Days 78-92, 7/10/11 - 21/10/11- Epilogue - Brazil

After many trip diary days it was time to kick back and relax, and almost have a holiday from trip diary. Whilst initially thinking there would be no trip diary in Brazil, I relented, after realizing that the 2 weeks in Brazil together, and also spending time with her parents would be perhaps the most important part of the trip for Cinthia, so a diary of sorts is required. The compromise is therefore to treat Brazil like a prologue entry, with no specific dates, and just a summary of activities and themes, not necessarily in chronological order.

In our last act of cheap-skatedness, we actually had to fly back to Rome on Alitalia prior to flying to Sao Paulo. This indirect route would add an additional four hours in the sky, and about 6 hours in Rome. When landing in Rome the sign was in Italian, so naturally we didn't understand that it said connections- Go right, Exit- straight ahead. We exited and left the airport, as the opportunity for a little trip in Rome was too good to pass up. The airport train wasn't cheap into the city, however it was quicker than the bus. Our destination was the Coliseum, a handy little day trip to see one of the world’s most famous tourist attractions. I hadn't been in Rome prior, so even if I never get there again, at least I can say I have laid eyes of the Coliseum.

The flight to Sao Paulo was terrible, as I was in an aisle seat near the toilets in front of the emergency exit. I don't mind that people come and use the space to stretch, however a group of Italians who thought they would come and use the area for a conversation area.... well my patience lasted until 2am, and then I lashed out and told them what I thought of their rude anti- sleeping behavior. Cinthia managed to sleep ok, whilst I managed about an hour. The Italian group was back at 7am.... chatting away, and this time I had a go at them when one stepped on my foot. Footnote..... the extra legroom of the emergency exit sounds good, but don't do it on an Alitalia flight.

Eventually we descended, whilst the mood of Cinthia began to ascend. It is always nice to have the airport pickup rather than a taxi/ bus or train.... especially I guess when it is your parents, and you have not seen them for nearly 2 years. It was obvious that Cinthia was anxious on the plane, and very much wanting to be in her mother’s arms, rather than in a pressurized plane at 30,000 feet.  Having had Cinthia in my life for over a year, it was nice to witness the moment when she was reunited, and able to hug her parents. The waterworks started, and it was obvious that Cinthia's level of hapiness escalated to off the charts.

It was nice meeting the parents, although Lourdes, Cinthia's mum doesn't speak much English so her and I had to determine the best manner in which to communicate. Initially it was me speaking Spanish (much to Cinthia’s dismay) and Lourdes replying very slowly in Portuguese, with Cinthia being translator when required.  Toward the end of the 2 weeks my Portuguese had improved enough to string a few sentences together, and Lourdes was trying to improve her English speaking capacity.

Even the drive back from the airport it is difficult not to be a little overawed by the monster sized city that is Sao Paulo. I gazed around at endless buildings as Cinthia spoke rapid fire Portuguese to her parents. So much to communicate I guess, even though she does Skype them about 3 times a week.

I guess I want to put in a big thank you to both Alvarenga (yes her dad uses his surname- like a Sri Lankan cricketer) and Lourdes for their unbelievable hospitality. Not only was I made 100% welcome, however staying there we were treated like a 5-star hotel....for the bargain price of nothing. Their generosity refused to let us pay for anything in Sao Paulo, as we wined and dined in some amazing restaurants. Whilst Sao Paulo doesn’t possess the natural lanscape beauty of Rio, the restaurants and nightlife is apparently far superior.

Day 2 was not a rest day, however a major BBQ in their apartment complex, with many of Cinthia’s relatives and close friends. It was also her grandmothers’ 90^th birthday, so indeed a double celebration. It was nice to meet so many people who are important to Cinthia, and I think she (and her parents) had a wonderful day. Some spoke English, some as much English as my Portuguese, hence the manner of communication was always a challenge.

Much to the dismay of Cinthia’s parents, and to Cin herself, after 3 nights we were off to Trancoso, a beach precinct in the north east of Brazil. This took me to apparently the real Brazil, or at least the parts that are not the monster cities, or the Amazon. The beaches were lovely, however what was perhaps most appealing was the laid back nature and slower pace of life. Whilst not quite Caribbean slow, it did allow an unwinding after what had been a long, whirlwind and often tiring holiday.

