i have a back-up plan if the situation in morocco gets bad... we will fly to england for a week, and then fly on to pisa.

Have a good trip Bob and I hope you will get to enjoy Morocco!

Bon voyage! I look forward to following along...

B and K: Good, fun traveling for you two! Hope some of my suggestions materialize into satisfactions...if not, let's not hear about it!

stu
(from the better side of the tracks around Greater Boston...my Quincy v.s. your Needham...no contest...toss in Cam-town's Cigalechanta and Andy Pandy...still no contest!)

Yay! I do hope you get to Morocco because I really want to hear about it.
You haven't been to Rome since 1965? For shame! I have 2 trip reports here if you need food advice, plus lots more on my blog (yes, I know you know this).

Bob, looking forward to read all about it, now you be good to Karen!

Bon Voyage. I'm with you for the duration.

Yay! Bob's reports are always so much fun.

But... Bob, why is your spelling so perfect? Are you trying to put on a good first impression?

I don't know about going to Marrakech...Aren't you afraid you'll have Crosby Stills, and Nash singing, "Don't you know we're riding on the Marrakech Express?" stuck in my ear the entire time.

Have. Great trip it all sounds fabulous. Contact me if you end up diverting to the UK. Your room is ready.

Hello rhkkmk

Welcome to the Europe boards!

I can tell from your pre-trip writing that this trip report will be a good one to keep an eye on. I, too, hope you get to Morocco (I say this selfishly as it is on the top of our wish list for 2012).

Happy travels!

Bob and Karen--sounds, as usual, like a fabulous trip. I do hope you can get to Morrocco--the colors, the food--ah, so fabulous. However, even without Morrocco, your trip is jealously-provoking. Barcelona is one of my favorite places in the world.

Have a great time, I look forward to your reports. I'll be in Peru while you are gone. We'll trade stories over lunch after our returns.

Have a great time. Pls let everyone know when you have the rental car, so all other drivers can get off the road and out of the way.

Yet, I think we have seen this trip before: The Road to Morocco, with Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour.

Have fun.

Have a great trip. It sounds awesome as usual.
I loved the hop on hop off bus in Barcelona.

Why tagged Sweden, was that so I would pay attention?

Bob & Karen - Have a wonderful trip. We spent 3 weeks in Spain and regretted missing Barcelona. If you can, be sure to try to get there. Also, there is a small town called Ronda which is in the southern region. Very nice. We still laugh at our escapades there as we drove down an alley that narrowed and scraped the side door mirrors on the buildings! We Also thought it was worth going to Gibraltar for the day. Enjoy your trip. I will be following along.

Hi Bob & Karen,
Have a great trip. I know I have be remiss in writing a trip report. Here are a few clues. There is a market on the same street as the apartment. We got bread, meat etc there. In the basement there is a grocery store where we picked up good wine for CHEAP prices.
Around the corner a block down is a lunch place called Sant Joan which gets raves on Chowhound. It is very good but some warnings. The menu in the front room is in Spanish and the one in the back is in Catalan. We found the Catalan impossible to translate so we ate what the neighboring table did. Luckily they ordered a fabulous artichoke soup! Also are only open for lunch.
Have a great time.
Abby

Have a great trip over and I'll keep my fingers crossed for Morocco. It'll be fun to follow you around through this report.

Just tuning in now and following along for the duration...

Have a great trip!

The Sweden tagging was an error, but HE says "HE didn't do it!"

Thanks for all the good wished.

Bon voyage!

Marrakesh is not nearly as likely to be a center of political activity as would be Casa or Rabat.

If you see the lizard in Marrakesh with whom I shared a bathroom for 3 days some years ago, please wish him/her hello. And you also might do well to be more cautious that I was about where/what you eat.

Happy bargaining!

p.s.: And if you run into the guy who claims I owe him 25 dirham for having a taken a picture of his camel (from my hotel room!), please give him the same answer that I did.

OMG those bazaar sellers in Marrakech are RELENTLESS do not make eye contact LOL. We bargained at bit too hard and the guy just walked off!!!! ( a tactic to employee going forward!!!!)

advices taken...

Bob and Karen...Have a great trip! We will follow your trip report closely. I am especially interested to hear about your time in Spain....enjoy Italy! We loved Rome! Our next trip is a Russian River Cruise in early July. Enjoy!!!

Marrakesh will be easy compared to the gypsies in Rome. Have fun you two!

Aloha!

Have a great trip! Looking forward to reading about it. If you make it to Marrakech, make sure you have dinner at Dar Marjana. It is a great restaurant in a restored mansion with incredible and endless food, wonderful and friendly staff, a belly dancer, and a beautiful ambience. You should probably send an email in advance once you know you are going to make it to Morocco to reserve a table since it is a small place. darmarjanaMarrakech.com

Hola, buenas dias!

The whole trip sounds fantastic and I especially look forward to the final four night flourish in Rome

checking in to follow the trip.

good luck!

Monday, March 1 thru Tuesday


An easy day catching up on things at home. About 3 we headed for Logan airport in our one day Thrifty car rental (mid-size or bigger wild choice--$39.). Easy return of the car and then a van to American. Quick check-in and about 4 people ahead of us at security.

We wanted a decent dinner so we settled on Todd English’s place in Terminal B, inside of security. I rate it as a 5, Karen thought it was ok, maybe a 7. We had tons of time to relax and eat. I commented on how quiet the airport is, such a change from 5-8 years ago.

Our 7:10 flight loaded up quickly…. Why wouldn’t it, there were on 60 of us on a 767. I had a row of two seats to myself and Karen took a middle row of 3 seats. PERFECT!!
We pushed back early and were airborne quickly for the 6 hour, 17 minute flight to Heathrow. Karen took sleeping pills and was gone before we left the USA. I listened to my music for the entire flight dozing and maybe even sleeping an hour or two.

I thought the seats were tight. Any tighter and you would not be able to sit down. In flight entertainment was on tiny screens in the overhead every 5 or so rows—impossible to see.

The food was trash… Wine and beers were $6 and $7. Karen was asleep, but I took a tray and gave back 95% of it…

Overall the flight was ok and quick. Smooth sailing until we reached the irish coast and then there was some mild turbulence. We arrived right on time after circling a few times.

We walked the usual 17 miles within terminal 3 at heathrow and waited about 2 ½ hours for our BA Barcelona flight gate to open. It turned out to be a bus gate. Plane was ¾ full but we ended up with an empty seat between us.

A nice fresh breakfast sandwich was served on the 1 ¾ hour flight to Barcelona. The newish airport is fantastic. About a 3 mile walk to immigration here which was swift. No forms.

We took a taxi into town (28.5E).

We have a 2 bedroom apartment in a lovely old building at the corner of Diagonal and Velencia (366 Valencia)… This is a Fodors find from Abby M on cape cod. The bathroom and kitchen (full with washer and dryer too) are new. The enclosed sun room is also new---former balcony. There is a double bed and a set of twin beds, a nice living room with a desk and sofa bed, and the sun porch with a nice dining table for 4 or 6. Windows open on two sides of the sun porch. Almost all ceilings have old plaster decorations. Some of the floors are wood and others are old decorative tiles.

Price for our short 3 night stay: $347 euros inclusive. Credit cards accepted. English spoken. Negre BCN Apartments (http://negre.us/apartments/) or nandonegre@gmail.com … The building is called the Valencia Street Classic Apartments.

It is not fancy, but perfect for a few days or a week. The neighborhood is lovely with shops, markets and tons of restaurant. The owner is very helpful with suggestions and directions.

We are very pleased.

We arrived about 1:30 before the afternoon siesta starts about 2… Most everything is closed then. Marcela showed us around and spent quite a while telling about things around the city.

We were hungry so went to a local place where K had some typical Catalan dishes and I had a salad.

While only ½ block from our apartment we were “attacked” just like we had been two years ago in Buenos Aires. This time we were both sprayed with some sort of bird poo mix (fodors made me change the wording). All up and down our backs. A man in his twenties offered to help, but I waved him off, remembering the similar situation in B/A. We wiped some of it off and continued to the local market to pick up some supplies: breakfast and maybe some dinner as we are beat.

I have put a wash in now…

We are going to hang around the apartment for the rest of the day. We bought some salad makings and a prepared fresh pan of canolonni for a simple dinner, if we make it that far.

During our walk, we noted many beautiful old building, many with decorative facades and grill work.

I was enjoying this til we got to the bird poo.

are you saying that you were deliberately sprayed? yuk. luckily we have never run into anything like this, and i understand why you refused the "help" you were offered.

I hope the trip starts to look up.

,i>While only ½ block from our apartment we were “attacked” just like we had been two years ago in Buenos Aires. This time we were both sprayed with some sort of bird poo mix.

Karen...mea culpa for the bird poo incident. I specifically asked my cousin Carlos to spray the old guy, not the woman. He's never been much for following directions.

OMG the crazies certainly know where to find you!! Glad you were able to wave it off, hope it didn't ruin your day.
Looking forward to hearing more!

Wow,welcome to Spain. You must have a bull's eye painted on your back. Glad you have such a pleasant demeanor, I would have lost it(as usual). Hope the rest of your trip is better.

Aloha!

I am so sorry you had this problem. My sisters, niece and I stayed at the apartment for a week with no problems. I hope this doesn't turn you off on Barcelona which is a fabulous city.

Good that you have a washer and dryer! What an annoying and lousy thing to happen.

Don't know how long you'll be in Barcelona, but try Cal Pep in the Bari Gothic if you can. Fabulous and fresh sea food, about a dozen stools at a counter where you sit, four tables in the back that take months to reserve. Also try Pinochko at the Boqueria for wonderful food and cava . . .

Sagrada Familia is wonderful, especially at night. Forget seeing the interior. Not worth the pain and agony.

Have a wonderful trip!

What a great start, except for the bird or birdman who dropped a message on you!

Holy poo! Sorry to hear about the spray thing and let's hope that the rest of your trip will be full of fun.

Sounds like an adventure in the making! That's horrible about the bird poo mix that was sprayed on the both of you. Yucky. I'm very happy that you have a washer and dryer in the apartment.

Looking forward to reading more. . .

Sounds like an adventure in the making! That's horrible about the bird poo mix that was sprayed on the both of you. Yucky. I'm very happy that you have a washer and dryer in the apartment.

Looking forward to reading more. . .

I'm just picturing the job of collecting and concocting that spray.

at least this stuff washed off... the stuff in BA was part oil and ruined my clothes...

it did make me feel a bit uneasy about this city... today i looked over my shoulder a lot.

anyways...... Wednesday

our in house supper was perfect last night as we were tired..

We were in bed by 10:45. i got up first about 8:30.. K always beats me by an hour... it was raining so after some toast, butter and rasberry jam i went back to bed until 11:15.

We were out the door at noon on our way to the Gaudi church named Sagrada Familia, which has been over 100 years thus far in construction and it continues..

Seniors admission is 10.5 E, more for tower (closed) and recording.

The place is fantastic. On our way there we stopped for a "daily menu" (8E) at Cocina Asiatica Keko on Valencia. 4 course asian meal.

Karen had two fried spring rolls, a plate of cruncy fried rice, chicken and mushrooms and coconut ice cream. I had a delicious fresh mushroom and chicken soup, a plate of fried rice, shrimp, mushrooms and veggies in brown sauce, plus the coconut ice cream. simple but delicious.

After 2 hours at the church we walked slowly back to the apartment. It was damp and drizzily.

We decided to put the hop on hop off bus off till tomorrow when we will do both loops around the city. We plan to visit the huge market on les rambles and have lunch there.

We visited a couple of small food shops today and plan to return there to pick up something for another eat in dinner... For some reason the food is not singing to us here. Seafood is not exciting to us and we rarely select it on our trips as we are so used to fresh fish and seafoods at home in NE...


expect an even earlier night tonight.

Tapas!!! Try a Tapas' bar on La Ramblas. Lots of great finger foods to pick from......just watch out especially at night for the picks and bird poo people.....mostly on the lower part of Las Ramblas closer to the piers but we saw them operating near our hotel at the top of La Ramblas too.

Aloha!

Go to a tapas bar as hawaiiantraveler says but not on La Ramblas. There are lots of reports here with suggestions.

K had tappas yesterday for lunch..

I have failed to mention how clean Barcelona is.... we noticed this even on our drive into the city yesterday. All around where we are staying is so clean also...

About 5 we went out again as the shops will have reopened. We went to a huge green grocer. We bought one apple, one tomato, one lemon, and a small onion--cost .57E--WOW.

We returned to the speciality meat/cheese grocery shop a few blocks away. I bought a piece of Monchego cheese (19+ E/kilo), and we got dinner: a fresh zucchini fratata, a regulangular flat bread with cheese and prochutto (sp), garlic/oil salad dressing, an eggplant caserole with cheese and tomato and maybe another thing or two. 17E.

Next we went to a bread shop and bought more bread for toast and some pastry---5E.

It continues to be damp and cold... We have the heat on in the apartment. BTW, we continue to be very satisfied with this apartment---thanks again abby...

Following with great excitement, your TRs are always vivid, hope you didn't get any of the spray in your hair!

sorry about the weather, oddly here in the UK, where it's supposed to rain all the time it's fine and dry!

hope it perks up soon. in the meantime, you may enjoy the area between the musee Picasso and the santa maria del mar church. lots of lovely little tapas bars, shops, cafes, and the church itself is very fine.

Bob, we always enjoy going to the various delis and basement markets to buy cheese, breads, meats, salads, wine, etc. and taking it back to our room to enjoy in peace and quiet.

I hope the rain has all disappeared for our arrival in ZRH and heading to FRA in just two weeks!

Carol

Topping for enjoyment larder, as you move along through your timeshare experience. Can't wait.

Glad you like the apartment. We found it to be very comfortable and convenient.

More bird poo? At this point we should just have the Guardia follow you around and arrest the scoundrels.

Have fun, and try and find a paella, or two.

sweeden just crept in there... i did not list a tag

its sunny this AM finally... big day to see the over all city via a hop on hop off bus...

yes some poo in the hair to.... from head to toe each... i could hear the noise as it escaped his squeeze bottle or what ever....JERK!!

As you know, I am also in Barcelona this week. My experiences are very different than yours, as I think the food here is out of this world. The seafood here is nothing like that in New England, but you may know that already.

I do think that you need to realize that the Ramblas is but a tiny part of what this city is about. I certainly would give the bars and restaurants in or near the Ramblas a very wide berth.


Try to visit the Gracia area, for example; there are at least two markets in that charming district. There are covered markets in almost every neighborhood, with counters for meals and snacks. Up and coming areas for eating include Sant Antoni and Poble Sec.

Although we had some great food in Boqueria (loved Quim, both his food and his personality; ran into a group of chefs including some very famous names, at Pinoxto) you should realize that this is but one of the city's great food markets.

..and I meant to say: Have fun!!! And stay safe!!!

B and K...sounds like a great start, except for the poo incident...for which I begged foregiveness on behalf of Cousin Carlos. Passeig Gracia, mentioned by EK above, is a street not to miss...the Gaudi buildings are striking and certainly you should visit the one that's open to the public (maybe two). I think I mentioned those in my itinerary for you.
By the way, Maroc still looks quiet enough for you to visit. Hope you do. Exotique awaits!

EK..your reference to Quim...I refered B and K to "Juan"..the bouncy guy with the bow tie who manages (or owns) Pinoxto. Maybe I had the name wrong...we found him to be a delightful, happy person who quickly shows you his 15 minutes of fame by whipping out a magazine with his pic in it. Same one?..have a great time in Barcelona..world class all the way. Hi to "J"
Also, if there is an L.A. Times at a News Stand, check out the Travel Section this Sunday...I jhave a pic of the week.
stu

We had a fantastic day... i am having some mobility problems on this trip and this is why we have choosen to do things as we have.

