Morocco!! in February

Marrakech, MOROCCO!

When we moved to Europe on the top of my list of places to visit was Morocco.  I watched a travel show while running at the gym a while back and, well, I'll just say the program did a really good job of marketing Marrakech as a place to delight all your senses.  But my husband Mr. Safety had watched some movie about traveling in Africa that scared the b-geezies out of him back in the 90's and still hadn't forgotten about it.  Morocco was NOT SAFE!   I spent many a delicate hour trying to convince him that he was being manipulated by Hollywood dramatization and Morocco was indeed a FINE place to show our children the third world, if not the safest place because of its proximity to Spain and its tourist ready amenities (can you tell I still have some emotion tied to this?)  But I made no headway.  At Christmas time Bryant and his friend Alex were planning a trip to Marrakech in February and I jumped on board.  I LOVE to travel with Bryant and I figured if I wasn't getting our entire family there I might as well go myself.  After a lot of debating with Joey over the phone, disagreeing over the safety factor we finally decided that the US Department of State Travel website could solve this for us.  And I won;)  I bought my ticket from Milan to Marrakech for 79 euro.  After Joey read the travel okay, he called me and said, "Okay...you can go.  It looks like it's safe enough to travel there but if you die...I'm going to kill you."   

Riad Badi:

 A Riad is basically the name Moroccans give to a Bed and Breakfast.  We stayed at Riad Badi, booked for us by Alex. We loved everything about it.  It is run by a French couple who grew sick of modern city life.  Marrakech is full of French people giving France the bird, dressed in white linen and woven hats and employing the Morrocans in their tourist establishments. At least the 3-4 we spoke with had nothing good to say about France and raved about their life in third world Marrakech. Almost all of the local Moroccans speak Arabic and French and, sometimes, a little English.   

Christian was our hotel owner and our tour guide...you can see him here on the right:  Tall and lanky, casual and all around really, really nice.  Something about him was very endearing.  Maybe it was the fact that he never fixed his hair and always wore sweatpants while simultaneously being handsome, warm and unintrusive.  He reminded me of my Dad.

 I only wish I had taken a picture of our breakfasts, all of it among the best food I've ever eaten.  Moroccan style crepe, a sweet potato spread that I still drool about, yummy fruit, house made yogurt, this whole wheat Moroccan bread that tasted better than any where else we had it in the city...yea, I'd definitely stay there again

I took this photo for the kids.  It's hard to see from the photo how large these birds are.  They are really huge and nest all over the city way up high on the old walls.

Oranges for sale

Soap and spices, tea, bath salts and Argon oil vaseline

Argon is a type of nut I'd never heard of until arriving here.  It is pressed for its oil and grows almost exclusively in Morocco.  It is a very large portion of their export.  Its a big deal to people who are into anti-aging skin care and is really expensive outside of Morocco.  Argon, oranges trees, olives and olive oil, saffron and tea are all big exports from Morocco.  Flying in and looking down over the landscape was beautiful.   Acres and acres of orchards with trees all pruned into a donut shape, something I had never seen before in the west but I have since learned is a good way to go when pruning your orchard.

 What a Monkey;)

 The Main Square and Mosque

To be perfectly honest, initially we were all a little disappointed with Morocco.  We made it through the souks in one evening and discovered that a lot of it was just the same old crap, booth after booth.  The next morning we didn't know what we were going to do with our entire , having covered all the souks already.  ...Hmmm...we decided to try that cooking class that we had considered doing but thought we wouldn't have time for.  We called them at 8:30 am hoping to get into their 9:30 class and within ten minutes they were there to pick us up!  Ahhh the benefits of traveling in the off season!  This cooking class at Faim d'Epices TOTALLY redeemed Morocco.  We had such a good time!  And we learned how to shop the souks giving us a rap sheet of things to do the next day.  I stocked up on preserved lemons, real saffron (be careful...they sell fake stuff), tea, and tagines.  

 The class started with a spice education;)  

The unique flavor of Moroccan cooking comes from the combination of sooooo many subtle spices, none of which are allowed to over power the next, each one so very subtle but all combined to be a uniquely perfect burst of spicy flavor and sensation.  We learned the difference between Chinese Cinnamon and regular Cinnamon, tasted Argon oil and orange and Rose water...spice after spice after spice...It was fun!

 Our chef taught us to make Moroccan crepes and while I have tried and tried, they never turn out as good as the ones we ate in country.  It was so pretty watching this Moroccan woman work with the dough who said she learned to cook from her mother and grandmother.  You could tell too...it felt very traditional, not professional.  We liked that. 

After cooking the feast, we ate it.  Look at Bryant and Alex with their smart phones!!;)  Taking pics to share on Facebook;)

So, yea, the ice cream was amazing and spicy but you can get good ice cream anywhere...it's that triangle bread up there...that's the Moroccan crepe thing I keep talking about.  That little baby was the good stuff.  It was more like a buttery croissant/pita/crepe type thing...there's really no description to justify it.

