Marrakesh, A taste of Morocco

At the moment, Morocco isn't going to get the coverage it deserves. We were there for almost a week in Tanger (Tangier is the anglicized version), Marrakesh, Rabat, Fes and a few spots in between. But we're now in Spain and wifi continues to be sporadic so I want to at least put a few photos and thoughts up while I can, even if it doesn't do our visit justice.
Morocco is a wild ride for your senses. The heart of the cities is in the medina, the oldest part of town built inside a fortified wall. As a tourist, the moment you enter this area you are assaulted with requests to buy things, try things, taste things, and just look at things (in hopes you will buy things).
This picture doesn't really do the night scene in Marrakesh justice but that smoke is all food being cooked. And surrounding the food stalls are hoards of people listening to storytellers or music. Or watching a snake charmer do his magic.
I think the constant crowds and noise of the medina are why riads were created. The riad is a traditional Moroccan home that is all wall from the outside but built around an interior courtyard, with a fountain as the usual centerpiece.
Our riad in Marrakesh was a peaceful escape from the hustle that literally laid just on the other side of the walls.

Breakfast was served inside this tent on the top floor of the riad. We had good food everywhere we ate. And cheap.

One of our favorite cheapies was the fresh squeezed orange juice from one of the many stalls. 30 Cents for a tall glass, often with a free refill. Mark also was a huge fan of the coconut cookies that could be purchased five for a quarter sometimes.
Like I said, just a little taste. But since Morocco we've already done Tarifa, Cadiz, Ronda, Granada, San Jose and Alicante Spain!

Algarve, Portugal's Southern Coast

A picture's worth a thousand words. And the pictures of the beach and grottoes of southern Portugal say a lot.

This was our own personal, private beach for the day. Don't worry, I had shade. We had to do a little rock scrambling/wading to get to this spot. But it was worth it.

You can see Mark trying to be Jesus here walking on the water.

The view from the top of the cliff, almost as good as from down at the beach.

Lost in Lisbon

I'm starting off with this happy looking picture of us enjoying Lisbon. I'm doing this because our introduction to Lisbon was anything but happy. We spent the first four hours (not exaggerating) driving back, forth, through, around, backtracking, left, right, up, down and hey didn't we go past this square already? trying to find our place to stay. Thank goodness I didn't waste any euros on the thermal baths because any calming effect would have been lost within the first 20 minutes of that four hours. But I won't dwell. Because once we got settled we found there was plenty to keep us happy in Lisbon. Though I won't lie the first night we were just happy for the really yummy Indian food after 3 days of so-so Portuguese fare. Not familiar with traditional Portuguese fare? There's a reason it hasn't made it out of the country.
Here's Mark as the king of his castle. Lisbon's castle sits on the highest hill in the city and gives great views. But the best castles in the area are about 25 kilometers outside of Lisbon in Sintra. There are four castles in a 3 kilometer radius. This one shows the Moorish influence you'll find in the southern part of Portugal.

There was also your more standard fort variety castle.
We enjoyed the grandeur of the castles but were itching by this point to head further south to the grandeur of nature and the spectacular beaches of the Algarve.

Luso, Bucaco and the Middle of Nowhere

The lure of thermal hot springs took us away from the Portugal coastline to the small interior town of Luso. I should clarify, the lure of thermal hot springs brought me to Luso. I think it was the nearby Bucaco forest that appealed to Mark. Fortunately, I like forests too because the hot spring thermal baths were closed.
But Luso offered a good dose of tranquility even without the warm water to soak in. Luso is nestled into the hillside just below the Bucaco forest where a group of monks set up camp a few hundred years back.
The monks had money. They built this sucker which is now a snooty 4 star hotel. Snooty because when we poked our heads into the lobby we were immediately "greeted" by a hostess who informed us the hotel was private property and we were not even allowed to enter the lobby unless we were guests.
Thankfully the grounds of the Bucaco forest are not owned by the hotel but the government. So we roamed freely and happily through the sometimes manicured, sometimes thick woods, that really would be more aptly called a park than a forest. And while the thermal baths were closed up... the water still flowed freely.
The springs are funneled into this watering hole in downtown Luso. You can see Mark filling up one of our water bottles. Locals were constantly gathered around filling up several gallons full of water and carting them off.
We headed for Lisbon after Luso but turned off the main road about halfway there.
Mark saw a sign for caves and had a hunch that they would be cool. So we went off in search of them.
After a drive of about 30 minutes we arrived to what seemed like the middle of nowhere. At which point the paved road to nowhere turned to a gravel, pot-hole filled road.... which of course Mark took as a good sign.
His hunch paid off.



We even enjoyed our own private tour of the underground caves! I guess there aren't a lot of tourists on the road to the middle of nowhere. And even if they were they'd probably turn back when the pavement ended.

A Taste of Porto

The building at the end of this promenade was just visible from out the window of our pensao in Porto. We hadn't exactly planned to arrive in Porto when we did. In fact we thought we might find something that captured our interest on the drive southward from Santiago. We didn't and that worked out just fine since Porto did not disappoint. It felt very laid back as we sipped "green" wine at a curbside cafe our first afternoon in town. Green wine is actually white, thankfully, since I'm not sure I'm big on drinking things that are actually green. And it is a specialty for the area. But not as much of a specialty of course as Port which is so named for originating in Porto.
We did a cellar tour to learn about the intricacies of Port making (and for the free tasting promised at the end of the tour). Porto port makers consider their vino as the French consider champagne. It is only real if it comes from the place for which it is named.

