’ve all spent enough time being upset over it but long story short, our friend Hana had a problem with her passport and was held up by the French border patrol and was not able to come with us. But, as there was nothing we could do to help Hana, the three of us (Christine, Sarah and I) went on without her (but we missed you Hana!)

We arrived in Fez mid afternoon on the 14th. Sarah had spent the previous few days looking for an apartment for us to rent for a night in Fez – she ended up finding us a BEAUTIFUL apartment not too far from the “Medina”, or the old part of town (the touristy part). Anyway, after settling into the apartment, we went to do a bit of exploring in the Medina. First we stopped to look in a beautiful “Riad”, which is basically (although there is nothing basic about it) a traditional, BEAUTIFUL, Moroccan “hotel” of sorts. Even though it must have been painfully obvious to them we couldn’t afford to stay there, they were super nice and let us look around and take pictures – they even showed us some of the rooms and took us up to the terrace! I have never seen anything like it – there was a gorgeous courtyard with a fountain in the middle, with little sofa areas for tea, and of course amazing tile designs everywhere. As nice as our apartment was, it didn’t feel QUITE so glamorous after seeing the Riad! After grabbing a quick bite of lunch (and having our first taste of Moroccan orange juice, AKA the best drink in the world, which we had tons of the whole week) we headed out to check out some of the copper workshops. Fez is known for producing lots of copper goods (ie. teapots, plates) so there are tons of little workshops everywhere. As cool as it was, I felt a bit bad taking pictures because the workers (while using machinery and blowtorches) didn’t have safe working equipment – proper shoes, eye protection, gloves, etc. Not that they were complaining; they seemed quite happy to let us look around. While we were stopped in one of the workshops, it started to POUR outside. Literally, the craziest torrential downpour I’ve ever seen. And of course, the streets are super narrow and don’t have the best draining systems, so the water would have at least been half way up our knees! We waited until it calmed down, which it finally did, but our feet still got really wet. Anyway, our last stop of the evening was one of the tanneries, which are big outdoor areas where they soften and dye leader, where it is then made into bags, shoes, jackets etc. The tannery was SUCH an amazing sight – there are tons of little above ground shallow “well” kind of things, some of which contain a whitish liquid (made from pigeon poo, which is what they use to soften the leather – it didn’t smell too good) and others that have different color dyes, which are all made from natural products (like indigo, for example). It was really something! After seeing the tannery, we just walked around for a little bit and then headed back to the apartment (where the girls agreed to let me sleep in the big bed, which was lovely).

The next morning we made breakfast and then headed out to the Medina. We didn’t have a destination in mind so we were kind of just wandering around at first – well, we ended up in the middle of a market street, but not just any market street (and when I say street, I mean tiny crowded alleyway). It was probably the most overwhelming walk of my life! They were selling all kinds of fish, which made for a very unpleasant odor. They had big coops of chickens that men were grabbing to… well, you know - so the chickens were all flapping in a panic (and I HATE when birds flap their wings really fast, it freaks me out). Everywhere you turned there were huge slabs of raw meat being sold (Moroccans are known for eating a lot of meat), not to mention donkeys passing by every now and again and trying to dodge a million people at once. Just when I thought I couldn’t get any more overwhelmed, we saw a CAMEL HEAD hanging in one of the booths. This is when I thought I actually might get sick – there was just too much (sights and smells) going on! I probably sound like I’m being dramatic but it was just crazy. So after escaping the market alley, we found the main square where all the copper products were being made – it could not have been noisier! I don’t know how people working there don’t become deaf. We also got to go into another copper workshop, but this one was hidden, a bit smaller and (I’m guessing) less visited by tourists so that was cool. The man working there showed us exactly how he engraves the copper: with a tiny little metal chisel and a hammer! We were so surprised at how quickly he was working, and amazed it was all done by hand. I bought a gorgeous decorative tea set from him which I just love. After spending some time watching the man work, we headed over to a building that used to be a religious school. It was stunning. The walls were incredibly detailed, with intricate tile patterns and Koran passages going around the whole courtyard. After that, we just wandered around some more, stopping now and again to look in the many galleries they had, with the most impressive collections of all different kinds of antique Moroccan art pieces (ceramic bowls, jewelry, furniture, rugs, etc.) Seriously, the galleries were just endless. After a little more wandering around (the Medina of Fez is seriously like a labyrinth) we caught our train to Marrakech. It was a long and very hot train ride but, 8 hours later, we were greeted in the Marrakech train station by Sarah’s cousin. He took us out to his favorite casual restaurant, “Winoo” (which means “it’s mine” in Arabic). They had the most DELICIOUS juices I’ve ever had in my life, just amazing. By this point it was already quite late so after that we went back to Sarah’s cousin’s apartment, in central Marrakech, which is where we stayed while we were there.

