|
Post by bjd on Jan 14, 2020 11:57:39 GMT
Thanks, Questa. It's not the "mob" that is a problem -- it's the permanent people trying to "help" and then asking for money.
And Ramadan is a bad time to go -- that's what we did and all the small cafés were closed, only touristy places open. And we felt out of place and embarrassed if we did want to eat something.
|
|
|
Post by questa on Jan 14, 2020 12:36:48 GMT
that's right, it is why I asked...
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 14, 2020 13:55:43 GMT
I took the Marrakesh express in the morning.
Ramadan in 2020 runs from April 23 to May 23.
|
|
|
Post by fumobici on Jan 14, 2020 18:24:16 GMT
My situation last Summer in Italy was very much complicated by not really being on vacation but having to deal with complicated legal stuff.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 14, 2020 19:35:33 GMT
Ramadan 2020 in Morocco will begin in the evening of Thursday, April 23 and ends in the evening of Friday, May 22.
I had already looked that up, Questa, as my original projected stay in Morocco would have been sometime in April to sometime in May. Obviously that has now been reassessed at sometime in March to sometime in April.
I was joking about the palace, although a large nice place somewhere for two or three nights seems ideal.
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Jan 15, 2020 2:07:24 GMT
My situation last Summer in Italy was very much complicated by not really being on vacation but having to deal with complicated legal stuff. I’m sorry we couldn’t work that out, Fumobici. Would have been great fun! I had no idea how far away you actually were until I looked closer at the distance between towns. Too bad we hadn’t coordinated our exits from Italy a little better, but maybe next time! I feel fortunate to have met at least eight AnyPort members over the years. I’d be happy to meet more if anyone happens to find themselves in my part of North Florida.
|
|
|
Post by questa on Jan 15, 2020 9:39:58 GMT
Oh, Bixa...I have commitments until 11-12 June. You scared me with your palace!I was thinking I'd better take my tent and sleeping bag.
If you want a taste of Morocco in a couple of days this may help. Start in Casablanca, beach, gun placments still there, lotsa modern and historic architecture Take express to Marrakech..K2 says it is <3 hours. Check into a riad on the north side of the big square. There are shops, markets, performers, dancers, performing animals and a marvellous atmosphere. Restaurants and food to go.Daytime mob different from night with lights etc
You will be stunned by Le Jardin Majorelle...google it blow your mind (and Mick.s) There are palaces and mosques to visit...gorgeous and all close by, Airport close by. Fly home.
|
|
|
Post by questa on Jan 15, 2020 9:56:56 GMT
Riads...don;t know if you are familiar with these. Muslim law says not allowed to flaunt wealth so the outside of a house will be plain but walk in and it is beautiful. Usually has fountains and water gardens, sitting areas with alcoves for privacy, a small pool in some and brilliant decor. This goes for the bedrooms as well. Maybe a rooftop garden...watch the hawks practising. I stayed in a 3 star one and it was sumptuous. Look up 'riad, Marrakech' inexpensive list.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 15, 2020 19:01:06 GMT
Thanks so much, Questa! I was supposed to go to Morocco a few years ago when a friend of mine was there. Can't remember now why I didn't go, but now I want to go & to stay long enough to see more than just a smattering. If I am to go, it needs to be soon in order to get good Spring weather & to avoid Ramadan. Also, I have a niece getting married in the US in October, so there are two trips on my horizon.
Question: one of the articles I looked at said that non-Muslims cannot enter mosques. That can't be true, can it? It certainly wasn't the case in Istanbul.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 15, 2020 20:11:55 GMT
Malta could be an interesting alternative for certain people.
|
|
|
Post by questa on Jan 15, 2020 22:25:54 GMT
I could get a little fluffy white dog as a souvenir
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 16, 2020 0:19:47 GMT
Malta could be an interesting alternative for certain people. How would one know if one were of that certain type or not? Or a nice black falcon!