After a yummy breakfast of toast, jam and pastry, we headed out just after 9. We walked up to the la famila which is the closest stop for the hop on bus... it was sunny but brisk. After a 5 min. wait a bus arrived... we paid our 23 E each for the one day pass and settled on seating on the upper open deck. BTW, cash only on the bus--credit card use is possible but you have to go to one of their limited kiosks (there is one at familia). There are 2 lines in winter, 3 in summer. We started with the blue line. Each line takes about 2 hours depending on traffic... The provided ear buds work fine and the information is clearly read by an English man. Many languages available.

The roof is the only place you can see properly from--inside is too restrictive.

We spent the next 2 hours winding around the city, hitting many different parts. The city is a group of cummunities within a city really. Each is unique... You could spend years getting to know Barcelona. Nothing we saw was run down. All looked well tended to and being used. Some older buildings are being replaced. The city had major facelifts before the 1992 olympics.

We saw hundreds of magnificent buildings...some very modern and many more traditional.

I came away from the day with a whole new appreciation for B...

At one point we got off the bus at La Rambla, the pedestrian street leading up from the port area. Some have described it as seedy, but we found it vivbrant today, with a nice mix of natives and tourists. For sure it is a rip off area, but every city has them. We primarily went there to visit the market. It was interesting but not nearly as big as i had envisioned.

Along the way we bought 2 sandwiches and some H2O and sat along la rambla and ate them in the sun... quick and just what we wanted. rip-off of course.. We had planned to eat in the mkt, but just did not want to wait or have that much to eat.

At the harbor end of la rambla, under the Columbus statue, we changed to the blue line. It took us around the water's edge areas and up the hills into the olympic areas. The views up there of the city were great.

Did i say we were cold........... At one point we went down into the enclosed bus, but the viewing was so poor that we quickly returned to the top again...

The whole waterfront area has undergone a total make-over since 1990. It is now considered very upscale and desirable. I still like the older areas and those further from the water more.

We changed buses again and returned to la familia by about 5.

We walked back to our apartment, stopping to buy pastry for breakfast at a tiny neighborhood spot.

K made tea and we ate a fruit pastry each. This should hold us till we plan to head out about 8 for a typical "meat" dinner at a place escrunchy has suggested for us--right on our street.

I need to hit the ATM as well... btw no service charge at atm's here.

Our flight tomorrow to Malaga is about 1:30 PM, so we will have a relaxed morning.

As I type this the bell from St Joan's church is ringing pleasantly 6.

"While only ½ block from our apartment we were “attacked” just like we had been two years ago in Buenos Aires. This time we were both sprayed with some sort of bird poo mix (fodors made me change the wording). All up and down our backs. A man in his twenties offered to help, but I waved him off, remembering the similar situation in B/A. We wiped some of it off and continued to the local market to pick up some supplies: breakfast and maybe some dinner as we are beat."

I can't believe this happened to you too! The last time we were in Barcelona, we stopped at a tobacco shop to buy some stamps in a side street off Las Ramblas. (We were staying at Citadine's.) Suddenly something like barf splashed on my head from above and spilled onto my clothes and a bit onto MP's clothes. We started back to the hotel at once when I young man suggested we step into a nearby apartment to clean up. I nixed that idea and we headed right back to Citadine's where we stripped off all our clothes, showered, rinsed out the barf clothes, then took them in a plastic bag to the front desk to be laundered. We now call the city "Barfalona"!

We had excellent food in Barcelona. As my sister said it was our kind of city with artichokes on every menu! Yum.

indiana... in retrospect, the man wanted us to go with him...a robbery for sure...

he would have gotten almost nothing from us. wallet left in safe with passports and less than 100 E on me and only one credit card.... our landlord had warned us to be very careful...

don't think we would return to B for this very reason--way tooooo many places in the world to visit without these issues.

later i will write about our dinner last night.

off to malaga area shortly.

We love B. and would always return, but we were warned before our first trip to Espana that unemployment is quite high, consequently a lot of petty thefts, suitcases snatched,, cameras. Cops do nothing, so travelers have to use their wits. I never expected to be barfed on from a balcony overhead!

Hey Bob and Karen, great to visit with you here rather than the Asia Board. I'm currently pining for Thailand as back here in Chicago it is so dreary and cold.

As usual I'm enjoying your report and, like others am sorry about the poo attack. Something like that would for sure spoil my enjoyment of the area as I'd be forever on the alert of something else similar or worse happening to me. One of the most important things of any vacation for me is feeling relaxed and to a great extent safe.
Though I'm not a regular on the Europe Board, we do visit Europe most years and I'm just today booking a 13 day trip "home" to the UK for early September, a few days in London, and some more in the Cotswolds visiting with family. Just hate the taxes that are added to each ticket now, it really does eliminate really cheap airfares. We are paying an extra $400 just for taxes on our coach Chicago/Heathrow tickets.
Looking forward to the rest of your report and, of course a rundown of your dining escapades.
Sue

"Barfalona".... I love it! (but it's still a shame that such events happen there) But, B and K, I have to agree that there are so many other places to visit and not have to deal with such idiotic behavior on the part of the locals, who are trying to rip you off!!!! Puts a black eye on this lovely city.

Sue, hoping for an early spring just 3 hours 'downstate' from you. Looking forward to BKK in April for 2 weeks! Europe in about 2 weeks from now, but only 10 days... just about all of it 'business' so very little time for pleasure this time.

Carol

We've had several wonderful visits to "Barfalona," so I encourage others to visit. It's a lovely city with fabulous, food, architecture, design. And we only were barfed on once!

Dogster speaks of people in India dumping "poo" on his shoes, but he still goes back to India every change he gets. Stuff like that can happen anywhere.

Another vote for Dar Marjana in Marrakech! Lovely, lovely restaurant and well worth the trouble to find it! We loved it.

Hi Stu! I just noticed your question above.

There are several eateries inside the Boqueria market, with Pinotxo being one and Quim being the other. Pinotxo is simply the most famous, but I am not sure that his food is any better than that at any of the other places. Each of the ones I have tried offers excellent renditions of the classes Spanish bar items, supplemented by Catalan specialties. Here, as elsewhere, it think it is important to solicit the help of the staff to find what is best on that particular day.


The owners of both of these bar/restaurants are delightful men, with the bow-tied Juanito Bayen (Pinotxo), whose bar is at the right just after you enter the market from the Ramblas entry portal, being the most famous. When we were there, a contingent of famous-name Basque chefs were paying their respects to him. I was happy to see that he is still in fine form, despite his advancing years. (I cannot say the same for Pep, at Cal Pep, unfortunately, but that is another story..)

We also spent quite a lot of time with Quim, at his stand towards the left center of the market. A delightful person, he gave us a recipe for his terrific artichokes cooked in the oven.

Getting back to one of the themes of the discussion: While I am very truly sorry for the victims of these unfortunate incidents, I think it would be a great shame to cross Barcelona off your map on the basis of a couple of petty, but very annoying, incidents. I should also mention that I just returned from a week in the city and did not experience anything untoward.

Anyway, waiting for the next installment--hope that the trip progresses seamlessly from now on...the more one can blend in with the locals, if at all possible, the less chance that the bad elements will descend!

I second the kudos for Pinotxo and Cal Pep. We eat there every time we're in B. We always just wait our turn to sit at the bar, although I've been told there are four tables in the back of Cal Pap, but they must be reserved weeks in advance.

finally have found free wi-fi at the library...

the poo is what it is and we have moved past that...

ESK-- i am surprised to see you talk of the rambla market and its restaurants.. i took it that the area was far toooo de classe??


Friday night

Restaurants open between 8 and 9 generally. So at 8:15 we headed up the block to El Caliu de L’Eixample, 329 Valencia. Escrunchy had suggested this to us as being in our neighborhood based on info from a friend. We had reviewed it on the internet before we left home and it seemed like a good try based on its being in our neighborhood and its menu. The restaurant was even closer than we had thought. We were the first to arrive and only one staff person was there at 8:15PM..

We selected what seemed like the premier choice of menus. It was a T-bone steak (1 lb) for two accompanied by a choice of 2 roasted artichokes or a large salad for a starter, plus limited veggies for you to cook with your steak.

The presentation was a single burner gas grill and a hot stone slab with the meat sizzling on it (cook to your own desired wellness) and the veggies surrounding it ( a few coins of zucchini, 3 small pieces of corn on the cob, 4-- ½ tomatoes, a few mushroom pieces. 4 choices for a simple dessert…. 44. E (total incl drinks 64E).

Back to the apartment after dinner and pack up a bit.


Saturday March 5


This is move on day. We had a 1:20 flt to Malaga on Spanair (discounter---well organized—careful looking at hand luggage, but we crept through). Easy 1.1 hour flt. In comfortable leather seated airbus (3X3). Check-in and advance seat selection 36 hours in advance on-line. 69E for the two of us.


Lovely new airport at Malaga, much bigger than we had anticipated. I’m guessing the EEC is largely responsible for both this airport and for the fantastic one in Barcelona. Both are spotless with smart marble like flooring (black areas, red areas, grey areas). These put all USA airports to shame for sure---think Bangkok plus.

Through Car Trawler I had reserved a Ford focus sized car for a week with Record Go. We waited a long time in line. We did most of the paperwork and then hit a snag having to due with refueling. I took a “Kimball” as the gpandas describe it, and walked away from this rental in a full blown rage, moving on next door to National, where we rented a nicer car for more $$ but with no hastle and no scare tactics about damage, flat tires, insurance, broken windshields.

The first car was brand new…. Problem—something was hanging down from the bottom and there was a huge puddle of oil on the floor. Quickly we changed to an even better car and we were on our way…. Citreon C-4. First use of our new GPS with European maps. It worked perfectly and in a short while we were winding down the local roads into Benal Madena Costa and the ocean front where the thus unseen timeshare we own is located.

Check-in was quick and we were escorted to our unit on the 4th floor with a nice view of the ocean front from our large balcony. Property name: Royal Oasis Club at Benal Beach. The club dates back to the 80’s, but our unit has been updated and is very nice. It sleeps 6. The kitchen is well equipped and there is a dishwasher and a small washer, plus stove/oven, microwave, toaster and apartment sized fridge/freezer. Perfect.

After settling in we rode round the town a bit to acquaint ourselves. We went to the supermarket and purchased supplies for the week. We saw an Indian restaurant which we thought we might return to for dinner (you have heard of dumbed down, well this started dumb to begin with—no taste). I don’t know what I hit here changing the format.???


Sunday March 6, 2011

Good nite’s sleep and a lazy morning. W are invited to a sangria reception at 11:30 which we hope is not a timeshare presentation. We have bought some sandwich makings for lunch after that, and will then go for a drive along the coast. We have done 3 loads of wash this AM which catches us up to date with that as well.

Today was to have been sunny, but it is grey instead and about 60+.

After the useless session of non-info we returned to the apartment and ate lunch (ham, salami and cheese sandwiches on delicious fresh bread.

The day got more sunny so we decided to drive down the coast to Marbella. For much of the drive the wild ocean (huge waves because it is very windy) was immediately to our left. We took a combo of local roads and and a 4 lane highway.. We went through many small towns until we reached Marbella in perhaps an hour and ½. Marbella is decidedly more upscale. It has mostly mid-rise apartment blocks right to the sea, many of which are gated. We wound our way around the narrow streets and got a feel for the place. We did see a number of large private villas spotted here and there, and a few boat marinas, but failed to see the marina where the huge yachts are kept. Most everything was closed as it is Sunday. K noted some very nice shops.

We stopped at a local bakery/bar which was open and purchased a pastry for our evening’s dessert.

On the way home we took the highway all the way to the Benalmadena Costa exit. There are two exits and we took the one we had not used coming from the other direction. Almost immediately after leaving the highway we came upon a new huge white and gold stupa built into the hillside overlooking the town and ocean below. Attached to it is a small wat----a bit of Thailand in Spain. Needless to say it is very dramatic.

I should explain that like other areas along the Med, this area has a corniche where the highway runs along, high above the ocean front, and that between it and the ocean, towns are built into the steep hillsides. Thus from the time you leave the highway it can take 10-15 minutes driving to reach sea level. Throughout these areas there are some private housing, but more there are huge complexes of residential buildings. Many are painted lovely shades of ochre, yellow, beige, and of course bright white, often accented with other colors. Some have Moorish accents and designs, and some are just simply what I would describe as Med styling. The density works well, but is not our style.

We returned “home” and found a good parking space (most are tight and awkward, within our complex. I don’t think I have described our complex. It is older (1980’s), cream in color and consists of three huge (10 story) step like buildings in a “U” shape separated from the ocean by a local road. The steps create a unique look to the place and all have balconies of differing sizes and irregular shapes—ours is sort of a wave shape and very long and varies in width. In one direction we look directly at the ocean, in the opposite direction we can see the hills and mountain peaks but mostly we look out at other parts of the buildings. Many of the balconies have stripped cream and dark brown awings. Many of the larger apartments appear to be permanent residents based on the stuff we can see on balconies. We are on the 4th floor. The complex is best described as in transition. The internal corridors are bleak and a bit dark and huge. The lobby has fountains and a water fall, lite with white and colored lights. Again a bit of the 1980’s attempt of glamour. In the U of the garden are a series of connecting decorative pools, maybe 15 in number, each with a fountain in it. This area needs lots of work and tree reforestation. At the rear of the complex is a series of swimming pools (the largest in Europe??) with two waterslides. These overlook the huge municipal park with a bird pond built into the hillside.

Our apartment is however bright and updated and comfortable. The complex as a whole is in better shape, and certainly better located, than we had anticipated.

Sorry to be so long winded about this.

Karen made a simple baked chicken, veggie and left over Indian rice dinner which we enjoyed with some sparkling dry white wine.

We had borrowed two DVD’s from the complex library and watched one after dinner. As dinners are taken so late here—always after 8PM and more often after 9-- we have decided that dinner will mostly be eaten in the apartment.

Early to bed again—10:45.



Monday March 8, 2011



Up late again and had a simple cereal breakfast. Our goal for the day was a trip to Ronda which is located in the mountains about 48 kilometers north and up from Marbella.

The drive is an easy one if you do not mind mountain roads. The roadbed and grading are perfect for easy driving The vistas are varied and often dramatic with huge drops feet from the side of the road. The rocks vary in color from white to a steely color. There are huge roundish pine trees growing out of the rocks in some areas. Between M and Ronda there is practically no habitation and strangely very few animals---some goats in some places. We did see a couple of small waterfalls. A lot of the area is very arid.


Ronda is a medium sized town built into a cliff and on a plateau. It is a very old town with the oldest purpose built bull ring in Spain, dating to the 18th C.

We parked in a small garage under the main square (hard to find—follow the signs). The elevator takes you right into the small colorful square with it restaurants, bars and shops.

It was lunch time so we wandered down one of the narrow alleys off of the square and selected the Hnos. Macias on Pedro Romero, 3 for our meal. This is a charming place containing a beautifully decorated dining room. We selected the house menu: salad plate, cheese and dried ham plate, blood pudding plate, egg and potato plate---all of which was a starter…. We both selected a pork dish for our main course (me a pork steak and K had pork cutlets) which were accompanied by a cooked veggie garnish and white pots. We both chose home-made Flan for our dessert (custard with burnt sugar). 20 E each. English is very limited here, so K’s Spanish served us well.


