Well, its goodbye again to Australia. Sadly my time here in Oz has come to an end. This time I’m taking my parents and Stephen part-way around the world to New York so we can at least save our farewells and tears until then. Hopefully the impending strikes by the engineers at Qantas will not have too much impact on our journey tomorrow.

I’m so excited! I’m going home for Christmas for the first time in four years (I get home at just about 8pm Christmas Eve) and I can’t wait. It almost makes the 24 journey home bearable! 🙂

Actually I’m looking forward to sampling the service of Singapore Airlines again. I still maintain that they are the one of the top, if not the top, airlines in the world. Service is top notch, the food is fantastic and generally their entertainment system is second to none.

Happy Holidays everyone!

My recent trip to Athens is unlike any of my trips to European cities so far because this time around I have some local hosts, Mirela and her family. As such I wasn’t expecting, and I didn’t get, the typical tourist visit which made for a nice change .

The usual photos, photos, photos.

Athens is Greece’s capital city and is one of the world’s oldest cities. I didn’t want to go to Athens with any sort of preconception so I tried not to read up about it too much. What I didn’t realise about Athens, however, was that in addition to being a coastal city (and therefore with a wide stretch of beach) it is also surrounded by many mountains including several ski centres which are only a couple of hours drive away. One of these is the region of Parnassos, more particularly, the village of Arachova where Mirela and her Dad took me for a little day/overnight trip.

Mirela and her family (including her very cute and sweet grandma) were great hosts and their kindness was most appreciated when I was halfway through my few day visit and I came down with some sort of virus which, to put it nicely, upset my stomach and other unmentionable parts of the body. Because of their care this took only a day out of my limited time in Athens. Oh of course I should mention Mili (Mirela’s dog) who also made sure to stay nearby when I wasn’t feeling well.

This is how they entertained me for the rest of the time:

On the day I arrived we started off by taking a tram into Plateía Síndagmatos (Syntagma or Constitution Square) which is the centre of the city though we got off before reaching the centre as instead we took a stroll around the base of the Akrópoli (Acropolis.) Lit up at night the Acropolis was truly beautiful but next time it will be nice to visit in the day to be able to truly appreciate its history. We also saw Athen’s version of the Portobello Market – Monastiraki Flea Market – which unfortunately was closing down so I didn’t get to experience just how busy it apparently gets.

Ermou Street is kind of like Oxford Street of Athens – long, lots of stores, in the heart of town, and busy. We stopped off to try some local coconut and chestnuts and miniature horses. Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to take any of them home as pet.

Photos of Syntagma and the Christmas Treet and decorations:

Its interesting to compare the “after hours” culture of the Greeks and the British. In England this time is normally spent in a pub whereas in Greece, or Athens at least, its all about the cafe. However, these cafes are not ordinary cafes and are actually cafe/bars. Very funky bars. Mirela took me to Balux Cafe right on the coast of Athens and only about 5-10 minutes drive from her home. I think it has been recently renovated and is absolutely massive consisting of lots of different lounge areas, a bar, a restaurant, a play station section, pool tables, bean bags, and pool tables. I guess locals come here to drink, smoke and just generally chit chat.

For the other couple of days in Athens we drove up to their winter season village – Arcahova in Parnassos. A couple of hours drive away up in the mountains I was extremely excited to see a lot of snow! It was so white and pristine and so thick on the ground. Mirela started a snow ball fight before I’d even gotten fully out of the car. I was hoping we were going to be able to build the biggest snow man ever but unfortunately I fell victim to that virus and couldn’t muster the energy. Still, whilst I was 100%, I could still appreciate how amazing it was to be up in the mountains and in the middle of the snow. Mirela’s family’s home in the mountain was very comfortable and cosy. Love their fireplace which we used to cook some sausages for a midnight snack.

The really gorgeous pics of the snow and mountains and sunset …

I had a fantastic time in Athens and I really have to thank Mirela and her family for giving up their time to show me around and look after me. Also I have to thank Mirela’s grandmother for all her cooking and caring.

Apparently I was a bit remiss in posting the following Best.Photo.Ever from our trip to Marrakech:

This is only worth mentioning because … well it was such a drama and it took seven (that’s right seven) employees to get us our refund! But to start from the beginning.