|
|
|
Post by onlyMark on Jan 16, 2020 4:33:37 GMT
Question: one of the articles I looked at said that non-Muslims cannot enter mosques. That can't be true, can it? It certainly wasn't the case in Istanbul. The official version is that there is no edict nor anything in the Koran forbidding non-muslims from entering. Of course, it's always up to the individual mosque to make their own rules and I'm sure nobody would get anywhere arguing differently. www.alislam.org/question/non-muslims-allowed-inside-mosques/
|
|
|
Post by questa on Jan 16, 2020 4:34:26 GMT
Malta?? I'd rather be boiled in oil! Bixa, Some of the mosques are of historic or great art works, these are open to the tourists but under conditions. Legs and upper arms covered. Remove footware outside. Mosques are a social place where women natter on the left and men on the right.Try not to stand close to ppl sitting on the floor (This applies in any country of floor sitters...very rude to tower above them. If you must pass by make eye contact and a little nod/bow.)Carry a scarf to cover your head and use it if other women are. Other mosques are not for tourists unless they are Muslim. You may get a peep but they are pretty ordinary.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 16, 2020 5:30:47 GMT
Thanks, Mark ~ that laid it out very clearly!
And thanks to you, Questa. I've done the respectful tourist thing in mosques in Turkey, but this time around it won't be so blasted hot. What do you have against Malta?
You certainly make Malta sound like a lovely destination, Huckle, especially bringing all that pivotal history into it. I have an online friend from England who has been going to Malta repeatedly over the decades.
|
|
|
Post by onlyMark on Jan 16, 2020 6:34:38 GMT
Never been to Malta even though I know it to be an interesting destination. The idea appeals to me.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 16, 2020 6:35:38 GMT
I am a very easy going traveller and do not seem to have any of these visceral aversions that some of you have. I mentioned Malta because I spent a very nice week there once, just after tourist season had ended in September (I doubt that it ends quite as abruptly now.) -- I felt as though I had the country to myself in my little rental car.
One interesting aspect of Malta is that it looks very Arabic but does not have any inconvenient Islamic rules.
|
|
|
Post by questa on Jan 16, 2020 13:20:01 GMT
I was at boarding school with an "army brat" whose family were stationed in Malta. Her parents went through the siege and we never heard the end of it. Not really my place...I prefer exotic or romantic places (Which don't have a McDonalds.)
|
|
|
Post by fumobici on Jan 16, 2020 15:30:29 GMT
Malta would be plenty "exotic or romantic" enough for me, plus I've been curious about it for years given its proximity to Italy.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 16, 2020 16:07:26 GMT
Well, we'll have to see if Questa's boarding school traumas subside.
However, I am always ready with strange new ideas. For example, I am not at all attracted to the bling-bling of the Emirates, but I also know that some of them have not yet totally succumbed to Las Vegas mode. But even Dubai would not repulse me because believe it or not, my last trip there dates from before all of the construction. It was a dusty hole with an interesting old port. There was a Russian market of old babushkas, because this dates from the total collapse of the Soviet Union. Dubai was only of the only places to which Russians could go without a visa back then and thousands of them had gone just one way. The old women were selling combs, clothespins, plastic forks… I always wondered what had become of them. Did they return to Russia or is there a little Russian colony still in Dubai?
So my own curiosity would lead me to want to see the horrors (?) of modern Dubai but also the nooks and crannies of all of the people who have fallen through the cracks. And then there are places like Abu Dhabi which have tried to avoid the Dubai syndrome and other places like Sharjah or Ras Al-Khaimah which are completely allergic to it.
As for McDonald's, I don't care if it is there or not. Nobody is forcing me to go there. And my trip to Cuba was wonderful, but it was not at all improved by the fact there there are no McDonald's. My moral standards are capable of seeing things that do not appeal to me without ruining my trip. I'm sure that Questa is not allergic to Indonesia even though it is totally infested by McDonald's.
|
|
|
Post by questa on Jan 16, 2020 23:38:21 GMT
My comment about McDonalds has nothing to do with the food, as such. I have occasionally eaten at a "Maccas" as they are known in Oz, and been grateful for it.
I use the presence or absence of the Golden Arches as a measure of how American-ised another country's culture has become. I prefer to travel to places, far enough away from the 'beaten path' where I can experience the cultures and people before they disappear in a flurry of jeans, burgers and rap.
