This is a test entry, as the internet struggles here a bit. So far it seems to be working okay...

So, here I am! At 9am yesterday I boarded a bus in OConnell St and ten hours later, having gone via Manchester, my feet met African soil for the first time. Funny thing, this travelling caper.

As I write this I am sitting in an internet cafe just off the Djemaa el Fna, the central hub of Marrakech. It is amazing! My only regret is that my typing is so slow here because the keyboard is so different that I am probably not going to go on about it as much as I might otherwise. But it is a splendid place and I fully reccommend a visit to any of you who really want to feel like you've thrown yourselves in at the deep end of travel and cultural experiences.

Getting settled was a bit of a drama. I had booked a transfer from the airport to the riad where I am now staying, but an hour after landing there was still noone there for me. Some friendly airport staff helped me and called the riad and I was collected about 20 minutes later. We carried my cases to the car, where two other people were already sitting. When I got in the driver said to me "This is my wife and my daughter. We were going out tonight when I got a call from Aziz and he said I had to get out here straight away. They had forgotten all about you!" He then made a mobile call and spoke in Arabic so I don't know exactly what was said but I gathered the gist from his tone and the conversation which we then had in French, which was something to the effect of "Okay, tonight we are putting you in another riad, you will like it", "But why?", "It's all good, we have an arrangement so that we make a kind of bloc of riads and we can place you in this other one", "Yes, but why?", "Because of this arrangement we have", "I understand that, but I don't understand why I am not going to Riad Yasmina, I made the booking in November", "Yes, we all make bookings, but you will like this other riad also. It is 10 minutes from the djemaa", "But I still don't understand why this decision has been taken", "Okay, well it's like this, the guy who took your booking is a bit touched in the head and so he thought you weren't coming till tomorrow. You booked three nights, didn't you?", "Yes, tonight, the 20th and the 21st", "Yes, you see, he was wrong. So tonight we will put you in this other riad and tomorrow we will move you to Yasmina."

I had no real choice other than to accept, while thinking to myself "What the Hell have I done?"

But that old adage (or Winston Churchill quote, I forget which) about half of life's crises never coming to anything except in your head rang true. It was a lovely riad and I had the whole top floor to myself and a bathroom with the deepest bath I have ever seen - when I sat up straight in it the sides came up to level with my shoulders!

When I asked about dinner, one of the staff, Menyman, took me out to a restaurant where they wouldn't serve me because I didn't want any wine (had spent the plane trip nursing something of a hangover from the Temple Bar). He said that was ridiculous and asked if I wanted to go to the Djemaa al Fna instead. I am so happy those other people wouldn't serve me!

The Djemaa is absolutely amazing! I had completely exhausted my vocabulary of positive French exclamations like 'formidable!' and 'merveilleux!' within about 5 minutes and probably would have exhausted my English vocab not long after. We had been walking down these tight, dark alleys for a good five minutes, surrounded by people on mopeds (one ran over my foot, but I'm fine), cats, dogs, litter and not much light, when suddenly there was this smell of smoke and a sizzling sound. We rounded the last corner and there it was, spread out before us like a giant festival of dates and spices and oranges and monkeys and incense. Every stall was brightly lit and this was to great effect in the dark with great swathes of smoke drifting from the section where they hqve all the outdoor tables set up. We went to one such table and were served an absolute feast of brochettes (like shish kebabs but a zillion times better), salade marocaine, bread, olives, tomato sauce and sauce piquante. I couldn't finish it, there was so much.

After that we took a tour of the djemaa and I had my photo taken with a monkey named Milou. We saw all kinds of musicians as well as stalls selling all sorts. We stopped at the snail stall and Menyman made me try some in spite of my protests that I was full as a boot. Not one to pass up a culinary opportunity, though, he didn't have to twist my arm too hard, and they were great! They came in a spicy broth (I could identify cinnamon and coriander, don't know what else) and were really quite tasty.

By this stage I was getting pretty tired, so it was back to the nameless other riad for a really good night's sleep.

This morning there was orange juice and coffee and moroccan pancakes waiting for me when I got up. There was bread and other pqstries, too, but again I couldn't fit them. I spent a bit of time basking in the sun on the terrace and sticking all my Irish artefacts into my journal and it was lovely to get a bit of sun after quite a cold fortnight. Then a man came with a cart and we walked the 10 or so minutes to Ryad Yasmina, which is just stunning (you can check it out at www.ryadyasmina.com). I'm all set up and now ready to go off exploring. First stop has been this internet cafe because I wanted to look up the number to access my phone account. It transpires there is no service in Morocco at the moment, but I'm sure I can find some other means. Have used the opportunity to write all this up, anyway.

It may be that I don't do as much blogging in Morocco as I had been in Ireland, the internet here is sssssllllllloooooooooooowwwwwww to such an extent that I have heard the call to prayer twice since I have been sitting here. Also I don't know what my access will be like once I'm on the road on Saturday. I think you can all rest assured, though, that even if I'm not writing so much I'm still having a ball :)

This afternoon I think I will take myself around the souks, and then tomorrow I am taking a day trip to Essaouira on the coast, I can't wait for that!