We had booked a package at our hotel in Marrakech for a treatment which included a hamman and massage. We paid on the day we booked it but when we turned up for our treatment two days later they couldn’t find our booking. When they couldn’t even provide us an alternative we could only do one thing – get a refund. Generally you would think this was straight forward but the “receipt” that we had been given wasn’t an official receipt, there was no record of us having paid and the person who had taken our deposit and supposedly made our booking (we later found out she was the manager) wasn’t on shift and apparently wasn’t contactable.

What followed was about two hours of us repeating the same story to heaps of different people, Akhlaq having to sign two declarations and finally, after a seven-person-huddle, we got our refund. This brief entry does not in any way capture just how bad the experience was!

The funniest thing was that they kept telling us that the next time we came the manager would not be around – as if firing her would make it better! The only thing was that we weren’t even accusing her of stealing the money.

Ah well, I hope it all resolved itself in our absence.

I’m sure that when you read about Marrakech or Morroco the words used most often include: intoxicating, exotic, astonishing, magical, mesmerising, and spectacular and every word is true. We were here four nights and I feel we only touched the surface of what Morocco had to offer.

Marrakech, Morocco, located in North Africa is an intriguing mix of cultures with Arabic, African, Berber and Mediterranean influences evident throughout the city. Although French is the main language spoken it doesn’t hurt to know a bit of Arabic if you really want to get a feel for the city. Luckily for us English is also fairly wide-spoken though, as we often found, what you think you said and what is actually understood doesn’t necessarily always match.

Photos, Photos, Photos.

When?	Mid November 2007
Why Go?	The heady mix of cultures, the chance to practice your bargaining skills, the beautiful women, the glorious sunsets, the gorgeous weather, and last but definitely not least the hammans and spas (divine!).
Weather	Couldn’t ask for better. Though temps ranged between about 15-30 degrees in any one day it was warm when it counted most – when we were poolside!
Hint	– Know in advance what you should expect to pay for taxis to and from the airport (we paid about £10/160 Dh from the airport to Guilez – probably still a rip-off!) and getting about town (from £1.20-£3.00/20-50 Dh for petit taxis.) And make sure you agree your taxi fare before you start your journey.
	– Try to always have a few smaller denomination dirhams on hand for tips and paying taxi fares. In all likelihood if you hand over a large note the taxi driver or other will just think you’re being generous with the tip.
	– Be thick-skinned! When walking about you will be hassled – whether for a taxi ride or in the Square to get you to buy/donate/eat/drink etc. Generally, approaches will be very polite (always prefaced by Excuse Me, or Sir, or Ma’am, or some sort of greeting that will encourage you to engage in conversation) so it is much easier to ignore them and keep on walking if you’re not interested in what they’re offering than to politely respond with your refusal – otherwise you will be there all day.
	– When bargaining start at least at the third of the offered price and if its not going where you like it – walk away. Its amazing how quickly the vendor will agree to something close to your price as soon as you start the walk!
	– Finally. Relax! It is a culture very far removed from Western understanding, despite the European influences, and its easy to let the hustle and bustle get under your skin. The best thing to do is accept the culture for what it is an enjoy!
Regrets	Not having more time to take a trip to experience the Outdoor Morocco with the amazing landscapes of mountain and desert.

The Experience

The greatest thing about this Marrakech trip was the sense of balance I had between the part of me that wanted to rush around and see all the sights and the part of me that just simply wanted to relax. That is not to say that in the past my trips are not about relaxing but this trip in particular had more focus. We chose Marrakech because not only does it offer world class spa facilities at reasonable (if not particularly cheap) prices but it also offers a city which is rich in culture and is so far removed from our everyday life that it could only promise to be interesting. As a result I’ve titled this entry “A Tale of Two Holidays” because really I felt like I experienced two different sides of Marrakech on this trip:
– The Tourist and Traditional Side
– The Luxurious and Indulgent Side

Even though we were in Marrakech for only a few days our days sort of took on a routine. We’d have a leisurely wake up, explore the city about, come back to the hotel for a bit of r&r by the pool, have some lunch, head back out in the afternoon for more exploring or a visit to a spa, head into the Djemâa el Fna Square for dinner, and then head back to our hotel for some mint tea before bed. It was all quite lovely and I think I even managed to work up a bit of a tan. Glad I brought my sunscreen!

