Happy New Year!

This year has been very eventful and I have seen a lot of places, more places than any year before 2010 actually. 8 countries on 3 continents. That’s what I call a good year. Now of course, I don’t escape rating the best memories of 2010, but, as expected, this is not the easiest of task.

Best City I've lived in: Berlin. This city has charmed me in any possible way and the three months that I lived there were just incredible. I found there all I needed: an international crowd; many cafés, bars, chill-out places, clubs; nature; beautiful buildings; modern areas; art, loads and loads of art and coffee shops, where I can rest and write. I know I will come back.

Best Place I've visited: Ireland. Even if we were there only for a short week, the country has left an indelible impression on me. The scenery, the people and the atmosphere bewitched me and I want to see more of it!

One place I absolutely want to go: Italy! Italy! Italy! I haven’t met many people who haven’t been there, and above all I have met so many Italians and Neapolitans in Granada but somehow, in all my back and fourth across Europe, I have never managed to go there and I am very ashamed! So hopefully next summer it will be my time to throw a coin into the Trevi fountain and eat a Pizza in Naples!

Let 2011 be for all of us a year of adventure and discovery! I wish you all the best and I hope that you are happy, joyful and in good health!

Happy New Year! Bonne Année! Frohes neues Jahr! Prospero año nuevo! Felice anno nuovo! Un An Nou Fericit! Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku! Gott nytt år! Щастлива Нова Година! 新年おめでとうございます ! ! سنة سعي Onnellista uutta vuotta! Gott nýggjár! Próspero aninovo!

(can you guess all the languages? ;) )

And in Uzbek, because I like how it looks: Yangi yilingiz bilan! :D

المغرب -Morocco

Saturday morning just began, people dressed in fancy clothes crossed our path as we made our way to the coach, heavily loaded with our luggage. The coach took us to Tarifa, where we embarked onto the ferry to Tangier.

After seeing a beautiful sunrise on the Mediterranean and the rock of Gibraltar and surviving the long queues on a rocking boat, we arrived in sunny Morocco.

For the afternoon, we decided to just get a feeling of the city and make our first experiences with the culture there. After walking through the medina, we realised that getting directions is not as easy as we thought it would be. The many people we asked were really friendly and one even walked a few streets with us, but the streets were just a maze - and some people were so friendly that they gave us directions without even knowing where the place was!

Tangier has a very nice old medina, where the many stores offer you a variety of curiosities, clothes, jewellery, spices and so on. We also had the opportunity to walk through the wealthier area of the Quartier Marshan, where we went to the famous Café Hafa to enjoy a, mildly earthy, mint tea. The Café has a beautiful view upon the sea and the atmosphere on the terraces is chilled and welcoming. Another highlight of the city is the Qasbah, a palace, marked by the many eras of occupation of Tangier.

On Monday, we were off to Casablanca, a far bigger port in the South with about five millions inhabitants. As we only arrived by night, the option of visiting looked rather grim. But nevertheless, half following a map, desperately looking for road sign (I saw one in the whole night!), we reached the old medina. On the way we tried not to be run over by the many cars, taxis and bikes, but following the locals when crossing the road turned out to be the best option. In one of the small shops, Dea and Simon started to talk to a shop owner and through asking for a nice restaurant, we got talking with a few of the shop owners, they brought us tea as we conversed half in English, half in translated French. Réda, one of them, offered to show us around, once he could close the store. We accepted the offer, and after an invigorating shawarma, we were off listening to his explanations about the city. We walked up to the Hassan II Mosque, one of the biggest mosques in the world. It was really impressive, with the sea right next to it. With a car we then went to the ‘côte’ as they called it. This completely clashed with the poor districts we had seen from the train. It was just a long range of clubs, bars and cafés. The entry and alcohol prices were clearly above our standards.

The next day, early morning, Hannah and I were in the train to Fès, the second largest city, along the Atlas Mountains. The atmosphere there was very different from what we had seen in Tangier or Casablanca, and was more similar to what we had imagined Morocco to be. With a taxi we reached the Old Medina and our four hours walk through the labyrinth started. After a while, we had clearly no idea, where we had started, but we knew, a taxi would always bring us back to the train station. We tried to avoid all the men suggesting to guide us or bring us to the famous tanners. Stubborn as we were, we decided to find it by ourselves, how hard could it be? Roaming the little streets, we discovered craftsman, knife-sharpeners, cauldron-makers and many more. At some point we did stop a couple of tourists to ask if they knew the way to the tanners and they gave us the general direction. Finally, very near our target, a boy dragged along and took us into a shop, from which terrace we had a great view onto the tanning pools. In the shops they were trying to convince us to leave our last dirhams, but our budget was rather tight and we managed to come back without a supplementary piece of luggage and an empty bank account. At the end, we stopped at a huge square, where many locals were just sitting on the stairs, talking, gambling, watching the children play.

Another 5 hours train journey through the darkness brought us back to Tangier. We were alone in the compartment and the occasional power cuts weren’t exactly reassuring, but we made it home safely. I have to admit a mildly shameful thing: It was dark and rainy, and we were starving. We didn't know where to get food and had been told by the police not to walk along the road that led to our hotel. What would we have done without capitalism? Indeed our friendly taxi driver quite happily drove us through the McDrive. We weren't proud.

The last day, a taxi drove us to the Cap Spartel, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean, and to Hercules Cave. We had some good photo opportunities, but in the end, it just felt overdone in a way I didn’t like.

We used the last moments to enjoy the sunshine and then embarked on a long return journey: angry Spaniards at the port who forced the board staff’s barrier, 90 minutes of rough seas and many hours in the coach.

Now, I’m back in Granada, where summer pretended to come back for a few days ( mid-December, sunshine, 25°), but my heart already wishes I was on the road again.

I have miles to go before I sleep…