The beaches also represented a task- Learning Portuguese. I lay often in the deck chair, studying my Portuguese text and occasionally looking out to sea, drinking my beer or coconut, or eating some snack we ordered from the hotel beach restaurant. Cinthia unwound also with some Magazines- The Economist, Business Review Weekly and New Scientist....... ok, it was more likely Cosmo, a couple of Brazilian magazines and one with Princess Kate on the cover. I have to be honest and say that the weather was only sometimes nice, and the rain was a pain. It cut a 7 day beach tour into about 4 days, with 3 days almost wiped out by unseasonably heavy rain.

We had hired a car and this allowed us to see a few different places in Bahia, however we stayed away from the big city of Salvador. It was nice to see this part of Brazil, however in hindsight I think Cinthia would have preferred to spent more time in Sao Paulo together with her family whilst I was there.

When back in Sao Paulo we had a few nice nights out, and during the day we shopped and visited a museum (Pinacoteca).

It was nice to spend more time with Cinthia’s mum, and to see how close they were. I accept that it is difficult for both Cinthia and her mum to spend so much time apart and live so far away, so they rarely left each others side during her stay. I had to share Cinthia and she was definitely out hugged by her mother than me in that week. At least now I could put faces and names to Cinthia’s family and friends, and understand more about this wonderful girl in my life.   

Finally, it is time to pack, and I’m ready to leave, however I notice Cinthia getting more upset with my impending departure. This is only packing for me, as Cinthia will stay in SP for a further 2 ½ weeks, to spend more time with the family. This represented a dilemma to Cinthia, who was sad we couldn’t all spend more time together. Cinthia’s mum takes me to the airport, and after a final farewell, I walk through the security doors and recommence the security and immigration process that is all too familiar. 35 hours later, after 4 flights, and with a 4 hour delay in Sao Paulo resulting in missed connections, I arrive home and the adventure is over.

My parents nicely volunteered to pick me up at the airport, and drive me back past the familiar sights that represent the Melbourne I know so well. Until the next blog...signing off, and thanks for reading it. 

Day 77 - 6/10/11 - Thursday - Madrid

A day in Madrid represented a return to a 1^st world country, and as such, it was nice to stay in a nice hotel and enjoy all of the normal creature comforts like Melbourne.

Given we have both been in Madrid previously, and to the world famous Prado museum, we decided instead to head to Madrid’s 2^nd World class museum, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. It’s fair to say that Cinthia and I were blown away by how good this museum was; every bit as good as the Prado, with probably ¼ of the tourists. Picasso, Renoir, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Monet, all the big guys’ colourful compositions made an appearance. It was well set out on a room by room basis (always important in a museum).

Spain and Madrid represent a country and city that Cinthia and I would potentially one day agree to live in, however that is unlikely anytime soon given the economic doldrums the country finds itself in. It is a weekday, and not uncommon to see a raft of post-adolescent youth that should be in their first or second jobs instead trodding the streets, or lining up to purchase their weekly groceries during the middle of the day. Many wear a downcast look, the look that seems to giveaway the fact that they too are reliant on government handouts as they can’t find work. Nearly 50% of 18-25 year olds are unemployed, which is sad in any country, however demoralizing to proud people like the Spaniards.

Madrid represented another city with a great Metro, and post my return I have my work cut out in order to whip Melbourne’s rail system into shape. It transports Cinthia and I conveniently to the city and back.

Whilst a last night on the town drinking Sangria and eating tapas would have been appealing, the need to pack and get organized for our departure to Brazil was the priority and hence it was Adios to Madrid city for us.

Day 76 - 5/10/11 - Wednesday - Casablanca - Madrid

Another day, another flight, however this time just a short flight to Madrid with Easyjet, so no frequent flyer points there. A relatively painless flight as far as I was concerned, however Cinthia was probably more concerned about the big flights back to Brazil. A catch 22 situation really, wanting to get to Brazil to see her mum, however needing two big flights to get there.

Arriving in Madrid and transferring to the hotel we were happy to have the refuge of an air conditioned hotel as the mercury climbed to 38 degrees.

Another couple of days for Cin and I to revert back to Spanish speaking, eating and drinking. This would represent a stopover couple of days, as there were no direct flights from Morocco to Brazil.