After lunch we walked around the town a bit, soaking up some of its history. We went to the bull ring, but did not go in. Walked into the cliff side park and K walked to a further vantage point to view the ancient stone bridge, which we would later drive across. I decided that I had figured out a different vantage point for the bridge from across the deep valley. So we retrieved the car and wended our way through the older part of town and found a sign eventually sending us down a pot-holed dirt road to a vantage point high above the valley opposite from the town where my telephoto lens allowed for a decent picture.


Ask K about my au natural stomach problem which I experienced while down this deserted, thank goodness, road. TMI!!


We headed back across the mountains again to Marabella where we found the A-7 highway back to Benal Madena Costa. We made a stop at the Carrefour grocery store at the top of town for some supplies, including two pizzas for dinner. Pizza and salad were perfect after such a big lunch.

We also stopped at the stupa but it was closed on Mondays, as was another site, a sort of castle in a gothic theme celebrating maritime adventures…. We will check them out later in the week.

Another movie and another long night’s sleep.




Tuesday March 8, 2011


The goal today is to find free Wi-fi which we understand we can find at the library and at McDonalds just up the road. We need to reconnect with the world (we do have BBC on the tv) and transmit this to Fodors. We also need to figure out is we will go to Morocco on Saturday as well. I think we are fine with that.

We want to also visit the upper town between us and the highway and perhaps have lunch there. We came across it yesterday. It is newer but quaint in its own way.

Bob: Would you mind sharing your impressions of the restaurant that my local friend recommended? From your lack of comment, I think that it did not appeal, but I would like to know for certain. (since you did not want to eat seafood or fish, I had asked him for a meat-centered restaurant near your apartment that was moderate in price.) I will not take offense, as I've not been there and have no connection to the place but would like to pass on your comments!

In response to your comment that I think the Ramblas are "too de classee," (I am taking a leap here and assuming that you mean seedy) you need to separate the Ramblas from La Boqueria, which is among the most celebrated markets in Spain.

The scene inside the market is a world apart from the street outside. There are several spots inside La Boqueria that offer good food at prices that have become quite high due to the tourist influx. I believe I pointed out above that there are markets in every district of the city, and each of these have market bars serving food and drinks but without the tourist crowds that can often be found at the eateries in the Boqueria. Within a ten minute or so walk of the Boqueria, one can find the incredible Santa Caterina market in Born, and the Sant Antoni market., which is now housed in temporary space in Sant Antoni.

While I do not spend time on the Ramblas, and in fact, usually detour to avoid walking there, the market (the actual name is Mercat de Sant Josep) is fabulous, and for those interested in local food, and willing to either eat early or wait for a seat, I would recommend both Quim and Pinotxo with a caveat that prices have risen in recent years. I certainly would recommend either of these, or another market bar/restaurant, to a visitor interested in sampling local food.

Hope you continue to enjoy....perhaps you might even try some local seafood while you are on the coast. I can assure you that New England has nothing like it! If you have to stick to meat, you should certainly sample jamon Iberico. You will find this on offer at restaruatns and tapas bars, but it will be more economical to buy a few slices at a local market; ask for "jamon Iberico de bellota." You need only a few slices and vendors will be happy to sell you even one slice. Eat it plain, or on bread if you must, but without condiment or cheese.

Have fun!

Help me, Ronda.

Rizz, that was his mantra amongst the rocks on that deserted road outside of Ronda. Help me Ronda help me get it out of my.......

Aloha!

If you want to eat a sit-down meal without waiting until midnight, try the "menu del dia." Many restaurants serve them - a prix fixe sort of deal - appetizer, entree, postre, and a carafe of wine for one price. Go back to your apt. for a siesta, then do tapas in the evening. If you want to eat at a really highly rated restaurant, then go at about 8:00 p.m. and beg them to let you in. My husband calls this "the hour of the Americans." The Spaniards think we're nuts. And they might be right!

That's tooo funny!!! Though I can imagine that when taken short like that on a rocky road, it's not a laughing matter at the time.
Glad to see those Asia Board types are chiming in with the usual remarks. I expect the car rental people are still making comments about the American Kimball outburst! and I suppose your Ronda visit counts as your second poo attack this trip!!!
Sue

Eks....recipe pls!! I still dream of Quim artichokes! Particularly the sliced deep fried ones!

ElizabethS: Your blog was a big help to me when planning the meals so thank you again! The fried artichokes are fried twice: Once before they are set out in the morning and then again once the order is placed. He also gave me his recipe for the roasted artichokes in the oven which is simplicity itself. I will put it in the short report that I will begin in a few days, once things settle down here....

BTW:
You, and other food enthusiasts here (I am not talking about the OP, whose penchant for eating Indian food in Spain, and his refusal to sample local seafood, disqualifies him from this category..sorry Bob, but facts are facts! ) need to think about Valencia. Would you believe me if I told you that Valencia's Central Market rivals the fabulousness of the Boqueria but on a MUCh larger scale??

You will, at some point, order a gazpacho somewhere, I hope. Likewise, a nice plate of gambas al ajillo. If not, pls send me a tkt and I will fly over and do the ordering.

We want more info on the car rental fiasco. I once had a similar experience in the Caribe and, after the blow up the agent said, "you can walk away but we are still charging you for the car." Suffice it to say that never happened.

If you continue to drive west you will hit Marbella, Puerto Banus, etc. A bit more of the same but some pretty spots along the coast and without traffic it is a nice day trip. Particularly in the off season. Diviertanse. Have fun.

Good day everyone, My wife is heading to Morrocco in 2 weeks with a group called the Hardy Plant society, any concerns? Also we are heading top Barcelona end of May for her 50th birthday any recomendations food wise, etc. I love doing the local stops to enjoy local food, I'm there so I'd love to eat like the locals. Any info you all may have for either Barcellona in May or my wife being in Morocco in 2 weeks. Thanks John

John: I will be happy to offer you suggestions for eating in Barcelona (I returned a few days ago) but you should ask this again in a new thread that you begin yourself. I promise to overwhelm you with ideas!

We want to also visit the upper town between us and the highway and perhaps have lunch there. We came across it yesterday. It is newer but quaint in its own way.

So after finding that the library is open from 9-9, we headed to the upper town or pueblo. This is a far nicer area than down by the sea. It is quaint, all white washed buildings, with tons of character and narrow walkways and streets. Many houses are decorated with a profusion of green and flowering plants. There are lots of nice quality restaurants and a few shops. This is a place we were to learn later that had a large ex-pat population a few years ago but as the economy has changed those people have returned home, mostly to the UK, and the Spanish have repurchased these lovely properties.

Parking is a bit scarce, but there are a few parking lots. We found a rare spot near the top of the village just where we wanted to be. We walked around for a while and finally settled on a small café with both inside and outside seating. It was grey still but we sat outside. There is a lovely fountain in this small square of a girl dancer with a small water spout to add to the charm of the square. The waitress was a charming scot who told us lots about the village. The standard lunch was a 3 plate tapas with bread and either a small glass of beer, wine or soft drink for 7.5 E. K has tiny clams cooked in a wine cream sauce, pots with a spicy red sauce and Indian curry chicken. I had grilled chicken with a curry flavor on a stick with a spoonful of rice, warm whole pitted dates wrapped in a small piece of Spanish ham and sautéed warm mushrooms in an oil chili sauce. Each was accompanied by 3 slices of a baguette

For dessert (extra) we both selected a round whipped cheesecake with a thick graham cracker type crust. Mine was pear and walnut and K’s was apricot. These were amongst the best desserts we have had in a long time. By whipping the cheeses they were light rather than heavy. Restaurant name: la Caixa.

The waitress shared a few good restaurants with us for future meals… One, the Pearl (La Perla) we will try this evening---it is her favorite. She also told us that there is not a decent restaurant down near the sea…

After lunch we walked around a bit more, visited a recently reopened training school hotel. I don’t have the name here but will add in a day or two. The interiors of the hotel are lovely with white pillars. The dining room luncheon (31E) looks elegant and the room is beautiful. We walked on a bit more, checked out the pearl (dinner only) and drove down to the sea a totally different way passing fields, private homes, sites for big complexes which never made it and constant sightings of the ocean. Name of hotel is La Fonda..

We arrived back at the apartment just in time for cocktails and cheese and peanuts. K prepared a shrimp pasta meal (sauce from a bottle) which she served with bread and salad. For dessert we had readi-made flan (not very good).

We watched another DVD after dinner.



Wednesday March 9, 2011



K made scrambled eggs and toast with jam for breakfast… It hit the spot… BTW, I do all the clean-up. I did a load of wash.

It was raining and has remained so all day. We hung out, watched tv—american game shows, judge judy (boy is she tough) and finally question hour or what ever it is called when the British PM is questioned by MP’s… No teleprompters here!!!

The maid came and cleaned a bit (every other day at this complex).




We had left over pizza and sandwiches for lunch. Later we headed back to the library for some internet. K has a new kindle and is loving reading a book on it while I do internet.

I was unable to connect to the internet. I spent an hour trying to “fix” it but alas it is very ill.

We made a stop at the local grocery shop and returned home to drink a bottle of lovely sparkling rose.

At 7:15 we headed back up to the pueblo to La Perla for dinner. We were the first to arrive. The restaurant is lovely… the menu diverse and the staff friendly.
We were given an house hors d’. K chose fingers of cod which came stacked with interesting plating. I chose pork medallions with a mushroom/pate/truffle sauce. A small amount of creamed whipped pots and a large flat mushroom were on my plate as well. Both were supplemented with fresh large juliennes of beans, carrots, broccoli and asparagus.

For dessert I chose the “child’s cake”, a chocolate molten cake with a huge square of bitter chocolate and some ice cream, plus raspberry and apricot reduction decoration. 15 min. prep required. K had a nougat and ice cream dish with interesting and attractive plating 52.50 E. 2 bottles of water—no wine.

This was the best meal we have had thus far. I rate the restaurant 4.5*.

The winding rain soaked road drive back to sea level was no fun for the driver, but made worthwhile based on such a delicious dinner.

Tomorrow we hope to go higher into the hills to visit another small town.


A few general comments. We find this area to be aging less than gracefully. Unlike, Barcelona there is a fair amount of trash around on some streets.

Everyplace we have visited in Spain thus far has tons of graffiti. Even lux neighborhoods are not exempt. Such a shame, especially in lovely cities like B….

Another turnoff for me is the unfriendliness of the people on the street. People will look you in the eye and not smile or acknowledge you. Often they look away. We find that with the English here too. Some will exchange an “ola” with you but many will not. K feels it is a left over from Franco times. They also never make way or give way on sidewalks. They will often stand there and not move for you—very odd. They make the French seem hospitable.

Please remember these are simply OUR observations. People that you meet however could not be nicer.


The unthinkable---we had lunch at burger king today… It is raining yet again… we road up in the hills to check out the small town Mijas. We never got out of the car.. we will return tomorrow if it is not raining…. Must be beautiful views from up there but fog kept us from seeing..


GPANDA update… K had a discouraging e mail from beth today dated Tuesday… Andy had his normal scan and it showed substantial regrowth of the tumor.

She says his cognitive skills have deteriorated significantly and that “he is not himself”… We are distressed to hear this..

Enjoying your reporting and loving the food reviews Bob, sounds like you two are having a wonderful time.

So sorry to hear about Andy, lets pray for the best.

Aloha!

I am enjoying this report although it makes me very hungry. Even scrambled eggs and toast with jam sounds good (especially if someone else cleans up). Enjoy.

Thinking of Andy...

Sounds as though you've found some good food near your timeshare. My mouth watered. Hope the rain stops soon.

Over the last 10-12 years we have visited the same areas (Barcellona, Marbella, Ronda) twice in the Springtime and once in the Fall. Like you, we too had rain almost every day and I don't remember being in the sun at all. I can imagine that the sights would have been so much nicer if the weather had been good.
Am so distressed by the news from Beth. Sending love and prayers to Beth and Andy.
Sue

Karen had in her notes (fro TA) the name of a local restaurant so in the afternoon we tried to find it.... We almost gave up and then voila there it was behind a large wall with only a small sign on the street. The name is: Ventanillos de le Perra, 115, Constational Ave, Benal Maderna. It opens at 8PM for dinner so we went back about 8:15. They also serve lunch. It is located in a house with an enclosed tented seating area in the front and 3-5 tables plus a bar inside. We sat inside and were the only patrons for most of our meal. Our initial waiter was an afgan, a really charming young guy with good english. He was later joined by the Spanish owner. One older woman appeared to be doing all the cooking.
The room had a large fireplace and beamed ceilings and tons of brick a brack decorations including a bulls head, many hanging spanish hams, converted lighting fixtures and some moorish lanters. It was sort of dark and quite honestly charming.

We had a delicious bottle of a local white wine (17E). We were served a simple house appetizer of fresh shrimp and herbs in a cocktail glass.

We chose chateaubriand for two (rare) for dinner. We chose fresh FF and asian wok fresh veggies as accompaniments. Well at least the beef was Spanish and the wine... The slab of beef was quite large and 2 inches thick and cooked perfectly for us---red, red, red. We were stuffed but saved room for dessert. I had another moulten chocolate cake, although I thought i was getting regular cake. K had a unique flan cake with coconut--light and perfectly tasting.

We were given a unique to the area sweet dessert wine to try. It reminded me of a fine port, but was lighter if that makes any sense. It is only available in the Malaga area.

The owner also encouraged us to try some alchol sprays. He sprayed karen's cake with a mist of sweet wine (from a perfume type spray bottle. He sprayed it into my mouth also to try. He also sprayed my mouth with the brandy spray. ODD.

This had been a lovely evening. Another couple (spanish) arrived about mid way through our meal. We appreared to be it.... Oh, yes there was also the african man who came in and sat at the bar near us. He had on a wildly colored shirt and bright yellow slacks. He was known to the staff. He had a coke and fried eggs with bread. For this he gave the owner a couple of CD's from his bag. I think he sells them on the street. He had perfect table manners and spoke to us when he left.

Give this place a try.


We watched another DVD until 12:30 after we got home.



Friday March 11, 2011


Our last full day and guess what?? Wind and rain again. We hung around and K packed up a bit. About noon we went out to do our airline check-in for tomorrow (9:20 flt to Morocco via Madrid on Iberia). The staff at the complex office suggested a trio of bars/restaurants owned by the same people in the upper village (honey valley). We decided to check it out. Bodegon Pajarete, Extremadura, 10. What a find.
The one we ate in was small with a bar and maybe 6 tables. We sat at the bar. Again ecclectic decor. There was a large table in the middle with 8-10 men who were mostly drinking what i thought was coke. I later discovered what it was: two large ice cubes and a slice of lemon... 1/2 a shot of gin+, 3/4 glass of homemade sweet vermouth and a 1/4 glass of seltzer water--quick stir. 8 oz glass i think.

We had white wine (K) and beer. We ordered a rich house chicken soup with a bit of spanish ham pieces and 1/2 an hard boiled egg in it, plus croutons. More drinks accompanied
some tapas: 2 small red peppers filled with mashed cod and served with a pink sauce. Then 6 small house made special croquettes, fried---purried chicken and ham filling. We decided to return to our first luncheon tapas place to have the cheese cakes again, but it was raining so hard we just went to the library to do internet. and now it's 5:30.

Time to go home for a simple supper of breakfast---eggs, toast, sliced meats, salad maybe and finish up anything else in the fridge.

i do not know what we will find in Marraketch for internet, so standby.

shall we go to the bakkery for some pastry??? ok, we will go..

hope all fodorites are ok in the pacific...

