9/7/19 - Czech-ing out Prague!
I'm on my way to a music festival in Germany, but I've got a week to kill and wanted to give myself a few days to get over the jet lag, so I had a look at what was around the area, and Prague stuck out as a destination worth a visit!
First things first - after catching the airport bus into the main train station in town, I bought the 3 day travel pass. Absolutely worth it, gives you travel on all the buses, trains and trams, and I spent the next 3 days jumping from one to the other. Possibly one of the simplest city transport systems I've ever used!
I arrived early Sunday morning and had a few hours before I could check in, so I caught the bus up to Prague Castle. Huge - apparently the largest ancient castle in the world! And at the top of the hill, offers spectacular views of the old town and the city down below.
I spent a couple of days exploring the old town streets and museums: in particular, the Museum of Communism (excellent), the Museum of Medieval Torture (the one beside the Charles Bridge - terrifying!), and the Sex Machines Museum (eye opening!). The Museum of Communism was a real experience for me, as in my ignorance I only knew of Prague as a fabulous tourist destination. After visiting, I realised I had spent my entire time at school not knowing Prague existed, as it was behind the Iron Curtain at the time. The museum was a fascinating education of the history of what is now Czechia.
I ate sausages and trdelniks (a yummy doughnutty, ice creamy delight!), drank cider in the lunchtime food markets, checked out the outdoor sculptures and the Prague Astronomical Clock (the oldest operating clock in the world - over 600 years!), admired marionettes and architecture. Wandering down the street I was offered discount tickets to see a Prague string orchestra perform Vivildi's Four Seasons in the Cathedral; I went, and it was fabulous, including an opera singer, an organist, and spectacular acoustics and design! And finished my time in Prague hanging out with my holiday stalker Ed Sheeran, who was playing a concert there that night :)
Prague is quite fabulous and I'd love to go back and explore a bit further out from the old town!
First things first - after catching the airport bus into the main train station in town, I bought the 3 day travel pass. Absolutely worth it, gives you travel on all the buses, trains and trams, and I spent the next 3 days jumping from one to the other. Possibly one of the simplest city transport systems I've ever used!
I arrived early Sunday morning and had a few hours before I could check in, so I caught the bus up to Prague Castle. Huge - apparently the largest ancient castle in the world! And at the top of the hill, offers spectacular views of the old town and the city down below.
I spent a couple of days exploring the old town streets and museums: in particular, the Museum of Communism (excellent), the Museum of Medieval Torture (the one beside the Charles Bridge - terrifying!), and the Sex Machines Museum (eye opening!). The Museum of Communism was a real experience for me, as in my ignorance I only knew of Prague as a fabulous tourist destination. After visiting, I realised I had spent my entire time at school not knowing Prague existed, as it was behind the Iron Curtain at the time. The museum was a fascinating education of the history of what is now Czechia.
I ate sausages and trdelniks (a yummy doughnutty, ice creamy delight!), drank cider in the lunchtime food markets, checked out the outdoor sculptures and the Prague Astronomical Clock (the oldest operating clock in the world - over 600 years!), admired marionettes and architecture. Wandering down the street I was offered discount tickets to see a Prague string orchestra perform Vivildi's Four Seasons in the Cathedral; I went, and it was fabulous, including an opera singer, an organist, and spectacular acoustics and design! And finished my time in Prague hanging out with my holiday stalker Ed Sheeran, who was playing a concert there that night :)
Prague is quite fabulous and I'd love to go back and explore a bit further out from the old town!
11/7/19 - a day and a night in Nuremberg
To get from Prague to Coburg, I had to change buses in Nuremburg, so I figured I may as well stay a night and have a look around!
Well my holiday luck was with me. 1) The girl sitting next to me on the bus turned out to be from NZ; spookily, she was a biologist; and knew some of the Manchester Uni biologists I had been with way back in the Amazon in 2014! It's a very small world... and 2) around an hour into the trip I noticed a whole lot of Porsches and Ferraris driving past. Turns out today was the day the annual NexusBall Rally drove the Prague to Frankfurt leg, and I was sitting on the exact right side of the bus to see it! If I'd caught an earlier or later bus, or sat on the other side of the bus, I would have missed it completely!
Nuremburg ('Nurnberg' in German) is a really pretty town. My first port of call was GERMAN SAUSAGES so I went to Bratwurst Roslein, which has been open since 1493, and a fine start to my German Sausage culinary adventure - which definitely expanded to include German potato salad... :)
I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the streets, super pretty in the Southern Germany Bavarian architectural style. There are all day markets in the main town square (buy a Nurnberger sausage bun from here - three small sausages in a bread roll. Yummm!). There's a nice river running through the old city, with loads of cute bridges crossing it, and it is small and compact and very walkable. I also conveniently managed to arrive on day 1 of the local wine festival! So wandered down to the square in the evening for some muller thurgau (which I haven't seen since around 1984 - but went really well with the band playing retro 80s songs!!) and some weincoctails, which I don't know exactly what they are, but also go down very nicely :)
There was another sausage I had to tick off the list and that was at Zum Gulden Stern, which claims to be the oldest bratwurst restaurant in the world - since 1419! I can't confirm that, but I can confirm it's well worth a visit. Super cute, super delicious!
I also visited Nuremburg Castle. It's HUGE and well worth a visit! It dates back around 1000 years, and was the centre of power for most of South Germany - which at the time, also include Prague and a significant part of Czechia.
