What a ride

After leaving to traverse the High Atlas Mountains by local bus one hour late little did we know what the next 7 hours would bring us. The bus to Ourzazate from Marrakech normally would take 5 hours. The journey through orange groves and olive trees and palm trees was wonderful especially with brief views of the snow caps of the mountains.

The contrast between the desert we were travelling through the palm trees and the traditional berber housing against the mountain back drop was very unusual. As we neared the we realized why the buildings in Morocco are rendered in pink mud and straw as that is the colour of the foothills we passed through. The bus was nearly full of travellers and locals with a few small children and was interesting listening to conversations in many languages. The scenery and the grandeur of the mountains were incredible. We have never travelled through such high mountain passes before at around 3000m high. The roads had a little snow to start with on the side and there was a lot of excited people including some young Moroccan nationals who had never seen the snow before. Of course the higher we went the thicker and deeper the snow but the roads seemed fine. We stopped along the way at a tiny village for a “wee” stop and some delicious mint tea then onwards and upwards to more and more stunning scenery.

peaks were craggy and the ravines were very steep to say the least. Some parts of the road started to be a little icy when all of a sudden we came to a stop because in front of us was the longest trail of cars and trucks we have ever seen bumper to bumper with no-one moving and there we stayed for 2 hours. I forgot to mention on the way up a little earlier we had seen a petrol tanker hanging off the edge of the ravine as it had jack knifed and was stopped from falling down by the safety rail. It was entertaining to start with as we watched trucks trying to negotiate the bend in front of us as there was only room really for one as the snow was piled up on the sides and was very slippery. As time went on we did not move and thought we would never get out of there and did not know what the problem was as we first thought maybe there was another accident. The tension started to build as we realized we were going to negotiate the same bend and how tricky it was for the driver of the bus. Anyway after trying to concentrate on the awesome beauty of this magnificent mountain range we were relieved when we started to descend from the top. It was amazing and we would not have missed that bus ride for anything but could have been spared the drama. We think it was an avalanche of snow that caused the problem and they had closed the mountain pass and stopped all traffic from both sides which eventually helped the situation. We arrived at our destination tired and with a contact number of a couch surfer host who had contacted us only that morning to say they could host us or find us a home. We were met and taken back to the apartment of Joy and Hakim to find they already had 3 more CSers .Two from Italy and one from Germany. The Italian couple made all of us dinner of pasta and tortilla and very much appreciated by us and after some great conversation over a couple of good reds from Morocco. We were taken to Hakims parents home where we had our own room. How fantastic that was of them to put us up in their home at very short notice and again for tonight as I write this and we awoke to breakfast as well. Hakims’ mother and father live in a very traditional Moroccan home and have wonderful furniture. His father could also speak quite good English so we found out a little more about the Moroccan way of life.

Amazing start to Morocco

We left England spot on time ..unlike my sister who was supposed to be home in Australia by now and is still snowed in in Edinburgh. Actually I would rather be here than in Australia as our hometown is recording a lot of days over 40deg. Anyway back to Morocco. We landed in Marrakesh to pouring rain but had prebooked a riad (accomodation in a home or small hotel with only a few rooms) so the owners came and met us at the airport with a sign that said PAPA NICK. That was hilarious as those that know us well know the significance of that. We were dropped about a 10 min run away from our home in the pouring rain. Consequently our bags and our clothes were very wet. The square or plaza Djemaa el-Fna is very near to our riad so made for easy access in the labryinth that the medina is. Up for a lazy breakfast of crepes and moroccan bread, delicious freshly squeezed juice and cafe au lait, to blue skies. I have been studying up on my arabic to find out that Marocs speak french predominately. It is amazing how much french I know from I don't know where. The owners are french so I could practice my manners over breakfast. As we stepped out into the alley from our huge wooden door wondering what we would find in daylight we found we were in a very narrow walkway to motorbikes and donkeys and carts all vying for right of way. It was mostly local people walking down the alley where we could see for ages. The walls either side were that ochre colur that you would imagine and just like you see in the movies etc. It was breathtaking those first few mins. Then we hit the plaza. Oh my god the noise, the cacophony of sound was incredible. People going about their daily jobs, shops were opening but only a few tourists around.That was about to change though. Cobras dancing to the tunes played by the musicians, monkeys doing tricks, story tellers, all sorts of buskers it was an eyeful to say the least (I did not like the monkeys). We had our trusty guidebook with us but never got it out. We managed to meander all over the place and later after looking up what we had missed in the good book we had missed nothing but instead enjoyed meandering and taking in the scenes. At one stage we had gone outside the walls that surrounded the city and found the real life of the Marocs. They are hard working and as all countries when you get away from the tourist areas they are doing what they have to do to eke out a living. Noone bothered us and we only had a few curious stares. The walls themselves are huge. They are high, thick and impregnable and "pink"..that is the colour of Marrakesh. It was a fantastic introduction to the next few weeks and we are wondering if 4 weeks will be too long and what will top this day. We finished the day with a crazy night in the plaza eating dinner with hundreds of strangers from all over the world. The food is plentiful ,cheap and fresh. It is the weekend so people fly in from all over Europe for a few days... tourists everywhere. Imagine living within a few hours of so many different cultures. Those kids we saw travelling with their parents are so fortunate to see the things they were seeing today. I wish we could give our grandkids the same chance. You are born where you are born. Off to sleep and dream of those wonderful scenes we experienced today..actually Nick is asleep... wait for me