Ohhh, can't wait to here about your trip to Marrakech. I had good internet--at least in the lobbies it's good. Weather should be better for you and you can dry out. Love the trip report.

great free internet in our morocco apartment...

too tired to write tonight but will tomorrow... bob goofs---wait till you read this...

mix of sun and rain here this PM

Me too am anxious for more, we loved Morocco.......

Glad you arrived to "great free internet." Looking forward to the bob goofs story!

waiting........

Tell us how Bob Goofs....the suspense!!!

its coming below but we must keep things in order..

ok so we left the library and i had trouble starting the car... must be the rain... i finally got it going, but it was sputtering... got to thinking.. we had just added diesel fuel for the first time... YUP, you know it... it is a gasoline car... I was told that we had a diesel car, but remember we had to switch cars?? the new car was not diesel and i was never told.. i did have some trouble putting in the petrol, but the nozzle fit fine... i thought it was a pressure issue... dumb me..

long story short, the man on duty in our complex office took over and had a new car delivered to me within 2 hours... perfect. The old one left on a trailer.

When i returned the car the next day there was no discussion really... I will be watching for the bill... i suppose it could be a couple of thousand..

So we had our breakfast at dinner and went to bed early.

Up at 6:30 (another mistake--karen wanted a 5:30 alarm).. No problem, easy trip to airport--less than 30 min. easy car return.. Waited an hour or so for our 9:20 flt to Madrid... My back was really bothering me so i asked for a wheel chair.... fabulous... Flight right on time. Sun came out as we took off. BTW, all of the walking distances are very long in Spanish airports---worse than Heathrow in the old days--up to 45 min.

About 90 minutes in Madrid all of which you need... Decided i needed another chair which we had to wait for.. It put us finally in a van and we went under the airport in a tunnel for a very long distance, with 3 other folks... then another wheelchair and they were waiting for us at the gate for take off---bus gate. Flight not very full so plenty of room to spread out... Arrived in Marrakesh in light rain--should have known... walk on tarmac.

Immigration was a mad house as 3 flts arrived at the same time. Reminded us of our first arrival into Bali... Probably took 45 minutes.

Bags were waiting for us, but were wet.. no problem inside however.

A man with Karen's name was waiting for us in the lobby. Quick ride to our timeshare-- Residence Amina... Great location just a block from Le Meridien, but outside the Medina wall.

The entrance to the 6 floor building is lovely with plants and seating.. the lobby is really nice and the reception men could not be nicer. We are assigned to unit 314... That is where the glamour ends. The unit is small with one window, a decent, but old bathroom, a tiny kitchen and a large double bed with a 1960's comforter---reminds me of a college dorm where the kids had been jumping on the comforter for a semester.. K says buck it up. ok, dorothy, this ain't asia... Wi-fi is free and quick however. The shower is excellent, if you don't look around much.. K says the unit is very clean.

We walked around the corner for dinner. Two choices, we by-passed the place offering beer/wine and a belly dance show (staring rizutto) and went next door to a place which seemed almost full of moroccans. No booze. Karen ordered what they termed as mexican chicken, which was chicken kabobs with a spicy sauce, served over a green salad, FF and mixed fresh veggies, plus a piece of a large zucchini, partially scraped, with shredded carrot, mashed zucchini, onions and spices on top. I had a veggie pizza which was excellent. We each had a moroccan creme brule for dessert... excellent, under $20 with a large bottle of very cold water.

Hit the bed..



Sunday March 13, 2011


We ordered breakfast for 9 on the rooftop. Did not know that the time was 1 hr different from Spain so we were ready early. 35 MAD each, about $4.40 (8 MAD=$1.). 2 croissants each, a tray of delicious morrocan white bread, butter, jam and coffee/tea, plus fresh squeezed orange juice.

At 10, we had signed up for the free orientation tour. About 16 of us (from this bldg and from another timeshare) were driven on a simple tour outside the medina. It really was to whet your whistle for other tours during the week. The tour was weak and did not encourage us to book any tours later in the week. In fact no one signed up.

We had ordered a traditional lunch on the rooftop garden. A few others had done the same. We were first served a huge moroccan salad: chopped peeled tomatoes, onions, herbs/spices and oil---delicious and i don't like fresh tomatoes. Next two tarjines arrived--one had lamb, almonds, and prunes in an oil based broth---delicious....the other had veggies: pots, zucchini, olives, carrots, and peppers. Wine by the bottle was offered but refused... fresh water was just right in the sun under an arbor. For dessert were banannas and huge oranges, plus fresh local cookies. 130 MAD each. a very pleasant experience.

We sat with two ladies from San Antonio. They were charming and well travelled.

When we checked in, another couple from Canada arrived right after us. We exchanged greetings. They were on the bus and we became more friendly. We proposed to them putting together a tour of our own for tomorrow. more personal, no unwanted shopping stops, etc. The trip is into the Atlas Mts with a visit to a local Berber market which is only held on Mondays as well as other stops. We are going forward with that in our own van, providing there is no rain, but rain is now forcast. The front desk is arranging this for us (on the sly)... 250 MAD each for the day.

We plan to go to the main square with them tonight for dinner, if the rain holds off---it is already sprinkling... if not we will go some place else.

Another day we may go to the shore with the same couple.

so that's it, we up to date...

We did do skype with our youngest daughter, so we are in touch with home.

Be sure to pick up a bundle of sheep hooves at the Atlas Mountains market - it's so cute the way they tie them up.

looking fwd to the Atlas mountains, almost as much as you are!

ann, keep fingers crossed for no rain please

now why should you connect me with rain????

fingers, toes and wobbly bits duly crossed!

Looking forward to more, we really enjoyed our stay in the Atlas mountain area. We did a great trek with a Berber guide.
Fingers crossed no rain!

A man with Karen's name was waiting for us in the lobby.

How odd that a Moroccan man was named Karen!

The main square is where the action is in Marrakesh. Story tellers, snake charmers, and all sorts of activity.

Yes, the Madrid airport can have ridiculously long walks. The new Terminal 4S (or maybe it's just 4) is a straight shot that goes on forever.

Have you been offered any kif yet?

I'm guessing the Moroccan man was Karim.

karen has no kif offers

Well not only did it rain, but it hailed wildly, so we cancelled our joint dinner.

Instead K & I hired a cab who drove us into the medina and delivered us to a table in the Omar Riad restaurant (the driver escorted us right to the table). You climb 2 flights of stairs through the riad to terraces lined with tent like fabric. The place is pretty busy, mostly with foreigners. The 180 MAD set menu is a choice of 4 starters--we chose a veggie soup with chick peas and rice... then there are perhaps 10 main courses-- i had chicken breast with lemmon and K had chicken breast with almonds and prunes.... all meals seem to be served with a delicious warm round bread and olives. For dessert, we were served a plate of oranges and tangerines, which was followed by mint tea and cookies.
I am lukewarm on the place, but K liked it... food was not bad. You sit at low tables on couches or low chairs. I did not feel like i was in a tent, but rather in a damp, breezy balcony surrounded by decorative canvas. On a warm night, it probably would be very nice.

At the end of the meal we had a nice chat with the english couple sitting next to us. They live in windsor and were very pleasant.

We had an appointment to meet our driver at 9:30. It was raining and he was there as promised... Other drivers tried to head him off for our business.. The restaurant is at one end of a walking street.


We had met with the other couple in the afternoon about hiring a driver privately to drive us for the day on Monday.
Monday is the weekly Berber market in the Ourika Valley in the town of Tnine Ourika. Because we were going outside of the hotel approved agent for side trips we had to keep it secret---2 of the front desk staff arranged it for us... all day for 250 MAD each, including a roomy van.

So after breakfast we met the driver in front of the bank next door. He is charming and prefers to speak in French, which George handles for us with excellent translation---i get about each 5th word. He has decent English as well.
His name is: Aziz.... abdelazizaarab@hotmail.com
local calling: 0666309062
from overseas: 00212666309062

We would highly suggest him as a driver/guide.

George discussed with him exactly what we wanted to do and we were off.

The Atlas were seen easily during the drive, some snow covered.

In about 45 minutes we arrived at the very busy town of the market. It was muddy... the main road was paved, but crowded with trucks, people, donkeys, carts, motorbikes, etc.
we had to walk quite a way to the shops and markets, but it was worth it... Note, you see few women... the men run the market, they also do the family shopping and price haggling. Except for the meat area most things were on tarps on the ground or other make shift items. Products were divided by type: all grain here, all meat there, all veggies over there.

Everywhere there was mud and very uneven ground. It made moving about difficult. WE LOVED IT HOWEVER. It was colorful and lively. People from the local areas come here weekly for their shopping for the week.

From there we headed up into the foothills of the high atlas mountains to the town of Asgaour. By this time it was raining pretty hard. We traveled alonside a run-off river from the melting snow. It was quite dramatic.

We made stops along the way a couple of times for photos. One stop was to photo camels and across a small ravene a colorful kashba built into a hillside.

Aziz asked if we wanted to visit a berber house and family. We said sure. It happened that this is the village where he grew up. We stopped along the roadside and climbed up hill perhaps 50 or 75 meters, all unpaved and quite steep and a bit slippery to a decorative door. We entered and walked through a series of simple rooms, the walls all made from adobe and sort of a light mocka color. Some had old domestic decorations, some not. We arrived at the rustic kitchen where several ladies were cooking, including the grandmother of this clan to whom we were introduced. I took a lot of pics. We went out onto a balcony with a fab view of the valley and hills. We were led to a tea tasting area (chinese tea). We sat on low upholstered benches while one young (21 yo) woman of the house prepaed berber tea for us with mint. it was interesting to watch her with all her silver colored eqpt. She had a small portable charcoal heater for the water. We were served tea in traditional glass glasses. The pouring is dramatic with the pot being held high over the glass---this cools and aerates the tea.

After a nice visit we paid them a donation of 40 MAD and moved on. This is of course a business for them, but it did not feel that way to us.


Soon there were many crude suspension bridges spanning the river. They were made from steel wires with sticks or planks for the footing base. Each was 30 inches wide at most and they swayed. Some were to get to houses on the otherside, but most led to riverside restaurants. The river had huge stone boulders and in warm weather people swim there.
There were pottery and rug and trinket shops all along this area.

Finally we reached a lovely restaurant high above the river where we stopped for lunch. The decor was almost alpine, with the use of lots of wood trimmings. It was the best restaurant in the area Aziz told us.

The menu was 120 MAD and was set up in a similar way to the night before: we all had the thick veggie soup and Aziz suggested we have edam cheese in it....delicious, esp. on a cold wet day. There were 4 or 5 choices of entree. K & I had a mixed brouchetts: 2 chicken skewers grilled with a delicious rub and a medium rare hamby pad, plus FF and small salad... the others had a mini meat ball with a rich tomato sauce, served with 2 fried eggs on top, served in a tajine. For dessert, we all had a jellied flan which tasted nicely but was not tradtional. We loved the meal...

The others chose to have a small trek to a waterfall for perhaps an hour, we stayed behind.

We worked our way back to the residence. We made arrangements with Aziz to drive us on Thursday to Essaouira on the Atlantic for the day.

We have still not been to the main parts of the Medina, but will start that tomorrow hopefully. On Wednesday, we will attend a cooking school.

There was just a bright rainbow seen from our window.

Tonight we plan to stick locally again for dinner.

...so we canceled our joint dinner.

See, I told you, I knew that kif would be involved.

i just wanted to see if you were paying attention..

Still following along - I bet I don't need to tell you to keep it coming...

So many places, so little time

Bob, there is also a cute medina in Essaoura ( which I am sure you are aware off) also good for a stroll. Be prepared, when we went to Essaouira it was VERY windy!!!!

Really enjoying your report. Do you find the mint tea really sweet?? It made my gums feel itchy when I drank it, waaaaay to much sugar for me!

Love to K.

yes the tea is sweet... they use a lot of sugar in everything...

yesterday they also added sage and some other herb named something like absennia (sp). each gave the tea a different taste. we liked them all.

it is raining again this AM. the cooking class has been moved to today.

I continue to have mobility problems which is making walking more and more difficult. I did take a flexirill last night so we will see if i do better today.

Last night we went to another local restaurant bar... This was more upscale, very 20 something in feel. Lovely music and serene decor.

K had a pasta carbonara and i had another pizza with tons of chicken and mushrooms. she finally had a glass of wine.. 330 MAD.

Raining all the time? It looked like the desert to me, and was about 120F at midday.

Also wondering what the story is w/food. I'm reading a lot about pizza and pasta. This thread has not seen the words 'couscous' nor 'tagine' until now.

Are you sure that you're in Marrakesh and not EPCOT?

Love the report. I'm sorry that mobility issues are hampering walking around.

TR

Thanks for taking us along on your latest adventure. Is it your back or your foot that is hampering walking? Sure hope the medication will offer relief as something that curtails mobility can really overshadow your enjoyment of new venues.

So sorry about the weather, and, really bad news about the diesel in the reg gas tank. ugh, that was bad news.

Hoping for a sunny day and relief from your discomfort and, lots of good food discoveries.

Great report! I hope you're feeling better.

Bob and Karen...now that you're thinking about Essaouira which I had highly recommended, be sure to see that Orson Welles monument with the colorful ocher/red/pink city wall behind it..makes for good photo op.

Additionally, pop for lunch at Chez Sam at the harbor. I don't now if you plan to stay ovenight, but we found the Villa Maroc to be excellent lodgings. It's only a few steps to the harbor and the ocean views from it's top floor terrace are quite beautiful.

Smeagal mentions the wind. Perhaps an anomaly, for we experienced nothing more than gentle ocean breezes. The old silver shops in and near the little medina are interesting. The silversmiths were all part of the fairly big local Jewish population (Essaouira had 15,000 before most took flight to Israel in the 50's)..there still is a sizeable burial ground right at the edge of town. We went to pay our respects and met a woman there who claimed to be "the last living Jew in Essaouira"...she hugged us and was quite visibly emotional about our being there.

I hate to admit it but Rizzuto is absolutely right about the couscous and the tagines. Forget the pizzas...ya think you're in the No'th End.

Sure hope your leg pain subsides...fast. Pace yourself and get your feet up on a chair whenever you can. Might help.
Anything further on Andy? Let us know.

stu

I do feel that I must chime in here and say that you are doing yourselves a big disservice by subsisting on pizza (with chicken, no less). You will certainly miss out if you do not sample mechoui. My last trip to the country was about 15 years ago and I still hunger for that lamb!



http://www-mechoui-royal-com.prestataires.abcsalles.com/files/prestataires/images/photo/3438_mechoui-peugeot01.jpg

And the Lamb Tagine so delicious But Bob it's your hols, so eat what you like

Yes, absolutely, eat what you like!

But we will then let you know what you should have done.

we have had several tangines and they are ok, but not fab... we each made our own at cooking school today and ate it for our dinner.

karen does not eat lamb--religious reasons...

it is my back which is the trouble and walking has been a problem, but todasy it was much better...

walking plus rain do not make for an easy eating vacation. we still have high hopes for more adventures.. On this trip food seems to be taking a rear seat..

That's a shame Bob but am sure you will find some tasty food along the way. Best food we had was at Kasbah Tamadot but then the prices they charge I should expect so!!!

You need to stop off at ours , I'll get D to make something nice!

Sorry to hear your back is playing up, hope it gets better soon.

Tuesday March 15, 2011


WHAT A FABULOUS DAY!!

We had a quick breakfast in our room and about 9:30 headed into the medina to meet our cooking school group in front of the cafe de paris. While waiting we had a coffee and an hot chocolate.

Karen spoke to two women and they were also waiting---soon a teacher arrived, but it was for another class. Our teacher was along quickly thereafter.

