Dale's birthday began with presents and ended with alcohol, as any good birthday should! In between we travelled from Valencia to Madrid, which maybe was not the most fun way to spend the day. But at least we were well provisioned with chocolate croissants, filled rolls, chips and pistachio nuts! Our hotel in Madrid is very comfortable and a short walk from the Prado Art Gallery. On the way to the gallery we passed several street performers of the "statue" ki...

An early start and four hour bus ride brought us to Valencia. Our first impression was that the city has a more militaristic feel than Barcelona. We had seen from the bus hill top forts on the city's outskirts and the remains of impressive defensive works. Having stepped off the bus into brilliant sunshine, we quickly realised that our hostel was on the opposite side of the city centre from the bus station. Our long, sweaty walk took us past enormous remnants ...

Today we had a narrow victory over Barcelona. Our first goal was to complete the mundane but necessary task of laundry. As it turned out, our helpful hostel woman gave us the wrong directions and we spent some time walking in circles before we (a) decided that there was definitely no laundry on the square we had been directed to; and (b) summoned the courage to ask a nearby cafe owner to confirm that there was no laundry even remotely close to where we had been ...

Morocco saved one last piece of culture shock for me at Marrakech Airport. After stepping through the metal detector without incident I was confronted by an expressionless Moroccan woman wearing a uniform who without warning rubbed my breasts all over, patted down my sides, and then reached between my legs! Dale was up ahead of me and turned to see the look of shock on my face. Puzzled by my expression he asked what the matter was and then noticed the similar t...

Arriving back in hot and crowded Marrakech and its crazy traffic was a shock after the comparative quiet and cool of Essouira. Crossing roads here involves saying a prayer and stepping off the curb with teeth clenched, waiting for impact, as scooters, cars, buses and horse drawn carriages weave in and out of your path. We have already seen one motorcyclist bowled off his bike by a taxi as both vehicles attempted to take the same gap. Happily, metropolitan Marra...