48 hours was probably all I needed in Nuremburg, so I wandered off to the train station and caught the 2 hour train up to Coburg :)
Oh and the gingerbread! EAT THE GINGERBREAD! It's incredible!
Well my holiday luck was with me. 1) The girl sitting next to me on the bus turned out to be from NZ; spookily, she was a biologist; and knew some of the Manchester Uni biologists I had been with way back in the Amazon in 2014! It's a very small world... and 2) around an hour into the trip I noticed a whole lot of Porsches and Ferraris driving past. Turns out today was the day the annual NexusBall Rally drove the Prague to Frankfurt leg, and I was sitting on the exact right side of the bus to see it! If I'd caught an earlier or later bus, or sat on the other side of the bus, I would have missed it completely!
Nuremburg ('Nurnberg' in German) is a really pretty town. My first port of call was GERMAN SAUSAGES so I went to Bratwurst Roslein, which has been open since 1493, and a fine start to my German Sausage culinary adventure - which definitely expanded to include German potato salad... :)
I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the streets, super pretty in the Southern Germany Bavarian architectural style. There are all day markets in the main town square (buy a Nurnberger sausage bun from here - three small sausages in a bread roll. Yummm!). There's a nice river running through the old city, with loads of cute bridges crossing it, and it is small and compact and very walkable. I also conveniently managed to arrive on day 1 of the local wine festival! So wandered down to the square in the evening for some muller thurgau (which I haven't seen since around 1984 - but went really well with the band playing retro 80s songs!!) and some weincoctails, which I don't know exactly what they are, but also go down very nicely :)
There was another sausage I had to tick off the list and that was at Zum Gulden Stern, which claims to be the oldest bratwurst restaurant in the world - since 1419! I can't confirm that, but I can confirm it's well worth a visit. Super cute, super delicious!
I also visited Nuremburg Castle. It's HUGE and well worth a visit! It dates back around 1000 years, and was the centre of power for most of South Germany - which at the time, also include Prague and a significant part of Czechia.
48 hours was probably all I needed in Nuremburg, so I wandered off to the train station and caught the 2 hour train up to Coburg :)
Oh and the gingerbread! EAT THE GINGERBREAD! It's incredible!
15/7/19 - that time I represented NZ in Coburg, Germany...
A couple of years ago I joined the local samba band, remembering how great the bands were at the Honduras National Day back on Utila Island in 2014. Well little did I know, there are 8 samba bands in NZ; and one of them (Wellington) organises an overseas trip every year to play at an international festival! So this year, they were going back to the Coburg Samba Festival for the third time, and they put the call out to the other NZ bands to see if anyone else wanted to join them... and two rehearsals later, five of us from our band are joining Wellington Batucada on tour as the NZ representative band in Coburg!
The festival is around 20 years old and a big deal. It's the largest samba festival outside of Brazil, with around 100 different bands performing. Along with the bands, many of the Samba Queens from Brazil come along also, so there's 4 days of around 200,000 colourful people dancing and celebrating and chilling out in a really pretty town around 2 hours north of Nuremberg. And to my knowledge, not a single arrest! Just a fabulous atmosphere to be around.
We played 4 performances 1 on the main stage, one of the secondary stage, and two on the streets. On the final Sunday all the bands parade around town. With 100 bands, it takes over 3 hours for everyone to finish - it took an hour for us just to parade! We were lucky to be number 6 in the parade order, and at the finish we joined the bands coming in as part of a giant international samba jam session. If I get the chance, I'm signing up to go again :) Super fun, super people!
And, the luck was with me again... we were put up in the local sports centre, sharing with 'a Spanish band'. Well, the Spanish band turned out to be Aainjaa from Colombia, the number one samba band in the world!
Fun fact about Coburg - it's actually the home of a certain Prince Albert, who around a century ago went on to marry a certain Queen Victoria of England!
The festival is around 20 years old and a big deal. It's the largest samba festival outside of Brazil, with around 100 different bands performing. Along with the bands, many of the Samba Queens from Brazil come along also, so there's 4 days of around 200,000 colourful people dancing and celebrating and chilling out in a really pretty town around 2 hours north of Nuremberg. And to my knowledge, not a single arrest! Just a fabulous atmosphere to be around.
We played 4 performances 1 on the main stage, one of the secondary stage, and two on the streets. On the final Sunday all the bands parade around town. With 100 bands, it takes over 3 hours for everyone to finish - it took an hour for us just to parade! We were lucky to be number 6 in the parade order, and at the finish we joined the bands coming in as part of a giant international samba jam session. If I get the chance, I'm signing up to go again :) Super fun, super people!
And, the luck was with me again... we were put up in the local sports centre, sharing with 'a Spanish band'. Well, the Spanish band turned out to be Aainjaa from Colombia, the number one samba band in the world!
Fun fact about Coburg - it's actually the home of a certain Prince Albert, who around a century ago went on to marry a certain Queen Victoria of England!
17/7/19 - musings in Munich
It's sad to be leaving Coburg, as we've all had such a fantastic time here. But there's a free bus back to Munich, and if there's one thing I've learned from backpacking, travel somewhere free if you can! SO - Munich is my next destination :)
There's 6 of us left after the festival, so we all met for a farewell beverage/meal at Augustiner-Keller Beer Garden, 5 minutes walk from the Munich Central Train Station. It's enormous - 5000 seats! And I've finally had my first German Schnitzal - and I know I keep saying this word - but, delicious :)
So I had a day to wander around. After a sleep in, I arrived in town just in time for the midday Glockenspiel show. Wandered around the markets (apple strudel time!). And as with everywhere else, admiring the architecture - which contains a LOT of lions!