We were loaded into a couple of taxis--10 of us in all. Normally we would have walked to the market, but in the rain, we had taxis. We were driven for a few minutes and let off near a door to the "spice market". We spent more than 1/2 hour in this small shop learning, smelling and tasting various spices and combos and drinking some tea. K won the door prize of a small bag of mixed spices by id'ing the 25th spice added into moroccan gram marsala vs the 24 in indian gm--- fennel... a guess me thinks... After this very informative session, we were allowed to buy product if we wished. The shop owner was a hoot-- a cross of ruzutto and gpanda-- if only both were arabs...

After this, we walked to the main market. First we stopped at the chicken area--- yup, 2 undeserving chickens were choosen live from one vendor... at another stall, they were beheaded in front of us, they were each put in small metal cans (#10 sized) and left for a few minutes to stop the shaking... then they were put in hot water to loosen the feathers.... then they were beaten by rubber paddles mounted on an electric lathe type rotating machine which de-feathered them. then they were washed again... A few pieces and skin were trimmed (feet, guts, etc) and viola, there is the chicken you purchase at your local market. They were then cut into the normal chicken pieces and wrapped. a young man accompanied us and collected all the parcels as we moved from site to site.

From there we moved on to produce. each one of us was given an item and quantity to select... K did onions, i did young tomatoes...

From there we moved on to olives. We had a short lecture from our hostess on the different types and their uses and some other related items.

From there it was on to the filo maker... this was very interesting and the finished product is sold for 15 MAD per kilo (2.2 lbs). it was a very interesting process--each layer is made and cooked seperately--dough is flour and water only. layers are kept seperate buy painting them lightly with oil...

From there we went to the fish mongers. we purchased monk and swordfish (different from american).

That concluded the shopping. We got back into taxis and were driven outside the medina perhaps 5-8 miles to a berber settlement, off the main road. The adobe buildings were all one story, many of them hitched together. It was very 3rd world. The dirt roads were narrow and muddy with some huge puddles. It was pretty bleak. Many women were totally covered. We stopped outside a door in a long wall. We were greeted by the two helpers at this home. We entered a lovely area. A huge courtyard with a couple of large healthy olive trees, some still with flowers, some orange trees with flowers and various other trees. We were tken to a small room to leave our jackets, umbrellas etc. I had bought a 50 MAD umbrella outside cafe de paris.

We then moved on to a dining sort of room. We were seated around a large table and offered a simple brunch of bread, olives, a very liquid peanut sauce (yum) and warm berber mint tea. During this time the sun came out. Usually the school would have been held outside in the courtyard.

Then the work began. we were each given a plastic chopping board and a large knife. We were instructed how to peel and/or chop/slice a number of items: onions, garlic, tomatoes, pots, carrots, turnip, squash, and a few other items. Each was placed in its own dish.

Next came the meats/fish. The chicken was cut crosswise, and the lamb (don't know where it came from), and the fish were each placed in small tanjines that we each had been given... those of us that had chicken were given livers to chop and add. Each of us had previously choosen the protein we wanted to eat... Chicken for me, and Monk fish for K...

Now we added some of the chopped items to the appropriate protein: garlic, tomatoes, onions. Then we added 1/2 teaspoon of each of the following: tumerick, cumin, corriander, paprica, black pepper, curry, and one or two others depending on your protein. Then chopped cilantro was added, and some had chili paste if they wanted it and also some had some tomatoe paste. Then 1 tablespoon of oil was added, then saffron water... Then hand fulls of sesame seeds and almonds were added on top.

Earlier you massaged the spices into your protein.

Each tarjine (ceramic bottom plate and a cone shapped lid) was taken outside and put on its own charcoal grill. Each was bellowed a couple of times and cooked for 45 or so minutes.

While those were cooking we started a new process. Each was given a round piece of filo which we painted with butter. At the same time the potato was mashed by hand in two large bowls. Many spices were added to it (lots of the same from above). Small hand fulls of this mash were rolled into small sausage like rolls and placed side by side on the filo. The filos were cut in 1/2 with scissors. They were then rolled up like egg rolls.

Now three small gas cookers were put on the table. Each had a small frying pan with oil in it for frying. First slices of eggplant were fried, then the same of zucchini were fried. They were set aside. Each of us took turns cooking.

Then the pot rolls were fried golden brown.

Now the eggplant and zucchini were made into a babaganoush type accompaniment.

The same was done with chopped peppers after having been sauteed.

Voila, it was now about 4PM and time to eat. The staff set the table and each tanjine was put before you and the various other items placed in the middle of the table. Warm bread and water were brought in and we feasted for perhaps the next hour.

A simple dessert of cut strawberries and sliced banannas was served in an orange juice, lemon flower oil and cinnimon mixture.

Details: price 500 MAD each. Name of school: LES ATELIERS COOKING SCHOOL. contact: Tel: 0021267964704 or nezha.cook@yahoo.fr or nezha.cook@yahoo.com

We were driven back to town by taxis... we were dropped off opposite our apartment on the main road.

THIS WAS AN EXCEPTIONAL DAY.

Stayed in our room for the rest of the evening, mostly listening to BBC about Japan.


Tomorrow we plan to hit the souks in the afternoon after a quiet morning here. And maybe finally we will get to eat at stall 1 in the square.

Cooking school sounds fabulous -- hope the rain has stopped. If it's any consolation, it's raining in Indiana . . .

excellent report & day, tho maybe TMI re: the chickens

Hmm, a shop owner, a cross between rizzuto and GPanda.
That is something!!

Your trip sounds like a blast.

Great report. We expect that for the remainder of your trip you will be lugging some tagines home with you.

Also, in Essourrira pls take some photos of you and K wind surfing.

leaving now in the rain for the souks

I hope he comes back from the souk with one of them Moroccan robes and backless shoes.

And if he gets one of those brimless red hats with a tassel on top, after a few weeks Karen can sing "I've Grown Accustomed to His Fez."

And, just for the record, rhk's post on 15-March included the following four attempts to spell the word tagine:

tangines
tanjines
tarjine
tanjine

you'd have thought the law of averages would kick in...

Oh. Maybe it's "tangerine"?

Remember that Lewis and Clark spelled "mosquito" 25 different ways in their journal and they managed to get back home safely.

i didn't know that, indianapearl.

Indiana..wonder how they did spelling Sacajawea?

Like Lewis in San Diego sitting on a bus bench wanting to go to La Jolla....let three busses go by...Clark showed up and asked if he had seen the La Jolla (La Hoya)bus.."Nope, but three went by going to La Jolla."

Thank you so much for the trip report. I will be traveling to Madrid and Marrakesh with my sister in April, so reading your report about Morocco is great information for us!

Still following along and enjoying it. Glad you had a great day at cooking class. Good information on the difference in curries!

tower: Sort of like those American folks on the Italian train who got really mad because they missed their destination. They were going to Florence, they said, not Firenze.

rizzuto: It's in Stephen Ambrose's book, "Undaunted Courage."

As i have said so many times i am constantly attempting to keep you all on your spelling toes...

Stayed in the room till noon today. Used the building's driver to the main square--Jemaa el Fna. 50 MAD.

We walked the walking street where Omar Riad is located. We stopped along the way at one of the other riads. We had hambys. The beef is quite good here. It rained while we were eating. The sun came out when we finished.

We walked across the main square... saw the water seller in his multi-colored hat. saw monkeys and snake charmers.

Entered the main souk, directly opposite from the cafe de france. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of shops in these covered alleys as well as a warren of smaller alleys off the main traffic routes.

The main items we saw were: leather items of every sort, pottery, jewerly, fabrics, clothing, wood items, fine wooden inlay and plain wood boxes, more shoes than you know who, foods, spices, cosmetics, metal goods, did i mention spices, rugs and carpets of every size and color, etc. We walked the full length of the main alley. Shop owners speak to you, entice you. We often did not answer them. We visited a few shops. Karen bought a black local designer jacket/shawl. One young boy attached himself to us for a while but i finally got rid of him... later a shop owner took us to the wool dying area and then to a cosmetic shop where he asked me for money--i told him no... eventually we ended up in the old slave market (sales ended in 1912). Today it is called the place de epices (spices). We had drinks and fresh almond cookies there and watched the local goings on. directly opposite from us sat a completely covered woman who called out to passers by wanting to sell them hats and henna art done on their bodies. Lots of baskets were for sale, candy, nuts, spices and tons of other things.

By the time we returned to the main square the sun was going down and the food stalls were fully operational. Unlike earlier the square was very crowded. We found stall #1 which many consider to be amongst the best of the stalls.

we decided we would eat there as K had it as her preferred place. Tons of choices: cous cous, tannjjines (spelling #45), fish, sea food, meats (lamb, chicken, and beef), veggies. I had veggie soup (5 MAD), beef skewers and chicken skewers, both grilled.... K had a cous cous with chicken and veggies (30 MAD).. that all with a lg bottle of water was 115 MAD or about $25.

We had bought a box of fresh cookies in the souk and had some of them for dessert in the room.

Bought some croissants for breakfast and i negioated a taxi back to the apartment for 30 MAD---they asked 50. 30 is nornmal at night.

Tomorrow we will use the same driver again for the day and a trip to the sea side at Essaouira, which is 110 miles west from M.

This was a fun but tiring day.

a cross of ruzutto and gpanda-- if only both were arabs...

Rizzuto is descended from people who were originally from more or less the Middle East. Gpanda is, to use an ancient expression "as rich as an Arab" living near a lake of oil.

After reading about the chickens killed for your cooking class, I have resolved to a vegetarian way of life, and am grateful you don't know how the lams) were/was procured for your class.

Loving the report Bob, you are bringing back great memories of our trip to Marrakech.

Cooking school sounds like fun - made me hungry anyway...

Thursday


We met our driver at 8. The drive to Essaouira is 110 miles on a decent 2/4 lane paved road...

We moved through some suburbs of M and through one of the large commercial areas before breaking free into the countryside. We drove past blocks of new apartment/condo blocks, mostly unfinished. Some stretched as far as you could see. Most were not occupied.

We left all things green behind and rode mile after mile of arid, very rocky terraine with sparce settlements and a few small towns. Goats and sheep were seen frequenly in small herds along the road with their shepards. This area seemed very poor, many of the adobe bldgs without electricity and probably water.

Eventually, things began to turn green as we approached the sea. E is a large town with a lovely beach area, albeit brown water near to shore. A few nice hotels were on the outskirts. We stopped to make a res for lunch at a beachside restaurant.

We continued into town.... Ah, I forgot about 1/2 way we stopped at a roadside shop where we had a demo of the uses of the argane nut (think almond family). Used to eat if roasted, used for oils and cosmetics if un roasted. Hard outer shell is cracked by hand using a rock... Nut is then ground. An oil, a paste and other forms are created. It's oil is tasty, clearer and lighter than olive oils... It's paste is a delicious taste like peanut butter... another form is used for cosmetics. This was also a w/c stop. Of course there was a shop for their quality but expensive products.

After stopping to make a lunch res, we continued into the middle of town where we visited the woodworking area. One main showroom was our destination--Achhibat; 8, rue Ichbilia.
They work in a number of different types of wood, but Thuya wood is a favorite. We had seen a large planting of these trees outside of town. We bought a few small items, but could have bought the whole shop.
Next door, I went into a workshop about 10X5 and spoke with and watched the old workman working with wood. I bought a box from him for a really reasonable price--100 MAD.

From there we headed back to Fanatic Restaurant for a fish lunch. K had sole, 3 whole fish, FF and rice, plus veggies--- I had seafood soup and nicoise salad.

From there we headed to the port area and the medina areas.
K&I walked into the medina and the marvelous souks. We actually enjoyed the shops and many galleries much more than those in M....

At 3PM we left E for our long drive back to M.... We each paid the driver 300 MAD for this long day-- 8 to 5. Again we loved having the private van for the 4 of us.

We had dinner locally again---K had the mexican chicken again and I had a calzone with chicken, mushrooms and artichokes.

Tired and more BBC to catch up...

Hi Bob and Karen-I am just reading your trip report for the first time as as I just returned from Vietnam on Tuesday night. I know it is difficult to travel with a bad back as Jim's was bothering him for part of our trip. Sounds like you had a run of bad weather. We've been to all of the places you visited, in better weather than you had, and enjoyed them very much. I haved 2 questions-Are you going to open a Morroccan restaurant when you get back to Boston? Will the Boston GTG feature Moroccan rather than Asian food?
Hope the weather gets better as you continue your journey. I'll be following along.

Sounds like perhaps this was one of the better days, glad to hear things sound progressively more "fun"----day-long cooking class and this day of excursion and exploration sounded nice. Hope the weather stays clear for you.

I certainly hope you bought some of that argan oil. Superb is an understatement to describe how great it is in salad dressings!

I just finished a bottle I had bought in Paris and am longing for more.

Too bad it sells for more than $55 in the US!


http://www.chefswarehouse.com/Argan-Oil-500-ml/M/B0029AHFZC.htm

ekscrunchy, how do you bring back a bottle of oil? You can't carry it on.

Eks do you know how long that oil keeps? I just remembered I was given a bottle when we went in may last year and haven't used it yet!!

nick--just let muffin use it on himself and it will be gone in no time..

if properly wrapped it could be put in the middle of a suitcase.

the weather was beautiful yesterday and looks good today, but cool.

unsure of today's program... buy some spices for gifts and maybe further walking around.

There is argan oil for cooking and there is argan oil for "beauty" purposes.

I bought mine at LeBlanc in Paris and kept it in the frig for a couple of years. (This is not how long you are "supposed to keep it, but I used it sparingly; just a teaspoon gave a great flavor to viniagrettes.) The flavor diminished but it did not spoil. You should refrigerate. I brought it home in my check-on luggage. Now sometimes I do carry-on only, but if I had the chance to buy that argan oil at the source, I would check my bags just so I could get it home. It is quite outstanding. If you ever get to Paris, be sure to get to LeBlanc:

http://www.huile-leblanc.com/boutique.php?lang=gb

shellyk: yes, Bob is going to open a Moroccan restaurant when he returns to Boston. The restaurant's specialties will be pizza, tacos, and pastafazool.

And he'll supplement his income from the restaurant by being an oil importer/broker.

BC

And this classic will be one of the menu staples; maybe he will even sample it before he leaves, in between the chicken-topped pizzas and calzone.



http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/quick-recipes/2009/05/moroccan_chicken_with_green_olives_and_lemon

<<As i have said so many times i am constantly attempting to keep you all on your spelling toes...>>

Well, then:

tajine
cinnamon
argan
turmeric
garam masala
tomatoes
coriander
paprika....

Argan oil keeps well in the fridge for months. You can actually find it now in local Mediterranean stores here in the USA for not much more than you pay for good olive oil (I just bought some more at the Mediterranean Bakery & Café in Alexandria, VA, for about $10 for maybe a half-liter). Did you see the goats that climb up into the argan trees and pick off the nuts and drop them to the ground? That was a bit of a highlight of my last trip to Morocco - goats way up in the top branches of the trees.

The Moroccan Oil beauty products that have recently proliferated in the USA are mainly argan oil. It's great stuff, kind of the shea butter of northern Africa.

There is no filo in Morocco, actually. It's a different dough, called ouarka. It's thinner than filo (if you can believe it) and insanely hard to work with. Perhaps the cooking school substituted filo for ourka because of that, but an authentic Moroccan dish like pastilla would be made with ouarka.

You had "hambys?" In Morocco? I'm stunned. I can't imagine how you are even finding these things to eat - Mexican chicken salad? Calzones? Hambys? (Rachel Ray hits Marrakech). I've been to Morocco a few times and can't ever remember seeing anything like that. There's such great food in abundance everywhere you look - it's one of the world's great cuisines, IMO. Please try to be a bit more adventurous before you have to leave.