Our first stop the next morning was the Majorelle Gardens, a beautiful tropical garden with a wide range of tropical plants. The colors were amazing! After that we went marketing which, in Marrakech, is not an activity to be taken lightly. For one, the market area is HUGE, and two, if you’re a tourist (especially if you’re a female tourist) you’re gonna get asked to come into every single booth (because hey, according to the sales people, you get things “for free”!) So, as amazing as the market was (tons of bags, jewelry, etc.) it did get a bit exhausting being hassled and being called a “gazelle” all the time (Sarah told us that it’s a compliment apparently?) After we could market-no-more, we went to the Badii palace, which is a ruin from the Saadian dynasty (the dynasty that came before the one currently in place). It wasn’t anything too special looking but I can imagine it looked just fantastic back in the day. After a traditional dinner (with Sarah’s dad and cousin) of “Tajine”, a traditional dish served in a special ceramic bowl (that we ate with our hands – the real Moroccan way!) we went back to the main square to see all the events going on: traditional singing, fortune tellers… and snail eating! That’s right – Christine and I were coerced into trying snails. I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat them again but they actually weren’t that bad.

The next morning Sarah’s dad took us out for an amazing Moroccan breakfast (which, as it turns out, is very very sweet, very different from a savory Canadian breakfast) We had Harsha, a kind of corn like bread, with lots of honey! And of course, more fresh squeezed orange juice and sweet mint tea. Sweet breakfasts were really growing on me by the end of the trip! After breakfast we went to another Saadian palace – I think this one must have been restored because it was in pretty good shape, but it was SO gorgeous! And it was enormous, because it had been used for all the king’s wives and mistresses. I just love Moroccan architecture, with the open air courtyards, and the beautiful tile patterns. We also had a look at the tombs of members of the Saadian dynasty which was interesting. After a last lunch at Winoo, and more delicious juice, we hopped in the car with Sarah’s dad (who had been in Marrakech for work) to head down south to Agadir, Sarah’s hometown. We arrived that evening and were SHOCKED when we entered Sarah’s house (although house is hardly an appropriate word; it was more like a Moroccan palace).

Our first day in Agadir we went to the “souk” (market) because Sarah knew some of the vendors there. The markets in Morocco are really cool – they’re basically like a one-stop-shop, as they have vegetables, toiletries, appliances, clothes, electronics, etc. It’s basically like a small, just divided up into little booths, Kind of a cool idea. Anyway, after a long souk sesh, we headed down to the beach (Agadir has a gorgeous beach!) and just walked along the boardwalk and had some ice cream. We were supposed to be leaving the day after next but, it was the last wish of the Icelandic economy that its ashes be spread over Europe. Haha, okay maybe too soon for jokes… ANYWAY, because of the volcano issue, our flight home got cancelled. Since we didn’t know when we would be able to get back, we took advantage of the situation and organized a trip to Assrargh, a tiny village (in basically, no, LITERALLY, the middle of nowhere) where Sarah’s dad was born. So we set off that evening. After 3 hours on the highway, we met some of Sarah’s family (or friends? I can’t remember, she has so many family members she could be Italian) and hopped into a huge 4 wheel drive van. Why the need for 4 wheel drive? Well, to get to this village, you have to drive for 2 hours on a dirt road that is extremely bumpy. We realized the next day that this drive isn’t so bad in the daytime. Well, at night, it’s pretty brutal. We were all pretty squished and Christine and I, not used to such rugged driving conditions, were feeling pretty queasy near the end. At any rate, we made it there by about 11 that night and were again surprised to see the size of the home Sarah and her family have in the village – it was enormous!

