Morocco Trip - Day 2

March 22nd, 2016

Our second day in Marrakech was also pretty wet.  We met our guide, Akmed in the lobby of the hotel.  He had a large taxi waiting for us and we set off for our tour of the Medina or the old city.  It was really exciting walking through the souks and wondering if we would ever be able to find out way back if we accidentally got separated from our guide.

First Akmed took us to a huge cooperative where they sold all different kinds of arts and crafts.  It was amazing, so many interesting things to look at, just like stumbling into a Cave of Wonders. I should have been more cautious, as it was the first shop we visited in the medina, but it's so difficult to not buy something.  They never tell you a price, they just ask you what you like and then they quote you a really inflated amount for everything together.  Then the bargaining begins, I wanted to buy a Moroccan tea set and a few cushion covers.  I think the first quote was 250€.  I was shocked because I thought it was pretty high.  When I said no, the salesman wanted me to name my price.  I said 80€.  He said 225€, I said 100€, he said 200€, I said I didn't want it and was prepared to walk away.  Finally he said 150€, but he would have to ask permission from the head boss.  I think Bob was probably fed up with the whole bargaining process and told the man that it was fine.  Of course when he took the stuff to the boss so we could pay, the boss didn't say a thing, but very quickly wrapped everything up before we could change our minds.  So just like that, we spent 150€ in our very first shop!

Of course, I didn't learn my lesson and proceeded to pay too much for pretty much everything we bought that day, jewelry, tea, scarves and wooden boxes.  Also on the recommendation of our guide we ended up eating lunch in an over priced restaurant. Oh well, it's all part of the experience and at least we are supporting the local economy. If there were no naive tourists, a lot of people would be out of work in Marrakech.

I hope that our guide was somehow profiting from our purchases too, because we only had to pay him 200 MAD (less than 20€) to take us around the entire morning.   We enjoyed our tour so much, we hired him to take us around again the next day.

After lunch we ventured out on our own to see the monkeys and snake charmers in the Jemaa El-Fnaa square.  We paid quite a lot of money to have our picture taken with some snakes, always best to negotiate the price before you let them wrap a snake around your neck.

walking into our first shop

Amazing doors

masks

The narrow streets in the medina

Berber woman processing the argan kernels

learning about the benefit of Argan oil

Touch Down!

Cool treasure box

Cool treasure chest

Rainy day in the souks

Akmed showing us some perfume bottles

Young man showing us how to carve wood with his feet

Same young man managed to sell us a wooden box

Bargaining with the man in the jewelry store

Cole with the geode

The metalworks souk 

One of my favourite pictures, colourful lanterns

learning about how they dye material

Here is the scarf store where the shop keeper dressed up the kids and managed to sell me two scarves

Rylan digging his new scarf

Cool doorway

trained monkeys in the Jemaa El-Fnaa square

Everyone gets to wear a snake

Dancing cobra

Everyone gets to hold a monkey

Morocco Trip - Day 1

March 21st, 2016

Before we have to leave Spain we thought it would be great to visit Africa as it is so close to Spain.  Morocco was definitely our safest option in North Africa and we decided that Marrakech would be the best city to visit.  Prior to going, I did a lot of research online and found a good deal on hotel and flight through http://destinia.com/.

Vueling offers direct flights to Marrakech from Barcelona and the flight is only about 2.5 hours.  We left on Monday morning March 21st at 11am and arrived in Marrakech around 1pm.  We stayed at the Idrissides Hotel, only 10 minutes from the airport in the Hivernage area of Marrakech.   I booked a private shuttle from the airport to the hotel for 170 MAD (around 16€) just so that we would not have to haggle with taxi drivers upon arrival.  The shuttle driver was there waiting for us at the arrival gates so it was very handy.

Landing in Marrakech

As soon as we arrived at our hotel and tried to check-in, but the man at the reception desk saw that we had an all inclusive package, so told us to leave our luggage and go have lunch before checking-in because lunch was ending soon.  It was great to sit down and have a nice lunch before checking into the hotel.  We also booked a walking tour of the medina for the following morning.

