crispy brits smoking topless

Blake's got a new face
Blake's got a new face
-One (Blake's got a new face), Vampire Weekend

We´ve been recovering for the past couple of days in our hotel room in Benalmadena, Spain. It´s actually more of suite with a little kitchen and living room. My parents have these timeshare weeks and they used one to get us this place. It has been really nice to do nothing but hang out. I´m pretty sure we will just take it easy the whole time we´re here.

As I may have mentioned before, this part of Spain is a big destination for British people. To this group, let me make a suggestion here- your skin is not designed for tanning. Give it up. Furthermore, chain smoking while you do this can only make me think you are trying to coat your insides in carcinogens as you try to soak up as much solar radiation as possible. I can almost see the free radicals mutating your DNA.

Here are a few photos of our time so far.

The rooftop terrace at La Tangerina in Tangier

On another rooftop in Fez

Taking the train in Morocco

The Sunset Beach Club

the water in spain

He doesn´t speak the language

He holds no currency

-You Can Call Me Al, Paul Simon

We made it back to Spain! Here was what we did yesterday.

Walk-Taxi-Train-Taxi-Ferry-Run-Bus-Walk-Burger King.

We were both a little virusey and we barely ate, but we made it to our resort by around midnight and checked in. We managed to squeak by with the money we had, although we might´ve had a less stressful time if we had decided to pack a few more Euros.

From what we´ve seen, the whole southern coast of Spain is resorts that cater mostly to northern Europeans, so there is alot of English and things that English people like. There is a Burger King across the street from our resort, so I had a Whopper with fries last night after we got here. We have a nice room on the 7th floor overlooking the ocean. Our apartmendido has a little kitchen and I went grocery shopping this morning and got some regular food.

We spent our last day in Morocco eating good Moroccan food and generally wandering around the Medina. There was a big music festival in Fez while were there and we managed to take in a performance in a the courtyard of one of the museums. It was beautiful and easily worth the 100 dirhams admission.

We´ll be here for a week and we are really looking forward to the R&R. I think it will be lots of laying by the pool.

It´s back to Madrid next friday and then home on Monday.

I´ll bring my camera next time and post some photos.

hoy nous walk shokran

A man walks down the street

It´s a street in a strange world

-You Can Call Me Al, Paul Simon

A quick blog from the medina in Fes, Morocco.

We left Vancouver on friday and arrived in Spain at about the same time the following day after a layover in Toronto. We didn't sleep much on the flight, but Air Canada's entertainment systems and phototherapy lighting was appreciated. After one night in Madrid, we took a train down to the Southern port city of Algeciras and found a ferry to take us across the Straight of Gibraltar. We survived some hassles at customs in Tangier and managed to navigate our way to our hotel in the Kasbah in Fez. The hotel was lovely and had a rooftop terrace to relax on with views over the Straight and the medina (old city). After a day in Tangier and another train ride, we've settled in Fez for a few days.

It's taken us a little while to adapt to our new surroundings. Although many people speak English, the language aspect of things has been tricky, as we've had to try to switch between Spanish and French. The common language here is Arabic (and Berber), but most educated people speak French. Sometimes, as I'm attempting French, I end up throwing in some Spanish words, which makes them think we are Spanish and then they try to use that, seeing as how our French is pretty atrocious. Eventually, it is usually apparent they speak better English than my French or Spanish and we go from there. I've only managed a few words in Arabic so far.

It's been a great trip so far and Moroccco has certainly proved exotic. We've spent most of our time in the narrow lanes and alleyways of the medinas with the various vendors, donkeys and stray cats. In guidebooks it's described as an "assault on the senses" and I would agree. We've seen some amazing sights, and have had our fair share of mint tea and couscous, but I think we will really appreciate the resort in Spain when we get back there in a few days. Still not sure how we are gonna get there, but we'll figure it out.

We'll likely be more communicative once we get to Spain.

my dar el meina

A sympathetic friend can be quite dear as a brother
-Homer

I will do a proper wedding blog sometime, but I will say now that everyone was right. It was an incredible day and I enjoyed all of it. I have a hard time using superlatives, so talking about my wedding is difficult for me. I can say I felt the love, and cried alot. I am lucky to have such a group of friends and families. I wish I could've done a better job of honouring them on the day.

Thank you everyone.

We're off to Spain/Morocco tomorrow. Hopefully I'll do some blogging on the road.

Love
Kyle