It has been so long since the last email that I don´t know where to start but here goes.

From Marrakesh we went on to the West coast of Morocco to Essouira which is a beautiful seaside town with the usual city walls, port, medina and markets. It is well known for its windsurfing as it is obviously very windy which meant that the nights were actually quite cold for a nice change. From there we headed north to Casablanca which is nothing special but we still managed to enjoy oursleves and then up to the quaint seaside town of Assilah. Here is was absolutely magical because it was so clean and tidy. The beach was great, not so much the beach itself but the water was so fresh with a small swell to enjoy rather than getting dumped all the time. After almost 5 weeks in Morocco it was great to be leaving. Although we had a great time it gets a bit much having to listen to touts all the time and bargain for taxis. Our last few weeks in Morocco also coincided with Ramadan which is the month when Muslims don´t eat, drink or smoke during the day so lots of restaurants and food joints where closed which made it difficult to find food during the day and our choices where limited.

When we arrived in Spain it was fantastic to be back in civilisation with supermarkets, fast food joints, no touts and fixed prices. We spent 4 nights in Malaga which is along the coast in the south of Spain. The beach here was very pleasant and the town quite beautiful with palm lined avenues, churches and lots of shopping. We caught a game of football which was un-eventful in the fact that no one scored but it was a great atmosphere. A friend of mine from high school, Susan, met up with us in Malaga and it was so great to see her.

From Malaga we took off to Granada which is the home of tapas. Everynight we hit the bars for our wine or beer followed by free tapas. I found I was ordering my next drink before i had even finished my last one just because the tapas is so tasty. Granada is also home to the world famous palace called La Alhambra. It was originally built hundreds of years ago by the Arabs so it has an Arab style to it with beautiful gardens and courtyard surrounded by an Alcazbar and city walls. Eventually the Christians took it over before it was abandoned in the 1800s. Recently it was world heritage listed and it has now been restored to its original beauty for tourist to visit all year round.

From Granada we journied up north to Valencia where we are currently. As there are now 5 of us it was actually cheaper for us to hire a car than to catch the bus up to Valencia. So Trent drove us in a VW van and we took a scenic drive along the East coast stopping in the very pretty town of Altea. Unfortunalty we had only just stopped about an hour before arriving in Altea at a fuel station and we grabbed some horrible sandwhiches and burgers from there for lunch. If only we had of known what was ahead as this beautiful town was dotted with beachfront cafes. Still we took a stroll along the beach before continuing on to Valencia. Coming into Valencia were hundreds of Valencia orange tree farms. So we have only been here for 1 night so far but it seems to be a great town. We visited the Cathedral today which was fantastic and tomorrow we will hit the beaches.

From Valencia we are heading back to Madrid were we will all part ways. Mary goes back home, Suz continues on to Alicante with her boyfriend and Justin continues his search for a job somewhere else in the world..Dubai, Hong Kong?? As for us we head to America for another 4-5 weeks of fun.

Till next time.

Ciao.