There's 6 of us left after the festival, so we all met for a farewell beverage/meal at Augustiner-Keller Beer Garden, 5 minutes walk from the Munich Central Train Station. It's enormous - 5000 seats! And I've finally had my first German Schnitzal - and I know I keep saying this word - but, delicious :)
So I had a day to wander around. After a sleep in, I arrived in town just in time for the midday Glockenspiel show. Wandered around the markets (apple strudel time!). And as with everywhere else, admiring the architecture - which contains a LOT of lions!
In the evening I wandered over to the main park to watch the surfing. Yes, surfing! I can't surf, but I spent an enjoyable couple of hours watching the surfers and soaking in the party atmosphere with the music. A great late afternoon chill out spot!
Would I visit Munich again as a destination? Probably not, it's got a 'city' vibe more than my style of tourist destination. But if I was in Munich again for 48 hours would I enjoy it? Absolutely!
Would I visit Munich again as a destination? Probably not, it's got a 'city' vibe more than my style of tourist destination. But if I was in Munich again for 48 hours would I enjoy it? Absolutely!
A selection of sausages...
18/7/19 - Tangier, Morocco
Starting the next leg of the holiday now, and it's 10 days in Morocco with my old friend Kate who I travelled around Central America with! I flew here from Munich; she had been travelling through Spain and caught the ferry (and strongly advises against it, just saying...).
Tangier is just a one nighter, just enough time for us to regroup, have a look around in the afternoon, and prep for getting on the road to Chefchaouen the next day. And, to have our first genuine Moroccan food in the form of tagines, which turned out to be the main food for our trip - absolutely delicious! And relatively cheap, even if the portion sizes are quite large. Not being very smart, it took us a week to figure out to just buy one and share it, rather than buy one each, as they come with copious amounts of delicious Moroccan bread also to fill up on :)
So a quick stroll around the medina (market), a quick jaunt out to where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean Sea (because I do like geographical geekiness!) and some architectural appreciation of the mosaic tiling around town. We stayed at Hotel Continental, a) because it was a 5 minute walk from the ferry for Kate b) it's on the edge of the medina and c) if it's good enough for Winston Churchill, it's good enough for us!
Tangier is just a one nighter, just enough time for us to regroup, have a look around in the afternoon, and prep for getting on the road to Chefchaouen the next day. And, to have our first genuine Moroccan food in the form of tagines, which turned out to be the main food for our trip - absolutely delicious! And relatively cheap, even if the portion sizes are quite large. Not being very smart, it took us a week to figure out to just buy one and share it, rather than buy one each, as they come with copious amounts of delicious Moroccan bread also to fill up on :)
So a quick stroll around the medina (market), a quick jaunt out to where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean Sea (because I do like geographical geekiness!) and some architectural appreciation of the mosaic tiling around town. We stayed at Hotel Continental, a) because it was a 5 minute walk from the ferry for Kate b) it's on the edge of the medina and c) if it's good enough for Winston Churchill, it's good enough for us!
19/7/19 - bonito Chefchaouen
Chefchauoen, the blue city, is nestled in the Northern Moroccan mountains. Super chill, super beautiful, and I can see why it's such a draw card for people wanting to drop off the face of the earth for a week or two. To get there you need to go to Tangier or Fez, then get transport (we caught the public bus both legs; it's only a couple of hours each way and definitely the cheapest option!) and the buses are fine with comfy seats and good engines - though we didn't catch the chicken bus! Definitely pay for the first class CTM bus. It's still cheap. And book your bus out as soon as you arrive at the Chefchaoen bus station, as there are only a couple of buses a day and they fill FAST.
Don't come here planning to do your shopping - do this in Tangier or better still, Fez (or even better, Marrakech!), but you can still get lost in the windy alleyways. Just come here to sit down and watch the world go by, either staring at the valleys, or people watching from the medina cafes around the Kasbah. Don't forget to get a photo at Flowerpot Street (follow the arrow on the map below for location). Best tip, get there before 9am, before the tour buses spill out masses of people - and the morning light is better than the evening light. I went there around 8am and there were only 4 of us there, so we spent ages getting some fun posey shots of us!
Kate loved it here so much she said she wished we could stay the full trip here :)
p.s. a certain type of backpacker is attracted to here; you'll probably be offered hash several times a day (our first offer was around 9am!). We smiled and declined; if it's your thing, well I guess it's your risk of a Moroccan jail for an extended holiday...
p.p.s. Celebrity spotting? We kept running into an American couple with a puppy, and the girl looked really familiar, and in retrospect I thought maybe it was Anna Kendrick? I googled and couldn't see any reference to her being in Morocco at that time, but I'm just going to keep pretending it was her :)
Don't come here planning to do your shopping - do this in Tangier or better still, Fez (or even better, Marrakech!), but you can still get lost in the windy alleyways. Just come here to sit down and watch the world go by, either staring at the valleys, or people watching from the medina cafes around the Kasbah. Don't forget to get a photo at Flowerpot Street (follow the arrow on the map below for location). Best tip, get there before 9am, before the tour buses spill out masses of people - and the morning light is better than the evening light. I went there around 8am and there were only 4 of us there, so we spent ages getting some fun posey shots of us!
