When we stopped at the Tourist Information for maps Saturday morning in Merida, we noticed flyers promoting some event in Merida that evening. It was in Spanish, so we asked the woman at the desk what it was, and she just said "I don't have the English to fully explain it to you." We understood it was a big parade, and groups would start from all churches in the city and converge near the main square in Merida, Plaza de Espana. We'd strolled by there the night...

Wow - I'm so behind on this trip blog post-Morocco, I don't know where to begin. I blame a combo of feeling pretty unwell for a week or so, and English channels on Portuguese TV, so once out of the swing, it's hard to start again. Add to that, l have about 1000 images to upload!I guess I'll start by writing up today's activities, then eventually get round to backfill more on Marrakech, the Atlas mountains, Sahara, Fes, Seville, The Algarve, Selema, Lisbon, Sintra...

We didn't want to leave Portugal without spending a bit more time outside of Lisbon, so we booked one night about 125km up the coast at an old fishing village called Nazare. I supposed it's livelihood is equally based on tourism now as well, but it has retained quite a bit of its old charm which is so nice. We had had a long day at Sintra before we pulled into town just in time to see the sunset over the Atlantic. We had a quick walk around the old town, grab...

I'm happy to say that we did almost nothing today and completely loved it!After writing yesterday's blog, we went down to the beach for a swim and a long walk. At the end we found a great watering hole on the beach and had a few beers there before dinner. Great to watch the sun go down from a very relaxing spot. We walked by a sports center and for the 2nd time saw people playing a hybrid sport we haven't seen anywhere else in the world - a cross between tennis ...

The decisiotn to take a ferry to Tangier led us to a jumping-off spot not previously on our radar - Tarifa, Spain. What a stroke of luck we decided to have a pre-Morocco rest stop here, as it's a beautiful small town on the coast just perfect for relaxing. It's small enough that there is no train station or car rental office, so we wound up taking a bus here from Granada. I was not overjoyed at the prospect, as I haven't travelled by bus since high school, but l...