London Calling

We left the warm land of Morocco to arrive to the land of the Royal family, Bangers and Mash and cups of tea – Welcome to Britain. I was so excited to be back to good ole British Isle.

We arrived at midnight and plans were, we were picking up our rental car to save money the next morning, so we did as hundreds other’s were doing to save a dime, camp at Stanstead airport. You should have seen how many people just landed and instead of checking into an expensive hotel nearby, they would set up camp for the night and wait for the next flight or the train to London. It should be re-named Campstead. So we got our little posy got some zzzz’s and woke to a buzzing, busy airport. We got the car and had pretty much the day to kill as we were picking our friend Annabel up from Gatwick airport that evening, so we looked at the map and halfway was Brighton. So off we headed to Brighton for the day, to laze on the unusual sandless yet rocky beach, and amuse ourselves in the carnival located on the pier.

After a days worth of shopping and checking out the Royal Pavilion which was a former Royal residence in the 1700’s, we drove to Gatwick to collect Annie and head to Minehead west of Bristol where we went to be part of All tomorrows parties a music festival curated by Animal collective.

So basically Animal Collective chose all the bands they liked the most to create the line-up. This was the most interesting organised festival I have ever been too. It was located at an old family holiday village, which had this ghostly feel to it, that this was the summer holiday destination to attend back in the day and now it felt all abandoned and that it had had it’s day, except for now! We stayed in self-contained chalets, which were a really good change to the usual camping at festivals, you actually slept!

It was so interesting the lengths they went to at organising everything, from having there own Animal Collective television channels where they chose what was to play, to the quirky, interesting movies playing in the in-house cinema to having a DJ set located in the swimming pool. They had speakers underwater, so you could hear and feel the beat whilst being submerged in the water. It was amazing. There were too many bands to speak about, but all in all I went in pretty much not knowing any of the bands and leaving with a new heap of amazing likeable new bands to get into. After ATP we drove to Bristol to stay with my friend Orla and her boyfriend Rick who were amazing hosts and attended to our tired, fragile selves for the night. We said our thanks and left to Bath the next morning. Named Bath by the Romans as it’s famous for it’s hot springs and therefore the Romans built all these amazing, wonderful, ancient baths through the whole valley and that’s where the name Bath comes from.

We discovered that Jamie Oliver has his Italian Restaurant there and we thought it needed to be tried and tested. The food was delicious, we both had Buffalo ricotta and lemon ravioli as to avoid food envy and I had to try the Chocolate and Espresso tart with Sticky Figs and orange crème fraiche, that’s all I have to say about that one!! We decided to head out of Bath for the night and find a nice Bed & Breakfast in the surrounding countryside.

We found this beautiful one, quite close to Bradford upon Avon and next door to a small traditional country pub. We went into Bradford for Naomi’s long awaited Cream Tea experience, which is basically Tea and Scones. We found The Bridge Tea Rooms which had been voted quote ‘Near Perfect” by the British council. Yes they have a Tea council!!

Not like we hadn’t eaten enough that day we went back home had a rest and than had dinner at the pub next door. Looking at the menu full of traditional English cuisine the decision was proving difficult, so I read “Hogs Roast” the only description was pork Roast with crackling and apple sauce, and a side of veggies. Yeah that sounds basic and fulfilling… this needs to come with a warning this was half a pig and don’t ask me how I stomached this… Pig 0 – Jake 1!

Waking in the morning to Naomi telling me that I had the night sweats from too much pork, I tried to devour the Full English Breakfast, got on the road and headed for London Town. We dropped the car off in Kings Cross, note to self, don’t ever drive in the city of London there are congestion charges for a reason. Finally got through the crowded streets, dropped of the car and thus started our 2 days in London. Not really having allot of time to do much in London and knowing it’s a stone’s throw away from Berlin, we spent majority of our time drinking pints and meeting up with friends. I thought if there was one place to take Naomi it would have to be Camden for some punk spotting and Brick Lane for a curry. Other than that London Town was a short but sweet visit, but we will be back!

Mystique Morocco

Our arrival into Morocco sleep deprived from spending an all nighter in Paris the evening before trying to save money thanks to Ryan Air’s early time schedule wasn’t the most pleasant experience. The hang over started to set in, the heat was sweltering and to top it off we booked a transfer knowing that we would have something along these lines happen to us as a result and than the King of Morocco arrives or lands not sure which one BUT we are stuck in the car park in our van, no air conditioning, no water -Welcome to Morocco!