The next morning we realized why we had come so far: the village was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. We had lunch at her aunt’s (who currently lives in the village) and then went on a bit of a hike with her uncle, who showed us all around. There was sand, mountains and palm trees everywhere, and barely a person in sight – I felt like we were in a prehistoric age, it just looked so untouched! And even the houses look authentic; apart from a few people born in the village who have returned to build vacation homes, most are quite modest. We had another meal at Sarah’s aunt’s house and after, she brought out some of her traditional clothing for special occasions and asked if we’d like to try some of it on. How could we say no? So Sarah’s aunt got us all done up in traditional Berber (because Sarah’s family is Berber, not Arab! They are very different, as we’ve found out) wedding outfits, and then we went outside and took pictures. We got a few funny stares from the local kids but it was really cool! Later that afternoon we all piled in the van for another bumpy ride back to Agadir (although, as I said, it was much better in the daytime).

On our last full day in Agadir, we went to the beach – it was great! SUCH clear water and perfect sized waves to swim in. Unfortunately Christine and Sarah both got pretty badly burnt – I somehow managed not to! However, being burnt proved to be a bit of a problem for the second part of the day: going to the “Hamam”, a Moroccan bathhouse (being burnt was a problem because the Hamam is like a sauna - not too comfortable if you're sunburnt). Some more traditional Muslim women ONLY bathe in the Hamam, but for others it’s just somewhere they go occasionally. I felt a bit awkward as Christine and I were the only white people in there but it was cool! (Although I must admit I found it a bit funny we weren’t allowed in the mosques, where people are fully clothed, but we were allowed in the Hamam where everyone was naked!) After the Hamam, Sarah had a lady come to her house to do henna for us. Well, Sarah’s mom being amazing as she is, of course it turned into more of a henna party, with cake, tea and amazing home made juice. To make it even more cool, Christine and I were each wearing a “kamis”, a Moroccan dress that they’d use to hang around the house in or to go out to the market. It was so fun! That evening we went to a little bar RIGHT on the beach (still wearing our kamis’s… trying so hard to be Moroccan) and had some tea. We were so sad to be leaving the next day! But we weren’t quite done yet… before catching our bus to Marrakech the next morning we did two things: stopped at the souk one more time, to pick up a couple awesomely priced items and took a little camel ride in a parking lot (it was a bit cheesy but it had to be done!) Then we caught our bus to Marrakech, where we were going to spend the night before catching our 7AM flight to Madrid (this was the cheapest re-routing option we could find after our flight was canceled). So we were lucky enough to get to stay with Sarah’s cousin (and have one more juice at Winoo!) and before we knew it we were in Madrid. We only had a few hours in Madrid, just enough time to get lunch and walk to the bus station (which we ALMOST ended up missing, underestimating the time it would take to find the station) BUT, after a bit of running, we made it safe and sound on the bus which, 16 brutal hours later, got us back to Aix.

MOROCCO WAS AMAZING. By far my favorite trip so far this year. It was definitely overwhelming at times (especially in the market places) but still so worth it. And I know the trip wouldn’t have been half as good if we hadn’t been with Sarah. It is most definitely possibly to get by with French in Morocco but I’m sure being with an Arab speaker helped us to not get ripped off! It was also great (as it was in Czech Republic and Vienna) to have the chance to stay with a local and get to see how they live. And, thanks to Sarah, I feel like we did so many authentic activities: trying traditional food (including snails!!!), eating with our hands, going to the Hamam, getting to see a tiny village in the middle of nowhere… all these incredible things we probably wouldn’t have done otherwise. We were also loving the prices in Morocco! You could easily get fresh squeezed orange juice for 50 cents. Compared to the prices we’re used to in France, we found this to be incredible! One other thing I loved: the architecture. It is so unique and detailed; honestly it’s just indescribable.

Concerning ways of life, I found the different extents of religious practices to be quite interesting. What I mean is, some people follow Islam much more seriously than others. For example, while many women choose to wear a headscarf, many do not. I think it’s safe to say that the majority do but it’s definitely not an overwhelming majority! So many times I would see a pair of girls walking together, one wearing the headscarf and one not - to me it was a bit odd to see! Even Sarah’s family demonstrates this balance: 2 of her sisters choose to wear it, whereas Sarah and her other sister do not. And I was shocked at how few women wore a burka (the one that covers the ENTIRE body and you can only see their eyes, if that.) I think we only saw a handful of women wearing burkas. Even the degrees to which people pray was different: some people pray (literally) 5 times a day, like the bus driver we had from Agadir to Marrakech. Right in the middle of the trip, he pulled over to the side of the road and, without any explanation, got out of the bus and prayed for a solid 10 minutes. I was just shocked! I had no idea anyone took praying that seriously. But then of course there are people, like my friend Sarah, who pray... well, let's just say not very often! Anyways, my points is that I found these religious contrasts to be quite fascinating. I guess I thought "everyone" would be a very strict follower of Islam, which turned out to be totally untrue!