And if you're shopping for spices, don't overlook saffron - it costs a fraction of the price there, and is really good quality (except for the teensy little packets they try to fob off on you that come 100 to a sheet of paper and are really pale and "chopped up."). If you're at all into cooking, snap up some great saffron while you can. And tubes of harissa - yum!

Glad you got to Essaouira and hope the weather holds.

St. Cirq: I am so glad you could find argan oil at a great price here in the US. The online sources of the pure oil for eating are very pricey, as I noted above...

I will have a look in a Mediterranean of Middle Eastern store myself...thank you for that tip.

re: Moroccan Chicken with Meyer Lemon. Meyer lemons are available now, at least in the wilds of darkest Indiana.

I have the Argan oil for cooking, I will give it a try on my salad this weekend. I was a gift and I know it was from a good quality place, hope it's not spoiled.
Keep the updates coming Bob.

IP: OOOHHH, please make the chicken and report back!

And, Smeagol, let's hear how the argan oil tasted! Since we will not read about it from the OP!

here they spell argane with an "e"...

sorry but we are finding the food very limited and a bit boring. A tanjine now and again is good but as a regular meal day after day it is BORING. IMO

We have not sought out the elite restaurants where perhaps for a price things are more interesting... Hamby's are on many lunch menus.

Today we did a spice and oil run back to the shop the cooking teacher took us to. We also bought one gram of morrocan saffron as a gift. The large bottle of argane oil we bought was $20. A much much smaller bottle for facial use was $8+.

I think the teacher called it filo dough for our ease of understanding, but it was made in the souk and i feel is the same as what you mention above.



Friday March 18, 2011


Stayed in the room again till about noon.

Took a drive to the rear entrance of the souks. Our goal was the herboristerie we had visited earlier to purchase spices, herbs and some oils. We spent quite a while picking things out, having some ground, etc. The owner then took us to his favorite local restaurant, Cafe Terrasse El Badia, 4, rue Touareg Bab Meliah. We sat on the 3rd floor terrace overlooking at least 15 stork nests on the medina wall, all with birds in them. It also overlooks a small square which was very busy, especially when the call to prayer came form several different local mosques.

We each had the set tanjine menu for lemon chicken, veggie soup, rice and fruit for dessert (thin slices of orange with cinnamon)... 80 MAD each. It was the best tangine we have had thus far.

After lunch we headed into the old jewish quarter. This was by far the most colorful and authentic area we had visited thus far. None of the tourist junk that lines the main souks these days was in evidence.

Eventually we ended up at the Bahia Palace. Entrance 10 MAD. This shell of a building has fabulous tile floors, beautiful carved and painted doors, lovely courtyards and perhaps the most fantastic ceilings i have ever seen. Some parts are closed for restoration and they really need it.

After the palace, we continued along several souks. We entered one small "antique" shop and K looked at silver bracelets. The older man was quite a character and he decided to dress K up with a colorful wooven head scarf, a silver head necklace and a fabulous necklace with colored beads and a huge stone encrusted chest pendant. She looked quite fab actually. After intense bargaining, we bought 3 bracelets.

We walked on and at about 5 we entered the main square, where things were well underway for the evening.

We climbed 2 flights of stairs up to a large balcony overlooking the square at one of the cafes and had a drink there. We sat there for over an hour, changing tables a few times until we finally had a table at the railing. It was less exciting than i had remembered from our first visit 20+ years ago. It seems to be a must at least once.
We could see the colorful water men, the monkeys and their handlers, a noisy percussion band, tons of locals and even more tourists, even a few being led by guides holding paddles with numbers on them. We watched as the food stalls finished their set up. We watched people eating tons of escargout, as those stands were very close to us.

Eventually we had had enough so we headed back to vendor #1 (also TA #1 rated K tells me.) for dinner. K started with 2 small cod and when that was not enough she ordered chicken skewers. We sharred 2 orders of eggplant and two orders of fries and a large water. I had a chicken and a lamb order of skewers. They were just as delicious as our earlier visit. 180 MAD.

Tired we walked along the walking street, where we stopped at a bakery and bought some pastry to take home for dessert and some croissants for our early breakfast.

Tomorrow we fly at 9:20 to Pisa, Italy on Ryan Air non-stop. I have a rental car there and we will drive into Tuscany, south of Florence, where we will spend the next week.

eks---why are you being mean to me?

Bob I am not trying to be mean and if I offended you, I am really sorry, It is just frustrating that you are in Morocco and have not tried any of the celebrated dishes including mechoui and Bisteeya, etc etc.

But I do I realize that these things matter to me, but not to you, and I also realize that I put much more emphasis on food in general, and on eating the local food of a particular destination in particular, than most people, so I promise to get off your case and stay off it from now on.

As long as you have fun and stay well, I give you my personal permission to gorge on the hambys and the other stuff...even in Italy. Just do not expect to see chicken on the pizza there, although if there is a restaurant in italy serving such stuff, my money is on you to find it! (Just kidding with that last bit!!)

Have a safe trip to Italy tomorrow! We look forward to reading more..

<<Hamby's are on many lunch menus.>>

I confess in all the time I've spent in Morocco, I never saw one on any menu, anywhere.

Makes sense, though, given how much horse and camel meat they need to dispose of and how good they are at using spices to mask flavor.

Don't think you'll find any in Italy, though you'll certainly have plenty of pizza and pasta to choose from. Enjoy!

I loved reading about the market tour and cooking class.

Eks, that chicken recipe is one of my regular dishes as well with a few twists -- a little tumeric in place of one of the tsps of paprika, raisins and water (in addition to Meyer lemons and good green olives), and a sprinkling of mixed chopped cilantro and flat-leaf parsley added just before serving. One of those dishes that tastes even better the next day.

Looking forward to the Italian chapter.

Great report, keep us in the know. Hope the Ryan Air goes well. Isn't that the airline that tried to insitute paying to use the loo on board?

eks: I've made it in the past with preserved lemons that I made myself. Also used a stewing hen as they have more flavor.

I've made it in the past with preserved lemons

I'm not really sure if you're talking about ingredients or about colleagues who helped with the kitchen work.

rizzuto: Both!! But preserved with what??

Haven't commented for a while, but I'm enjoying your report Bob!

bob: Will you go to Orvieto while you're in Umbria? We enjoyed it a lot, lovely little cathedral, tours of the "tuff" under the city, and, of course, the little wines of Orvieto.

eks--- thanks... but honestly we did not see much choice on any menu other than tajines, couccous and pistaillas (sp). we found the menus very limited... we would have liked to try other things but they were not offered. we ate in both local and tourist restaurants.

Hi Bob,

followed your report on and off (sorry, lack of time) and am enjoying it. Hope your Italy portion of the trip makes up for the unpleasant experiences so far.

Best to Karen! My parents say hi to you both and wish you a good rest of the trip.

Ingo

hi ingo... is the snow gone?


i should have said that some of the menus also had fish and seafood, but strictly grilled. i have some pics of menus.

i hope the report is not too negetive.... we are having fun but i think it has been the accomodations that have not made it as pleasant--and that is my fault. i think we will rethink timeshare in the future... we certainly are spoiled by all our asia interfaces and experiences...


back to yesterday---saturday

wake up at 6... quick croissants.. car to airport at 7---10 minute ride... easy check in at ryan air... karen overweight by one kilo---free. me over by 2 kilos---635 MAD= $80.---more than the price of a one way ticket to pisa... no problem, its still cheap, slightly over $200. all in for the 2 of us.

Quick through immigration, only to learn on the other side that the flight is delayed 2.5 hours. later it is reduced to 2 hours and then the pilot made up almost an hour.

Turn around of the aircraft is amazing, like 30 minutes. the last person was coming off---walk onto the tarmac and we were allowed out and up very narrow stairs onto the 737-800.
We had priority boarding so if you walked fast, you had your choice of seats. we were in 2 A&C with no one in between.

Quick take off and we flew north and over southern spain and france. not sure if that was because of lybia?? Ryan air staff spends the whole 3 hour flt selling stuff.

Pisa is a small airport and again it is a tarmac deplane. Quick through security and luggage was 10 min, because they had to unload a bunch of surfboards first. Hertz rental car (through ryan air at a big savings)---shuttle bus ~ every 15 min. to rental car offices. Our GPS was loaded and we were on our way. Highway almost all the way. GPS failed us after we turned off highway, but finally readjusted itself only to fail again and quickly readjusted. Granted where the failures took place there were very complicated road patterns.

We finally arrive at our timeshare and were we pleasantly surprised. Down a long dirt road next to a bubbling stream, we found one large, former factory building, and a newer building. Upon entering our rooms (in factory on ground floor) we have a vaulted ceiling of brick with cream walls and a lovely old woodne kitchen table in the combo kitchen and living room. There is a large oriental type carpet under the table on the tile floor... Bingo!! The bedroom with a king bed (finally) is large. The bath has a very small shower which i am about to squeeze, and i mean squeeze, into. The bathroom window looks directly out onto a very noisy waterfall. We leave the window open for the lovely sound. They changed our 3rd floor room to a ground floor after i requested it (too many stairs).

30 minutes after arrival there was a brief welcome for all of us who had arrived---all americans (8 couples) and an elderly italian couple. Wine and those 'hors' were served. it was a nice mixer.

Dinner was served at 7 or any time after until 10. Three dinners during the week are set and this was one (rating 4): cuttle fish in a flavorful sauce, lentil and potato soup (bland but filling), suckling pig (ugh!--i did not like the taste) and a very few roasted pots. Creme caremel for dessert. water 2.5E or wine 22E. The other dinners offer some choice.
There is a mandatory 1/2 board here for the 7 days-- 294E each.

A great night's sleep...



Sunday March 20, 2011


We woke to sunshine and the roar of the water.
Breakfast was nice: cold meats, cheese, coffees, one juice, delicious croissants, jelly pie (unbelievable), quiche, hard boiled eggs, cereals and a few other items, including fruits. There is hope for the food.

Free wi-fi in our room. K is doing a load of wash (8E--for one wash and dry).

I spoke with my sister via skype. she lives in umbria and we will visit her starting on saturday.

one friend says we are not writing enough about sites, so i will try to write more.

We plan to drive around this PM and grab some lunch.

Of course it is your fault.

If you find a mexican chicken salad in northern Italy you will have indeed scouted out some very hard to find dish. But, you may forever be banned from food commentary.

Have fun. We would love a nice prosciutto if you are carrying back some trinkets. If you bring EK back a wheel of cheese we can all have a nice dinner. Though Ryan Air may charge you a fortune for that plate of salumi.

no one picked me up on my lybia/libya misspelling??

so far i have packed hamby's for stcliq, soap for eks, and both a spanish and an italian ham for you... not sure how ham and soap will be??


Spent the afternoon on a road trip. We did a huge circle starting from our village going up and over the many mini mountains, through many many small towns, past lots of folks out for a sunday afternoon walk, viewing cherry trees in bloom and one tulip tree, plus lots of budding trees and wildflowers.

The villages are so picturesque, colorful, quiet and charming.
Tuscany has to be one of the most unique landscapes in Europe.

Some would mind the constant corners and switchbacks, but i quite like it and it is made easy with a well powered auto (ford focus TD diesel) and power assist stearing (it pulls slightly preventing you from over steering). At one time we encountered small snow piles and the temp dropped below freezing at times. K did the navigating and she only got yelled at a couple of times.

Tonight we had a more pleasant dinner. We sat next to a nice couple from WA. Strangely, they were at a timeshare in spain at the same time that we were, in the same town...
The menu had choices tonight: we selected sliced swordfish cerviche, followed by a pasta with mushrooms and tiny shrimp (including the bodies); then we chose carpacchio of dried beef with cheese. The dessert was a lemon tart with burnt sugar sauce. I rate this dinner about 8.

<<no one picked me up on my lybia/libya misspelling??>>

Of course, but it seemed understandable, compared to accomodations, negetive, coucouss, stcliq, and pistaillas.

What is jelly pie?

it is a close cousin of hamby's.

it is a pie shell that is filled with a rasberry jelly/jam that has set, and then cut into small pie shaped pieces... it may have a bit of geletin in it? do not use ketchup on it however.

ttt

I'll take a hamby with cheese please. Gelatin,lol and is it ketchup or catsup?

Also love driving the Tuscany countryside, you are bringing back pleasant memories.....couldn't go far without stopping at a winery .
Which reminds me,bring some bottles of Orvieto home for me with your other larder.

Aloha!

Glad you've settled into a happy routine in Tuscany. Missing your daily updates.

we are really liking our digs and time in tuscany.. weather is cool but sunny. i will try to catch up tomorrow...

Tuscany sounds divine. Enjoy and eat and drink well.

Enjoying your trip report Bob - have fun

not proof read---sorry

Tuesday March 24, 2011


We invited another couple to join us for a day ride north to the town of Stia. We had been there a few years ago and I remember the most fab tomato soup they serve in the il Filetto Restaurant in the old square. Plus Karen and the other lady wanted to visit the Tessilnova Woolen Mill shop, also in Stia. So after a nice breakfast, off we went in our car.

BTW, IF ANY OF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AN EXCELLENT TIMESHARE EXCHANGE THIS PLACE IS ABOUT AS NICE AS IT GETS. ITS AN RCI EXCHANGE ONLY…. I understand that you can also rent here. Residence La Ferriera.

K did the routing and we headed hill over dale again… More fabulous vistas… more olive orchards… more grape vines in the early stages of recovering from winter…. More farms… lots of trimming of olive trees---severe trimming. The small towns are quite picturesque as in Chianti… a fair number of hair pin turns…

We stop at an old church now in decay. We walked around the area observing the vistas. The ruin itself is chained off. It is on a hill above Stia.

We wind our way around S until we find the sign into the historic square. The restaurant is just where I remembered it. We are perhaps early making getting a table inside easy. Jonelle orders a plate of ravioli, K, Jim and I order the tom. Soup ( it is very thick because bread is mixed into it as well as some meat… J’s rav. was the best she or us have ever had (spinach and ricotta with a drizzle of oil). Our soup arrived in a large pot and was really really good. For dessert I had pana cotta, k had custard catalano and they had biscotti with vin santo (2 types). 50 E. FABULOUS… no English. A mother/daughter team run the place. The daughter is a character.

The mill was closed till 3:30 so we took a drive out of time to wait. We came across a church (Santa Maria della Grazie) above Stia. We ventured up the narrow drive to find a place in rough condition, but being worked on by two workmen. We asked about going in and one of them went to get an old lady who took us in. Church dates to 15th C. Inside were a few remarkable della robbia wall decorations which later we learned are quite significant. We enjoyed the church insides thanks to the lights the old lady turned on.

By this time we returned to the mill. They have fabric and many cashmere and woolen readi-made items. J bought some fab wool. K had bought some a few years ago and had a coat and vest made in Thailand.

We passed a local market and J bought some cheese from a vendor there.

Next we headed to Poppi where we knew a fab oil and wine shop. J wanted some wine and he found it there.

K found a direct route back to LC---yea, over hill and dale, but nice countryside.

Dinner that night was: black cabbage croitini, ground yellow bean soup, roasted pork loin with roasted pots. For dessert we had a light nut and chocolate brownie type cake/tart served with a vanilla/ricotta sauce in a thin baked pastry cup…

Tired, we were off to bed.