We finally arrived and we were escorted through the medina to our ancient restored Riad. The building and the rooms were beautiful beyond belief. Our room was situated on the second floor, decorated and fit for a King. We had a view to the central courtyard of the building, which is what makes a Riad a Riad! They were built inward focused, which allowed for family privacy and protection from the weather in Morocco and they were also centrally focused on a courtyard or garden.

We ventured up to the rooftop with Mohamed the manager of the Riad for the most magically view over the entire medina and for a quick lesson on where everything was to get our bearings, as Fez is a maze of labyrinth streets which only the locals pretty much know where to go and a map is pretty much useless!! We woke to the most amazing breakfast I think I have ever had in a hotel / guesthouse before. The highlight was carrot and cardamom jam which was even tastier on these pancake cross between crumpet like pastries, and the orange juice was the freshest tart juice we had experienced.

We started day 1 with a guide to take us around and get a true insight to the local Berber traditions and to get more of an explanation of everyday life inside the walls of this ancient city. After our day tour we were left to our own devices to meander our way through the mazelike streets which was somewhat frustrating yet also it was exciting like we were children exploring a dreamlike city! Something which I got allot more out of this time visiting Fez was visiting the tanneries and learning more than just why it smelt like a dead rotten carcass!

We also stumbled upon a traditional spice and ancient remedies shop, which was really quirky and interesting. Our three days in Fez passed by so quickly, time to leave the hustle and bustle for more hustle and bustle as we caught our seven hour train ride to Marrakech.

I was so excited to be visiting this city again five years later. Wow how things had changed. It was always touristy but this was something else. The main square Jemaa El-Fnaa was a breeding ground for tourist’s and what was once a place of giving the sense of being in some ancient middle eastern place had turned into a Disneyland of snake charmer’s, tarot card readers and locals dressed in traditional dress, banging a drum and holding a chained up monkey dressed in dolls clothes all for a few dollars, sad really, but if you meandered past all this and dived head first into the alley ways that make up the souqs this was a totally different world.

Don’t get me wrong it still has the total touristy feel to it carpet seller after carpet seller yelling out “ where you from “ to get you lured into there market shop, but than you do find yourself looking through some old antiques and being able to have a chat with the owner without being forced into purchasing anything.

We stumbled upon the place where all the locals tend to eat, at first we thought “ should we “ but this was some of the most tastiest mouth watering tagine we had tasted until we were invited by Dana the host of the apartment we had rented for our stay in Marrakech to lunch. Dana is an American textile designer and she was a very interesting woman as we found out over lunch. She works for big Hollywood movies mainly set in Morocco doing there costume’s she reeled of a few but a big one was Babel that I recall.

I think our highlight of our Moroccan experience was our last day, and Dana organized a local driver for us to take us for a drive to the surrounding Atlas mountains, one hour or so out of the city and your surrounded by these amazing orange colored mountains.

We were taken to this amazing 2000 year old monastery where we had a picnic by the nearby river. The monastery was closed and all boarded up when we arrived and as if by magic out of nowhere a man with a key came to unlock it and show us around. Inside the Islamic architecture was so incredible and intricate and it was easy to see how grand this once would have been.

We set off higher and deeper into the mountains after lunch to a small town where we got out for a walk. The nature was so beautiful, you just needed to look up and you were surrounded by snow-capped mountains, hard to believe when it was around 30 degree’s!

We set back for Marrakech mid afternoon and spent our last night - last meal in the main square where it is transformed at night from the tourist trap to a culinary delight. It is filled with food carts selling their delights, from shwarmas to kebabs to snail soup! What a lovely way to end our few days in Northern Africa.

Oui Oui Paree

This is my tenth time to Paris, and I must say the best time I have ever experienced in Paris. To actually visit the city of love with your love makes this romantic city so much more than just a touristy cliché that we all know Paris to be.

We arrived into Paris mid afternoon and found our new home for the next 5 days. We stayed with Caroline, a French fashion designer that we found advertised that she was renting her spare room in her small Montmarte apartment. She was so lovely from the beginning and so was her cute little Parisian decorated apartment. She came with many recommendations for small local jaunts to eat and drink to places to shop and find some true bargains.

Now writing this entry I have realised that majority of our time spent in Paris was spent eating and tasting as much culinary delights as we possibly could!
We found ourselves on day one, sipping a Bordeaux and eating steak tartare at a local restaurant in Montmarte and compiling a list of must do’s whilst in Paris.

