Random thoughts on the past 33 days

Morocco. Tick. Extra tick for doing it on a bike.

Tiz is a super trooper. How else would you describe someone that has only been a pillion twice and volunteers to do a circuit of Morocco, on the back of a bike ridden by a guy that nearly killed himself on one only a little over six months ago? A wonder-woman, a little bit crazy, an adventurer, a supportive partner way beyond the call of duty.

Only very recently did I change my mind about Paris, rating it as one of the most liveable cities in Europe. We visited Barcelona, and Paris dropped way down the list.

Paris is still a great place.

I should not have chosen a BMW R1200 GS Adventure as the bike to do a lap of Morocco.
It's too high and I'm too weak. At 260kgs plus gear and rider/pillion it's very hard to control on your tippy toes.
It has an enormous amount of torque and it is very forgiving.
Dropping it, at a standstill, leaves hardly any noticeable scratches, so as to diminish its resale value.

We met some absolutely wonderful people on our trip.  I hope we stay in touch with some of them.

Drivers in Fez are to be feared. Actually, the whole of Morocco behaves like they want to commit aggravated vehicular assault, all the time.

Spanish food is my current favourite.

The sun in the northern hemisphere doesn't burn like our Aussie sun.

I read, on Nic J's recommendation,  "Do Travel Writers Go To Hell?" by Thomas Kohnstamm. A very funny and exposing read on travel writers and the Lonely Planet.

I also read "Black Leather Barbarian" by Joe Colella. A great read about being in a bike club in the '70's in Adelaide. I enjoyed the many parallels as I read it, and enjoyed it even more as I have met and "broken bread" with Joe.

Jemaa El-Fna night market in Marrakesh show how a place can easily become a victim of its own success and others' hype. It is truly awfully over commercialised.

We need to move from one tapas bar to another instead of settling into just one, next time.

We Australians live in the best country in the world and we need to start appreciating it.
Not the one with the most sights all within easy access.
Not the one with the most art.
Not the one with the most historical buildings.

Zurriola Beach in San Sebastian has some of the cleanest right and left 6' waves I've seen.
It's great to sit there on the sea wall watching the locals rip 'em up.

It's hard, and nigh on impossible, to beat a souk stall owner at his own game, namely - bargaining.

Moroccan food can be badly done, and often is, in its country of origin.

There is good beer and better beer.

Spaniards are extremely good motorcyclists.

Some older Swiss guys are even better motorcyclists. Some may consider their gumption and bravado to be bordering on insane.

Hong Kong was better before it's return to Chinese rule and the internet.

My tolerance for the cold has increased and decreased for humidity.

We must try to make it to Montreux Music Festival and pay homage to the man that started it in 1967, Funky Claude Nobs.
Deep Purples song "Smoke on the Water" is about the 1971 fire that nearly brought it to a premature end. This thought ties in with our Swiss riding companions telling us of how much they looked forward to going to this years' event.

I need to edit the hours of videos taken in the Morocco lap and, in conjunction with the .gpx file, finish my mini doco, quickly.

Tiz and I travel far better, as in lose less sleep, when going west compared to going east.

Why was that guy sitting on that rock in the middle of Moroccan flatland nowhere?

Is anyone going to believe that after nearly 2000 kms through Morocco we only saw two camels, and they were in the back of a ute?

Starbucks staff seem to be universally lame at providing service.
We know this because it was one of the rare places we could get coffee in Hong Kong.

Pret A Manger, a London based fresh organic lunch food shop is the polar opposite. You want to lean over the counter and give the staff a big hug for being so genuinely cheerful.

Cordoba is a smallish town with a lot of character but gets much less press that its more famous neighbours - Sevilla and Granada. We loved the leafy walk done to the cluster of famous sites.

We need a very fast train between capital cities, like most civilised countries have.

The more hardcore part of the crew in Morocco would love the Finke Desert Race. It is renowned for crushing spirit, body and equipment.

..... I'll think of more as the days pass.

Please come back for a look but even if you can't thank you for having dropped in for a look and hopefully a laugh.

Cheers, from Marino and Tiziana