Olives and Eggplant but no beer

Photos will be added later. This PC has no USB port.

Arrived tired but with lmuggage to Casablanca on Saturday. Got ripped off by taxi but was still less than if I was in Europe. The cheap taxis here are the petit taxis and there was only grand taxis at the airport.

First time joining a group tour and it was kind of nice to just show up. Immediately noticed the difference with it being an Muslim country. Wanted to spend my afternoon sitting at a cafe but there were only men at the cafes and I was getting the evil eye.

Met up with group the night I arrived and the 15 of us went for dinner. I had chicken with fries but tried the tapas at the table. Not a fan of olives or eggplant and that seems to form the base of everythin. Oh well. Also noticed no alcohol on the menu. Will have to save the drinking for Spain.

Not much time in Casablanca but we visited the third largest mosque in the world on the way out that morning. Here is a photo....oh right...no USB port.

We then visited Rabat and a lot of mosques. Our guide took us to a restaurant in Meknes where he was obviously getting a kick back because it was extremely over priced. I think that is just how it works here because same thing happened today but the food was way better and it was not quite as expensive. I have had 2 more chicken meals as chicken seems rather safe.

The best part of the first day was seeing some Roman ruins in Voullabis. So amazing. We were on this beautiful hillside and it was sunny. I could have spent hours there. The ruins were further ruined by teh Lisbon earthquake so they are all open but you can see the tile mosaics in the wealthier houses/ruins.

We arrived in Fez at about 8pm last night and hunted down a restaurant rather than caving to the McDonalds next to our hotel and eating a McArabia. Not kidding. It is a real item on the menu.

Au revoir for now.

Theoretically

Trip has started off with a bang. Running on 2 days with 3 hours sleep total. Had bad middle seat on flight and was book ended by older people that really didn't want to move when I had to go to the bathroom. I did manage to drink 1.5 litres of water on flight but I probably broke even on hydration as I had champagne and red wine.
It is raining in Paris as I wait for my flight to Casablanca.
Airline has screwed up on my luggage but they have told me that 'theoretically' it should be on my flight to Casablanca. They just can't confirm that it is.
Hopefully more posts later. This stand up kiosk for internet is not made for someone 6 feet tall. I thought Europeans were all amazons but maybe not the French.

3 more sleeps

I really have no excuse for not blogging other than fatigue. Life has been very busy with exciting things I could blog about but it has all been in anticipation of a vacation which starts on Friday.

10 days in Morocco and 7 days in Spain. Lots of sightseeing planned for Morocco and some day trips and beach time in Spain.

Other than the waiting for vacation I have been slowly recovering from 16 sport events along with numerous other work commitments over the last 3 months. This past 5 day weekend, with plenty of quality family time, has somewhat restored me but I am definitely counting the hours left until my departure.

For those of you interested, my itinerary is below. I am testing out my light packing skills for this trip in anticipation of my 10 weeks of travel next year around this time. Fingers crossed. You will see a lot of photos of me wearing the same thing.

April 17th - Depart from YVR! Stop over in Seattle and Paris (but no time to go tour the city :( )
April 18th to 24th - Arrive in Casablanca - meet up with Gap adventures. Much like the light packing I am testing them out for 2010. Have heard good things. They are not Contiki tours. For more info. on what I am up to from the 18th through 24th you can see the itinerary here.
April 25th - Meet up with Rachel and Chris in Marrakesh. Day of sightseeing.
April 26th - We're still debating the overnight train vs. day train to Tangier. We want to catch the ferry on the 27th from Tangier to Algeciaras to get over to Spain. It leaves at 7am and 4pm. I am voting for 7am and taking a train during the day on the 26th.
April 27th - The three amigos...okay...the happy couple and third wheel land in Spain, pick up rental car and drive Marabella.
April 27th to May 3rd - We have some rest and relaxation planned along with day trips to Gibraltar, Cadiz and Alhambra. Rachel and Chris drop me in Malaga on the evening of May 3rd and I fly home early the next morning.

Are you tired yet? I am really hoping I am not. I think the mix of sun and Spanish wine will be just what I need.