An early start and four hour bus ride brought us to Valencia. Our first impression was that the city has a more militaristic feel than Barcelona. We had seen from the bus hill top forts on the city's outskirts and the remains of impressive defensive works. Having stepped off the bus into brilliant sunshine, we quickly realised that our hostel was on the opposite side of the city centre from the bus station. Our long, sweaty walk took us past enormous remnants ...

Today we had a narrow victory over Barcelona. Our first goal was to complete the mundane but necessary task of laundry. As it turned out, our helpful hostel woman gave us the wrong directions and we spent some time walking in circles before we (a) decided that there was definitely no laundry on the square we had been directed to; and (b) summoned the courage to ask a nearby cafe owner to confirm that there was no laundry even remotely close to where we had been ...

Morocco saved one last piece of culture shock for me at Marrakech Airport. After stepping through the metal detector without incident I was confronted by an expressionless Moroccan woman wearing a uniform who without warning rubbed my breasts all over, patted down my sides, and then reached between my legs! Dale was up ahead of me and turned to see the look of shock on my face. Puzzled by my expression he asked what the matter was and then noticed the similar t...