Hey again,

Just thought i would give you an update since new years,

Went to London to visit Hollie (Emily's roomate from school - and she was also an occupent at 606). Went to the British Museum which is just stunning. Saw the Egypian and Assyrian sections, then made our way to the Canada store - yes it sells things that are Canadian and i got Kraft peanut butter!!!! The peanut butter here is just...not the same.

Here is the famous Reading Room in the Museum. Members of the Reading Room have included...Karl Marx, Darwin, Virginia Wolfe, Dickens, and so many more. It is a stuning building.



Then we headed to go see the new Bond film at Leicester Square (theatre and show district). Around the square there are 4 LARGE movie theatres, which i thought was odd but i am told that they are all busy especially since if there is ever a movie premier in London this square is were it happens.

Then off to Hollie's. Next day we went to Camden Gardens Market - really good and busy. Had some fantastic mexican food.

Then back to Birmingham after a very long and delayed train ride. (left at 3:20 arrived at 7:00pm - it is normally just over two hours).

Anyway...here is me in Amsterdam down the street from our hotel. It was a fantastic location as it was in the fashion and museum district.




Hope all is well and that you take care. Miss and Love you all,
M.

P.S. Mom andDad have booked the tickets for April!!!! Can't wait to see the family!!!!

Now, after Rabat and Sale we headed off to Casablanca by train.

Got to see a bit of the city. It was very metropolitain and a lot more relaxed than other cities in Morocco. The mosque in Casa (as it is called) is the third larges in the world and very impressive. It is on the coast.

This is in the olive market. And it was very impressive - lots of olives!!!

The souques (Jac and Ange)

Then off to Agadir and the famous 9 hour bus ride. Here are a few pictures of the beach - my first real proper beach.

This is Youness (mentioned him before i believe - he was soooo helpful), Ange, and Jac)

The two Auzies enjoying the beach!!!

Me and my freckles enjoying the beach.

No this is one of the most beautiful things i have ever seen... the sun setting over the atlantic ocean - fantastic.

Oh, ya ... by the way...

The three girls heading to the airport and Amsterdam for New Years... in a cab with 3 moroccan men...and a sheep...

K...next installment...europe.

Hey there ya all,

So it am sitting on my bed at the moment e-mailing you from my new laptop. It arrived today and i am so excited!!!! I will be able to keep in contact as i never have been able to before.

Right, so the last blog left off in...Rabat. Now Rabat if you recall is the beginning of the ...end...so to speak.

Great city, as it is the capital of the country. Got to see the mosulium for King Mohammed and King Hossain. It was a rather stunning area. This is a picture of the ceiling and it is made of 24 K gold.

Sale is Rabat's twin city and it is across the river. I love this picture. The fishermen take their catch and sell in the local soques (markets).

Sale is one of my favourite places in Morocco. You can just tell that the people that live there have not seen many tourists...or white people for that matter. They were very nice, and very interested in the three girls wandering around. The soques were genuine as the locals do not have fridges to keep things they would shop everyday for meat and veg. The animals (beef/ chicken/ lamb/ fish) are all very fresh...to the sound of clucking as the chickens were in walking around in pen areas and... "prepared" as they were ordered. It is not unusual to see women and children walking around with a live chicken under their arm, or a lamb on a string. Very different than what we see everyday. This boy and his father are selling sheep to a locals that require one for an upcomming festival.

Then we checked out some local buildings, the mosque, library, school, military museum. It was kinda cool. We had aquired a guide and got to see and do some amazing things. We had to bribe a military guard to let us have axcess to one part of the museum. We got to walk across the top of a wall in order to get a great view of the city.

Check this out:

In the Islamic faith there are three sacred materials used in the construction of buildings (mosques, city halls, rich peoples houses, libraries, etc.) and they are 1) cedar, 2) mosaics, and 3) a special grass.

Here is Ange crossing across the wall. I know it does not look that hight...but it WAS, and i made it across twice.

K, More to come. TTYL M.

Okay, so this is the train trip from Marrakech to Rabat. The train was kinda interesting as it was a relic from the 50's. Very Harry Potter like. Check out the progression as we go from the interior to the coastal areas. It was a four hour trip.

Here is our train as we arrive in Rabat.

Rabat is a really interesting city. Cleaner than Marrakech and it seems to have more money as well. Once we got settled we headed into the Medina (old city). Here is Ange getting some dates at a stall.

We walked down to see the ocean. Here is the lighthouse and the muslum cemetary. They tend (at lease from the places that we visited it was the case) have their cemetaries by the ocean. All graves face mecca which is west for morocco.

Spent Christmas eve, and christmas day in Rabat and Sale. Boxing day we headed by train to Casablanca. More to come so stay tuned.

Hope all is well.

Love and miss, M.

Of course you can't go to Morocco and not see one of these. Is it just me or do these two kinda look a like?

We went for dinner at this amazing place. It was designed after how the kings and sultans would have lived in the past. The food was amazing, and the servise even better.

So the next day we were off to see the Hight Atlas Mountains. They are stunning.

We met this man on the journey. He is a traditional berber (native moroccan). He gave us some authentic moroccan tea which is tea with mint and heaps of suger. He was a very happy man and it is rather interesting because he lived very simply. I bought a jade necklace from him.

Continuing the journey the views were spectacular. This is a fort that was built by the arabic people. They invaded and drove the berber people out of the plains of Morocco into the mountains and this is found just as the mountains are beginning to get serious.

Now this was the Indian Jones like bridge that i crossed. Talk about a challenge but i made it. Just after we had walked across an elderly berbrer man and his grandson crossed. They lived up in the mountains and have to cross this bridge everyday to travel to the small village that is just up the road.

This store is in one of the villages that we stopped at. The man on the donkey passed by us as we sat down to enjoy the view. It is a rather interesting concept to realize that to travel by donkey is a reliable and realistic mode of transportation for these people.

The mountains were great. Next installment is travelling to Rabat (capital) and Sale.

Hey all, So i have finally had the chance to upload some picts from the christmas holiday.

This is in Marrakech at the Place Jemaa El Fna - which means "the place of the dead". In this square executions took place. E.g. people caught for stealing, people that committed religious offences, etc. Today this is the main market area and the beginning of the Soques (streets of shops).

In this square there are many types of venders. One of the specialities of morocco is of course orange juice as orange trees are everywhere.

This square not only has venders selling food, spices, clothing, or jewelery, it also has some rather interesting characters. This man is a traditional water seller. He is traditionally dressed in colourful clothing and he rings his bell to let you know that he is in the area.

No only are there people who sell water, there are snake charmer (which i think i have mentioned before). Check this man out!! That is a cobra that you see. Also on the mat were vibers, rattlesnakes, and some other colourful snake. It was a little scary to say the least - especially when you just happen to turn around and there is a guy standing there shoving one in your face.

This is just outside the Place Jemaa El Fna is the Koutoubia. Is is a very large Mineret. A mineret is the large tower found in moques and it is were "the caller" goes to let the people know that it is the beginning of prayer time. He basicaly sings and it is projected using a very loud sound system. It occures 5 times a day. They can be rather stunning structures.

These are just a vew pictures of Marrakech. Next instalment will feature out trek up into the Hight Atlas Mountains. Hope all is well.

Love and Miss you all.

Martha