The Tourist and Traditional Side

A true holiday to Marrakech is about the experience – the colours, the smells, the sounds. Although it has its sights to visit just like any other city I felt that it was less about the sights and more about the people and the feeling you got when exploring the city. It was almost like stepping back in time. So much so that trying to get anywhere in a hurry will result in your frustration more than anything. It’s the kind of city where the charm is more in what you don’t know is there and stumble upon than what you actually seek if that makes any sense at all. Here are some of the highlights of the sights:

• At the top of the list must surely come the Djemâa el Fna Square – the heart of Marrakech. Day or night you will not fail to find something to entertain you here. We didn’t see it all, because more often than not we found ourselves lost in the maze that is the Marrakech street system, but The Square is where you’ll find such things as the souks, mosques, terraced cafés, musicians, acrobats, snake charmers, henna women, and fortune-tellers. At all times you can get fresh orange juice or dried fruit. At night the Square transforms into line after line of hot food stalls where offerings include snails, cow heads and the more traditional meat kebabs and tagines. Its not only the tourists who flock to the Square and nowhere is it more fun to observe the locals at play. If it all gets a bit much the rooftop cafes around the Square offer a magical seat to watch it all going down.

• Menara Gardens. The best time to visit the Gardens is towards late afternoon near sunset when all the locals come out to enjoy the beauty of the lagoon and the surrounds. Even at this time of year when the luscious gardens are less green (okay let’s face it – it was practically a desert although when going for a wander through the gardens we did see green, pink and black olives adorning the trees), the lagoon offers the perfect sunset vista. On a clear day, which it was for us, you can see out to the Atlas Mountains.

• El Badi Palace. The palace is now mostly in ruins and surrounded by nesting storks. That is not to say that the Palace is not beautiful. With the four sunken gardens in the centre of the palace surrounding a giant pool all of which is surrounded by beautiful sandstone walls you can imagine just how beautiful and opulent the palace used to be.

• Ali ben Youssef Medersa. An amazingly well-preserved 16th-century Koranic school this is North Africa’s largest. The intricate detail in the carvings in this school is very cool. The rooms, though numerous, were a lot smaller and darker than expected. This is well worth a visit.

• Musée de Marrakesh. There is nothing too exciting about this museum except for the gigantic chandelier type lamp in the central atrium. The fact that Akhlaq didn’t even see it until I pointed out was what was most amusing – considering it takes up a fair chunk of the room! There are revolving exhibitions in here but we had no idea what they were about as there weren’t any English translations.

Food was an interesting challenge. On our first night we thought we’d try the food stalls in the Square. Although I was a bit wary of getting food poisoning I was hoping the grilling would take away most of the risk. In fact the guide books suggest that you are more likely to get food poisoning from the plates themselves than the food because the plates are often washed with water only and water that has no doubt been recycled a number of times to wash other plates! The food was actually a lot tastier than I thought it was going to be and whilst its definitely a buzz being in the middle of it all a once off experience was enough for me.

On another night we decided to try our hotel’s Marrakesh restaurant with the promise of belly dancing. The following is some footage of the girl who danced for us – it was a bit embarrassing as she came up to every single table and danced in front of you. Talk about not knowing where to look:

I’ve talked before about how Moroccon food does not seem all that exciting to me so I was hoping that eating it from the source, that is Marrakech, I would feel a little differently. Well, the pigeon pastry I had as my starter was definitely something a little different. Strangely sweet it wasn’t too bad, except for the fact that it seemed the whole pigeon, that is bones included, was inside my pastry! My fish tagine was also fairly tasty although after eating my starter, most of Akhlaq’s starter, and some of his main I could barely touch it. 🙂

The Luxurious and Indulgent Side

Aside from the fact we lazed about under the sun a lot, we also made sure to fit in some visits to the local spas. Our biggest mistake was in not booking the visits before we left for Marrakech. Although we were able to get three treatments it would have been a lot easier to have everything pre-booked. Then again, the benefit of booking in Marrakech was that we got to see what some of the venues were like. Initially we were going to have treatments at three different hotels, including at our own hotel the Kenzi Farah, but because of the 1900 Dirham Drama we ended up going to one hotel twice.

Let me first of all say that I’ve never had any of these sorts of treatments before whether it’s a body scrub or a massage so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I can also say that I’m very glad I bought a bikini at the airport before I turned up in Marrakech. This, at least, allowed me a measure of modesty though I realised quickly that there was no point half the time in wearing my bikini top because, aside from the fact you walk from the change room to wherever you need to go in a giant bathrobe, as soon as you get into the room you’re told to take your top off anyway. At least I got to keep my bottoms on, sort of!