Wednesday March 24, 2011


Very slow start. The usual breakfast. Decided we would visit Arezzo, about 30 minutes away. This is a lovely larger town, full of art and history. The cathedral is built on the top of a hill and the town is built along lanes and narrow streets radiating down from the church. We found a perfect parking place near the top of the hill. We visited the lovely church.just before it closed for siesta (this is such a pain--- I don’t know how people stand it.). We wandered around for a while, checked out a few shops, took tons of pics, before settling into a bar/restaurant for some lunch. Great choice. They had tons of freshly cooked foods on display. We each chose a combo plate (green ravioli with cheese and ricotta, grilled zucchini, red pepper and eggplant, plus a large spoon of a baked pasta/cheese dish….. simply fab… and they had a selection of fresh desserts.. I had ½ serving of fruit tart with nutella on top and ½ s of cake with rich custard filling… K had a pear tart. 21E. Borgo San Piero at 18 via Cesalpino.

Walked around some more and then returned to the timeshare to relax for the rest of the PM.

Dinner was: Dried beef stuffed with goat cheese and arugala (sp). K had pasta with pork and chianti and I had bread and veggie soup; then the best meal selection thus far: rare roast beef with fried pots. Dessert was an apple custard crustless tart with almonds…. Best dinner thus far.



Thursday March 24, 2011


Usual breakfast… The day plan was a trip to Montepulciano, a hill town perhaps 45 minutes away. Jim drove today. This is the most elaborate and best preserved of the towns we have visited this far…. In this town, everything is up a hill… We got an excellent parking place just outside the main gate. We visited a church there and then headed into the town…. There are many many quality shops here, as well as lots of cheese, wine and sausage shops, for which the area is known. Their unique red wine is renoun: Nobli wine. We wandered the streets, continually climbing. We stopped at a local eatery: pizza for me, calzone for J, a slice of a filled pie (tomato, ham and cheese) for K & J. 35E.

We continued our climb, finally reaching the old main square with its beautiful buildings. They visited one of the extensive wine caves while I waited in the sun drenched main square. We continued wandering this time downhill taking another lane.

A wonderful day.

Waiting for dinner---we go about 7:15.

i have skipped a day so will do that after a while---its our day wnadering in chianti

The rain has stopped, the sights are great, food very good, shopping good, acommodations nice.... This sounds like the best part of your trip. I guess it is best to have the good part at the end, rather than the other way around. I haven't been to Italy for 45 years and have never visited Tuscany, this makes me want to return. Keep the great report coming, am really enjoying it. .

Sounds as though things are getting better ever day.

Bob, I've been away, too, and am just finding this trip report. I'm enjoying every minute.

R and K...you sure know how to do it...and you're doing it. Nice to have Jim do some of the driving, eh? Enjoy the rest of the journey..you will! Waiting to hear about your visit to Umbria and your sis..check in to that enoteca in Montefalco..superb for an unusual tasting lunch and some excellent local wine (also a mom and daughter place).

Checked with some of my old (very old) buddies in Needham..no one even knew you had left town. Imagine that! One even said, "Bob and Karen who?"
stu

stu---we keep a low profile

Bob, How come nobody is complaining about your penchant for Italian food anymore?

I *knew* you'd like Tuscany. Very glad you're enjoying this, and that the food is so good. Hm, must get a bottle of the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano this weekend ...

Yep, snow is gone here, too. Forsythia is blooming. Yay!

drop back to Monday--the day i skipped over..


This was a day to drive into chianti country. Just like the days later in the week this is a day for fantastic vistas, small quaint towns, rolling hillsides, olive trees in the prunning stage and of course tons and tons of vinyards...

First stop was Radda, a lovely small town with a walking street through the historic town. The buildings are all a rough stone with interesting facades. There is a church in the center of the town. We visited one wine shop and bought a bottle of local white wine---we are not red wine drinkers.

From Radda we drove to Grieve in Chianti. Along the way we stopped at a roadside bar/restaurant with only perhaps 8 tables (Ristoro a Lucarelli) for a delicious lunch. I had a plate of spinach ravoli and K had tuscan veggie soup with bread. We had custards for dessert. 20E

We visited Panzano, a lovely old town. A short stop in Grieve to see the lovely square (K says we had been there before??).

Over the mountains and heading back home. had our first gas stop...28.6 E, not bad.

We decided we would host a small wine party at the end of the week in our rooms for all those staying at the resort (about 20), so we stopped at a co-op grocery store and bought wine, cheese and crackers for that. The group of Americans, plus one older italian couple and two french couples are all so friendly, we thought a small gathering before dinner on our last night would be fun.

Dinner that night: cured ham with cheese and salad; pasta with red sauce and seafood; braised chicken breast and creama catalona for dessert.

I had a small melt down with the main guy in the dining room over an issue of seating which soured things a bit, but we all got over that... Gpanda's call this, "pulling a Kimball"...


So now we are back on track and today, Friday, is our last day in Tuscany. Mostly we plan to hang around the resort and also visit the local town. It is very sunny again today, but cool. Tomorrow we move on to Umbria for a short visit with my sister for 4 nights. No wi-fi there.

we did just as we had planned... slightly later breakfast, some internet to catch us up to date, etc.

Lunch was down the road at the first rotary leaving town. BTW, we have noticed a huge increase in the # of rotaries (roundabouts) in southern europe, especially Italy.
We had noticed this small bar/restaurant in earlier days. In fact it is a lovely restaurant with a very nice menu. I ordered ravoli and K ordered an interesting salad with a mix of greens, walnuts, anchovies, egg and other goodies. My r were squares of pasta (only 3) filled with spinach and cheeses and loosly folded with zig zag edges... They were rich and delicious and very yellow from the egg yolks...

After lunch we parked in one section of our town and walked around a bit---lovely, but simple old buildings, the deep stream running through town.... a mill with a different type of waterwheel. We enjoyed the warm sun. Later, we returned to the ts, and got organized for our little wine party. We served red wine, plus both fizzy and still white wine. K had some olives and two types of cheese with some crackers. We wanted it simple because dinner would be the usual 4 courses. We had lots of fun and everyone said it was a nice ending to a week in Tuscany...

Dinner that night was a bit exceptional: sole baked with a simple white sauce and some salsa like sprinkles, pasta with small shrimp, then a baked cod filet with a tomato topping.... This was followed with a unique tiramisu with pinenuts. As usual way toooo much to eat---luckily the sole was over-cooked and not that good.

Most of us lingered until after 10 in the dining room. After dinner i paid our sundry bill and hit the sack...

MY SISTER THINKS SOME FODORITE SHOULD GIVE ME A DICTIONARY... i told her no use... she also said she is ashamed because of this... t.s.

If that's all she can find on you to be ashamed of, she's a lucky woman....

lycy you are the best



Saturday


Up early and our final breakfast with everyone..

Off to Umbria by 9:30.... A pleasant ride along the dual lane highway. After only 2 or 3 mis-turns we pulled into my sister's yard. She was in the drive doing some gardening...
We have never been here before, even though she has lived here for 5 years. The location is fabulous set amongst rolling hills of farmland, not far from Todi. The village is named Pesciano, and she lives in a small hamlet just below Pesciano. Her neighbors have chickens, rabbits, sheep and other animals.

She owns 2 sections of a 4 or 5 unit big old farmhouse. BTW, she rents one of her apartments if anyone has interest in a short or long stay in this lovely countryside, which is near to todi, assissi, and perhaps 2 hours WNW of Rome.. Contact her at: casadefiori@hotmail.com Her name is Jane Kimball. She uses part of the property as her art studio... We are staying in the upstairs apartment, the rental unit, and it is pleasant with two bedrooms, one bathroom (shower only). a small kitchen and a living/dining room. It is not fancy, but very comfortable. Bring your own dictionary..

She and karen prepared a delicious lunch: salad with sweet balsamic, pounded herb and parmesan encrusted chicken breasts, naples bread drizzled with olive oil and shaved parmesian toasted. For dessert we had aunt emily's apple cake--an old family favorite.

After lunch we drove around a bit. We were introduced to a number of her italian friends, and then went on to visit her local, and small village (P), much of which has been restored and gentrified. We stopped at the woodman to get some kindling but he was not there, but we went into the barn and took some---this is the kind of place this is... We would return the next day to pay...

We drove on to todi, an hilltop town. We luckily scored a parking space at the top. We walked around a bit and visited the main church... Jane pointed out many shops that have closed this year because of the economy. From there we headed back home. We made a stop along the way to visit an italian-american-italian friend and his new wife. We had a drink in the local bar in this small town.

Home again to another meal: roasted herbed pork tendeloin, salad and bread---more AE's cake.

Tired we all went to bed early.

Isn't it amazing how siblings, even grown up siblings, know how to pull each others chains. I hope she gave you a good discount on the rental unit. lol

What spelling mistakes ....?

i made a mistake in the e address for my sister:

casadeifiori@hotmail.com

Sounds wonderful Bob. So enjoying your report. I burst out laughing at the spelling mistake on your sister's email after the prior two posts. : )

The pace of your trip has been great. You are able to savor where you are rather then just "see" places. Thanks for sharing.

(Hi Karen : )

Robert...following you on my detailed Italy map showing Pesciano and a small village just south named Izzalini ...and a ittle further to the southeast is Fiore. Just trying to give you some bearings in case you're losing yours... Gee, Toto, we're not in Thailand anymore!
stu

Me too! (burst out laughing) That's after I laughed at his thanks to LYCY (not Lcuy)

Enjoying this part very much, no sign of a hamby here either!
Sue

and furthermore, if you see a road sign saying Welcome to Angkor Wat...you're lost beyond retrieval.

Randn McNally

His Laziness(my brother Bob) has "allowed" me to continue his thread. So I shall...
Sunday morning I came upstairs to light the woodstove and make Karen and Bob's breakfast.Neither one of them growled at me, so assumed they slept well. We had scrambled eggs, fresh from my neighbor's chickens and rosehip preserves made by one of my friends. Bob says I should be including these minor details but I can't imagine that anyone cares ?
We left for Assisi which is about one hour north of here.I have dear friends (a couple), who live and work in Assisi and we were to meet them for lunch.They are third level Franciscan followers. He does English tours of the Basilica and she works in the information office.
Karen and Bob attended a 45 minute lecture given by my friend, on the history of the Basilica and the life of St. Francis.

to be continued tomorrow

this is my sister writing in case you did not figure that out..

Another vicarious traveller joins the caravan, Bob.
Hope you have a great time, I'm looking forward to following in your footsteps

It was in English, thereby excluding Robert as the author.

RKH - has you sister's apartment got a website address? i found several on google of the same name so I'm not sure if I've found the right one. [actually, I'm pretty sure i haven't!]

Ann, you found several? I thought it must be this one:
http://casadeifiori.info

I.

that is her place

Glad you are having a great time Bob.

Continued:

After the lecture, we all went to a wonderful small trattoria, Al Camino Vecchio, via S. Jiacomo, 7. They have an extensive menu; K&B had lasagne, two of us had braised pork shanks and the other had pasta carbonara. We shared 2 platters of grilled vegetables (eggplant, zuccini,red and yellow peppers). No dessert. 60E with a discount.

After lunch we enjoyed coffee and assorted Italian cookies at my friend's house, just up the hill from the restaurant. We then parted company and K,B and I visited both the upper and lower chambers of the Basilica. In the upper church are Giotto's famous frescoes depicting the life of St. Francis--a moving experience. The lower church is the original part of the Basilica. It was built to house the tomb of St. Francis.

We had parked in the uppermost parking garage so we took a taxi from the Basilica to the garage--all up hill. 12E.

We drove home directly from there--1 hour.

I gave the troops leftovers for supper which I had warmed up on the top of my woodstove-- no elegant, but warmed the cockles.

End of the guest lecturer...


Monday

This was a total lay back day. I never got dressed until 3:30. We hung around jane's for the entire day. It was pouring rain.

We had delicious homemade onion soup with sliced peasant bread for lunch.

At seven, we left to pick up some of jane's friends to go to a near-by hilltop restaurant for dinner. We all had maxi antipastos, which were a meal in themselves---we had thought that we were ordering one large one, but we each got our own. This was followed by individual pizzas---way too much food.

The restaurant is in Fiore, near to Todi. The name is: Rosa dei Venti. The restaurant is informal and very comfortable. There is outside seating in warm weather. 92E.

It was an excellent meal. The other patrons that night were all ex-pats, even one lady from Boston. Jane was amazed as it is a very local place.

Bed in the rain.

Bed in the rain????
Nude until mid-afternoon???!!!!!

What kind of a place is this, it sounds like a San Francisco commune circa 1966!?!?!?

thanks, Ingo. that was one I didn't find!

Oh no, not the rain again! Hope it whooshes out of there overnight while you sleep in bed in the rain!! Loved Dazedandconfused comment.

Did the 92E include wine? or are even local places getting really expensive? Maybe though there were 5 of you?

there were 5 of us and it was no wine.

5 antipastos (sp) and 5 pizzas and 2 beers and a few waters... and this is a simple place.

IT WAS EXCELLENT HOWEVER..

antipasti
pizze

You are making me hungry.

Our last day near Todi…. Our goal was Orvieto, but we had errands on the way… A stop in Todi at the doctor’s for prescriptions—failed---line was too long---this is a story in itself.. Next purchase of a special cappuccino mix at a small grocery…Stopped up the highway at the most fabulous bakery… It actually is the factory store. I loved what we bought and both what we ate on spot and for breakfast the next AM… On spot I had a hazelnut cream filled éclair… Watching them making the stuff through the factory window was amazing.. Name: Bella Napoli I think.

Next stop Jane calls “Agway of Todi”---a large “local” hardware/garden/dish/pan store. After that we were on our way to Deruta, one of the main hand painted pottery centers in Italy. We did not stop in the lower town, where there are big showrooms, but we proceeded to the upper old town which is filled with small artist shops. First order was coffee at a local bar for the women. Then we pocked around in a few shops before settling into one of Jane’s favorite shops where the artist and her sister were tending the shop. Each piece is painted by hand and while many of the patterns are traditional, no two pieces are the same. Karen bought several pieces, as did jane. The family name is D’Orsi, and their father is participating in a show at the Egan Gallery on Madison Avenue, NYC from Apr 5 to May 5 if you would like to see his work.

We moved on a few doors to another shop that had a few more modern styles and Karen bought a thing or two there in red and black… That shop owner has an agreement with a shop we know well in Nantucket and they offer his fabulous art there.

On to Orvieto…. The drive was about 45 minutes.

The best way to access this town is via the funicular from a parking lot below the train station. The ticket allows you to use a bus from there to the dummo square at the top. Ticket is only good for 90 minutes for return ride, but we walked, and then paid again for the tram.

Before taking the bus, we walked up a bit from the station to a restaurant Jane had been wanting to try. Trattoria La Palma serves delicious pizza as well as other foods. Just what we needed to continue the day. On to the top.

The square is lovely and the façade of the church is very elaborate. We visited the interior of the church which is amazing.

We walked down looking at the wonderful old buildings and numerous shops.

On the way home, we stopped for some grocery shopping. Dinner: white lasagna with spinach a la Jane.

Tomorrow: On to Rome and the last 4 days of our trip.

Wednesday

After breakfast we said our good-byes to two of Jane's neighbors and we were on our way to Rome, via Ciampini Airport where we needed to turn in our Hertz car. Easily found with the help of street signs and our GPS. From there we took a taxi to our apartment in the former Jewish ghetto.

I had seen a listing either on Fodors.com or TA for the Little Queen B&B about a year ago. I contacted them and we decided we might prefer one of their near-by "apartments"---really just larger rooms and a large bathroom -- 160E with a very simple "breakfast". 150 E for cash. Two brothers own the properties and make great hosts. The family has a near-by dry goods store.

