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Morocco

November 29, 2023shillifullyLeave a comment

The indigineous people of the area were the Berbers however, with the strategic position on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, it has been under the control of others for most of the last 2,000 years. Initially a trading outpost of the Phoenicians it then became part of the Roman empire in 44 AD under Emperor Claudius. After the fall of the Roman Empire, there was a period of local rule before coming under Byzantine control in 530 AD. In the seventh century the area was conquered by Arabs who bought Islam with them. The Berbers converted but retained their own customs and language. In the 15th century Morocco accepted Jewish refugees who fled Spain with the Inquisition. They were allowed to live freely and all major cities had a Jewish district known as the Mellah – the Arabic word for salt, for which the Jewish community were given responsibilities.

The current King Mohammed VI of the Alawi dynasty is the grandson of Mohammed V who led independence from the French in 1956, following a period since 1912 of being a French Protectorate.

The country has been relatively stable since independence, however there have been issues over corruption, the control of Western Sahara and political refugees.

The country is now a constitutional monachy with a billionaire President and a billionaire King. It is a relatively liberal Islamic state. It has no oil or gas but is developing wind and solar energy sources, using Chinese technology. Phosphate mining, agricultue and a growing tourism sector are the main drivers of the economy.

Sarah’s grandfather visited in the 1960s. Some of our route follows his footsteps.

Venice

November 21, 2023November 22, 2023shillifullyLeave a comment

Our September Italian trip was planned as a two week visit en route from London to Turkey. While not the usual airport for South Tyrol/Lake Garda, we arrived and left through Venice airport due to flight connections to Turkey. Coincidentally our trip conincided with Jane and Robin being in Venice for a week with friends. We spent a very enjoyable afternoon and evening with them in Venice, returning to our airport hotel by water taxi for our flight to Turkey early the next day.

Lake Garda

November 21, 2023November 22, 2023shillifullyLeave a comment

Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy, with a surface area of 370 square km and a maximum depth of 346 m. It is a popular destination, with Milan to the west and close to Verona, but not as busy as Lake Como.

We stayed just outside Salo, a small town on the south west of the lake. Although a long established town, it is now remembered as the de facto capital of Mussolini’s government from 1943 to 1945, following the Italian surrender in World War 2. A highlight of our visit was a half day trip on a Riva boat, the boat equivalent of a Ferrari, where we became a tourist attraction. Our hotel was a monastery converted by a Finnish family, combining Italian history and cuisine with Scandinavian style and service

South Tyrol and The Dolomites

November 21, 2023November 22, 2023shillifullyLeave a comment

South Tyrol is the most northerly part of Italy and was part of Austro-Hungary until 1918. It borders Switzerland and it is relatively close to Munich, two hours by car from where we stayed. The main language is German, with road signs in German first and Italian second. We came across a localised third language, Ladin which is a Romance language.

The Dolomites are a major part of the South Tyrol and with peaks in excess of 3,000 m a winter favourite for skiers. In 1956 Cortina hosted the first televised winter olympics, which return in 2026. In summer the skiing infrastructure provides excellent facilities for hikers to experience the scenery and food at over 2,000 m. For a number of years the authorities have been working successfully to restore and preserve the landscape from the impact of ski infrastructure. This has enabled a year-round tourist season. We visited in September when the weather was perfect for hiking.

Lake Salda and Lavander village

August 12, 2023August 13, 2023shillifullyLeave a comment

Lake Salda is in the Turkish Lake Region in Western Anatolia, a three hour drive from Kalkan. It is a crater lake at 1300m. The minerals in the water have created a “beach”, which gives (at times, according to the tourist agency) the appearance of being in the Maldives. At the time of our visit, some imagination was needed to picture this scene !

Not far from Lake Salda is the begining of the “Lavanta Yolu”, the lavender route, which passes through lavender fields close to Lake Burdur, leading to the village of Kuyucak. Production can be traced back to a local farmer visiting Provence in 1975.

The region has a small tourist trade in the summer as well as the winter, with some ski slopes in the area. The visitors are almost entirely Turkish. This gave us a need/opportunity to use our relatively basisc Turkish; mostly with the desired results, although we did once or twice require the help of google translate and found some words that we frequenty use in Kalkan pronounced differently. We found the prices to be a fraction of the prices on the Turkish coast.

Lavender fields on the shore of Lake Burdur

Rhodes

August 12, 2023August 13, 2023shillifullyLeave a comment

Rhodes, being 18km off the Turkish coastline (but 363km from Greek mainland) , is a less than a two-hour ferry crossing from Fethiye, itself less than an hour and a half from Kalkan, so it’s an easy place for us to visit. Rhodes’ history is similar to much of the Eastern Mediteranean – Greeks, Persians, Alexander, Roman, Byzantine – however in 1306 the island was occupied by the crusaders in the guise of the Knights Hospitaliers. The knights were responsible for the fortification of Rhodes Town which are still visible today. The knights fought off several attempts to take the island until in 1522 Sulieman the Magnificent besieged Rhodes for six months. The knights were forced to surrender, but allowed depart to Sicily then settling in Malta.

