Hotel Galia Casablanca

... we had a traditional Moroccan lunch in this big (empty) restaurant, and then headed to the palm groves where we were going to ride camels. The palm groves weren’t as I pictured them, it wasn’t a colorful oasis in the middle of the desert but instead kind of reminded me of Arizona. The whole city of Marrakech, buildings and all, reminded me of a more run down Arizona city, which you will probably see from pictures. We rode on the camels for ...

... largest mosque in the world (apparently the oldest is in Iraq), but not the oldest as it was only completed in 1993. We are going to visit that tomorrow morning, and then we have the rest of tomorrow here before leaving on the early morning train to Marrakech on Tuesday.<br><br>Hope the end of term goes smoothly - all the papers and TV channels are full of Michael Jackson here. I'll be in touch again soon.<br><br>Lots of love<br><br>Sam xx

Introduction: many of you know exactly what this is, for those of you that don't -- it's a travel blog. somewhere along the way, some ego-maniacal joe/jane got the bright idea that somehow their life was important/entertaining enough for others to care about. along comes Al Gore and his witch-like "internet," and a vehicle for said ego-maniacs was born. so, let's get something straight from the get-go (what is a "get-go?"), i like myself and i like ...

... of the ship also when we were getting into port because of the depth of the water and everything. The ship rocked at a 45 degree angle almost! Oh my gosh, my roommate and I were trying to keep our room from destroying everything. It was insane. We just hope to not expect this everywhere in Africa! The first morning in Morocco, I was with a group of people who traveled to Marrakech, three hours away from Casablanca. Marrakech was a lot of fun and really interesting. The ...

... it's the only meat that all countries/religions of the world actually share.  We're also trying to take a picture of a nun in every country - That's for you Randy!  We found one in Peru and even in Panama while changing planes, but afraid that streak will come to an end in Morocco.  I took the picture of the live chicken which angered it's owner, so while I was hurrying away I almost ran into a dead cow's head.  The tongue was ...

... shock when we arrived in Marrakesh, having wrangled my way through the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, but it probably wasn't as bad as it could have been. Though this is their peak travel season, the square where the street performers are wasn't as crowded as it normally is. It would fill up in the evening. There are fortune tellers, women who will do henna tattoos on your hands, and of course the snake charmers. Jane and Helen stopped to pose with the snakes, and ...

... buildings which backed on to new high rise apartments, and made it to our hostel in an old medina square.  Dropping our unnecessary things we went wandering in the medina looking for food, watching our backs the entire time because we had heard that the Casablanca medina was a good place to buy back your stolen goods.  Judging from the wide variety of luggage tags at one of the stalls this may have in fact been true, although for the most part it seemed ...

With some trepidation we cast off the mooring lines and leave the security of our cosy marina birth in Porto Santo. A reluctant atmosphere hangs over the crew who are not sure if they're ready to throw themselves at the North Atlantic one more time in an effort to reach that elusive Mediterranean. Pete on the other hand is ready to set off again for more adventure on the high seas with the knowledge that the boat handled the rougher conditions quite well. Our route is ...

... a blend of French Colonial design and traditional Moroccan style known as Mauresque architecture. Hassan II Mosque, one of the very few mosques in ...

... an engaging discussion with Mohammed, a local from Casa working as an insurance broker which has led him to travel much of the world through his work (of which we received another invitation for any of our friends and family welcome to call him and stay with him and his family!) over a coffee or three, we said goodbye to Casablanca with a nice glass of... Panache...doh! Oh well, not complaining - Meknes still holds the trophy!