View from the fourth floor in to the atrium

Check out the swan made out of a towel they leave on the hotel bed

In the afternoon it started raining, so we didn't feel like doing any outdoor sight-seeing.  One of the reasons I chose Idrissides Hotel was because it had an indoor pool and spa.  Ciara and I went down to check the indoor pool and found out that you actually had to pay to get in, and it wasn't cheap, about 8€ per person.  Of course this extra fee was not mentioned anywhere on the hotel's website.  But since we could not use the free outside pool, we decided to all go for a swim and enjoy the indoor pool.  We pretty much had the whole pool to ourselves and the hot tub too.

The tour guide from the hotel told us to go visit a shopping centre that was walking distance down the road because it had a big kids amusement centre.  It was still raining in the evening, so we walked to the shopping centre and it was quite impressive although all the kids rides and games were expensive, so we just looked around.

Lounging by the outdoor pool, which we never really got to use

 

The indoor pool

Enjoying the spa

Kimi's Visit February 19th to March 1st

February 29th, 2016

For Kimi's last full day in Barcelona, I thought it would be nice to go up to Costa Brava.  We drove up to Tossa de Mar which is a small, very touristy town about 1h15min from Barcelona.  In February though, the coast is pretty empty.  It was nice to be able to walk around without wading through tons of tourists.  It was actually my first time in Tossa de Mar and it was much better than I thought it would be.  We walked up to the Vila Vella which is the remains of the medieval fortified town that dates back to the 13th century.  There are 4 large towers, the remains of castle and chapel and narrow cobblestone streets.

Kimi on the beautiful deserted beach with the old fortified town in the background

The Joanás tower overlooking the bay

narrow cobblestone street in the Vila Vella

a small cove on the other side of the old town

After visiting the old town, we decided to hike down the Cami de Ronda which is a hiking/walking path that goes all the way down Costa Brava.  We have hiked different sections of this trail throughout the years.  It doesn't seem to matter where you are, the views are always amazing.  We started at main beach in Tossa and hiked all the way along the coast to Cala Bona.  It was not an easy hike, about 4 km of up and down a very rocky and sometimes treacherous path.  After we reached Cala Bona, we decided to walk along the road back to Tossa.  We could not imagine hiking along the coast all the way back.   We were very fortunate that the weather was sunny, but not too hot.  February is the perfect time to hike the Cami de Ronda. 

View from the Cami de Ronda, you can see Tossa de Mar in the distance

The rocky cliffs

beautiful rugged coastline near Cala Bona

Made it to Cala Bona!

Kimi's Visit February 19th to March 1st, 2016

February 26th, 2016

During our free walking tour with Sandeman's New Europe tours the guide told us about some of the other tours that they offer.  One of them was the Gaudí and Modernism walking tour.  This tour costs 10€/person and lasts about 3 hours as well. We started at 2:30pm at Plaça de l'Angel and walked through the Born district and up Passeig de Gràcia, jumping into the subway and ending up at the Sagrada Familia.  It was fascinating, and I learned a lot about some of the most famous buildings in Barcelona.  I would highly recommend this tour.

Casa Lléo-Morera

Casa Amatller inside entrance

Casa Amatller from the outside

Casa Batlló right beside Casa Amatller

Facade of the Nativity, Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia newly finished facade

February 27th, 2016

Saturday, we had lunch in Barceloneta and then Kimi and I walked down the beach.  We did a bit of shopping and then we waited until after 5pm and got to go inside the Catedral de Barcelona, Santa Maria del Pi and the Santa Maria del Mar churches for free.  We also celebrated Kimi's birthday with a chocolate cake!

It was not a particularly warm day, but you can see all the people surfing

Deserted beaches

Kimi's birthday cake

February 28th, 2016

In the afternoon, Kimi and I visited the Museu Maritim.  It is of course free on Sunday afternoons.  It was a very nice museum, probably even worth the price of admission.  After touring the museum we jumped in the metro and went to Montjuic as we were going to visit the National Museum of art of Catalunya or MNAC.  It was free on Sunday afternoon, but we didn't know that it also closes at 3pm on Sunday afternoons and we got there after 3pm.  So then we decided to do a long walk around Montjuic.  We saw so many parks and monuments, it's amazing how much stuff is in Montjuic.  We wanted to see the Magic Fountain Show at 7:30, but again I got my information wrong.  In the winter months, there is no fountain show on Sundays and the fountains did not even turn on at all.  Oh well, still a beautiful place to walk around on a Sunday afternoon. 