Kate loved it here so much she said she wished we could stay the full trip here :)
p.s. a certain type of backpacker is attracted to here; you'll probably be offered hash several times a day (our first offer was around 9am!). We smiled and declined; if it's your thing, well I guess it's your risk of a Moroccan jail for an extended holiday...
p.p.s. Celebrity spotting? We kept running into an American couple with a puppy, and the girl looked really familiar, and in retrospect I thought maybe it was Anna Kendrick? I googled and couldn't see any reference to her being in Morocco at that time, but I'm just going to keep pretending it was her :)
21/7/19 - shopping reconaissence in Fez
Kate had come to Morocco wanting to buy a rug for her apartment. She had been given a tip of a place to buy from in Chefchaouen but OMG too expensive!. So we went to the carpet area of the medina in Fez, and in one of the shops here she found a beautiful Moroccan rug for around $500 (around 1/3 of the Chefchaouen price!). The shop owner was awesome; we got the full mint tea ceremony while negotiating price (it's part of the price setting game) and he also advised against shipping it home - he said it was much cheaper to buy a large leather satchel and put the rug in that. He also helped Kate negotiate the price of a satchel (found at "a friends shop"), so she got it for around NZ$50 in the end. Which some Canadians we met later were insanely jealous of, as they had paid $200! p.s. there are only two main streets in the medina, so you shouldn't get too lost in here!
We went to visit the famous leather tanneries/dye pits in Fez also. We had been warned about the smell, and Kate found it terrible, but I didn't find it so bad - then again, I'm an ex smoker so may have no sense of smell left... They give you mint leaves to sniff while wandering, and it does help. You can't actually see the dye markets from the alleyways, but there are a few shops that have balconies overlooking; if you pay a coin, they will let you go and view. You will have to walk a windy path through the shop first, which is obviously intended to whet your appetite for shopping afterwards, but hey, I'm a shop designer, I would do the same thing!
FYI - by the time we got to Fez, it was around 35 degrees at the top of the day. Phew that's hot! We had been a bit clever and booked all our travel in Morocco for midday/afternoons, so we had bus aircon; also booked our riads as close to medinas as possible, so short walks there and back if it got too hot. The medina alleyways are cool-ish - but can still get hot. Best to shop in the mornings and the evenings.
p.s. Celebrity spotting 2? When we left Fez for the Sahara, there was an American man with a super souped up bike who saw my Venice Beach T-shirt and asked if I was from there (I'd actually picked it up years ago at The Warehouse). I said, no and asked if he was; he said no, but lived near there. When he left Kate was a bit goggle eyed and swore that she'd seen him on TV and he had a Bike travel TV show. In retrospect he looked a bit like Norman Reedus (Darryl in Walking Dead). Was it him? We'll never know!
We went to visit the famous leather tanneries/dye pits in Fez also. We had been warned about the smell, and Kate found it terrible, but I didn't find it so bad - then again, I'm an ex smoker so may have no sense of smell left... They give you mint leaves to sniff while wandering, and it does help. You can't actually see the dye markets from the alleyways, but there are a few shops that have balconies overlooking; if you pay a coin, they will let you go and view. You will have to walk a windy path through the shop first, which is obviously intended to whet your appetite for shopping afterwards, but hey, I'm a shop designer, I would do the same thing!
FYI - by the time we got to Fez, it was around 35 degrees at the top of the day. Phew that's hot! We had been a bit clever and booked all our travel in Morocco for midday/afternoons, so we had bus aircon; also booked our riads as close to medinas as possible, so short walks there and back if it got too hot. The medina alleyways are cool-ish - but can still get hot. Best to shop in the mornings and the evenings.
p.s. Celebrity spotting 2? When we left Fez for the Sahara, there was an American man with a super souped up bike who saw my Venice Beach T-shirt and asked if I was from there (I'd actually picked it up years ago at The Warehouse). I said, no and asked if he was; he said no, but lived near there. When he left Kate was a bit goggle eyed and swore that she'd seen him on TV and he had a Bike travel TV show. In retrospect he looked a bit like Norman Reedus (Darryl in Walking Dead). Was it him? We'll never know!
Food glorious food...
Just a few pics our our DELICIOUS tagines! Plus other yummy food we ate in Morocco.
23/7/19 - a trip to the Sahara desert
One thing I REALLY wanted to do was stay a night in a desert camp in the Sahara. I booked with Mouhou Tours, who do a 3 day Fez to Marrakech trip, and I will highly recommend them to anyone! Our driver Mohammad was awesome, and really good English if anyone is worried about that. Also the cars were 4WD and in top condition with aircon - very important, as it went up to 45 degrees in the middle of the day (July is the hottest time of the year here).
Day 1 we drove from Fez to the Sahara via Morocco's ski resort, yes you heard that right, Morocco has ski fields about 1 hour drive from Fez! We arrived at the Mouhou Sahara office in Merzouga (we wanted to go to Merzouga, near the Algerian border, as these had the best dunes) just as a sandstorm blew in, which was really interesting as it was fine when we arrived, we went and put our bags away, and 15 minutes later couldn't see a thing outside! But around 90 minutes later it cleared so we jumped in the 4WD to go to our camp. We had the option of camel rides, but it was heading for sunset and would have taken another 90 minutes so we decided to do that in the morning instead.