Manchester

Someone told us there was nothing to do in Manchester. I beg to differ. We arrived with the thought in mind to go straight to Liverpool to see the Beatle country but discovered there was a lot to see and is a very easy city to walk around. Just as well for that. More about that later as well. We first took a local bus to the Science and Industry Museum as the weather was freezing and seemed to be the thing to do. It certainly kept us entertained for hours and was a great insight into the history of all facets of Manchester from their achievements in Invention and in industry. A lot was hands on and recommended for kids as well so of course we had to pretend we were kids. From the depths of the sewers that we were able to walk through ..including the odd rats to the textile industry it was really interesing. Off to the John Handley Library which took us by surprise as it was very similar to the Long room in Dublin but this time we could get up and personal and look at the titles of some of the 1000s of books dating back for centuries.
The architecture of the library was awesome as well. We spent a lot of time there. As I said it was an easy place to walk around. We left a couple of things to do for the next day and headed back to our hostel just as it started snowing at 5.00pm. It snowed all night and we awoke early to find there was at least 6 inches of snow over everything. It was beautiful but of course that meant no buses or trains. The roads were mush and made walking interesting. Not icy yet so not as scary as it was in Dublin. We were supposed to travel an hour by train to Clitheroe to spend a couple of days with Julie and Neil, friends we travelled with in China, for his birthday. No luck and they could not travel to see us as the roads were closed or too icy. That was a sad moment when we realised we were not going to see them this time. We were glad to have not gone to Liverpool as we would not have got back due to the snow.
We slipped and slid around the streets in absolute wonderment at the scenery and how beautiful snow looks on buildings. It was fantastic as a tourist and we made the best of it as we probably won't have the opportunity to see it like that again. It snowed all day with the levels reaching over 12 inches in places. I am not sure how many tens of photos we took. Thank goodness for good fleeces and good solid shoes. We are hoping to get to Nottingham tomorrow by train to be there to fly out to Marrakesh on Thursday but have been told if it freezes tonight the rails might crack. Our hotel was pleased to see us again and were happy to have us stay another night. The staff had to stay here last night as they could not get home and looks like the same again. We are near to Granada Studios(Coronation Street) so they have a few people staying here unexpectedly as well. Wish us luck tomorrow if there is more snow we will be well and truly snowed in and won't be able to get to Nottingham to see Robin Hood and his Merry men. It has certainly been a fun time. The news has just said that this has been the longest cold snap for over 30 years and has been the coldest December for 14 years. Fear not though 2009 has been the 4th hottest year in the UK.

Family reunions overseas

I can thoroughly recommend meeting loved ones overseas. It has been nearly 2 years since seeing Paul and Lee (our nephew and niece) in Adelaide.
We have spent 3 wonderful days with them slowly walking the streets of Dublin. I say slow because it had snowed and was very icy to walk. Once Julie my sister bought her "Wellies" as they call them she felt more confident to walk around and had dry feet. We saw the Book Of Kells this time and the famous Long Room of Trinity College. It was an incredible thing to see and just confirms how young our country is and of course our history. We met Rory who has been seeing Lee our niece for sometime. He fits right in and was giving as much as he received from all of us. The nights were the best with loads of laughter from all. They are back in Edinburgh now and my sister Julie is leaving to go home to Australia tomorrow. More tears I suspect. They will be home in April .. it will go quickly. We all left Dublin to go our separate ways. We were off to Manchester and they flew to Edinburgh. See you home soon guys it was so good to see you again.

New year's day

Back in Dublin on New Year's Day and it is very quiet. Flights cancelled, no taxis and buses cancelled because of the snow and ice. We went to the botanic gardens. We were going to go to Glendalough but the buses were cancelled due to the weather. The city was very quiet with very little open.

New year's day

Back in Dublin on New Year's Day and it is very quiet

New Year 2010

A few small drifts of snow looks so wonderful. There were water restrictions happening. How could that be? It appears that everyone leaves thair taps running so that the pipes do not freeze up and it has caused the authorities to close off the water in certain areas to conserve the reservoirs and yet there is water everywhere, very strange. We headed out for new years eve, just a short walk into the city from where we were staying. It took longer than we thought it would, because of the snow and ice on the footpaths. Crowds of happy people were everywhere. We headed to Temple Bar as that would have to be the gathering point for celebrations.
Interestingly no fireworks were planned for Dublin at midnight. We had a few Guinness and listened to the music. After midnight we went outside and the snow was falling. we wandered about a bit and soon found that there were no taxis around as they had been called fron the streets as it was too icy and dangerous.
Next day we did some sightseeing but it was cold and snow was everywhere and it was very icy. The temperature was down to -9C.

