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Ramble On.......to North Africa
Whats up everyone at home; hows life treatin ya (pretend theres a question mark there; i cant find it on these damn African keyboards lol). We have now been in Morocco for three days and SOOOO much has happened since I last wrote.
We left Sevilla on Sunday morning and arrived in Cadiz a couple hours later. What is there to say about Cadiz other than that it is gorgeous; beautiful and all of the above. We stayed in a hotel the first night called Les Cotes de Cadiz. We walked around the city; ate Toro; saw a flamenca competition (Luke taped it for you Kendra) and drank beer on the beach that evening. We even went to a bar called the Woodstock Cafe and drank a few pints listening to Beatles and Johnny Cash.
Monday we moved to a hostel called the Casa Caracol where we met a group of really nice people from Quebec. Two of the girls had been living at the hostel for a couple months working in the morning and surfing in the afternoon. We also met a couple cool guys from London and a great dude named Alberto from Cadiz. We all played keep ups on the beach and then played a quick game; and everyone was a great sport. Unfortunately; our time with them was limited and we didnt get to know them all as well as we would have liked; but its part of the game; right? (found it; scouted lol)
Tuesday we took a bus to Tarifa and boarded a ferry headed for Tangier; Morocco. The ferry only took 35 min and we were joking that the Moroccans were waiting for us on the other side. Well sure enough a man came right up to us as soon as we got off the boat saying he was from the tourist office and ushered us to an overpriced cab. Long story short we got scammed for about 3 euros which is no big deal; but we agreed to be a bit more smart about who we deal with. Our hotel was on the waterfront and it was very nice but we didnt stay long.
Wednesday we got on a train headed for Fez; Morocco. The train ride was very telling about Morocco. It is definitely a country of contrasts. On the one hand it is full of beautiful mountains and rolling hills. The landscape is pretty amazing; and would be great to hike or mountain bike. Many ares of the city are also well off and fairly nice. Most Moroccans also have cell phones and everything we have. However; on the other hand it is a very poor country for the most part. Garbage and shacks lined the countryside and most people were not dressed too well. It also explains why we get asked for money or something to buy everywhere we go; everyone just assumes you are rich or something.
Today we explored the city of Fez; the previous capital of Morocco and the spiritual and cultural home for the country. It is beautiful and surrounded by mountains. Fez is over 1000 years old and it shows. In the same city you will see Mercedes and BMWs; McDonalds; and then donkeys carrying goods; shopkeepers making sheet metal; tanneries and miles of castle walls. Everyone tries to talk to us whether it be about Canada (they all LOVE Canada; or so they say); to be our tour guide; get us to buy something or to make a friend; again so they say. We even got followed by two girls in head scarfs for FOUR hours giggling behind us lol. Morocco has been VERY interesting so far and a big adventure to say the least. A good adventure though; and a very good cultural and personal learning experience.
So we are here in Fez for another day; then headed to Marrakech and finally to Essouaira before our binge drinking fest in Ireland for St Patricks Day. We have a ton more pics from Portugal; Spain and Morocco to put up so stay tuned for those.
Take care everyone and talk to you all soon.
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