Day 75 - 4/10/11 - Tuesday - Meknes- Casablanca

La Gare Meknes is a nice enough station, and we are pleased that it allows us to cross the suitcases over the tracks to get to the correct platform, rather than carry them manually up and down staircases. Perhaps after 2 1/2 months of travelling some edges are fraying in the fun of travelling, if so, carrying suitcases up and down stairs (which is my job) is one of the causes. Nevertheless, the station is nice, it is not too hot yet, and we are excited about getting to Casablanca. Secretly, I think Cinthia is more excited about getting to Brazil, which we will later this week.

It is 11.50 a.m. , just having departed Meknes station, which again proves that trains are late worldwide, as we were due to depart at 11.20. Most aspects of Morocco may still be third world standard, however it is pleasing the station had wifi, so we used the delay to Skype my parents. Amazing really...."Dad, we are just awaiting our train to Casablanca, so thought we would give you a quick call to see how Melbourne is going". Sorry Mr. Telstra, no $120 phone call here! 

Also pleasing is that the train is quite nice, the ride smooth, and that the surrounding landscape is quite scenic. Unlike the south, the north is hilly rather than mountainous, and the paddocks are green enough for trees, crops and/ or livestock. It helps to show the contrast that is Morocco. The cities we visited have their own great contrast too- their historic Medinas (where we spent most of our time) versus their new towns.

Arriving Casablanca mid afternoon was like entering a different world, with the dusty medinas of Meknes, Fes and Marrakesh replaced with paved roads, tall buildings and supermarkets. We stayed at the Ibis hotel adjacent the train station, as this would also allow us to catch the train to the airport early the next morning.

It is fair to say we needed a change to the Moroccan food type, so instead of heading out for some traditional Moroccan fare, we went to a large supermarket (for probably the first time since Russia) and purchased our dinner for the night.

Cinthia’s opinion by this stage was that we had spent a few days too long in Morocco, and would not be spending enough time in Brasil. My reply was that we will most certainly get back to Brazil many times, but unlikely back to Morocco. 

Day 74 - 3/10/11 - Monday - Meknes- Volubilis- Meknes

In the morning we went to Volubilis, which is located about 25 kilometres north of Meknes. It was not as simple as it sounded, as we needed to find a petit taxi in order to be transferred to the grand taxi station. When the two taxi drivers seemingly made a deal of 400 Dirham for the Grand taxi to take us to the ruins we resisted, until they came back to the price we were prepared to pay... 250 Dirham. The "walkaway" utilised to good effect again.... the move is golden.

The ruins of Volubilis were Roman ruins that were built in the 2nd-3rd century A.D., the time when Christianity was starting to take hold in the Roman Empire. Although the ruins are in a rundown state, some interesting archways remain, as does a dozen or so rather impressive mosaics. In the mid 18th century the city (which once held 20,000 residents) was abandoned, after being devastated by the Lisbon earthquake of 1751. Fes was further developed up as the regional capital.

On the way back to Meknes we stopped at Moulay Idriss, a town named after a significant person in Moroccan history. He was a great grandson of Prophet Mohammed, and after being pushed out of Mecca by the Iraqi empire, came to Morocco and brought with him his faith of Islam. His mausoleum is in this town, and many locals were in there when we visited. Being non-Muslim, we were unable to enter. It was a nice little town (absolutely no tourists) however staying longer than 15 minutes to have a brief look around was not required.

Post a tasty lunch it was time to go shopping again. The markets of Meknes are much less touristy than those of Fes, with over 95% tailored toward the locals, and mostly not the sort of products a tourist would be interested in. Unless of course the tourist is badly in need of some “Abibas” clothing. Yes, the fake brands exist here in Morocco, and so does 1980's fashion statements like Adidas torsoin tracksuits.
Whilst Meknes was a contrast to Fes and Marrakesh, it wasn't particularly eye catching of itself. It was slower paced than the two bigger cities, cheaper, and probably had more cats that either Marrakesh or Fes. They were everywhere- in windowsills, under tables, begging at tables, in alleys (usually about 5 to an alley) and under parked cars.

Tomorrow it is off to Casablanca, and then back to Spain, and finally Brazil.

Day 73 - 2/10/11 - Sunday - Fes - Meknes

It was finally time to say goodbye to Fes, after what would represent the longest single stay at any location on our trip. We hadn't set out to spend 5 nights in Fes, however it is colourful and interesting, and a great place to shop like Marrakesh, however with less hassle.