Here are the treatments we had:

Its seems kind of ironic that having lived on the Gold Coast in Australia for most of my life its only now when I’m living in England that I have felt inspired enough to take a surfing lesson. Jenny, Sandra and Catherine were also surprisingly up for the lesson so on this technically last weekend of summer slash first weekend of spring of we headed out West for a girl’s weekend by the coast. Although London is fairly close (about an hour or two) from the southern and eastern coast of England the waves are all on the west coast which is quite a drive away – the surfing lesson was at Harlyn Bay which is near Padstow in Cornwall. Being the last weekend of summer finding room for the four of us in a B&B was darn near impossible in Padstow so I had to extend the search to Newquay, about a half an hour drive away. It was just as well we’d gone with the hire car for the weekend (thanks to Sandra for doing all the driving – especially the 5-6 hour drive to and from London which freed the rest of us up to snooze in the car 🙂 ) otherwise I’m not sure how we would have made it around.

Newquay is a strangely popular place for stag and hen does and as a result the high street was lively and heaving with energy at night. It was quite entertaining to watch all the various groups stumbling and strutting up and down the streets. It seemed also that everyone went the extra distance to come up with the most outlandish costumes they could imagine.

As for the surfing, well the weather this weekend wasn’t the best, with mainly gray clouds and cooler temperatures, but at least it wasn’t raining. We were all pretty nervous about the lesson, though I think I was more worried about donning the full-body wet suit!, but the waves weren’t all that big in Harlyn Bay so that made it a little less nerve wracking. We’d gone for an all day lesson which was in fact a two hour lesson in the morning and in the afternoon with lunch at your expense in the middle so the group changed a bit in the afternoon. Overall there were quite a few people taking surfing lessons this weekend – I think we had about 10-15 people for our two instructors for each session – and not a lot of waves so it got fairly crowded out in the water.

The key to learning to surf is basically getting out there in the waves and just getting the feel for your board and the water. Sure our instructors (who were suitably surfer dude like) taught us a few basics about paddling out to the waves and getting up on the board but it wasn’t until you were out on the water that you could really understand what they were trying to say. I think we all managed to get up on our boards at some stage – even if it was only to immediately fall off but hey I didn’t even think we’d get that far so I was fairly impressed. In the afternoon, when the surf had gone way out (I couldn’t believe how far the tide had gone out from the morning – about 500 metres I reckon which is a loooong way to be carrying our giant surf boards), the waves got really tiny and the sea fairly flat so we had to work very hard to even get a hint of a break. In the mean time we entertained ourselves with building barges with our surfboards and climbing on top. Ironically every time we did this we got some of the biggest waves we’d seen all day!

The biggest lesson I learned was that surfing is a lot of hard work and is no where near as easy as it seems when you watch all those surfing movies. We were all very tired and weary at day’s end that’s for sure. Having said that it was a lot of fun and I can’t wait to try it again when I’m back in Oz.

More photos here.

Bath has always been a place I’ve wanted to visit and with friends of our planning to move to Bath it seemed like a perfect opportunity to do so. At the same time I saw on lastminute.com that we could book a bobsleigh experience. Bobsleigh in England? Definitely something I wanted to try out.

Though our friends’ plans to move to Bath eventually didn’t crystalise my bro and I decided to keep our bookings and so on the last bank holiday for the year before Christmas off we went. I was praying for decent weather as traditionally I think August bank holiday weekend is rubbish and thankfully it was picture perfect.

Photos here.

Our weekend in Bath was sort of split into three sections:

– Stonehenge, Avebury Stones, Lacock and Castle Combe Day Tour
– Bath itself
– Our Bobsleigh experience

Stonehenge, Avebury Stones, Lacock and Castle Combe Day Tour

One of the reasons I’ve always wanted to visit Bath was the easier access Stonehenge. I know that you can do day trips from London to get to both Stonehenge and Bath but it seemed that we would be stuck in less traffic coming from Bath and at the same time we could spend more time visiting the surrounds. I found a tour operator called Mad Max Tours who market their tours as being smaller and more personal. And it definitely was. Our tour bus had about 15 people which was a pretty good number for keeping the tour more intimate and manageable. Here are the places we visited and my thoughts.