Anyway, even though we got stuck a couple extra days and ended missing all our classes for the week, it was TOTALLY worth it, we had an amazing time – thank you again Sarah!!! Now we’re all back in Aix – kind of a low point after all that travel, to be honest – and waiting for exams to start. Upcoming travel plans: leaving for GREECE on May 26!

Easter break (part I)

**This was meant to be posted before I left for Morocco, but the internet wasn't working, so I posted it after we got back**

So, Easter Break! The trip started by Hana, Sarah and I catching a train to Paris, where we then got our overnight bus to Prague. I thought the bus ride would be kind of brutal but we each had two seats to ourselves, so it was really comfy, and they played movies and gave you as much tea and hot chocolate as you wanted! So it was actually quite an enjoyable trip. We got into Prague at about 5AM the next day, and immediately took the tram to Hana’s grandma’s apartment. Her grandma spoke no English but was so sweet! Once there we went right to bed, to get a few hours of sleep. We had a really nice breakfast of fresh bread, some kind of delicious homemade cake as well as homemade jams. Her grandma also had these amazing ½ liter mugs for tea (which turned out to be something that all of Hana’s relatives had – a Czech trend perhaps?). After breakfast we set out for day 1 of Prague sightseeing. We:
- Went to a park that gave us a great view of the city.
- Had lunch at a cool little vegetarian cafeteria slash restaurant
- Saw the main square, which has the very famous astronomical clock, and which also had an Easter market, where we petted baby goats and tasted a delicious Czech pastry called “Trdlo” (same idea as an American churro)
- Visited an old Jewish cemetery, where all the graves are stacked on top of each other and are super crowded together because there wasn’t much room – it was really cool!
- Saw a kind of monument made of keys that says “Revolution”, which was recently built in honor of the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism
- Saw some creepy modern art, ie. yellow lit-up penguins and giant babies with no faces…
- Had pizza at a really cool place Hana suggested, where I also tried some Czech beer
That night we took it easy because we were realllly tired so we headed back to Hana’s grandma’s apartment after dinner. The next day we had another delicious breakfast and set out for some more sightseeing:
- We saw a cool memorial for victims of communism – it was maybe 6 of the same statue of just a random man but every time more of the man’s face/body disappeared – hard to explain but it looked really cool
- We went to the Prague version of the Eiffel Tower, where we got an amazing view of the city
- Went to Prague castle
- Saw the St. Vitrus Cathedral
That night we went to a modern ballet of “Othello” which was in a gorgeous old theater. I don’t know much about ballet but it was a good show! I think I would prefer classical ballet though, but the modern one was still cool, and it was totally worth it to see the theater. That night we stayed at Hana’s OTHER grandma’s apartment; the apartment AND the grandmother were amazing, haha. Her grandma is 90 and speaks I think 5 (or more?) languages, so we spoke in French to her the whole time, and her and her husband have travelled all over the world and thus had tons of neat knick knacks (deer’s heads, oriental rugs, a little bit of everything…) it was so cool. And her grandpa was really sweet too!
So after two days in Prague, Hana’s brother and his girlfriend came to pick us up the next morning to take us to Hana’s aunt’s cabin for the Easter weekend. On the way, we stopped in a town about an hour outside of Prague called Terezin. It was just a normal town before the war that had less than 10,000 inhabitants. Once Czech Republic became occupied by Nazi Germany, everyone had to move out and the town was turned into a Jewish ghetto where just under 60,000 people were forced to live in awful conditions. People were crammed into tiny quarters, there were tons of diseases and people didn’t have enough to eat. However, the Jews in the town managed to keep their culture alive by putting on plays, painting, and writing poems – we went to a museum filled with the artistic work they produced while they were living in the Ghetto. Terezin also had a Small Fortress, an old military fort that was used a prison during the war for Jewish people and enemies of the Reich (political prisoners, etc.) It also served as a transit camp, as for many it was simply a a stop-over before being deported to concentration camps. The prison itself had conditions not unlike those of a concentration camp: disease and hunger were widespread, tons of people were crammed into tiny rooms, and many people were executed within the prison – 1/4 of the inmates died in the prison itself. There were walls where you could see bullet holes from where they’d executed people. We also saw a mass grave dedicated to all the people who died in Terezin. It was spooky to be there but SO interesting and very worth the visit.