The Sahara camp was really cute; it was off season so just Kate, myself, and two Argentinian girls. The Bedouins made a fabulous feast for dinner, then lit a bonfire and we all had a big drum circle with the local Sahara wine and watching the clear starry skies. Obviously I had to have a drum myself, having just come from the Coburg samba festival! The beds were really comfy. Got up early in the morning to climb the dunes to see the sunrise, and after a big breakfast, we did some sand surfing (I failed miserably and bum-surfed instead!), then we rode our camels out (around 90 minutes) back to the Mouhou office. Fabulous :)
Day 1 we drove from Fez to the Sahara via Morocco's ski resort, yes you heard that right, Morocco has ski fields about 1 hour drive from Fez! We arrived at the Mouhou Sahara office in Merzouga (we wanted to go to Merzouga, near the Algerian border, as these had the best dunes) just as a sandstorm blew in, which was really interesting as it was fine when we arrived, we went and put our bags away, and 15 minutes later couldn't see a thing outside! But around 90 minutes later it cleared so we jumped in the 4WD to go to our camp. We had the option of camel rides, but it was heading for sunset and would have taken another 90 minutes so we decided to do that in the morning instead.
The Sahara camp was really cute; it was off season so just Kate, myself, and two Argentinian girls. The Bedouins made a fabulous feast for dinner, then lit a bonfire and we all had a big drum circle with the local Sahara wine and watching the clear starry skies. Obviously I had to have a drum myself, having just come from the Coburg samba festival! The beds were really comfy. Got up early in the morning to climb the dunes to see the sunrise, and after a big breakfast, we did some sand surfing (I failed miserably and bum-surfed instead!), then we rode our camels out (around 90 minutes) back to the Mouhou office. Fabulous :)
Day 2 we drove from the Sahara past LOADS of fossil places with giant dinosaurs outside (I do love dinosaurs!), through to Todres Gorge, which is a funny little narrow gorge the width of a road with a stream and high cliffs on each side, but it has become a super tourist attraction with loads of tat for sale, and people swim and picnic here like it's a day at the beach! Then on the Dades Valley, a literal green palm tree oasis in the desert. Not much to do here, but we were so tired we pretty much ate then went to sleep.
Day 3 we drove to Ouarzazate, which is home to Atlas Studios, Morocco's version of Hollywood, where a lot of big movies film their desert scenes - most famous for Gladiator with Russell Crowe. We had a fun couple of hours playing Ben Hur and Cleopatra etc etc. Then it was on the road again, and final push for Marrakech!
Mohammed our driver also knew all the best places to eat (yes probably his friends, but who cares?! Note - meals and drinks not included on the tour). And if you are worried, everywhere we stayed and stopped at was clean and had good bathrooms. So I repeat - I highly recommend Mouhou Tours if you want to do this trip :) Don't forget to tip!
Day 3 we drove to Ouarzazate, which is home to Atlas Studios, Morocco's version of Hollywood, where a lot of big movies film their desert scenes - most famous for Gladiator with Russell Crowe. We had a fun couple of hours playing Ben Hur and Cleopatra etc etc. Then it was on the road again, and final push for Marrakech!
Mohammed our driver also knew all the best places to eat (yes probably his friends, but who cares?! Note - meals and drinks not included on the tour). And if you are worried, everywhere we stayed and stopped at was clean and had good bathrooms. So I repeat - I highly recommend Mouhou Tours if you want to do this trip :) Don't forget to tip!
25/7/19 - shopping time! in Marrakech
We've moved into Southern Morocco now, so my Spanish is useless as French is the widely spoken language here. Luckily Kate can speak French - and was able to save my eftpos card from being swallowed by the ATM machine!
Marrakech is where all our shopping recon paid off; we arrived with a good idea of what we wanted to buy, and our price points established. For me, it was leather handbags and I also became a bit obsessed with finding a leather laptop case. All good, plenty of medina shops to choose from, and a pleasant day wandering. Also what became a running joke: "come look in my shop" "maybe later..." which cracked me up when one of the opposite shops at one stage replied "maybe never!". What we found was, it's fine to look from the outside; once you enter a shop, you're indicating intent to purchase; once you start discussing price you're basically finalising a sale at that point. Don't start any arguments by backing out of a purchase once you've started negotiating!
I really wanted a tagine pot, but in the end sadly accepted I couldn't carry one home with me :( And the doorknobs - Kate was very patient with my hunt for a brass dinosaur doorknob, like I had seen way back in Antigua, Guatemala in 2014. Sadly, not to be... We also spent an afternoon doing a cooking class at the riad we stayed at, which was fabulous - we got to go to the markets, shop for the ingredients, and make starters, tagines, breads and desserts. So yummy!
I think Marrakech was my favourite of all the large cities in Morocco we went to - it's mad crazy, but in a fun way. We stayed in the medina, and I've always loved a good market you can get lost in; we ended up putting MAPS.ME on our phones, as even though I pride myself on a good sense of direction, we did get lost a few times in the windy alleyways. (Thanks Ricel & Sam from my Africa trip for that tip!) The main square (Djemaa El-Fna) is heaving with people shopping and eating in the evenings and touts all around (I did NOT like the monkeys on chains). You do need to be extra alert for pickpockets here, same as all the large cities in Morocco. The other scam I found, was a lot of ladies grabbing your hand and saying " you want henna tattoo" and start trying to draw. You'll need to pull your hand away ASAP - as soon as they draw a line, they'll charge you. One lady got super angry when I pushed her style book away, but hey, don't shove it in my face if you don't want me to push it away! So, I think you need to have a bit of travel savvy about you to come here. And it was good to come with Kate also, to have two of us playing 'good cop, bad cop'. Another female friend had come here alone a few weeks earlier and had not enjoyed it at all, finding it all quite overwhelming and stressful.