Back to the Souks: 

Dried fruit and nuts

An old Mosque turned into a school and now simply a museum

Another picture I took for the kids...see the little (wait no, fairly big) lizard on my arm?  It looks just like the one from Rapunzel so of course, I thought of my girls;)  All over the city are men waiting to charge you money to take a picture with their bizarre animals.  

Morocco is cheap, culturally rich and worth the trip.  It has not been my favorite place I've ever been but still very enjoyable, interesting and unique.  It was my first time in a predominantly Muslim country and I found myself struggling with judgement and perceptions that I hadn't really thought through or been aware of before.  I still wish I could see the country and the people through a different lens than my white middle class Western one that I couldn't seem to shake while I was there.   If I went back I'd stay outside of Marrakech in the mountains.  Then I'd take 2 day trips into the city.  And I'd still love to take the kids;)  

I Dolomiti

After a great Saturday during which we renewed our Udinese Calcio season tickets, hung out with friends at a swimming hole in the mountains, and watched "Big" together for a family movie night (warning: there is an F-bomb during the scene when Billy yells at Josh in his office - remember to hit "mute"), we were feeling pretty exhausted and wanting to take it easy on Sunday. But when we woke up feeling great and the weather looked promising, we decided to make the 2+ hour drive to Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Dolomites to go hiking.

Of course, so did several other thousand Europeans on a Sunday in August, so we sat in traffic for a while. But we found a great spot to start hiking from that wasn't crowded. Our friends the Jones family had told us about Le Cinque Torri, which they have done twice in less than a year and we had done zero times in over two years.

This is the base of the hike, walking through meadows of wildflowers with evergreens and rocky mountains as backdrop.

Jubie conquers the Dolomites! There was still some snow up on this mountain.

Get a load of that mountain range in the background. It reminds me of Shiprock, New Mexico, on Italian steroids. Isaac and Georgie were excellent hikers, rarely complaining. Juliet...not so much. This hike was more Eiffel Tower and less Switzerland from Jubie.

Posing on a rock outcropping. Georgie got really excited about "bouldering", or climbing up small rocks.

Another view of the hiking path and rock outcropping. Ashley loved this view.

This is the view from the refuge where we ate. It was more of a proper restaurant, compete with antipasti, primi piatti, secondi piatti, dolci, etc., but its name was Il Rifugio Cinque Torri. Excellent vegetable soup, pumpkin ravioli, bread, etc.

Juliet took this picture! I helped her set it up but she executed. Well done, Jubie!

So proud. I think I like hers better.

Georgie took this one, also very well done. The mountains were unreal.

We finally made it to the Five Towers where we saw many rock climbers scaling the various faces. You can see one of them in between these two rocks.

Georgie at the top of a small bouldering climb. She was tearing it up.

Juliet and I at the top of another bouldering climb, which Jubie climbed all by herself! Georgie is starting to make her way up.

If only I was a more competent, engaged parent like Kregg Rogers or Jeff Stuart. Those guys would have Georgie climbing every weekend.

The money shot with the Five Towers in the background. I had to practically horsewhip the family up to this spot to get this picture since everyone was so tired of hiking. At this point I left Ashley with the kids and they paid 10 euro to ride a ski lift down to the bottom. I hiked/ran down to get the car and drove it to the bottom of the ski lift. Time to hike to the top: three hours. Time to get down: 40 minutes.

At the top there is an open air WWI museum, since the Italians set up a lookout point here to watch for the invading barbarian Germans coming over the Dolomites. There were numerous reenactors there in period uniforms, taking pictures and telling people about the history of the area.

The kids loved it and they ended up staying there a little while. I beat them to the bottom by about 15 minutes.

Isaac wearing one of the period head pieces.

Although we had to carry Juliet practically the whole way and I kept cajoling everyone to get a move on so we would stay ahead of the weather, it was still a fantastic day. Once when Isaac was complaining a little I said, "Isaac, people fly from around the world just to come hiking in the Dolomites. You drove up here this morning from your house." His reply: "Yeah, well, I've gotten kind of used to this kind of stuff." Lucky little punk.

Rocky - The Italian Stallion

When I was growing up I had two best friends: Erik and Rocky. Erik lived down the street from me in Las Vegas, while Rocky, my cousin, lived in the Bay Area of California. Back then we would write letters to each other, on actual paper, with actual writing utensils (we did graduate to word processors in the late 80s). We saw each other on average about twice per year. Once in the summer, usually at Lake Tahoe, but sometimes at his family's home or in Las Vegas. And every year, and I mean every, for Christmas vacation in Salt Lake City. The first one either of us missed was because of Rocky's mission. Those two to three weeks per year were what I lived for. I worked odd jobs around the house and mowed lawns to save money for those vacations. My dad required us to pay for our own entertainment, such as movies, mini golf, bowling, video arcades, etc. Although usually Uncle Bob, Rocky's dad, would cover the tab if he was the one accompanying us, which he usually was. I last went to Tahoe in 2009 (five years ago) and last saw Rocky over two years ago for literally a few minutes while we intersected briefly at Parry's wedding. Well that has now been rectified.

