Xmas in Morocco - random thoughts

So i have spent Xmas in Morocco before - it provides decent weather alternative to UK (often cold in morning but shirt sleeves by lunchtime), is relatively cheap and has a diverse and interesting history. The people are generally very friendly - although pushy at times in the most touristy areas. My french is good enough to get around as English is not understood in all areas.

Previous trips have been to Marrakech this time i split my time between Casablanca, Fez and Marrakech - three very differerent cities. Casablanca is commercial centre, Fez is one of the ancient capitals and sees itself as cultural and educational centre, and Marrakech is very international/cosmopolitan. I spent three days in each which was about the right amount of time for a leisurely look around.

I flew into Casablanca got the train to my hotel and then used it as my hub for the rest of the trip.

Travel between the cities was by train - easy to book online and use etickets when here, basic but fairly reliable, cheap and easy to negotiate. There is a faster service i believe between Tangiers and parts of the country, but my trips were between 2 or 3 hours a time. I stayed in three IBIS hotels, all just by station, decent although a bit tired. As per my experience with other Accor hotels over recent years, they struggle with some basics such as having reliable electronic door keys! You either had to replace every 24hours or place the card at some random angle to actually get a green light! They obviously dont have the same variety/uniqueness of some of the riads you can find, but worked for me on this trip.

For the first time i used an e-sim for my phone - probably more expensive than getting the cheapest local sim card, but easy to load and decent value. Having google maps came in very hand as i like to randomly walk around cities,  get a bit lost but with comfort blanket of google.

You see the french influence quite a bit. Wide boulevards, French being universal second language and in the posher restaurants some of the waiters demonstrate an aloofness/arrogance rivalled only by their collegaues in Paris.

Food is generally decent and fairly cheap - in particular outside main tourist areas. 

Whilst its perhaps a bit arrogant/rude for me to judge (or think i really understand) but the country does appear to remain failry male centric. In coffee shops you see groups of men sitting and chatting but very rarely groups of women or mixed. Most sights of women are whilst working - Men less so. However you can sense a bit of change amongst the younger generations.

Some random thoughts about trip

Rail travel is easy

But not all european trains run on time - the UK services compare ok (i am sure the locals complain about pubic transport just as much as we do)

Sketchers are great shoes - i wore the same pair throughout my trip, walked a lot of steps but shoes were always comfortable

Its still embarassing that everywhere speaks English and my foreign language skills are so poor

I really should have travelled around Europe more over the years

My knowledge of history is really poor 

Travel is a great way of improving your knowledge of history

I was either lucky with my tour guides, or all overseas tour guides are superb (I hope the same applies for UK)

How did we ever survive before digital cameras. The thought now of using a roll of film, rationing the photos you take and then waiting to have them developed to see whether you took a good photo or not seems so long ago

I took too much luggage. My main bag was full, as was my rucksack, as eventually was the rucksack given to me at the bridge. I planned one small laundry along the way but should have gone for two pit stops. Felt like i was wearing hard tyres all the way.

Clothes packing cubes are great (that such a sad thing for me to admit thinking)

Why have i not been to Italy more in my life?

Technology continues to change how we live our life. I went with smartphone, tablet and laptop. Most of my tickets/reservations were online.

Cliche i know - but travel does really broaden your mind

Bruges

Wednesday was my longest travel day of the trip - train from Munich to Franfurt, then Frankfurt to Brussels and finally Brussels to Bruges. So it meant a day of podcasts, reading and some general relaxing onboard the train.

Everything was running broadly ok, until the Brussels train despite arriving on time, stayed in the staion for quite a while. I think, from tracking on internet, that there was some vandalism outside Anderlecht but overall the delay was only about 45 mins.

A few days ago i noticed that FC Brugge were played in Champions League that evening. I had quickly searched about tickets without joy, but looked again when i arrived at hotel. I was slightly surprised that i was able to register on club site and book a ticket. It seemed a bit expensive (CPFC supporters dont get many champion league fixtures to attend) but i thought it should be a good evening. When ticket came through on my phone, i then noticed that the only option to purchase tickets had been for all 3 of the clubs home fixtures. So i either need to find a way to come back on the two other evenings, or i have a ticket free if anyone wants it!

The ground is about 15 mins away from station and i arrived 90mins or so in advance. After getting in, i went to get something to eat only to find that you buy everything on a club card. Eventually i found somewhere to get a card and to top up. The game was enjoyable, the home team played well in a close match. The deciding goal was an error by the Leverkeusen keeper and the home crowd were relieved when a goal was ruled out by VAR and a few minutes later by an offside flag. I noticed that a lot of the local chants were very similar to those you hear in a english football ground - sometimes in English sometimes translated - and it was slightly strange to hear You'll Never Walk Alone before kick off and Wonderwall at full time.

So Thursday was my main day here, and this time i signed up for an architectural walking tour. Hosted by a very enthusiastic guide ("my other job is TV producer") it provided a very good feel for another city with a history that i knew little about - having been one of the main trading ports in the world at one stage.

Photos of Bruges - be warned they are not edited so may contain multiple/poor photos: 

Currently reading :  Jo Nesbo : The Jealousy Man

Munich

So Munich was the penultimate stop of the trip and was an easy direct train trip from Zurich. There was no particular reason that i chose Munich, it just seemed to be a logical mid point on journey home.

I arrived mid afternoon, and so had an afternoon and a full day free, ahead of an early train to Bruges (via Frankfurt and Brussels. I spent it walking around what seemed a fairly compact city that whilst having some reasonable architecture seemed more "industrial" than many of the places i have visited - I guess it was bombed heavily during the war. There were however some interesting sites and quite a few areas of green space including the English Garden which had a fast flowing stream/river flowing through it which seemed to be a focal point for local surfers (well the nearest coast line is a fair distance).