Little Queen is on a very small street so we were dropped off near-by. The brothers told me the taxi driver riped us off.

Our 2nd floor room is one of 3 off a small central lobby---think college suite. It is spotless and our rooms look out at a small square with an ancient fountain dedicated to turtles. This location is fantastic.... easy walking distance to several sites and ruins.

After settling in we walked around the area a bit to familiarize ourselves and to grab a small lunch. We settled on a small Kosher bar/take-out place with a few tables. We had simple sandwiches. K having a delicious fafalle (sp) and i had salami.

We decided to visit the family store so they could make res for us at the Vatican for Friday... The shop is lovely: underwear, bathing suits, blankets, sheets, etc... very high end... While there there was a quick hail storm. It was unique looking out the window at ruins being pounded by hail.

Dinner that night was in the ghetto at Il Portico in the Ghetto. A non-kosher restaurant with delicious Italian food: for K, it was Cotoletta Bologna (pounded chicken cutlet with red sauce and cheese) and for me ravoili again, but this time with cheese sauce and ground nuts---so rich you cannot believe. 1/2 L of wine and water plus a sharred chocolate cake... 39E.

Off to bed..

Am enjoying this through your eyes and tummy! Has the weather improved (other than the hail storm?) You also made me again feel a connection as we have brought home several hand painted pieces of traditional blue and white serving platters/bowls from Spain and Portugal which we use for all Mediterranean style dinners. Also, the 150 E , is that per night? If so, makes Thailand more and more appealing no?
Have fun on your last few days. I'm hearing that a snow storm is expected in your Boston area tomorrow.
Sue

Reservations for the Vatican?
Seriously, the museum?
I never knew you could reserve, I just thought you had to stand in line for tickets. Are you using a Rome card?

vatican res are made on line and you go to head of the line... not using rome card...

sue... you can also use those dishes for other cuisines thus making the meal fusion...

160E is per night, and yes we yearn for asia prices... that will come in mid-october...

going to have lunch with the pope today... he promised roast beef sandwiches---maybe he forgot it is a friday during lent

Good yontif, Pontiff.

I'm getting very suspicious...something is rotten in the state of Trastevere.....

Bob and Karen
if you want to enjoy authentic fried artichokes and zucchini flowers, usually served with cod, have lunch or dinner at Al Pompiere, a hosteria (one floor up)in the old ghetto (a former fire station). Just another suggestion.
stu

Not only is this a hilarious family saga, but it makes me laugh out loud when you misspell words, then I went back to see what comment I had made earlier on, and I MISSPELLED "later" with "larder!!"
Now I can laugh at myself too.
You guys are so funny, I forgot I have carpel tunnel attack going on,and am typing even tho' I shouldn't!!
Keep it up! tell us about the POPE.

stu.. we need a place for dinner tomorrow, i will check it out... we love living in the ghetto btw... several women have asked for you--i'm not sure roz would approve of any of them...

all day at the vatican today--overload and hurting feet.

Bob is asleep and snoring on the bed. He walked about 4.5 miles today in the Vatican...museum and St. Peters. We taxied to and from, and from the museum and to the square. The art work is undescribable. The buildings so unlike anything we have. It would take days/weeks to absorbe all we saw today. I don't think in 10 trips thru all we did today , you would still see new things. Fabulous!!

Dinner time..I am sure he will wake up for FOOD!

I'm still trying to figure out if Karen had farfalle or falafel or maybe matzo farfel. Or maybe she just feels awful.

Oh I LOVE Rome, this is making me want to go back!

this will stir up a hornet's nest but we feel 'been there, done that' about rome..... we much prefer the countryside, smaller cities, venice, and other parts of italy....we did not hate rome, but it did not excite us either....

we do love the ghetto area however.

Oh Bob that's a shame I have such fond memories of Rome (and the hotels cocktail list!!! But then if we all liked the same......

I too did not care for Rome on my first trip.. Too much traffic, noise and chaos-driving and parking on the sidewalk,ect. But we grew to love Rome on our second and third trips. Trastevere was one of our favorite places. It is quieter than central Rome, and the restaurants are very good and the prices are much more reasonable than in central Rome. We ate at a restaurant in Trastevere so many times on our second trip, that the owner recognized us and sent over complementary wine on our third trip. He said he considered us "family".

I agree w/rhkkmk. (ouch.)

My 1st trip to Rome (some years ago) had plenty of good things, but too many down-sides. For me, there are so many other places in Italy that have charm and interest that I've never returned to Rome (though not ruling it out).

I guess I feel differently because our second and third trips to Italy combined 4 or 5 days in Rome with a wseek or 10 days to other parts of the country to decompress from the chaos and noise of Rome. BTW, Ostia Antica is a good side trip into the countryside from Rome. It takes only one hour by train and the ruins are very pictuesque-on the scale of Herculeneum.

Love the report, love the family dynamics. "His Laziness, my brother Bob" -- priceless.

Thursday


We ate the simple breakfast from the basket left in our room, plus yogurt from our fridge and cereal with yogurt on it. Not fab, but ok.

Our first full day in Rome. As has become our recent custom, we decided to take an organized bus trip around then city (15E each). We walked over to the Victor Emmanuel monument, stopping off at a couple of churches on the way--- they were elaborate of course. K had selected the 110 bus for our tour. We sat on the open top for the best view. The narration was poor we thought, but the sights and speed were excellent. After our second complete circle, we got off near the Trevi Fountain and sought out some lunch… There are bars, restaurants, etc. in every block in Rome.

Menu: 2 very small sandwiches (give me an American Italian sandwich any day) with a slice of cheese and maybe 2 small pieces of meat (1 oz maybe); 2 waters and 2 pastry---23 E.

We continued to walk until we arrived at the Trevi Fountain---tons of tourists, and it was shinning in the bright sun… From there we crossed over the main street and visited the Spanish Steps… a non-plus for sure… way too commercial for us.. BC will be mad with me for saying that. We returned to the main street on hopped onto the next 110 bus.
We did 1 ½ more circles on the bus… We got our moneys worth for sure.

We got off the bus finally at Venizia Piazza and walked back to the ghetto. We stopped along the way and bought desserts and pastry for breakfast.

We returned to Il Portico, around the corner, for dinner. This time I had the pounded chicken steak with red sauce and cheese and K had it plain with a small salad…. 27E with beer and wine, plus water…

We sat in our little square observing the lighted fountain and the passers by.

Early to bed again.




Friday---Our Vatican day.

We decided that we would take a taxi to the Vatican Museum entrance. Good move. There was no line at noon when we arrived, but we had advance reservations for 12:30 in any case. We walked right in. taxi: 7+ E and reservations 30E for 2.

After entering there is quite a walk up ramps like at the Guggenheim in NY.. Then the onslaught begins… One treasure after another--- Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Egyptian, Religious, non-religious, etc. Paintings, tapestries, objects of art, frescos, large, larger and tiny, more than you can imagine. We whizzed through. I took a ton of pics. The ceilings were amazing. Lots of up and down stairs. K says the walk is 41/2 miles if you do the whole thing. I did it but with tons of rests.

We had sandwiches (eggplant and cheese panini) in a small coffee spot within the museum—no meat available as it is Friday during Lent.

Finally we reached the Sistine Chapel. OK, shoot me but I was totally under whelmed. I like it but was not blown away. Many of the other ceilings that we have seen are grander imo. We tried to sneak through directly into St Paul’s but we were turned back. Why they do not offer this to everyone I will never understand.

So we continued through some more of the museum including the modern collection. We ended up at the main entrance. We tried to get a taxi to St. Peters as it is a 15 min walk but there was some issue with the taxis there. After a walk to the bottom of the hill, I hailed a taxi for the rest of the way.

The line to enter St. Peter’s was not that long, about 15 minutes. It was pretty warm---we can’t imagine what it might be like in Summer… deadly… bring water and a hat…

To tell the truth I would never stand in any line to enter this church again. It is not as lovely as any other church we have seen in Italy. IMO, everything is out of scale---way too grand….. very impersonal… dark… dank…

It took us quite a while to get a taxi out of there. Finally we found one on an adjacent street after we had some gelato and hailed a cab from there.

Dinner was at a tiny place around the corner called Soro Margherita; p.zza delle Cinque Scole, 30 Tel: 06.6874216---- res required… 2 seatings 8 and 9:30.
The menu is handwritten on kraft paper which has a crayon design on the front….no English, but they will help out. Only about 15 tables…. AMAZING, Amazing. I had meatballs (2, the size of a snow ball) in a red sauce, and a plate of grilled eggplant with oil.. K had a Roman style artichoke (w/oil and lemon), a veal chop and fried pots. We each had a different ricotta pie for dessert: one cherry (best) and one w/chocolate pieces (tasteless). We had a large bottle of water, natural, and a ½ carafe of white wine.. 70E---expensive but excellent---Rome prices are outrageous!!

K commented how nice it is to eat locally and walk home. Another stop at the fountain to decompress.



Saturday April 2, 2011


Up late and a slow start as has become our custom. K would point out that is because of me…

We bought a bus/tram pass for 24 hours—4E each.
We rode the #8 tram from P. Argentina over the river into Trastevere. This is the oldest part of Rome and is having a resurgence as an “in” part of town. Lovely shops, restaurants and perhaps the most lovely church we have seen (Santa Maria in T).
We rode to the 2nd stop after crossing the river. Got off and walked around, visiting a Saturday market, a small park, and wandered the neighborhood.

Then we got back onto tram 8 and rode it to the end and then jumped back on and returned back to just short of the river. I needed an ATM… found one, but it was down (it’s Italy where only ½ of everything works). Found a lovely curbside restaurant for lunch. I had a meat plate (salami, prochute., dried beef and a spicy salami, plus a wedge of tasty cheese. K had a pasta dish with ham. The Oregon people at the next table gave K some wine. We shared an odd tiramisu.

Back to the apartment and caught up.

Shortly we have a res at a restaurant Stu Tower has suggested. It is only 2 streets away… More to come



we are now totally up to date.

At the end of the day, I failed to mention that we returned to an adjacent street to the one we had walked in earlier in the day in Trastevere. This in fact was a much more visual street with tons of restaurants and even nicer shops. It terminated in a large square and the large church--Santa Maria in Trastevere. This is one of the oldest churches in Rome and the interior is astonishing---far nicer than the famous church up the river.

On our way back to the tram, we had dishes of gelato.

Tonight we had dinner back in the Ghetto. Located on the 2nd floor of a building down a narrow street, Al Pompiere is a series of high ceilinged rooms with white walls and ecclectic art works. Stu Tower sent us here to have their specialities: fried zuchini flowers and fried artichokes. We shared an order (1) of each. This was followed by a cannoloni dish for me and a veal dish for K. Pana cota for K and tirimisu for me... 59E.

The thing about a vacation like this is that you walk so much during the day that you can eat like a horse.

(But you are pushing your luck with "prochute")

Tomorrow we will have a quiet morning naround the ghetto. At 3 a taxi will pick us up and take us to the Marriott Courtyard near to the sirport. Monday at 9:20 we head home via London.

K's...thank you for your colorfully detailed TR...brought everything alive for those of us who had bben there...happy that Maroc turned out well for you...and again, thank your for taking the time to think about us poor folks back home...greatly appreciated. Waiting for pix, please.

Stu

p.s. just for Bob..now that you have stayed in the old Jewish ghetto, that makes you officially eligible for a free circumcision. I've arranged for a rabbi (mohel from Newton who will be at your house next Thursday morning at 8:00. Have lots of towels handy.

stu

been there, done that... don't forget the vodka--anticeptic...and no rusty knives...

OK, so our last day of 5 weeks has arrived. We have moved out to a marriott courtyard near rhe airport for our 8:20 flt to London in the morning..

We got up a bit late today and hung around until about 11:30 when we moved our carry-ons up the lane to Little Queen, where they would stay until our car came for us at 3PM. The houseboy, sergio, took our heavier bags for us later. BTW, we took a look at the B&B rooms (1) and it was tiny.

We walked around the ghetto in a direction we had not been before. We visited 2 churches and walked through and around a lot of historic ruins. We walked by the Jewish History Museum, which is a lovely building.

Today it is very apparent that Spring has arrived in Rome... Lots of pink flowering trees, some wysteria, lots of wild red poppies and even some smiles on the local's faces. Some people still had heavy coats and hats on and some were sleeveless. I took a ton more pictures--I guess I have 2800.
I'm going to pare them way down this trip, so stop moaning..

We finally arrived back into the area of Little Queen. We settled into a very nice sidewalk restaurant, under an huge umbrella... The restaurant is named: Ba Ghetto Milky. It is kosher (there are 2 of them in the same street--this may be the smaller one). We were early so the pizza fire was not yet hot--no problem, we have tons of time... We ordered one plate of farfalle (sp ?) with humas and a drip of oil. That was really good. Eventually our pizzas came and K had a 1/2 bottle of dry white kosher wine, and I had a beer. The pizzas were called King David (peppers, eggplant and zucchini) and were they delicious---almost to big for one person, but we managed. The dessert we wanted, they were out of so we skipped it.... 47E. While we loved it totally, we think it is a lot of money when no meat is involved. $70.????

Our hosts had reserved a car for us for 3PM. He came in a benz sedan about 2:50. 45E to the airport. Florin: 0039 32916111 93. Little english.

The courtyard is ok (110 E) and includes breakfast which we will not be able to have probably...

SO THIS CONCLUDES THE BULK OF THE TRIP REPORT. I may have some additional comments after I get home, and the pictures will be ready some time in the next week or so. Many will be untitled, but I have lots of title slides for some of the places.

THANKS FOR JOINING US

Watch for our Thailand/India trip starting in mid-October

Great report. We will alert customs that between the two of you they will be able to find a huge haul of salumi, cheese, pottery, tajines, spices, sandals, kitchen ward and who knows what else.

PS
Does anyone know? Were they eating farfalle or falfafel?

Thanks for the great TR - we enjoyed coming along with you both. Safe flight home.
Sue

As usual, an entertaining report. Thanks for taking us along.

Look forward to the photos.

yes, thanks for the report. we've enjoyed being along for the ride.

have a safe journey home!

we arrived home about 4PM today.... we always love being home again, even though the trips are fantastic...
Excellent flts and a last minute change eliminating ORD allowed us to get home 5 hours early.....

Glad your home safely and early. Look forward to pictures.

Fantastic report as usual.....waiting patiently for the pics.

Welcome home!

Aloha!

Great report. Welcome home.

Glad you made it home! Thanks for taking us along on this trip with you.

A very interesting report. A bit of something for everyone, I think. Thanks for sharing your impressions and experiences. And welcome home.

Glad you're back home. Now you need to recover from the vacation, no?

Thanks for another great read. Always enjoy your writing.

here is my last section of pictures....they are all of Rome.


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i will post others in next few days i hope...

Here is the start of the trip: Barcelona



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here are the pics of our week in southern spain at Banal Madena at our timeshare:




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whoops, the last 7 or so pics in the above are in Morocco

and next we have the start of the pics from Morocco:



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also included in the above is a visit to a berber house for berber mint tea....

we spent a really nice day participating in a cooking class that K had found on the internet... here are the pics:



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here are some of my Tuscan pictures...


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These are the pics from my sister's place and from around her village near to Todi.

I think this completes all the pics...

sorry, this is the link:

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whoops 2 or 3

here are the places we visited from my sister's:

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Loved your photos, Bob. Thanks for sharing. I must say it's thanks to you that I'm so much more aware of doors and windows, especially doors, such as the ones you took in Tallinn. We happened to be on a Baltic cruise several months down the line and certainly enjoyed them. Your sister's abode looks lovely.

ttt for kristina