Rocky flew out to the UK on a business trip for Google Local Product Ads, the project he is working on. Between visits to the London and Dublin offices he came to visit us here in Northern Italy. His first day the two of us caught the train to Venice. Rocky posted this picture of us at Rialto which Traci, our cousin, commented on us thusly: "A. You match. B. You aren't touching each other. C. Rocket man, you look so much like Uncle Bob in this picture. D. Cousin time is the best time."

 Here is a shot of Rocky from the Rialto overlooking the Grand Canal. Rocky's reference point for Venice prior to this trip was "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." He kept commenting on how different it was than the movie.

 So we are waking along, eating gelato from Suso, just south of Rialto (fantastic gelato), when we come across this great view with a gondola approaching. Without exchanging any words, I got my hands free while Rocky quickly handed me his phone and got into position for the picture. Just too good to pass up, and we were communicating via telepathy, much as we did for six weeks on the bike trip in 2001.

 On arrival to Piazza San Marco we were witness to a Venice first for me: flooding. Water was coming up through the storm drains. Rocky took this shot while standing on the elevated platform that took us into the Basilica. We also toured the treasury with its Byzantine relics, which I had never seen before.

 Rocky in the Piazza. You can see the flooding behind him. Scaffolding is still there. He took a pass on the pigeon photo. You know how Rocky is about hygiene.

 We toured the Doge's palace and Rocky took this picture of a map from the 16th century. It shows how little Venice has changed in the past 500 years.

Here I am at the Giants' Staircase. This trip was pretty fantastic. We've got Venice down pretty well now, and I still enjoy it every time.

Great story about the end of the trip. Rocky had been looking all day for something nice to buy for Michelle. He wanted a necklace made from Murano glass but everything was either too cheap or ridiculously expensive. We finally found a perfect shop and Rocky picked out a nice necklace and earring combo. The owner was CLASSIC Italian: poofy white hair, gold chains on his neck and wrist, bit of a pot belly, and spoke almost zero English. As he was boxing up the items I said, in jest, "Quando uno viene a Venezia senza la moglie, si deve comprare qualcosa di qualita." (When you come to Venice without your wife, you have to buy something nice.) At that, he instantly stopped packaging and said, "Oh, I have something nice." He walks over to the display and picks out a different necklace and earring set, a little more expensive, but much classier. Rocky and I look at each other and Rocky says, "Let's do it." So now Michelle has a very classy matching set, picked out by a stylish old Italian man, that she will hopefully get comments on and will be able to reply, "Rocky got them for me in Venice."

The next day we did a couple of local hikes and bought way too much cheese at a local market. Rocky took us out for dinner at our favorite local restaurant and we got gelato scoops number 4 & 5 of the trip for dessert.

The final full day Ashley had scheduled a canyoning trip just northeast of here. Canyoning is basically wearing a wet suit and helmet and walking through a canyon carved by a river. Except that you also get to rappel down waterfalls and jump off of cliffs.

 Sadly we only have "before" and not "during" pictures because we don't have a water-proof camera. Georgie came with us, but Isaac took a pass. You have to know how to pick your battles with kids.

Here we are, ready to go. We had a very experienced guide and three other Italian companions, a guy and two girls from a local town. They were very nice and they loved talking to Georgie. When we came to the cliff it looked a lot scarier than it was, since you had to clear a decent ledge. Rocky and I both did it, while Ashley and Georgie rode a natural slide that dropped you from about 8-10 feet high in to the same pool.

That night we went out for pizza so that Rocky could experience the real deal. Strangely, he turned down gelato afterwards. What was wrong with him? Too much cheese and ice cream in too little time.

On his final day Ashley took him shopping to get some things for his kids while I went to work. Before leaving for the airport we went to gelato one last time, scoops number 6 & 7, at Il Dolcefreddo, our favorite local place.

It was just like old times again, except that instead of skiing on Lake Tahoe or at Alta we were exploring Venice and canyoning. And instead of getting Bacchi's and Arctic Circle we were eating at Le Masiere and Ristorante Da Genio. Thank you, Michelle, for sharing your husband with us and taking care of the kids for two weeks. You deserve that genuine Murano glass! And thanks to Rocky for making the effort to come and see us. I look forward to the day that we can reunite in Tahoe or Utah and continue the Wayne & Jeanette Garff Family traditions.