If I was going to come back though, I would bring a massive bank account and buy as many lamps as I could. They are FABULOUS!
Marrakech is where all our shopping recon paid off; we arrived with a good idea of what we wanted to buy, and our price points established. For me, it was leather handbags and I also became a bit obsessed with finding a leather laptop case. All good, plenty of medina shops to choose from, and a pleasant day wandering. Also what became a running joke: "come look in my shop" "maybe later..." which cracked me up when one of the opposite shops at one stage replied "maybe never!". What we found was, it's fine to look from the outside; once you enter a shop, you're indicating intent to purchase; once you start discussing price you're basically finalising a sale at that point. Don't start any arguments by backing out of a purchase once you've started negotiating!
I really wanted a tagine pot, but in the end sadly accepted I couldn't carry one home with me :( And the doorknobs - Kate was very patient with my hunt for a brass dinosaur doorknob, like I had seen way back in Antigua, Guatemala in 2014. Sadly, not to be... We also spent an afternoon doing a cooking class at the riad we stayed at, which was fabulous - we got to go to the markets, shop for the ingredients, and make starters, tagines, breads and desserts. So yummy!
I think Marrakech was my favourite of all the large cities in Morocco we went to - it's mad crazy, but in a fun way. We stayed in the medina, and I've always loved a good market you can get lost in; we ended up putting MAPS.ME on our phones, as even though I pride myself on a good sense of direction, we did get lost a few times in the windy alleyways. (Thanks Ricel & Sam from my Africa trip for that tip!) The main square (Djemaa El-Fna) is heaving with people shopping and eating in the evenings and touts all around (I did NOT like the monkeys on chains). You do need to be extra alert for pickpockets here, same as all the large cities in Morocco. The other scam I found, was a lot of ladies grabbing your hand and saying " you want henna tattoo" and start trying to draw. You'll need to pull your hand away ASAP - as soon as they draw a line, they'll charge you. One lady got super angry when I pushed her style book away, but hey, don't shove it in my face if you don't want me to push it away! So, I think you need to have a bit of travel savvy about you to come here. And it was good to come with Kate also, to have two of us playing 'good cop, bad cop'. Another female friend had come here alone a few weeks earlier and had not enjoyed it at all, finding it all quite overwhelming and stressful.
If I was going to come back though, I would bring a massive bank account and buy as many lamps as I could. They are FABULOUS!
26/7/19 - everybody comes to Ricks Cafe in Casablanca!
Sometimes you just need to catch a train for 3 hours to go somewhere just for a meal, and today is one of those days. I farewelled Kate, and hopped on a train to Casablanca, purely to have dinner at Ricks Cafe a la the movie. Hint - definitely buy a first class train ticket! It's around R$30, vs R$20 for a second class ticket. I had a lovely trip in a 6 person air conditioned cabin with 5 other ladies. I had a peek at second class when I got off the train; everyone was standing crammed up against each other - and I saw some people with backpacks who I'm sure had had to stand the full 3 hour trip. R$10 well spent I say!
I had never seen the Casablanca movie before, but luckily it was on my flight from NZ, so I did my research in preparation for a meal I knew I was going to have - by the way, the movie is excellent and well worth a look! This Ricks Cafe isn't actually the restaurant from the movie - it was a movie after all! - but some entrepreneur opened it years later, and it's just spectacular. And from my brief glance at the city, probably the best reason to visit the giant construction site that is Casablanca other than for business!
The food was spectacular, the architecture was spectacular, the service was spectacular. I had booked last minute so was lucky to get an early dining spot, but that worked out well, as the pianist wasn't there yet, so they let me have a little play on the piano! (Footnote - I can't play piano...). There's a speakeasy bar upstairs, with a craps table, and they play the movie on loop all evening. So I ate WAY too much, washed down with cocktails and Casablanca beer, and didn't regret a second of my decision to come here on my last night in Morocco :)
p.s. I hired a lovely driver who drove me from my hotel (the Ibis right next to the main train station) to Ricks, waited while I dined inside, and then drove me back, giving me an impromptu guided tour of town at the same time! Much easier than trying to find taxis in both directions, and around the same price.
p.p.s. the doormen look scary but they were super funny, and I ended up giving one my hat for his wife, seeing it was my last day and I didn't need it any more :)
I had never seen the Casablanca movie before, but luckily it was on my flight from NZ, so I did my research in preparation for a meal I knew I was going to have - by the way, the movie is excellent and well worth a look! This Ricks Cafe isn't actually the restaurant from the movie - it was a movie after all! - but some entrepreneur opened it years later, and it's just spectacular. And from my brief glance at the city, probably the best reason to visit the giant construction site that is Casablanca other than for business!
The food was spectacular, the architecture was spectacular, the service was spectacular. I had booked last minute so was lucky to get an early dining spot, but that worked out well, as the pianist wasn't there yet, so they let me have a little play on the piano! (Footnote - I can't play piano...). There's a speakeasy bar upstairs, with a craps table, and they play the movie on loop all evening. So I ate WAY too much, washed down with cocktails and Casablanca beer, and didn't regret a second of my decision to come here on my last night in Morocco :)
p.s. I hired a lovely driver who drove me from my hotel (the Ibis right next to the main train station) to Ricks, waited while I dined inside, and then drove me back, giving me an impromptu guided tour of town at the same time! Much easier than trying to find taxis in both directions, and around the same price.
p.p.s. the doormen look scary but they were super funny, and I ended up giving one my hat for his wife, seeing it was my last day and I didn't need it any more :)
27/7/19 - home time - but not for my backpack, which had another months holiday without me...
