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| our guide in the Sahara camp rocking Kelly's sungasses |
Morocco and Spain
Long time no blog. Since the last entry in February we have spent three weeks in Morocco with our daughter, followed by a week in Madrid and Toledo, and hosted two different visitors from home, touring around Tuscany and enjoying spring in Chianti country. We then went to Warsaw and Krackow for two weeks, and celebrated my birthday week on Elba island. It was great to be back in Arezzo just in time for the Giostra di Saraceno which we heard from our apartment but did not attend this year. However, our contrada won the golden lance, leading to a big party in the street only a block away.
First, Morocco. My first time in Africa, and Morocco is probably the easiest introduction to the continent. We flew into Marrakesh and from Tangier to Madrid, then Madrid to Pisa--averaging $24 a ticket. Thanks RyanAir. People from the UK shudder when we mention RyanAir but we have had no trouble with it. Yes, they charge for every single extra (check a bag, print a boarding pass, a bottle of water on the plane, a seat reservation), but if you have a carry on bag and print your pass at home, you get great flight deals.
We stayed at riads (former private homes turned into hotels, built around a courtyard) and they were all great as well as relatively inexpensive. Since the riads were in the medinas, the old part of town--think the souk in Aladdin-- which are very confusing to navigate, hotel staff met us at the entry gate and guided us in. Throughout all of our stays, the hotel people were friendly and helpful. When Kelly joined us in Casablanca we went back to Marrakesh, then on a four day trip through the Atlas mountains to a Sahara desert camp, complete with camel rides and sandboarding. A great trip and, for the masochistic among you who want to see some of Tom's 989 pictures, send me an email and I will send you a link to the slideshow.
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| Spice souk in Marrakesh |
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| Water seller left,, wool market above |
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cooking class in Marrakesh left, Yves St. Laurent
garden near Marrakesh above |
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| probably the only halo Kelly will ever have! |
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| Casablanca--great mosque above |
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| a drive through the mountains to the Sahara |
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| Sandboarding in the Sahara |
We were sad to see Kelly go but managed to enjoy another week in Morocco then a week in Madrid, our first visit to Spain. We appreciated being back in Europe--although we don't speak spanish, we can understand it fairly well because of its similarities to Italian--and it is in the Eurozone, making money transactions easier (although Morocco is much less expensive). It was Easter week so we saw some interesting parades, and also visited the great museums, along with a day trip to Toledo, a beautiful town. We plan to return to Barcelona and adjacent areas in the spring.
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| midnight parade on holy Thursday in Madrid |
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| Royal Palace, Madrid |
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| best ever living statue in Plaza Mayor, Madrid |
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| Cathedral in Toledo |
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| View of Toledo from hill above city |
II. Touring Tuscany with friends from the U.S.
When you tell your friends you are moving to Italy for a few years, the universal response is some variation of "do you have a guest room?" or "I'll be there next week!" In reality, however, we did not have any friends coming to stay with us for the first year, although we did meet up with friends who were staying in a castle nearby. This spring, however, two different friends came to see us, and Italy, in April and May. We enjoyed showing them 'our town' of Arezzo, and visiting some of the local sights in Tuscany. While one friend had been to Italy many times, it was a first time visit for the other, so we got the fun of introducing her to our favorite italian things and customs, such as fabulous food with espresso after dinner, walled cities (think Lucca) the cathedral in Sienna, and the joys of a long and leisurely wine tasting with lunch in Chianti country. Of course we had to stay in a castle, and also took the opportunity to re-visit a favorite agriturismo, Borgo Rapale, as well as finding a new favorite near the etruscan town, Volterra. Tuscany in spring is incredible and the weather cooperated. I even (finally) bought a leather purse in Firenze!
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| Garden at Palazzo Pfanner, Lucca |
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| Cinque Terre |
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| This one is for Kelly: strong women, proud women, all women, Mills' women! |
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| Road to the agriturismo |
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Famous couple in Volterra museum (left)
A view of the castle B&B (right) |
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| Sienna of course |
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| and Florence |
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| Saw a parade in Florence from our hotel window |
We also had a great time exploring the Chianti region and sampling the fine wines at two different wineries, as well as tasting the 12 year old balsamic vinegar which was incredible! We all had to buy some and we dole it out in teaspoons as a special treat, it is far to expensive for something as pedestrian as a mere salad! It is a good thing we did our month of travelling around Tuscany in April/May because it has been troppo caldo in July/August, with the temperature hovering around 100 every day. Been thinking about a trip to Tuscany? It should cool off in the fall, come and see us!
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