Tag Archives: City stops – It’s amazing how six square kilometers of rock at the edge of a peninsula can be so different from the land it’s attached to. But this is not just any rock – it’s the infamous Rock of Gibraltar, a tiny British enclave surrounded by sea and Spain. And, unexpectedly, we got to visit for the day!  My parents are in Morocco for Christmas, and we’ve been having a great time in Marrakech. In this second part of my story, though, things go a bit downhill. A tout in the tanneries finally makes me snap. Thankfully, however, an invite to couscous by a friendly local redeems the city in my eyes, and we head to the coastal city of Agadir for our Christmas celebration feeling positive.  Marrakech is, according to most, a tourist factory, a city that churns up and spits out tourists, and not at all representative of the rest of Morocco. But it’s also where I met up with my parents to kick-start our Christmas in Morocco! Read on for our first experienced in the medina and souqs; first bargaining experiences; visits of a few architectural sites; and our evenings in the infamous Djemaa el Fna.  In the midst of our transit south, Bruno and I took a bit of time to visit Portugal’s two largest cities – Porto and Lisbon. What follows are two tales of our visits to these tantalizing cities, which include port wine tastings, wanders along coastlines, discussions of ceramic tiles, a sampling of Portuguese pastries, and an evening of Fado music. Brief though they were, our visits offered us a glimpse of two cities worthy of great tales.  Montpellier has been voted the number-two French city by French people. I recently spent a week in Montpellier trying to understand why. Between pleasant visits to the old historic town, the multicultural flea market, and the city zoo, though, I experienced things that made me wonder what, exactly, the French love so much about this town? |
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