Photos of Munich - be warned they are not edited so may contain multiple/poor photos: 

Currently reading :  Jo Nesbo : The Jealousy Man

Zurich

I had stopped in Zurich when i took a similar rail trip in 2018 after finishing work. 

So this time it was a bit of a pit stop, one full day being a Sunday. 

Before arriving i noticed that FC Zurich were playing Saturday night and i managed to book a ticket online. The ground is fairly central, only a 15 mins tram ride from central station. Its on old style european ground, with a athletics track around the pitch.  I think the capacity is around 25,000 for football - no pressure this evening as only 10,000 turned up. The standing area was full and very lively but otherwise the attendance was very patchy. The most vocal aways supporters seemed to be a group of about 15!

The quality was not that great and FC Zurich who have started this season badly after winning the top swiss league last year, conceded early, eventually equalised but then conceded again just before 90 mins. Arsenal play there later this week and should not be worried - other than the pitch looked very poor and cut up. For Arsenal supporters it should be a good trip - nice city, i imagine the ground will be fuller and a decent atmosphere and they should come away with a win.

The following day i decided to spend a relaxing Sunday, walking in the park by the lake and then around the town - with the occassional stop for a coffee. Zurich is a very beautiful city, with a relaxed vibe and the only issue around staying for a longer period is that its expensive.

I now travel to Munich on my homeward start of the trip.

 

Photos of Zurich - be warned they are not edited so may contain multiple/poor photos: 

Currently reading :  The Travels of Marco Polo

Currently watching Ten Percent Series One on Amazon Prime

Florence - worth the hype?

So when talking about my upcoming trip, whenever i mentioned Florence the person said it was their favourite city and i would love it. That set pretty high expectations when i arrived via train from Venice.

My hotel is just around corner from station, i checked in and was provided with a city map and some suggestions of where to go for both sightseeing and meals. The hotel is fairly old fashioned and basic, but the staff are very friendly, room is fine and the breakfast which is included is good buffet style.

They recommended Piazzale Michelangelo as a good place to start as it provides a great view of the city. Actually, i went up a little higher to a church - Abbazia di San Miniato al Monte which as well as being interesting in itself, also provided excellent views. After a brief walk around city, i ended in up San Lorenzo market which was one of the recommended areas for restaurants.

I then had two full days. The first consisted of a walking tour (you can see a common theme here) which was as good as the other tours on this trip. Informative as well as providing some interesting personal perspectives. More general sightseeing and getting lost in the afternoon, was followed by an operatic performance at a local church - a few short performances by soloist accompanied by pianist

Day two was to be split morning/afternoon - the Uffizi museum first and then Duomo in afternoon. Both are very popular attractions, with often long queues, but you can pre-book an entry time for just a few euros. Uffizi hosts art/sculptures which are generally earlier than i am interested in, but the quality is amazing and you find yourself easily spending a few hours there.

The Duomo is the cathedral that dominates the centre. You can book a ticket that allows you in cathedral, to walk to the top, to walk up the bell tower and also to get into the Bapistery (where baptisims historical took place). As there has not been many chances to exercise other than walking, i took the opportunity to walk up the 463 steps to the top of the Duomo and shortly afterwards the 414 steps of the Bell Tower. Both provided sensational views of the city and were well worth the trip.

Overall Florence is a great city - everyone was right saying what they did before i came. It has a good vibe, amazing history and architecture and good food. What more could you want. One certaintly add to the "i need to go back" list.

Photos - be warned they are not edited so may contain multiple/poor photos:

Florence general

Uffizi 

Duomo

Currently reading :  Agent in Berlin by Alex Gerlis

 

Venice

Another overnight train - this time Vienna to Venice. This was due to be a slighter better journey as i had booked a 1st class sleeper with shower and wc. Unfortunately.................. when the train arrived there was only 2nd class carriages and my seat number turned out to be a couchette in a six berth carriage - albeit all to myself. The guard was very apologetic explaining that he had only found out 10 mins before time that the train was not its correct set up - whether they had not sold enough 1st class tickets or there was some form of mechanical breakdown i guess i will never know. Anyway you dont buy these tickets for the quality of the accomodation - it was somewhere to sleep, coffee and breakfast was provided just before arriving.

Transfer to my hotel was by bus, boat and then brief walk to hotel which is just off St Marks Square- so i arrived around 9am to drop off bags. Then spent sometime seeing some of the sights - my ticket gave me free travel for 24 hours so i decided to get boat to Lido to get my bearings, one stop back and then a walk back to hotel to check in properly.

 I am staying at a old fashioned (non chain) hotel - Hotel Montecarlo. You benefit from more interesting rooms, old fashioned service from a more mature staff and a more unique experience. You also find areas where the hotel is a bit tired, so there are pluses and minuses. 

Afternoon was some more wandering and a stop at Peggy Guggenheim which had some excellent modern art and a specific Surrealism exhibition.

Tuesday was my only full day in Venice, so spent the morning on another walking tour. Once again a small group and an interesting guide who provided details on the main attractions but also went "off piste" a bit to some more unique areas. I seemed to have been very lucky with my guides this trip, like today's host Valentina, they have been informative, enthusiastic and all provided personal observations/perspectves. After that i had a general walk around - its an interesting city where its easy and pleasurable to get lost (with google maps saftey valve when required). You see both history as well as how modern life goes on across its unique infrasructure. It truly deserves its title as "Birmingham of the South".

Photos of Venice - be warned they are not edited so may contain multiple/poor photos

Podcast of the day : Parenting Hell

Currently reading :  Agent in Berlin by Alex Gerlis