I can't expect these places to freeze in their development just so bus loads of tourists can watch some traditional dances. The villagers have already shortened the program to an hour because they found the tourists have a short attention span. If they hadn't adapted, they would not have been able to build toilet blocks for the village which was the goal for doing the dances anyway.
And I like to watch the long version of the dances, not the McDonalds version.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 20, 2020 20:27:21 GMT
Using McDonald's as an index is pretty much pointless, since the golden arches are going to be in the larger, more modern cities. Oaxaca kept McD's out of the main square, but it shamelessly promotes tourism. And automatically equating culture with exoticism and primitivism means avoiding huge swaths of the world. Even the developed world is far more varied and surprisingly different from our homes than can be imagined. Paris has a McDonald's, which I guess cancels out its stellar museums, its cafe culture, the food, etc., along with the rest of the country of France, which is full of people living the culture of France, which mostly doesn't include quaint costumes or special dances.
Anyway, my real reason for entering the thread right now is to say that it's a pretty sure bet I will be in Morocco for @ the first 3/4 of the month of April. If this is a country that others were thinking of visiting anyway, I'll be glad to share my itinerary once I have one, in case other anyporters might want to meet up there. Otherwise, I'll try to figure out a way to get to whatever place that shapes up to be anyport meetup 2020.
It would be absolutely fabulous if things worked out to get a whole bunch of us together!
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 20, 2020 20:50:11 GMT
There are actually 74 McDonald's in Paris. In the good news department, apparently the number of Starbucks is going down.
|
|
|
Post by fumobici on Jan 20, 2020 22:03:30 GMT
There's a very good chance I'll be in Italy for at least part of April. And it looks like the Casablanca Airport (CMN) is well served. A quick look at the flights showed flights from Rome, Bologna, and Naples in Italy, even direct connections with Miami, NYC and Dulles in the US as well of course Paris and many other European cities. What's the visa requirement?
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 20, 2020 23:05:26 GMT
No visa requirement for US citizens for stays of under 90 days. You just need a valid passport with at least one blank page. Not really pertinent to your question, but I just found out that you can take a helicopter from Spain to Morocco! I've never been in a helicopter, but have always wanted to. Found this out when I looked up ferries from Spain to Tangier because I love the idea of hopping from Europe to Africa, just so I could say I did.
|
|
|
Post by questa on Jan 20, 2020 23:34:19 GMT
CMN is indeed well served but chaotic, at least it was when I was there, I won't be able to join in the get together this time. Remember Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand await you.
|
|
|
Post by questa on Jan 21, 2020 0:28:09 GMT
What a buzz...helichopper! I was supposed to go to the Plain of Jars when I was in Laos, a Russian Sikorsky flying us up and over the last section of land still held by the Khmer Rouge. Unfortunately a Military VIP and his entourage needed an aircraft that would hold more people than the chopper so they used a fixed-wing plane instead to do the trip. Totally uneventful and I missed out on my helicopter ride.
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Jan 21, 2020 2:26:56 GMT
I thought the objection to Malta was because of the murder of an important an courageous investigative journalist and the strong connection to organised crime. I don't want to dwell in stereotypes, but there is a lot of that in neighbouring Sicily and Tunisia (remember Ben Ali and his wife)... That family had a mansion in a posh area of Montréal, bought with funds stolen from the Tunisian people. That said, those places at the very centre of the Med are fascinating, with their long histories and good seafood.
There is a good chance that I'll be travelling to Amsterdam in the autumn to interpret and facilitate at a seminar, and could travel anywhere in northwestern Europe, certainly Paris as I haven't been in over ten years (yes, "flight shame") and have friends I love very much there, including at least three who are over 80. I doubt I'll be going anywhere in the springtime.
One positive is that there are now regular direct flights from Mtl to CDMX, so I don't have to change anywhere in the US.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 21, 2020 6:52:06 GMT
I shouldn't have any trouble dropping into Morocco for a few days when the time comes.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Jan 21, 2020 7:38:47 GMT
I don't want to go to Morocco, particularly Casablanca which is modern and large, rebuilt after a huge earthquake in the mid-60s. The "biggest mosque in the world" doesn't do it for me. However, if you want to come to northern Spain (Atlantic side) I would consider it.
|
|