Here's a story about lost luggage. Warning - it's long, but may just help you one day. Combined with luck... actually, likely 75% luck! And 20% sweat and tears...
I flew from Casablanca with Air France via Paris to Prague, to catch my flight back to NZ. Due to a flight delay, I only had a 40 minute turnaround in Paris - I was literally running from one end of one terminal to the other end of a second terminal to catch my connection. I remember thinking if I was running this far, chances of my bag making the flight were slim - and sure enough, when I got to Prague, no bag.
When I reported to the desk, they assured me my bag was on the next flight, coming in at 8pm - which would have been great, but I was on the flight back to NZ at 5pm! So they said they would put it on the next flight, and I travelled back to NZ with very light luggage (which posed a bit of questioning on arrival at NZ customs!).
So when I heard 'next flight back to NZ', I assumed 'next flight with the same airline back to NZ'. Ahh 'assumed' (making an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me') - they literally meant 'next flight'. Which meant my bag was booked via China Eastern, Prague to Shanghai to NZ. (Click the website link just to see how they spell 'New Zealand'!)
So me and my bag tracking number waited a day... and another day... and another day - and started getting a bit concerned - and at day 5 the WorldTracer website reported my bag had been delivered, so my file was closed. WAIT WHAT? WHERE IS MY BAG! IT'S NOT HERE!
So that was the start of weeks of fun emails with Air France - tip for people - the airline that loses your bag is responsible for getting it back to you. Did Air France help? Not one bit!! Except after 3 days of phone calls and badgering, I was able to get my lost bag WorldTracer file reopened, albeit under a second tracking number (this became relevant later...). Note, this was to Air France HelpDesk in France - no other agents were able to help. Even there it took several calls before striking lucky with someone who could help.
Through a lot of international phone calls, begging, and I'm not going to lie, some tears (Air France - call KLM. KLM - call lost baggage NZ. Lost baggage - call Prague. Prague - call Air France...), I established the bag had been mislabelled, had definitely left Prague for Shanghai, but from Shanghai had likely gone to Jeju, South Korea (Though for a while it looked like it had gone to Guyana!). This bit is really important: my research told me airlines only hold bags up to 10 days in lost property at an airport, and then they get moved to an offsite warehouse. You've essentially got a maximum 100 days to track and claim a bag, then they get sold to a massive warehouse in the USA that sells the bags and all their contacts.
So the clock was ticking. I got on social media and put word out, asking if anyone had any contacts in Jeju, Shanghai, and possibly Prague, Paris and Casablanca (all ports the bag had been through). LUCKILY a friend had a friend in South Korea, who knew a pilot in Jeju! Who was able to confirm - my bag had never arrived there.
So backtracking to Shanghai - where a typhoon had just hit, grounding 2000 flights. So a couple more days later, and a LOT of phones call and Facebook posts pestering Air France, was able to establish, yes the bag was in Shanghai. So great, ok, let's send it home.
Umm - no. After MORE days of waiting, no bag. The OTHER thing my research had told me, at 21 days lost, a bag moves to a status where the airline has to refund you regardless of if the bag is found or not (so when you fill out your bag contents list for WorldTracer, be REALLY specific with contents and costs - it's your only opportunity, you don't get a second chance to amend this list!). So not really incentive for them to return it. However, there is also a clause in the Montreal Convention for lost luggage (my newly found best friend) that airlines must do everything in their power to get your luggage back to you - which Air France clearly hadn't. So on day 21 I started quoted Montreal Convention left right and centre on the Air France Facebook page - and hello, 2am that morning, received my first phone call from Air France, who confirmed my bag was at Shanghai - but under a THIRD tracking number, coded under China Eastern and not Air France, which is why it hadn't moved, because no one was searching this number in the World Tracer system! And then said it was the Shanghai-Auckland airlines problem now, and washed their hands of it.
Luckily, Air New Zealand is in Shanghai also, so I tried calling them to see if they could get my bag released (luckily, it was still at the airport after 21 days, and not in offsite storage). Unfortunately no - they couldn't get it out as it was ticketed under a different airline. GAHHHH. Two more days of phone calls, begging and more tears I lucked out on someone (at each stage of the process I found it took an average 7 phone calls to find someone who could give you a nugget of information to move forward) who said "have you filled out the Shanghai bag release paperwork?" Umm, the what?! So more phone calls to find exactly what paperwork was required - and then I find out the paperwork needs to be presented in person.
At this stage I was ready to catch a plane to Shanghai myself to pick up the bag, but, more luck - the same person in Korea, was travelling through Shanghai the next day, on their way back to NZ! So I named them as my proxy in the paperwork, sent it off, and OMG MY SAVIOUR spent 2 hours running around 4 different desks and scary security to get my bag released! And two days later, it was back in NZ! (Though one last hiccup where it missed the internal flight it was supposed to go on - but I did see it later that day!)
So the crux of the problem, when the bag was scanned at Shanghai, they thought they saw a portable charger in the bag, so they held it back as they don't allow them in packed luggage on flights in China (fear of them overheating/starting a fire in the luggage hold). Did they notify anyone? NO! When the bag was identified and they opened it, was there one in the bag? NO! Will airlines help you get your lost luggage back? NO! You are on your own, and if you haven't seen your bag within a couple of days, get hustling, get on the phone, get on social media, be as big a pest as you can possibly be, otherwise you'll probably never see it again. And even with all those things, you'll still need a great big hunk of luck!