After seeing Terezin we hopped back in the car and continued the journey to Hana’s aunt’s cabin in a small village (can’t remember the name). The village was really cute and the cabin was rustic (not to mention full to the brim – there were 14 of us!) but it was very cozy. The next day we went to this amazing park with a beautiful lake (that was still partly frozen!) and these amazing, HUGE rock formations. It was really stunning, especially since it was nice (although a bit cold!) outside. We also took a little boat ride down a little river in the park. It was so pretty! And the forest reminded me a bit of the park right behind my house back at home :) That night we decorated eggs (“we” being just the girls, as the boys have a different Easter task, which I will mention in a minute) and by decorated I don’t just mean dying them like we do at home; we colored them and then added little sticker tattoo things. The next morning (Easter!) we woke up and were hit by sticks (no, I’m not joking) why you ask? Well, a very important Czech Easter tradition is boys make these Easter sticks, by taking bendable twigs and braiding them together and then adding some ribbon (they’re actually very pretty, I took one home with me!) and then hitting the girls with them come Easter morning! It’s apparently supposed to make us younger and wiser. As a reward, they get the eggs the girls decorated the night before! It still seems like a bit of a sexist tradition to me but it was fun all the same. That day we also went on a nice walk in the village. We had such a nice time at Hana’s aunt’s cabin, they were very welcoming and all very friendly.
That day we set off for Hana’s apartment. On the way we stopped in Poland! Well, we went to the first town across the border for about 20 minutes – it’s a spa town, and is known for having special mineral water. Hana’s dad bought Sarah and I some just so we could say we drank special mineral water in Poland (honestly it didn’t taste very good but it was cool all the same!) Once at Hana’s we just had dinner and watched a movie – are you ready for it – ON AN ACTUAL COUCH AND ON AN ACTUAL TELEVISION (movies in our residence normally consist of 4 of us squished on someone’s bed watching a laptop screen) so it was quite a treat. The next day we had a look around Hana’s town (which is pretty small) and went to another town close by to see this really pretty Renaissance castle that is also a UNESCO site! We were quite tired by this point in the trip as we had been moving around a lot, so we didn’t go into the castle, but the outside was really something. That night we headed over to Hana’s cabin, where they go at Christmas and in the summer, because her parents were doing some yardwork over there. We had a DELICIOUS dinner there, of these plum dumpling kind of things (kinda reminded me of perogies!) they were soooo good. That night we just watched a movie again (the prospect of having a couch was just too appealing) because we had to get up really early to take a train to Vienna the next day.
Czech Republic was great – Prague was a beautiful and very interesting city, much more so than I expected! A lot of the buildings have been re-done or re-painted in bright colors so it’s hard to tell it was under rule of such an oppressive regime for so long. The Charles bridge and Prague Castle, as well as the views of the city from the “Eiffel Tower”, were especially impressive. And it was cool to see Terezin and other cities outside of Prague that we might not have had the chance to see had we not been with Hana! What made Czech Republic really special though was the experience of staying with Hana’s family, AKA real Czech people, and taking part in their Easter traditions. And as I said before they were all so friendly and welcoming to Sarah and I! It was also really interesting to ask Hana’s parents some questions about what it was like to live in the country while it was communist.
So, after a lovely week in Czech Republic, Hana drove us to the train station (at 5.30 in the morning!) and bid us farewell, as Sarah and I were off to Vienna to visit our Austrian friend Christine. After a 3 hour train ride we were greeted at the station by Christine. We first went to her apartment (her family lives outside Vienna but she and her sister share a GORGEOUS apartment in the city) to drop off our stuff and have breakfast. Then Christine toured us around that day, and we:
- Saw the University of Vienna, which was beautiful.
- Saw the “Hofburg”, the Castle where the Royal family used to live (now it’s used as a library, a museum and other things)
- Went to the Nachmarkt, a market with all kinds of food, where we picked up some delicious Turkish/Greek food for lunch which we ate outside in front of a beautiful Cathedral because the weather was SO nice.
