I spent the last week of January in Munich, where I was presenting at one of Germany’s largest conferences, OOP Conference. It’s the first time that I’d been to Munich as I haven’t been for any of the crazy Oktoberfest antics and figured I would get there one day. It’s a relatively small town, or at least felt like it to me in comparison to Berlin. One of the things to see there though is the BMW World and museum. I even booked in a plant tour that was well worth it but you’re not allowed to take any photographs.

BMW World sits at the same UBahn station as the Olympic site. It’s very well signed posted and when you emerge from the correct UBahn, it’s literally right in front of you, so you shouldn’t get lost. It’s a really amazing building on the outside. Twisted, curved metal – appropriate for a car marker but softened up in a way you wouldn’t really expect. The BMW World showcases a lot of the cars they sell with a few interactive exhibits and showcasing some of the older cars like the tiny Isetta (pictured below) where people would emerge from the front of the car.

You can sit in many of the cars, except for all the limousine or really high end editions and they even have offers when you can rent a car (for a number of hours), or a number of days right there from the centre.

Munich is also home to the BMW 3, and if you get a chance, make sure you book the factory tour. Seeing the insides of a car manufacturing plant running so efficiently is quite extraordinary. Even though you think that the factory takes up a lot of space, when you look at what they accomplish with it, and how closely some of the robots move relative to fixed ceilings, or other robots, I find it extremely impressive.

Even though I’m not the biggest car fan in the world, I’d still recommend taking a visit out to the BMW Museum that lies across the road from the BMW World. It records the history of the company, from its original roots as an engine manufacturer for aircraft, to being honest about its involvement during the world wars and how its managed to thrive when so many other car manufacturers struggle. It also has a few concept cars that make it very interesting to visit as well as a number of beautifully kept cars you need to locate in the basement such as this BMW 328 Touring Spider car above.

With some holiday to burn before the end of the year, my initial thoughts of simply staying in London and being a local tourist went out the door and found myself on yet another plane trip. This time, to my first trip to Morocco, destined for the warm and friendly city of Marrakech.

When arriving in Marrakech, it’s not long before you realise you’re in a different part of the world. Motorcycles ride next to bicycles, cars overtake randomly though with some amount of order. I even saw one local riding unicycle on his motorbike though guessing that even he was not a common sight by the way that people looked.

I had organised with my Riad, an apparently popular way to stay in Morocco a taxi to pick me up. A good thing too as they are often hidden away from the main drag. This can be a strange experience for some, and one that I was puzzled with at first. Winding corridors under dark corners with potential for dangerous actually provide a certain amount of privacy and solace from the busy, dusty main streets.

I remember distinctly waking to the 6AM religious chants. Marrakech is mostly Islamic so ritual prayer is a very common sight, and the chanting a very common sound. Throughout the day, you’ll hear a loudspeaker blaring in arabic tones though what they’re saying i will never really know. Unfortunately Riad’s aren’t really made to keep the noise or the air out, as I found out how chilly and noisy they can become. It’s a good thing that the Riads only allow guests and have a quiet policy to allow people to sleep. It’s so easy to hear things outside that I even woke up to one lady screaming early one morning several streets away and I’m guessing they weren’t particularly religious moments she was having.

I titled the blog doorway because I remember thinking about how interesting many of the different doors were. It’s easy to get lost in the souks and winding roads. In fact, that is what I did most of the time – simply wandering around waiting to be asked, “Where do you come from?” or more simply named, “Jackie Chan” or strangely enough the name of countries or towns. “Hey, China,” was a common one just as much as “Tokyo,” and “Osaka.” Growing up in Australia means you kind of shrug these things off although these were definitely on more friendly terms.

Besides the many souks and market places, I ate at the huge market place that is disassembled and reassembled every night. Though very touristy, it’s also where a local of the locals eat. Justice is swift and brutal in the markets as well as I noticed when a kid, who I think stole something or did something to some of the vendors, was chased down near to where I was sitting. The friendly faces of some of those enticing you to the stall darkened, and it wasn’t long before a few swings and even a kick connected with the boy who was given a telling off before running away in tears.

I even was recommended to have a local hamman – quite the experience at literally being drenched by buckets of water, covered in clay, before being steamed in a hot room and then being scrubbed down with some rough gloves to remove the dead skin. A cup of mint tea (essential Morocco flavours) and a bit of relaxing before a massage to relieve the muscles.

It was a great time to escape and I think I even got a little sunburned from the whole experience.