July came and excitement was in evidence as the holidays had arrived. After a long stint of work without a break, the weather already unbearably hot and Qatar was driving us crazy.
It was time to escape and meet up as planned with the Smith Family in the magnificent countryside of Tuscany. We stayed for a week in a pretty little village, La Romola, about 15km's out of Florence ( Firenze ). Day trips to explore Firenze, a stunningly beautiful and historic city, every time you turn a corner there is another amazing sight, then back to Romola for a shared home cooked dinner with the Smiths, a few vino's, then down to the “ Sportivo “ for a gelato or coffee or another vino with the locals, and we all got along fabulously despite not being able to speak each others language. We hired a little Fiat for two days to explore the countryside ( it is no wonder so many people rave about Tuscany it is very pretty ) including a visit to Pisa where not only is the Tower on a lean, many other buildings nearby are too. Apparently it started to lean whilst being built and they just carried on regardless.
Next we spent 3 days in the Cinque Terre, a rocky Mediteranean coastal area of 5 small villages with walking tracks between. We stayed in Riomaggiore and the Smiths a couple of villages away in Vernazza. Historically fishing villages and wine growing country ( and still is ) there is now a train that goes to each village but the general tourist thing is to walk to all 5 villages (4 tracks). Brian managed all 4, Linus 3, Lynne 2, Julie 1 and Ruby and Curtis zip. Some crazy types do all 4 in one day, but it was far too hot for that and two of the walks involve some quite serious uphill stuff. Much better to slow it down, have a swim, visit a cafe or have a gelato. Although the Cinque Terre is very touristed it is such a stunningly beautiful area that we can't recommend it highly enough if you ever go to wonderful Italia - Molte Benne. Bellissimo.
Holidaying in Italy with The Smiths
A couple of fast trains had us in Lausanne, Switzerland on lake Le Mon ( lake Geneva ) visiting old friends Dave and Carol. Being the middle of summer there was very little snow to be seen, but judging on the beauty of the place it must be awesome in the winter months. Dave and Carol live on the side of a vineyard covered hill overlooking the lake and to the mountains across the water. A lot of time was spent sitting around outside relaxing, soaking up the view and having a few good laughs over local wine and English ale and eating a fair bit also. Visited the historic little town of Gruyere nearby, very pretty and of course bought some cheese.
3 Days were spent in Roma doing all the sights – Colosseum, Spanish Steps and of course the Vatican – the Pope was on holiday, maybe he'd gone to the beach. Pity we didn't get to have a chat but his place is pretty impressive with all those Michaelangelo's and Raphaels and much more. Rome is such an interesting place to just walk around and we did a fair bit on the hoof.
From Rome we flew to Morocco. Stayed the first night in Casablanca which despite having a romantic sounding name is really a bit of a dive. Everything is pretty run down and shabby and it doesn't appear to have any renovation since the movie.
On to Fez. Fez is the oldest settlement in Morocco and has the world's first ever university.
We stayed in this most majestic Riad ( converted house ) which was like a mini palace. The central courtyard being surrounded by magnificently tiled and carved walls and doors – absolute craftmanship of the highest order. A pool to cool off in after a hot day exploring the place was only let down by a too hard bed. The old part ( Medina or Market ) of Fez is like a sloping rabbit warren of narrow streets winding in any which way up and downhill. So easy to get lost in but good fun exploring and trying not to be tempted by all the fabulous goods on sale. Fez is the craft centre for leather goods and ceramics and it was very difficult to not buy anything.
From Fez we travelled ( 7 hours ) by train ( 1st class and insanely cheap ) to Marrakech. In contrast to Fez, Marrakech is quite modern in parts, has lovely gardens and the Medina is all flat – still easy to get lost but at least there is no uphill struggle. In the middle of the Medina is a large square where you are amazed by all manner of activity and amusement in the way of snake charmers, performing monkeys, magicians, transvestite dancers and food and drink stalls of all kinds. It is rather exiting and exotic and it is quite nice to sit in a cafe on the periphery and just watch the crazy world go by.
They say there are not many visitors to Morocco who escape without buying a carpet and in our case we indeed left with not only a carpet but also a teapot, a brass plate, several pairs of shoes, slippers, ceramic bowls and a dress for Brian!!! No he hasn't become a Moroccan transvestite dancer it is actually a Jalaba which is kind of like a lightweight kaftan thing for men that is very comfortable and cool in the hot weather.
That was our holiday and it was as they say over here - Too Much Good.
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