Museu Maritim

Kimi's Visit February 19th to March 1st

February 21st, 2016

On Sunday afternoons, most museums in Barcelona are free.  One of our favourite places to take visitors on a Sunday afternoon is the Castell de Montjuic because they have an interesting interpretation centre as well as great views of the city.  Of course it's also a great workout climbing the hill to get to the fort.

Entering the Castell de Montjuic

February 22nd, 2016

The following day after the kids went off to school Kimi and I went downtown to do the free walking tour of Barcelona from Sandeman's New Europe Tours.  This was my second time doing the tour, but since we had a different tour guide, the tour was almost completely different, including the places that we saw.  In fact I saw some buildings that I had never seen before, like the oldest standing synagogue in Europe.  The Sinagoga Major de Barcelona is located in the old Jewish quarters of the city, El Call, and it is believed that the original structure was built in the 3rd or 4th century.  Our guide also took us to Plaça San Felip Neri, which was one of the locations where the Woody Allen movie Vicky Christina Barcelona was shot. You can see scars on the walls around the church from a bombing in 1938 which killed 20 children.  At the end of the tour you simply tip the guide.  It's a great way to see the most important sites in downtown Barcelona and the guide shares anecdotes, tips and historical facts so that you learn a lot about the city. 

After the tour, we continued our walk to Parc de la Ciutadella.

Barcelona's Ancient Synagogue

Plaça Sant Felip Neri

Marks from the bombing of 1938

February 23rd, 2016

Manju and I regularly hike from our house to Tibidabo, we have also convinced some of our friends to come with us.  It's a challenging hike because of the steep uphill stretches but it's very enjoyable walking through the Collserola hills and you get amazing views of the city the whole way there. The entire walk usually takes us about 1.5 hours going and 50 min coming back.  I made Kimi do the hike with Manju, Swapna and I.  She made it all the way to Tibidabo and back.  I am not sure that she entirely enjoyed it, but she walked about 12km that day!!

February 24th, 2016

As a reward for our tremendous hike from the day before, we took it easy on Wednesday and walked to Can Vidalet (in Esplugues) as it was the local open market day.  On Wednesday mornings from 8am to 2pm, several streets around the neighbourhood are closed to traffic and hundreds of stalls line the streets selling everything: clothes, books, kitchenware, shoes, toys etc...  Everything is so cheap, it makes me wonder if it's worth the effort to drag all their stuff out to the street every week.   After touring the market, we stopped off at the best cafe for churros in the neighbourhood which is on Carrer Verge de la Mercè.  Here the churros are made fresh and they are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  It's great for dipping into a cup of thick chocolate.  

Churros with chocolate

February 25th, 2016

Another beautiful sunny day, and almost too hot.  We set off to Parc Güell which involves climbing up a pretty steep hill even though there are some escalators, you still need to do a lot of stair climbing.  Parc Güell is one of the nicest places in Barcelona. Even if you don't pay to go into the ornamental area, the park itself is a great place to wander around.  We did go into the ornamental area, I was able to use my Gaudir Més pass which allows me to always enter the ornamental area for free (a savings of 12€).  As it wasn't too busy in the park, we were able to go into the Casa del Guarda (caretaker's house) for the first time. Even though I have visited Parc Güell at least 3 times before, the line-up to visit the Casa del Guarda has always been too long and we never wanted to wait.  Inside, they have a very interesting exhibition and the house itself is pretty cool.  

About the Gaudir Més pass, I would recommend getting it if you know you are going to be in Barcelona for at least a year and plan to visit Parc Güell more than once.  The pass also allows you free access to the Castell de Montjuic and some of the lesser known museums that most people don't bother to visit if they are only in Barcelona for a few days like the Museu Blau and the Museu de Disseny.  These museums are worth visiting if you are in Barcelona for a longer period.  It is free to register and as a bonus I was able to register all the kids as well so that they can enter for free if they are accompanied by me.  The only drawback is that you must go register at one of the specific Oficina d'Atenció Ciutadana (citizen information office) around Barcelona (see the website for more information).  You need to take proof of identity for yourself and for the children you are registering, although the children do not need to be there in person.  They will digitalize your fingerprint.  When you arrive at the attraction or museum you go to the ticket booth and tell them that you have the Gaudir Més pass, they scan you fingerprint and give you your ticket.  Your kids will get their free passes as well just with your finger scan, ahh modern technology!! 

Parc Güell, Casa del Guarda is on the left