THE LIST OF MUST DO’S
- Louvre
- Eat Macaroons and drink Veuve
- Naomi to have a makeup makeover
- Try Foi Gras
- Visit a choclaterie
- Drink short black’s and eat pastries for breakfast
- Buy some sexy lingerie (for Naomi!)
- Drink Sherry
- Eat Brulle daily
- Eat Crepe’s on the street
- Visit Paris’s oldest ice creamery
- Eat a flan
- Eat Croque Monsieur
- Eat Snails

We succeeded in completing the majority of the list!

I think the highlight of the whole Paris experience was our last day - Naomi’s birthday. We checked out of our small Montmarte apartment and thus started the day of surprises and spoils.
We jumped onto the metro and, all Naomi knew of was that we were checking into a special hotel. She had no idea where it was. We jumped of the train at Saint Michel, Naomi still none the wiser to where we were. The excitement jumping out of her, we emerged from the metro to be welcomed by a view of the Notre Dame. We walked across the road to our hotel, funny enough named Hotel Notre Dame! We checked into our designer boutique room with the most amazing view. We felt as though we could touch one of the many gargoyles sprouting from the magnificent building.

We walked to the Champs Elysee to get a selection of Macaroons from the famous patisserie Laudree and a bottle of Veuve to enjoy whilst looking at our romantic view. We had dinner at a recommendation from Jodie my sister, Hotel Nord – Do try and find next time your in Paris. The food was amazing and I would probably have to say the best meal in Paris. We started with Foi Gras and caramelised onion chutney with a hard crusty baguette, and a roast pumpkin brulle with blue cheese wafers, which was out of this world! For mains we had a steak with Béarnaise and French potatoes, and desert was finished with a chocolate cheesecake mess!!

Overall our Paris experience was an amazing, magic time and we wouldn’t change anything. Next years birthdays and birthdays to come are going to be a hard one to top!

Norway

I think we arrived to experience the land of the midnight sun at just the right time. The skies were clear, sun was shining, the trees were sprouting their new leaves and the spring flowers were popping up everywhere. The remnants of the cold wintery days were behind us.
We flew into Oslo and checked into our apartment we rented from a lovely couple for a few nights. They had an amazing array of records, a fireplace and scrabble to keep us entertained.
Norway being named as one of the expensive countries in the world is fact, I would have to say the most expensive country I have ever been to. Day one we are feeling a bit peckish, we ended up at this funky outdoor bar, which was recommended to us. After having some help with menu translations we decided on the salmon burger and the beef, blue cheese and loganberry burger with 1 pear cider to share and this all came to the equivelant of approx $70AUD!! That was our first and last dining in Norway experience!!

Having arrived into Norway during the Easter break, allot of shops were closed in downtown Oslo, so we decided to spend Easter Saturday in the forest, where we had been told by our host that you just have to catch the metro to the end of the line and there you are in the forest, and that is was!

The one downfall was that the weather was forecast for a balmy 20 degree’s, excited that I was, I wore my thongs, and to my dismay we arrived to find that there was still snow on the mountainside and as we got deeper into the forest we found the tracks to be totally covered in snow, and the only way through was to brave it and get the feet emerged! We couldn’t have thought of a more perfect way to spend Easter than our forest picnic dining experience! It even came complete with, to my surprise an Easter egg hunt!

Day 3 we caught the train to Bergen on the West Coast of Norway. The train journey is famed as the most impressive train trip in all of Europe, and that is was. The 7 hour train trip had the most varied landscape, with views of forests, rivers, lakes, mountains, glaciers and fjords. Arrival at around 8PM and the sun still shining in Bergen gave us the first glimpse of the midnight Sun. In the summer months Norway and most part’s of Scandinavia stay daylight for most parts of the day and night and we have arrived in time to get the beginning of this magical ordeal.

We found our new apartment which was situated in one of the old heritage buildings that gives Bergen its old world charm and the feeling as though you have stepped back to the times of the Viking’s! We spent most of our time in Bergen cooking and sampling some of the finest Nordic ingredients. From the freshest Salmon fillets, actually to my surprise the cheapest cavier I have ever purchased, to the finest sweetest berries.

The food here may be expensive, yet amazing on the tastebuds, but at least it gives you the feeling that Yes you are paying through the roof for it but at least it’s good quality and tasty! A big shock to us was when we were down at the fish markets and asked if we would like to sample some smoked whale meat, after declining and asking why, then thinking maybe we heard wrong or the fishmonger’s english wasn’t the best, to than find out that Norway and Japan are the only places in the world to legally sell whale meat. This was just one of the small downfalls to this wonderful country and we were lucky enough to spend our 1 year anniversary in one of the most magical, beautiful, amazing places I have experienced in the World.