The island was colonised by the Italians in 1912 and remained under their control until 1947. Following the Italian Armistice the allies sought to take control of the island but were defeated by Germany in the Dodecenese Campaign. Under German occupation approximately 2000 Rhodean Jews were sent to concentration camps with 200 being saved by the island’s Turkish Consel. At the end of the war the island was given to Greece and 6000 Italian repatriated.

Today Rhodes has a population of around 125,000. In 2022 tourist numbers reached 2.5m with over 400 cruise ships visiting. We visited in May, splitting our time between Rhodes Town and a coatal hotel and timed our visit to take advantage of a gap in the cruise ship visits. As most tourists stay on the coast, Rhodes Town has a very different atmosphere before 11am and after 5pm. Our family run hotel was inside the fortifications of the Old Town. As well as walking the ramparts, visiting the archealogican musuem and a number of historical sites, we enjoyed some delicious meals with local wine and shopping (thanks to our hosts’ recommendations, as most shops were selling tourist “tat”).

Steps up to the ramparts; our hotel on the left

Guides

March 29, 2023March 29, 2023shillifully1 Comment

The guides who looked after us were all incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about their environments. Although we felt that we were always learning, it was never heavy going; they were all interesting and many were very entertaining. We learned a lot about the politics, economy and culture/sports of their city/island/country that we would not have been able to glean from a guidebook or the internet. Many of the guides found alternative work during the pandemic, with one setting up a bakery. In Puenta Arenas, the tourist season only lasts a few months – during the other months our guide works as a car mechanic, as well as being a grandmother.

Kineret who organised our excursions in Patagonia kicked off a conversation, after seeing Tim’s Birmingham Commonwealth Games hoodie, about the Midlands as she has friends in Leicester who she visits. Diana, our guide in Buenos Aries started most sentances with “This is a true story…” (just like one of our friends in the UK, although we think that Diana’s were all true !).

Colonia del Sacramento – Uruguay

March 29, 2023March 29, 2023shillifullyLeave a comment

The River Plate is the widest river in the world, at a maximum width of 230km. On the bank opposite Buenos Aries, a one hour ferry ride, is the city of Colonia del Sacremento in Uruguay. Colonia was founded by The Portuguese in 1680 and its fort, while smaller, resembles that built in 1588 in Galle, Sri Lanka. Colonia changed hands several times between Portugal and Spain with its historic quarter retaining evidence of the influence of both countries, contibuting to its recognition as a World Herritage Site.

Uruguay, with a population of 3.5 million people is the most democratic and least corrupt country in South America. It is also the country in South America with the smallest percentage of people living in poverty. Its economy is based around agriculture, with beef being its largest export – as well as each adult consuming 85kg per annum (with the resulting health issues). We did not realise that Fray Bentos, the centre for meat processing, is a city in Uruguay.

We visited for the day by ferry; very few of the other passangers were international tourists with most people making the journey from Uruguay to buy much cheaper goods in Argentina and in the opposite direction to have a break from the bussle of Buenos Aries. That said, we did find oursleves next to a Turkish family at the Argentinian passport control on our return – this was the third time we had crossed the border into Argentina, with very different levels of control and questioning each time.

Argentinian currency exchange

March 14, 2023March 14, 2023shillifullyLeave a comment

Confession – it took us about three days to work out how currency (peso) operates in Argentina. It started with us getting about 190 pesos to the pound when we took cash out of an ATM. Our Buenos Aries guide explained that we were doing it wrong and that she would provide us with cash for dollars or euros (not pounds) at a rate that equated to 350 pesos. This is known as the “blue market” (sounded black to us), the reason being that Argentina has 100% inflation and no foreign currency reserves so everyone wants hard currency. The cash she provided was accepted without any questions and “blue” seemed a commonly used term.

So far so good, but we then realised that there was a further twist to the story when paying on a debit card in shops and restaurants. The transaction went through at the official rate, but two or three days later we received a rebate from our bank representing approximately 40% of the transcation value. We discovered that late in 2022, the government introduced the MEP dollar rate for foreign debit and credit cards in an attempt to defeat the cash based blue market while encouraging foreign currency spend by tourists. The MEP rate is fixed at about 95% of the blue rate. This is further complicated by different arrangments with different credit/debit card companies. Our rebates were from mastercard, however VISA uses the MEP rate for the originating transcation and it appears that AMEX use the official rate with no refund.

Dinner in Buenos Aries – Marti

March 3, 2023March 3, 2023shillifullyLeave a comment

Meat is the staple diet in South America; in Patagonia lamb and in Northern Argentina, beef. We were told that Uruguayans eat 85kg of beef per year and suffer the consequential health issues. After our excellent barbeque in Misiones and an outstanding steak in a Buenos Aries restaurant, we decided to have a vegetarian night out. Our hotel recommended a nearby restaurant, Marti. This turned out to be one of the best but most unusual dinner experiences we can remember.

Entering via a side door resembling a goods entrance, we walked down a dingy corridor, through a trendy ladies boutique and through a “door” similar to the entrance to a cold storage facility; all while listening to nightclub style music. Following this arrival, we found ourselves in a swish glass walled restaurant with modern counter seating surrounding an open kitchen. The vegetarian menu was innovative and delicious with a focus on mushrooms which were grown on site.