This is from the cellar across the river Douro looking back at Porto. Most of the cellars are on the other side of the river. The grapes actually come from more than 100 kilometers upstream in the Douro valley. But since the beginning of port the barrels were transported down to Porto by boat for aging and storage. The boats in the foreground aren't used anymore but are still stocked with barrels to create the effect for tourists like us.
I actually haven't been a fan of port when I've had it in the past. But I now believe that's simply because I never had good, true port from Porto. At the very least I now know what kind I like, tawny not ruby.
Tastes like sherry... and I like sherry.
All in all a very tasty introduction to Portugal. And the green wine tastes pretty good too!

Spain or Bust - Part One

The crown jewel of Santiago de Compostela in the north of Spain is undoubtedly the magnificent cathedral that stands high on the top of the city. The cathedral really is an impressive sight. We enjoyed seeing it, snapping pictures of it, and strolling the historic city around it.

But then something went awry.
I don't know if it was all the cheap Spanish wine (you can buy it by the bottle for a euro which is about a buck-forty).... or perhaps it was because we had left London at oh-dark-hundred and were exhausted but determined to get every minute's worth out of our first day... or maybe it was just that we had no desire to return to the tin can we were staying in that doubled as a room.
It started harmlessly enough.

Hey look, my name!

This guy is a leather worker (just like Fleeto!) outside a very cool handmade leather goods store.

The chef was holding up the menu for the night. We didn't eat there but we gave it two thumbs up.
Then we saw a window full of small figurines. This particular one caught our attention. Why? Why would someone want to buy this? What could possibly be the reason for making a miniature of two old ladies, one with her hand out-stretched?
Then, 15 minutes later, walking through the park, everything became clear.

Unfortunately, the life size version was not for sale.
But my husband is.

Wicked London

Remember when wicked was cool? That was about the time of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, right? Well, Mark and Katy's wicked adventure in London was not only excellent but wicked fast. We did manage to cram in a few sights. It was the speed tour. Which was fine since both of us have spent a fair amount of time London before. That's actually one of the things I like about going back to London, I don't have to bother with the sights, I've already seen them. But seeing as we're newlyweds (I've heard I get to claim that all year) and we hadn't been to London together before we thought we'd walk a few of the sights.

Big Ben was first on the list. Mark calls me Big Ben. Thankfully it is not in regard to my size but to my fantastic ability to tell time without a watch. I'd like to claim that I can tell by the sun's position in the sky, but any news friends will tell you 10 years of being a producer slave to time ingrains a certain sense of innate timing. That being said, I'm still a dope. Right after this picture was snapped I asked Mark, "do you know what time it is?" Mark doesn't give me a withering look very often but boy did I get one in response to that question.
"Oops, hee hee, oh yeah. Hee hee."
Here we are in front of Westminster Abbey. I know it looks like just a sidewalk, but you'll just have to take my word for it. It is a London sight.
We also got some good grub. Who says the English can't cook? Mark's buddy James put us up and took us to two great London restaurants, Thai and Belgian.
But for me, London is not just about the cuisine or the sights but about the theatre. You can't go to London and not see a show. It is just wrong.

I must admit I was a little bit nervous about going to see Wicked with Mark. While dating, Mark not only passed the Shakespeare festival test with flying colours, he has even come to look forward to our trips. But musicals are another beast. I mean, he doesn't get excited when I break out in Broadway show tunes, so maybe he wouldn't go for the whole musical genre. But just like Oz this story had a happy ending and we both decided Wicked was, well wicked. And so was London.

Scotland- Edinburgh and the Borders

Boy, am I one lazy blogger. Not only have I not written anything in a good long while, I'm still not planning on doing much even now. It is hard to sit in front of a computer while sitting on a lounge chair, next to a blue pool, with the ocean in the background on the lovely south coast of Portugal. It doesn't help that I'm so abysmally behind that I need to tell you about so many things before I can even get to where we are now.
So I am afraid Scotland will get short shrift because while we had a grand and wonderful visit with Mark's aunt Ruth and uncle Peff, it was a few weekends ago already. So you'll get mostly pictures here.

This is not just any bar in Edinburgh. This is the beginning of Mark bar. Lene and Brian met at this bar. As I know the story, Brian was instantly taken with the tall, beautiful blond who walked in that night with a couple of her girlfriends. Sound familiar? Any guesses on why this story appeals to me?

I have my own history in Edinburgh too. We lived here for a time when I was 5. I even attended kindergarten here. I remember not as much as I'd like. But I do remember the castle. I was a 5 year old girl, how could I not? Just as good as I remember.



Then we headed to the Borders and stayed with Mark's aunt and uncle which was great. Peff chauffeured us around to all the sights including this lovely garden. And Ruth kept us well fed with wonderful home-cooked meals. We also enjoyed an evening with Mark's cousin Susan who was visiting her folks from New Zealand. Didn't I marry into the worldwide family?! Ruth and Peff live in a town called Melrose at the base of three mountains called the Eildons. Mark and I made it to the top of the biggest for one of the best views the Borders has to offer.

I will try to get a few more posts up in the next few days before we're off and running again. Including our stop in London, northern Spain and the entire length of Portugal. And it isn't even summer yet!

Where in the World are Mark and Katy?

Posts have been few and far between, we know. But we've been far flung. Scotland, England, Spain and now Portugal. And sadly for all of our devoted readers, we haven't been in vicinity of free wi-fi. This post in fact, comes to you from the heart of Porto, Portugal at an internet cafe. Hence the briefness and the lack of photos. BUT.... we're having a fabulous trip if that makes the absence any easier.