And maybe it is … It has been such a weird time, listening to the news about the country falling to bits and yet all is normal for us. Got excellent use from the NT card today:
Sissinghurst
First ones in so had the gardens to ourselves for a bit
Made sure we had our coffee outside. Apparently all NT cafes to close from tomorrow.
Nymans
Maybe a couple of weeks too early to see all the best colours, but who knows where on earth we will all be.
Wonderful early Spring day.
Bexhill-on-Sea
Rye
It was very windy. Couldn’t go into any cafes for lunch so bought a sandwich and huddled in this hide with a fantastic view of the birds.
And it’s getting weirder every day. Talk about social distancing and over 70s staying at home. Meanwhile the south coast is gorgeous and quite a lot of folks out and about. No idea if it’s quieter than usual as we wouldn’t expect to see many people on a midweek Tuesday anyway.
Are we crazy? Are we selfish? Are we in denial? Who knows, although it does feel extremely odd to be having a nice time while the world is falling apart.
Last minute we have rented a lovely little house in Kent for a couple of nights. It isn’t far and we can behave exactly as we would be doing at home – that already sounds a bit defensive.
But we had a lovely day.
And, of course, liberally interspersed with coffee, tea and cakes.
Who knows what tomorrow will bring …..
An Essaouira day, so pretty much identical to yesterday. Lunch at our favourite restaurant
And a walk along the beach, around the Medina and then home. Perfect journey, so home by 10.00.
So a few random photos to remind us.
Back in Essaouira so not much to report. Although the hotel room (suite) is wonderful. Eileen negotiated an upgrade and a discount at the same time.
Our terrace
Our sitting room
And just outside the door
We have been incredibly lucky with the weather throughout – although not so sure about the Moroccans as it seems the winter rains haven’t come. They’re probably all in the UK. But add that to the virus threat and the tourism industry is worried.
But for us it’s gorgeous. A bit like Oxwich but sunny.
And an arty shot in the old town.
Sunset. Cheers.
And finally a question:
Is the following picture:
a) our view from dinner; or
b) more amazingness from the incredible Greenland odyssey?
Well sort of. Back to Essaouira today.
Thought a map might be helpful, especially as Ouirgane is a tiny hamlet in the mountains.
But first, caught some nice early morning mountain pics.
One of the unexpected things about where we’re staying is the absolute silence when we went for a walk. Not sure where the birds were, but total silence is not something we’re very familiar with.
Then headed off after lunch. No lunch for Eileen – although she’s just about better, the idea of eating before a 4 hour car trip through the mountains didn’t appeal.
We took the scenic view.
Fabulous. The rest of the journey was fairly nondescript apart from the awful unmade roads for about 10 miles.
This was more typical though. Good roads, empty and lots of boring desert to look at.
So we resorted to listening to Radio 4 podcasts …..
But a little bit of light relief
And the shepherd, who clearly knows an opportunity when it arises comes scampering across the field “to say hello”. Ended up giving him a slightly larger note than I should have, so made his day!
Back at the same hotel for a couple of days before home.
Actually the same ones but from different angles!
Eileen a bit under the weather today so didn’t venture very far. Bu to be honest we didn’t need to. Not a bad place if you’re indisposed for a day.
Mountains
Only problem finding the hotel is that it wasn’t as far as we had been led to believe. I thought we had another 20 miles to go and we were there.
And that was the extent of the intrepidness today! But did find a grapefruit tree at the hotel, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.
And then it’s all about enjoying the spectacular scenery. Not sure the photos do it justice. Anyway, these are from our terrace during the afternoon.
And finally another photo from Greenland which I couldn’t resist. Had never before thought about what is the biggest simultaneous temperature difference between us and Jo, but I guess that 60 degrees is likely to be the record (+27 here, -33 there).
A notable day – Marrakech wins Eileen over completely. She had some trepidation about the hassle (virtually none), the crowds (busy but nice), the dirt (actually pretty clean, especially the loos), but we ended up loving it.
And also did some further intrepid (so it seems to me) driving to another part of the Medina (and succeeded).
Followed a recommendation to find the Museum of Confluences with a decent coffee shop.
Hundreds of coffees to choose from. And that’s chantilly cream and ground vanilla. Yum.
And the museum was pretty good.
Then with a degree of success, we successfully navigated our way through the souks
I think we all know what a souk looks like, but these are massive. And found our way to lunch in the main square.
Hee hee. And note the Atlas Mountains in the background – some snow on top.
R&R again in the afternoon, followed by dinner in the Medina.
Off to the mountains tomorrow. But before we go a brief look at our correspondent in Greenland where we’re told it has been -33 out on the boat and it freezes hair!
Some serious sightseeing today, and a few reflections. Unlike most old cities which are small and easy to walk around, the Medina is massive. Following on from last night’s successful navigation, we stuck to the south part around the palace.
Starting with some tombs only discovered 100 years ago.
Then the palace.
Not as old nor as rich as the Indian palaces.
Then a bit of R&R back at the hotel/gallery. Hmmm …
We had expected a lot of hassle, especially in Marrakech, but it is almost non-existent. Traders do approach, but it is in good humour and not oppressive. After dinner last night we were walking back to the car and all the restaurants were trying to entice us in. When I said to one that we had already eaten and my tummy was full, he rubbed my tummy and agreed it felt full!
Of course they try it on. Got a lot of help from one shopkeeper when I was sorting out change who insisted the 10d coins were 1d and when I pointed out the number on the coin just shrugged and said sorry.
And the food is stunningly good.
This was the restaurant last night. Some help from trip advisor but it doesn’t seem to matter much. They all make outstanding tajines and pastillas. No booze helps on price, but we’re struggling to spend £20 on dinner for two.
So, sun, warmth, friendly people, interesting things to see and stunning food. It’s going well so far.