The trip to Meknes cost us 50 Dirham (equivalent to 5 Euro or $A7). This included a 10 minute taxi ride and 2 rail tickets. One certainly wouldn't get very far in Australia for that. Ironically, some locals (who were not a taxi) stopped and asked us where we wanted to go and said they would take us to the railway station for 5 Euro. We laughed at them and walked away.

The system in Morocco of grand taxis and petit taxis is quite interesting. The grand taxis basically go intercity, do not have meters, and have set prices. Everyone we have seen are old Mercedes. The Petit taxis are Fiat Unos, a tiny taxi that requires luggage to be placed on the top rack of the car roof. (Not such a problem given it rarely rains). In NFL talk, our dark skinned driver could be described as a solidly built 6"6" and 250 pound linebacker. Whilst he lifted our luggage as easily as a preschool child lifts a lollipop, fitting in to the petit taxi was much more of a challenge for him. I thought of telling him he should be driving a grand taxi, however refrained, in case he didn't like the joke, and decided to crush me.

It was Sunday, and Meknes was mostly shut, so was difficult to get a feel of what it was like. We ate in the main square, surrounded by cats at our table, and the restaurant dished up our worst meal thus far in Morocco, which was disappointing.

Walking around Meknes wasn't awe inspiring like Marrakesh or Fes, so we kicked back in the hotel, and for the first time since Russia I watched some TV, as the room had satellite channel. An interesting mix of 500 channels, which takes a while to surf through. Why do the porno channels always start at 100 I wonder? Anyway, I didn't come to Morocco to watch documentaries on the rise of communism in China, however it was relaxing and a break from medinas for a while.

Cinthia caught up on her photo backlog, being the administrator of photos, backups, etc. I must say it is reassuring to have someone who takes so much care of the photo backups and files...... it allows me to do other important stuff.. like surf the internet for sports news.....and watch docos. ;-)

Day 72 - 1/10/11 - Saturday - Fes

I'd like to enthral you with adventurous tales of new activities, however the truth is that we have just spent another day chilling out in a funky, cool, medina. Fes, Marrakesh, Rabat and Meknes are the 4 biggest older cities in Morocco with medinas, and we deliberately chose Fes as the one to spend most time in. Marrakesh was very dusty and hot, and it feels like you are walking around with a sign that says "I'm a tourist, hassle me". It gets old, quickly...such that Cinthia and I would reply in Portuguese, confounding those who knew English, French and Spanish speechless. Meknes we will visit tomorrow, and Rabat, well, there is always a next time.

I awoke during the night, to rush to my phone only to realise that it was 1.30am, and the grand final had not started. When I awoke around 6.30am I checked the score and saw that the Cats had it in the bag, and hence Collingwood had lost another Grand Final. This was a good start to the day, especially since Collingwood had just managed to sneak past the Hawks last week.

Tajines, cous cous, mint tea and corn bread- Moroccan food is good however there is only so much you can eat. After a week in Morocco we needed a change. Inside the Medina there is no Italian restaurant, no Chinese takeaway, and definitely no Mexican cantenas. Our respite was in a Westernised tourist trap called "Clocks"- its reference to an ancient wooden clock contraption outside.

"Clocks" has film nights, calligraphy classes and language lessons, so views itself as a full service Food plus establishment for tourists. Scanning the menu to see Milkshakes, Cheesecake, Burgers and the like, we were curious enough to order the camel burger. Just as I was about to start my tasty camel burger Cinthia begins reading Trip Advisor's reference to 'Clocks' food, and particularly the Camel burger. "Lots of people seem to get sick from it, Craig". "Thanks Cin", I replied, preferring to be blissfully ignorant than concerned about the hygiene of camel meat. Anyway, it tasted pretty good.

Shopping was again the major activity of the day, as we would endeavour to grab the remaining bargains that would fit in our suitcase. After all, the Moroccan products are 1/10 the price of buying them back in Melbourne at somewhere like Casbah.

One disappointing aspect of Fes is that it does not seem to have a decent Museum. The one we visited took 20 minutes, had a few artefacts in Arabic/ French, and did not endeavour to explain the history of this fascinating town. Oh well, I guess I'll have to resort to Mr. Wikipedia.