- Saw St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the most famous one in Vienna, as well as the main downtown area surrounding it, which was really nice!
- Got ice cream and then went to this cool outdoor bar, which is right on the river, and which they fill with sand and put out tons of beach chairs, so it feels like you’re at the beach. It was so warm outside we just laid there for like, 3 hours. Sarah and I even fell asleep, ha!
That night we were going to go meet Christine’s friends for drinks (one of whom we’d already met in Brussels) but Sarah and I were SO tired so we stayed in and watched a movie (on a laptop… but we did have a couch again!)
The next day Christine made us a yummy breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast, and then we went out and saw:
- Schonbrunn Palace, which was like a summer castle for the royal family. It was stunning, so beautiful! The gardens, the fountain… just wow. And the perfect weather made it even more lovely. From the hill you could also get a nice view of the city. This was definitely one of my favorite sights I’ve seen this year.
- the City Park of Vienna, which had beautiful trees and tulips! Just so spring-y and pretty!
- Belvedere Palace, which again had just amazing gardens and fountains.
We also went back to the market to buy more Turkish and Greek goodness for lunch, which we ate by an impressive memorial for the Russian victims of the war.
That night we went out to this cool lounge for a drink where we finally met Christine’s boyfriend who we’d heard so much about!
Vienna was amazing! Again, it was so great to be showed around by someone who actually lives there (and, as was the case in Czech Republic, it was great to have someone with us that spoke the language) and the city itself was just so beautiful. I loved the architecture – most of the buildings were white and just had a very classic, timeless style – and the palaces we saw were just stunning! I think I was also influenced a little bit by the fact that “Vienna” by Billy Joel has always been one of my favorite songs (it was even the song my figure skating program was set to) so it was so cool to finally get to see the city that is the title of my favorite song.
Our last stop was Nice (the easiest way to get back to Aix from Vienna was to go through Nice, so we thought why not spend two nights there). The first evening we grabbed some pizza and ate it on the beach, walked around “Vieux Nice”, which was BEAUTIFUL, it was a perfect mix of French and Italy, and filled with adorable little restaurants and shops. We grabbed a drink at a cool little bar with a bunch of art from the Dominican Republic and headed back to the hostel. The next day I woke up early and went for a run along the “Promenade des Anglais”, the main boardwalk. Since it was early, there weren’t that many people out, and it wasn’t too hot yet so it was just perfect! Such an enjoyable run. Later we met up with Sarah’s sister, who is studying in Nice, and with her we saw the Lascaris Palace which dates back to the 17th century – small but beautiful. After that we headed up to the park that overlooks all of Nice and got some AMAZING views of the “Côte d’Azur” – it was just gorgeous, and again the weather was perfect. We grabbed a quick bite of lunch and then headed down to the beach where Sarah and I tanned (and even swam… a little bit anyway) for a few hours. Later that night we went out for dinner and just walked around on the Promenade. The next day we were planning on heading back to Aix on the 8.30 train… well, it wouldn’t be France if SOMEONE wasn’t on strike, so thanks to the SNCF general strike our train was cancelled, and we had to wait an hour to take a different one that would take us into Marseille. Well, other people’s trains had been cancelled too, so this train was PACKED with people – Sarah didn’t even get a seat and had to sit on the floor by the bathroom! And the aisle was packed with people which is normally not the case at all. It was insane! But, all part of “la vie française”. Anyway, we finally got into Aix by around 1 that afternoon – so nice to be home after almost 2 weeks of travel!
Nice was nice (no pun intended), especially the center which was very charming, and the views with the pristine water were just amazing, but outside the center the city wasn’t so charming – a lot of homeless people and aggressive guys trying to talk to you, which kind of detracts from the city a bit. It was also RIDICULOUSLY expensive, more so than Aix, which I didn’t even know was possible. I’m glad we took a day to see it though!
So the last two days I’ve just been catching up on some things, doing laundry, unpacking and RE-packing as tomorrow we are off to… MOROCCO for 6 days! And we will have our trusty tour guide Sarah which we’re excited about. We’re very excited to meet her pet camel…