Marrakech - November 2008

Marrakech again!

It's a great city to visit and as mentioned earlier, something for all the senses.

This time it was my birthday so Samantha and I headed to London with Samantha's cousin Suzanne and her husband Paul....sure, he's a mag but he's not a bad bloke!

We stayed at the Dar Silsila again and as before, this riad was a brilliant place to stay with superb food and hospitality to enjoy.

The weather was coolish in the evening and during the day, around 20 degrees was the norm...which was pretty good for wandering through the souks....which we did!

Plenty of tagines were also consumed and along with the bartering in the souks, the food is the highlight of Morocco.

This trip we also visited the tanneries....sure, we paid for the experience, as is the norm, but we do get to take home a few leather cushions, which are pretty cool. Apparently the same techniques of tanning have been used for centuries and no doubt the same techniques for selling have remained the same also....for you, a good price. If we do business fine, if we don't fine, we remain friends!

One of the highlights for me was Paul buying a freshly squeezed orange juice for 3 dirhams but only having a 100 dirham note to pay for it. No change. Classic.

Yves St Laurent also owned a home in Marrakech and he developed the Majorelle Gardens, which were brilliant...loads of cactus plants amongst other plants and gardens.

At any rate, Marrakech was once again a brilliant destination and the perfect place to spend my

birthday!

Tynemouth - November 2008

OK, so we have been to more exotic places in the world - travelled further to get there and probably been to more interesting places but I still say that Tynemouth is a nice place.

Tynemouth is, as the name suggests, at the mouth of the Tyne River, essentially, just up the road from Newcastle.

They have a market at Tynemouth, in the Metro Station and whilst we had a quick look in, we were really there to have a look at Tynemouth Priory and Castle.

Tynemouth Priory and Castle turned out to be very interesting. To me, at least.

It's amazing that these buildings are still in some semblance of existance as they have survived for hundreds of years and let's face it, there's a fair bit of wind and rain on the headland above Tynemouth harbour.

Interestingly, there was a whopping great gun/cannon there looking out to the North Sea. Not sure of the history to be honest, but must have been left over from the war.

Anyway, we enjoyed it and we'll probably head back again as Tynemouth is a decent town with plenty to offer.