Ireland

Second Coming…Well here we are in Dublin sitting in the airport waiting for Julie, Lee, Paul and Rory to join us from Edinburgh. We are celebrating NYE together…hopefully. They are on the tarmac snow bound in Edinburgh and it is also snowing here in Dublin so I will catch you all up on what we have been doing in the last couple of days. We are spending 5 days in Ireland the main reason we are here is to attend the wedding of our friend Niamh and Robert. We met Niamh several years ago travelling in central America for 6 weeks and we caught up later in L.A. and then travelled with her in Dublin a couple of years ago. She never thought she would marry but when we received an email from her with the news she was to be married in Dec and would we like to come. Of course we said yes. So here we are. We have not been to Europe in winter and were prepared we thought for cold weather but they have had some of the worst weather the last few weeks with flooding and now heavy snow and record low temps. Over the next few days it will get as low as -13. It is hard to keep the cold out of the bones so we dash from the car to inside very quickly. Nick left his drivers licence at home in Adelaide so I had to drive while we were in Ireland. We found out the roads were still iced over from the snow storm a week ago and I have never experienced that before but with careful driving and lots of advice we managed to avoid any skids or accidents but others were not so lucky. We arrived Tuesday morning in Dublin after 4 flights totaling some crazy hours in the plane but we both had some sleep so felt pretty good and excited. Driving through Ireland is a treat except for the ice. The scenery was very different this time. Different season. The snow on the ground made for lots of oohs and ahs.

Niamh booked us into a B&B near the castle where the reception was to be held in the County of Leitrim near the town of Mohill. We arrived before 2.00 pm so our room was not quite ready so we were invited into her kitchen to sit by the warm range with copious cups of tea, toast and Xmas cake. Friends kept dropping by, her 3 kids came home from fishing with their dad and we sat back tired with a grin on our face at the life in an Irish home.

When shown to our room we were so tempted to have a nap but instead went to have a walk around the property. There was still ice and snow on the ground and it was sooo cold. They have a dark forest or wood and a lake at the bottom of the garden. We drove back down to the town after having an emotional reunion with Niamh who was shaken after skidding off the road coming up to see us. After dinner in a little country pub with a pint of guinness it was home and off to bed. We slept for 12 hours and woke to a huge breakfast and some great company from the groom’s brother.

Today was the day we both felt like we were having Cinderella moments all day. We awoke to a very windy dreary day and drizzly rain and by 1.00pm the time of the wedding it was no better but at least there was no snow overnight and the rain helps to melt the ice. Niamh is catholic as all or most good Irish people are so the wedding was in a church in Mohill. It was such a lovely service and had a lot of involvement from members of the family and friends. No photos outside so they were done in the church which was different but a great way to keep everyone together. We ventured into town to have soup and coffee to warm up but missed the mulled wine and mince tarts back at the castle. When we arrived at the castle for the reception it was on dusk about 4.00 pm. Yes, the sun rises around 8.30 am and sets around 4.00 pm. The castle was bathed in a soft light and in the front window a huge Christmas tree was blazing with lights and decorations.

What a delight that was. It is great to have a wedding this time of the year as carols were sung after the service in the church and at the wedding reception. The streets had fresh trees as well. Not a plastic tree in sight anywhere. It has prolonged Christmas for us. Now to the reception. The speeches were very informal before and held in the front room of the castle as would have been done for centuries. Niamh and Robert are in their 30s and both were never expecting to ever be married so it was a very emotional night for family and friends. Everyone really was dressed up and their coats were something else. We were ushered into the dining hall and fed royally with so much food being serenaded by a band with a fantastic violinist which of course meant Irish jigs and dancing from the guests. It would have to be the most fun and it was great to sit and watch it unfold. We felt like we were Cinderella at the ball and did not want it to end. We caught up with Kate who we also travelled with and she had the chance to stay with us when she travelled to Australia so it was a joy to be there with her too. After the violinist left the dance floor was unfolded and another act was bought in just as we thought it was time to go home. For the next couple of hours dancing and singing ensued from all then out came the “afters”. Traditionally at a wedding in a hometown a certain number of guests would be invited to a wedding around 200 to 300 then the other friends would come in for the “afters” sandwiches, pies, sausages and the wedding cake. There was a lot of food served at the reception but the next lot of food was devoured in a flash. We decided at 12 ish it was time to leave when they said next was going to be a disco then on to the bar in other words 3 or 4 in the morning until the last leave with bride and groom still there. When we arrived back at the B&B we were sad it was over but felt we had found the golden slipper .Thanks for the invite guys it was fantastic.

You know you are in ireland when it is .