I flew from Casablanca with Air France via Paris to Prague, to catch my flight back to NZ. Due to a flight delay, I only had a 40 minute turnaround in Paris - I was literally running from one end of one terminal to the other end of a second terminal to catch my connection. I remember thinking if I was running this far, chances of my bag making the flight were slim - and sure enough, when I got to Prague, no bag.
When I reported to the desk, they assured me my bag was on the next flight, coming in at 8pm - which would have been great, but I was on the flight back to NZ at 5pm! So they said they would put it on the next flight, and I travelled back to NZ with very light luggage (which posed a bit of questioning on arrival at NZ customs!).
So when I heard 'next flight back to NZ', I assumed 'next flight with the same airline back to NZ'. Ahh 'assumed' (making an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me') - they literally meant 'next flight'. Which meant my bag was booked via China Eastern, Prague to Shanghai to NZ. (Click the website link just to see how they spell 'New Zealand'!)
So me and my bag tracking number waited a day... and another day... and another day - and started getting a bit concerned - and at day 5 the WorldTracer website reported my bag had been delivered, so my file was closed. WAIT WHAT? WHERE IS MY BAG! IT'S NOT HERE!
So that was the start of weeks of fun emails with Air France - tip for people - the airline that loses your bag is responsible for getting it back to you. Did Air France help? Not one bit!! Except after 3 days of phone calls and badgering, I was able to get my lost bag WorldTracer file reopened, albeit under a second tracking number (this became relevant later...). Note, this was to Air France HelpDesk in France - no other agents were able to help. Even there it took several calls before striking lucky with someone who could help.
Through a lot of international phone calls, begging, and I'm not going to lie, some tears (Air France - call KLM. KLM - call lost baggage NZ. Lost baggage - call Prague. Prague - call Air France...), I established the bag had been mislabelled, had definitely left Prague for Shanghai, but from Shanghai had likely gone to Jeju, South Korea (Though for a while it looked like it had gone to Guyana!). This bit is really important: my research told me airlines only hold bags up to 10 days in lost property at an airport, and then they get moved to an offsite warehouse. You've essentially got a maximum 100 days to track and claim a bag, then they get sold to a massive warehouse in the USA that sells the bags and all their contacts.
So the clock was ticking. I got on social media and put word out, asking if anyone had any contacts in Jeju, Shanghai, and possibly Prague, Paris and Casablanca (all ports the bag had been through). LUCKILY a friend had a friend in South Korea, who knew a pilot in Jeju! Who was able to confirm - my bag had never arrived there.
So backtracking to Shanghai - where a typhoon had just hit, grounding 2000 flights. So a couple more days later, and a LOT of phones call and Facebook posts pestering Air France, was able to establish, yes the bag was in Shanghai. So great, ok, let's send it home.
Umm - no. After MORE days of waiting, no bag. The OTHER thing my research had told me, at 21 days lost, a bag moves to a status where the airline has to refund you regardless of if the bag is found or not (so when you fill out your bag contents list for WorldTracer, be REALLY specific with contents and costs - it's your only opportunity, you don't get a second chance to amend this list!). So not really incentive for them to return it. However, there is also a clause in the Montreal Convention for lost luggage (my newly found best friend) that airlines must do everything in their power to get your luggage back to you - which Air France clearly hadn't. So on day 21 I started quoted Montreal Convention left right and centre on the Air France Facebook page - and hello, 2am that morning, received my first phone call from Air France, who confirmed my bag was at Shanghai - but under a THIRD tracking number, coded under China Eastern and not Air France, which is why it hadn't moved, because no one was searching this number in the World Tracer system! And then said it was the Shanghai-Auckland airlines problem now, and washed their hands of it.
Luckily, Air New Zealand is in Shanghai also, so I tried calling them to see if they could get my bag released (luckily, it was still at the airport after 21 days, and not in offsite storage). Unfortunately no - they couldn't get it out as it was ticketed under a different airline. GAHHHH. Two more days of phone calls, begging and more tears I lucked out on someone (at each stage of the process I found it took an average 7 phone calls to find someone who could give you a nugget of information to move forward) who said "have you filled out the Shanghai bag release paperwork?" Umm, the what?! So more phone calls to find exactly what paperwork was required - and then I find out the paperwork needs to be presented in person.
At this stage I was ready to catch a plane to Shanghai myself to pick up the bag, but, more luck - the same person in Korea, was travelling through Shanghai the next day, on their way back to NZ! So I named them as my proxy in the paperwork, sent it off, and OMG MY SAVIOUR spent 2 hours running around 4 different desks and scary security to get my bag released! And two days later, it was back in NZ! (Though one last hiccup where it missed the internal flight it was supposed to go on - but I did see it later that day!)
So the crux of the problem, when the bag was scanned at Shanghai, they thought they saw a portable charger in the bag, so they held it back as they don't allow them in packed luggage on flights in China (fear of them overheating/starting a fire in the luggage hold). Did they notify anyone? NO! When the bag was identified and they opened it, was there one in the bag? NO! Will airlines help you get your lost luggage back? NO! You are on your own, and if you haven't seen your bag within a couple of days, get hustling, get on the phone, get on social media, be as big a pest as you can possibly be, otherwise you'll probably never see it again. And even with all those things, you'll still need a great big hunk of luck!