A two day rest here…our nominal destination.
But….we are nowhere near halfway yet, with the planned diversion up the length of Portugal still to come!
But it feels good to get here…the Southernmost point of this year’s ride!
I woke on our first morning here…to the sight of rain!! Marrakech in May…and it was not only raining but freezing cold! Difficult to believe really…for when I was looking at Marrakech temperatures back in March…they were sitting at 35 and above!! And I was worrying how we would cope in the heat!! But temperature has not been any problem at all….! Good for cycling…but really not warm enough for touristing!!
So today we had an even lazier day than usual! I wandered off the find a great breakfast….
…then returned for all the usual rest-day jobs.
We headed off early for our evening session…hoping to find a bar showing the last day of the Premier League! (Could Arsenal do it? Could Man City lose?….no was the answer to both!)
And we did find that bar! At least 20 screens showing a variety of games…including the the key ones!
So strange after our last four days of not seeing any foreigners at all to be in this sort of place…crammed full of English fans!
The happy guy to Iain’s left was a keen City fan…and they were winning!!
We stayed for too many beers…and our neighbours celebrated the win with tequila shots…and we became best mates!!
Then a late dinner…..delicious!
The second day dawned bright and sunny…so I was off quite early for a long, long walk to and around the Medina. An extraordinary maze of complete chaos!! Best described in pictures:
I was wanting to buy a new pair of boxers….before my current ones completely disintegrate (nearly there already!)…& I calculate that I wandered past at least 4,000 shops (I kid you not!)….without seeing one pair!! I did however see almost everything else…including this.
Geared for tourists I might imagine….but really…?? I did wonder if they have sold any!
And I paid a visit to Madrasa Ben Youssef…a 15 century “university” really. Very beautiful but somewhat spoilt by the hordes….of posers!!
The toilet was the only place folk were not posing!
I also set myself the task of finding the Secret Garden…..buried in the Medina’s depths….without looking at a map!
Not easy as it turned out…with plenty of dead ends and wrong turns! Only to find a huge queue of guided tourists waiting in line for tickets. I spied a packed garden beyond…and I decided it really was not worth paying the equivalent cost of 33 of our Meknes dinners to join the throng. I did wonder what the locals must think!
Great walk though…finished with a long stretch at a street-side cafe, reading my book! (Lessons in Chemistry…if you’re interested. Absolutely hilarious!)….and back to the apartment for a siesta…before returning to L’Escale for beers…and some beautiful charcoal grilled chicken!
Back on the road tomorrow!
