Tripping Out Alone

Nine women, all graduates of the same high school, some of us haven't seen each other in a very long time, and yet here we are and what is wonderful and strange and again not so strange after all because essentially we haven't changed! There was not a moment of awkwardness and we all agreed on one thing very strongly. We got possibly the worst education a girl's only high school could provide and yet despite this we all went on to succeed in life, each of us gaining satisfaction and success in our chosen paths. High achievers, all of us independent earners we have all learned how to make the most out of life and enjoy the journey. Juliet and Anne drive sports cars as we knew they would, Charlotte owns a yacht, some of us have children and others do not, the ones who seemed the worst suited to school are now working in education, and others are managing soccer players, running departments in the health authority or have a PhD in provision of health care systems. Some of us a...

Portugal I hadn’t paid too much attention to what I would do in Portugal, being focused on my Marrakech dreams, but in the end it is Portugal I would return to first. What a beautiful country, the cities of Porto and Lisbon so charming and stunningly located alongside rivers and oceans. Ginjinha - the local cherry liquor is sold from door way bars across the city at any time of day. Today I stood at the spot Vasco de Gama waved goodbye to his King to depart for India. Portugal changed the world and introduced things to the East that were then discovered by the British and brought back to Europe. All this history can be discovered today in the monasteries and museums that in habit the incredible gothic buildings with ornate entrances and sweeping spires that still dominant the skyline. The language of Portugal is hard to master retaining traces of Arabian and from it the citizens say Bey lang for Belem and the xao’s and the texieria’s and bao’s make sounds that are far from phonetic ...

Souks are markets, they happen weekly and the vendors and the purchasers gather to catch up not just on produce but gossip, much as they do all over the world. Here in Morocco you don't see too many women and photography is much discouraged, so I took a few snaps in the hope that a sideways point and shoot would work and some of them turned out ok. Market meat is something else, it puts the reality of butchery right out there, and there are photos here that might upset some so don't scroll down too far if you think that might be you. Otherwise this is a compilation of markets in Berber towns, one of which is called Asni, the other I am not sure of.

The Medina in Marrakesh is one of those places you dream about seeing, well I did anyway, and fueled by the words of Robert Louis Stevenson's poem "Travel" and the love of all kinds of bazaars and markets I was truly excited and not a little nervous about dipping into the souks and alleyways that make up the old town of Marrakesh. It was still light when we arrived and the snake charmers and showmen were only just beginning their nightly routines. The light was soft and cast a tender glow on the groups of rag tag performers and their somewhat jaded snakes. It didn't take long before I had a small python around me, not very heavy and quite tame it did the expected furl around and allowed me to pet it without protest. The black cobras did a good job of looking pissed off and then that was it..snake charmers are not so charming and demand money, which is ok I suppose but they are very dense about it, I think a little sales spiel would have suited them better but I am not...

Our hosts at the Aman recommended we take a trip into the High Atlas Mountains and found us a place to stay, an eco-lodge in the Berber valley of Toubkal. It is near Richard Branson's place a little higher up the road and here they promote education for girls and well as responsible use of water so that was cool..and there was snow on the slopes to see from our window. Considering that I was reading Into Thin Air in a place that had substituted for Tibet in Martin Scorsese's 'Kudun', and also used in 'Babel' it was strangely disquieting to look out of the windows at the familiar scenes of Tibet , return to read about the Everest ascent and then remember I was in fact in North Africa not Asia. The concierge at Kasbah Toubkal had a comedy routine all of his own going on with a number of stock phrases that he repeated in varying tones of sarcasm and eagerness. "Lovely-jubbly..right as nine pins..awesome amazing ..This is not a five star hotel, more like your h...

"....It's not hard to describe the delight of arriving in the North African city of Marrakesh, it derives from the culmination of dreams, the desire of youth and the determination of age. To walk the streets under the warm night skies, to see the date palms and the walls of the ancient Medina, finally, has a satisfaction all of its own. When you transcend that vision and enter the reality it only gets better, especially if your hosts happen to be the staff of the Amanjena, especially if the moon is full, especially if you are greeted each day by varying degrees of aesthetic perfection in food, hospitality and architecture. Especially if you feel the stresses and strains of a high achieving, high performance lifestyle slip away under the cherry moon, especially if you know there is a guest, your most adored international musical genius, staying a mere sparrow hop away from you..it doesn't matter that he remained unseen, it was all just so amazing. Each and everyone of the s...