	Stonehenge	Recently Stonehenge was voted the worst tourist site by the Brits (in a survey of 1,200 – big numbers I know!) There seems a slight justification in this rating as after all it is just a pile of rocks sitting in a field near the motorway and where you have to pay a rather extortionate price to get inside. However, I thought it was totally worth getting up close to it – overrated or not! There was just some sort of magic to the stones. With your entrance fee you also get a free audio guide that explains a bit about what the stones are about. Be warned it definitely waffles on a bit. The audio tour takes you anti-clockwise around the stones but my brother and I were amused by a random dude who was walking around clockwise telling everyone they were going around the wrong way! Very amusing.
	Avebury Stone Circles	Though a little lesser known than Stonehenge the mystery around these stones are equal to Stonehenge. The Stones cover an area 16 times larger and nearly a millenia older. Here you can touch the stones and get amongst them to feel the energy. Just watch out for the sheep do-do all over the place.
	Lacock National Trust Village	This was a quaint little village where there has been no major construction for the last 200 years. This was the lunch stop for the day where we tucked into some yummy English food at the George Inn and enjoyed the sun. This little village has also been used for filming for the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice and the Abbey apparently for the first two Harry Potter movies.
	Castle Combe Village	Castle Combe in the south of The Cotswolds is apparently the prettiest village in England. With only 350 people living in the village it is known for its, well, prettiness and tranquility. It was indeed tranquil but not much to entertain. Good for a break on a long drive or maybe good for indulging in a peaceful afternoon tea.

We also had some photo stops along the way to check out Silbury Hill, a random man made structure (apparently the largest in Europe) built 4,800 years ago for no apparent purpose, the Cherhill White Horses, amazing horses carved out in the chalk slopes and Waggon and Horses, an inn that apparently was frequented by Charles Dickens. What made these thatched horses stand out was the unique markings left behind by the thatchers.

Bath

The best way to get oriented in Bath is to take one of the free walking tours that are offerred by the Mayor’s office. They are offerred (free) every day and includes an informed talk on most of the main points of interest including the Abbey, the Roman Baths and the Pump Room, and taking in the architectural highlights of the North and South Parade, The Circus and the Royal Crescent. Its probably all we needed to know about Bath.

The highlight of our tour was seeing Nicholas Cage coming out of his newly purchased home I think it was at the Circus. One moment our tour guide was pointing out his house and the next moment he was walking out! What a surprise! I think we were all so surprise and disbelieving that it was him that I was the only one who managed to get off a snap.

Where you may want to spend some extra time is going into the Roman Baths. This is, after all, what Bath is known for. Although not now a working spa, a tour (via the once again very waffly audio tour) will give you an idea of what it was like all those years ago. Be prepared to spend some time in here if you want to hear everything about the place. Best time to visit seems to be at dusk when the night fall gives a bit of magic to your pictures and gives a bit of atmosphere to the place. Also this seemed to be when there were less tourists romping about the place.

In Bath, my bro and I also found time to sample the strange giant Sally Lunn buns when we had afternoon tea in her house. I’m still not understanding what the fuss is about. All I could figure was that they were giant and fluffily light and probably made from a recipe as old as time. The tourist trap suckered us in as we bought some to take away as gifts for people back in London. I’m sure they were appreciated. 🙂

Bobsleighing

I never realised it but you could do a Cool Runnings scene of your own in Bath. Located at the University of Bath there is a partial replica of the bobsleigh track at Salt Lake City. To my surprise all sorts of people turned up for the event – from the young to the old, from the slight of size to the big and brawny. We thought we’d be the only ones going for it but in the end I think there about 20 of us.

There are two things that you need to know before you even consider going to the track – 1. You will get very hot because you will do a lot of sprinting (you’ll do about eight runs) and 2. You will get very cosy with your fellow team members so either go as a group of four or be prepared to get up close and personal to a few strangers! My bro and I were very lucky to be grouped with a couple from Essex, Sandra and Aaron. They were really lovely and friendly and it was clear from the outset that we all worked very well as a team and the other teams actually had us pegged as the ones to beat!

As it is only a partial replica of the Salt Lake City track you don’t actually do a full proper bobsleigh run with the activity mainly based around the push start. To be honest once you’re in the sled you don’t even realise where you are on the track – all the hard work is in the start. Surprisingly it is a lot easier to get into the sled than you would think though some of the other teams, in particular where the team was all big burly guys, had a bit of a struggle to get in. I think our combination worked quite well – so well that we won the time trials! and we were the only ones to break the 9 second barrier (twice) so I was pretty happy. Here’s a bit of video:

This was, for me, the best part of our trip to Bath.