Well, I made it!  Despite the gloomsters and doomsayers who said I’d be ripped off in the Souk, pestered in the Medina or get a horrible bug.  It was the most amazing, wonderful and ultimately educational experience I have ever had on a holiday.  Not only did I get to see some fabulous sights, eat wonderful food, find out how to make mint tea properly with the locals and spend a lot of time sitting, drinking, relaxing around the pool, I also got to observe a side of life that I never noticed before …..!

But …. before we got there we had an unscheduled stop in Casablanca, despite it being a ‘direct’ flight to Marrrakesh.  Bundled off the plane and into a transit lounge we spent an uncomfortable 1.5 hours waiting to be allowed to continue the journey.  We came back via Casablanca on our return as well – but this time were allowed to stay on the plane while they sorted out whatever it was that needed sorting.

Sunday was hot and sultry until we had the most amazing electric thunderstorm I have ever seen – and I had been optimisitic enough not to bother with an umbrella.  It was a good job that the bar was large and the drinks were all free, the mojitos’s flowed and the conversation spiralled downhill rapidly.

By Monday we were getting the hang of the place, a trip into the Souk, sans recommended guide and without hanging onto our handbags we spent a couple of hours chatting to the locals, wandering, getting lost, wandering again, finding the herbalists, looking for the bargains and generally enjoying ourselves.  I wonder now what all the fuss was about – we were neither pestered nor tormented, we had nothing but smiles and genuine conversation with the people we came across.

At night Mary and I decided to head for the square to see it in all it’s glory and immediately we were there we were pounced on by a couple of the local ‘lothario’s’ as we thought.  Once again, assumptions were challenged and we found ourselves guided around the the sights and smells being told what was going on, what the stories being told were, having the various herbal remedies explained and then being treated to mint tea in a little Berber cafe off the back streets – it was wonderful and humbling.  Our new friends were gentlemen in every sense of the word and I found myself agreeing to meet up for mint tea with Mohammed the following day when Mary was off on a trip to the high atlas.

After a day spent by the pool, mp3 player plugged in, book in hand and avoiding eye contact with the waiters and bar staff who were all just getting a little too ‘friendly’, I headed over to the Berber cafe again – I have to say, at no point did I feel threatened or unsafe, just comfortable.  We sat, drank mint tea and talked religion, politics, life in Morocco, poverty and what it means not to have the freedom of movement that I just take for granted.  Every so often Mohammed would take out a notebook and write down a word I had used that he didn’t understand.  He was self taught in English, a herbalist by profession, and his grasp of the language put me to shame and I realised how little effort I had to make in a foreign country simply because I spoke the universal business language.  Eventually he escorted me back across the square and gentlemanly as ever kissed my hand and said goodbye.

Of course the issue of language came up time and again.  We were on holiday with a french company, in a hotel where almost all the guests were french or french fluent speakers with a staff whose second language was french – it was almost ineveitable that I was going to have to speak it sooner or later, fortunately I am more fluent in french than in Spanish …..! But I do need to improve drastically so language classes could be next on my to do list.

By the end of the week, we had experienced life in many guises, observed how others behave on holiday when the shackles are removed, had lots of girlie gossip, spent a fortune, been clubbing and fallen in love with Morocco (I will be going back to Marrakesh, I haven’t seen enough of it yet)! But first we’ve decided to head to Cuba to learn Salsa – I’ll let you know when Mary and I decide to take the plunge on that one.

I’m off on my travels again tomorrow, this time to Marrakech and this time I’m not going alone.  I’m off with my friend Mary and heading for a spa hotel right in the heart of the City and next to Djeema el Fna – the square that is at the centre of everything spectacular.

But …. I’ve got a cold ….. yuck!  Had it since last Friday when I started to relax and as I’ve gone through the week it hasn’t shifted at all.  Not nice, nasty!  It’s curtailed my evening antics severely as well and as a result I have only been out once this week – On Wednesday, to Toastmasters.  So, after another quiet night in tonight just relaxing I’m looking forward to heading off to Heathrow for my Royal Air Maroc flight on Saturday .

By the time I get back next week, I shall be well rested, relaxed and very, very pampered.  I’ll have learnt a little arabic at language classes, done some belly dancing and had a cookery lesson or two as well – perfect!

I’m on the move again ….!  It hardly seems like five minutes since I last moved.  In fact, I’ve been doing a few calculations and can state quite categorically that I have now moved a total of 23 times.  That’s once every two years for the length of time I’ve been alive and as I didn’t move at all for the first 18 years it’s quite scary to think how adept I’ve become at setting up a new home!  I’m hoping that this time, I’ll be able to stay put for a while … it get’s quite wearing with the constant upheaval.

After all this, I think I’ll need another holiday – hopefully one less eventful than the previous one – perhaps somewhere hot, with little to do but wander round the odd ancient monument, swim in the pool, eat wonderful food and generally chill out and relax with a good book or two.  If you have any suggestions in mind, let me know by email.  A friend of mine is off to Zanzibar which sounds wonderful and exotic – I wonder if the reality matches the image of colour and spices I have in my head?  Mum has not long come back from Peru, now there’s a thought!

I’ll keep you all up to date with how it goes and where it is I finally decide to go to on my hols – perhaps off the New Zealand or Oz to catch up with friends and relatives might be good idea, or maybe even back to Cyprus!  Whatever I decide to do – it will not be the ordinary this time!

Wishing you
In your busy life ..

Time for Relaxation
Good Sleep
Good Health with Exercise
Someone to Dance With
A Bit of Adventure
Good Looks

But Most of All …

I Wish You Lots of Bear Hugs
And The Comforts of Real Love

Many Blessings…
May you always have love to share, health to spare, and friends that care.
But watch out for those penguins!

Gosh, I look back at the blog and think ‘it’s only been a few weeks since I last posted’ and find that it has actually been four months.  What have I been doing all that time because I know I wake up every day thinking that I’m going to add somethingt today – but obviously rarely do.  Anyway it is time to turn over a new leaf and begin again.

So just what have I been doing for the last four months?  Well at the moment I am in Cyprus, and I have been here for almost two of those four months – so there is an excuse for at least 50% of the time!  I have been escaping building work that is going on in my home in the UK, and John and I have been borrowing a friends villa in Pissouri – you really must visit sometime it is lovely!

Before that we were two weeks in Malta on holiday and in between we have had Christmas, visiting relatives and friends, moving (to the house that is being rebuilt at the moment), trying to prepare the new house to be kicked to bits while the builders create a new attic room and bathroom, as well as opening up all the rooms downstairs into one big open plan living space!  Oh, and I’ve been working on a new website and book based on my experience of running The Hysterectomy Association website for the last eleven years.  The book is called 101 Handy Hints for Making Money on the Internet and you can find it at 100000pounds.com .  Have a look and let me know what you think!

We go home next week, back to the UK and the weather has finally improved here in Cyprus – if anyone ever tells you that it is full of winter sunshine, take it with a pinch of salt.  True it is warmer (just!) than the UK has been and we haven’t had the frosts, but I certainly haven’t needed all the light cotton t-shirts and skirts that I brought with me – until the last week that is when the weather has really warmed up!

Hey, ho though – I’m really looking forward to seeing my new home and of course, I’ll be back next year to borrow the villa for a month or two as it’s a lifestyle I can really get to grips with.

Linda