Marrakech Day 1 and 2

Day 1 - Friday

After an early start (due to the early flight) we arrived in Marrakech and checked into our hotel just in time to see Kate making her way to the abbey.  We watched Wills and Kate get married, while admiring her beautiful dress and keeping our eyes peeled for Posh and Becks in the congregation. We saw them.

Feeling a bit tired and unsure where to start we spotted the the tourist bus going by as we had lunch in the hotel cafe. After lunch we hopped on the bus and got a 48 hr ticket for about £15. Bargain.

The bus does 2 tours - the historique tour and the oasis tour- we did both.

The historique tour took us along Mohammed vi avenue (which is the longest avenue at about 5km) to the Jardin la Menara.  At the side of the road there are groups of camels awaiting eager tourists.

After swinging by the Marrakech casino the tour reached the pink city walls and headed down towards the Koutoubia Mosque.  We briefly passed the Jemaa El Fna square which still looked very busy despite the recent attack.

We passed the Royal Palace where I had to remember not to take a picture as it is strictly forbidden!

We swapped buses for the oasis tour which took us up towards the Jardin Marjorelle and the Palmarie.  Much more deserty up this way and lots more camels. Apparently this is also the Beverley Hills of Marrakech so there were some very fancy cribs!

Having got our bearings a bit we felt like we had more of a plan for the rest of the trip.

Back to the hotel, The Mogador Opera, for a delicious tagine before falling into bed.

Day 2 - Saturday

Woke up really early feeling slightly confused about what the actual time was. What with Easyjet telling us to put our watches back and the joker on reception messing with our heads and changing the clocks, just for laughs, we ended up having breakfast at what we thought was 9am but was actually 10am. Which explains why there wasn't a lot left (breakfast finished at 10.30am).

After getting ourselves sorted with the right time we headed off to the Koutoubia Mosque (on our little bus).
A brief wander around the outside of the mosque, as non Muslims are not allowed in, confirmed that there wasn't a lot more to see there.  We did the death run across the road and made our way towards the Jemaa El Fna square.

Part of the square was condoned off and we were told it was because the King was coming (and we don't mean Elvis) to see the damage. 

Venturing into the main square I turned around to find mum being accosted by a monkey. It's a good job the monkey understood French as a forceful 'non merci' from mum sent him back to his owner.  Can't leave her alone for a minute!

After the monkey incident we managed to avoid the snakes and bravely carried on towards the souks.

You have to keep on your toes to avoid being mown down by all the mopeds, bicycles and donkey carts who speed through the narrow alleyways.

The souks sell a mixture of traditional wares, such as silver, lanterns, leather, shoes, scarves, spices and olives. By contrast we also came across many stalls selling the usual market trader goods you'd get back home, such as t-shirts, handbags and Calvin Klein underwear. 

The men and women of the mountains, in traditional costume, had also come down to sell their goods and entertain the crowds with their music.

Both the square and the souks are full of hustle and bustle so we stopped for a drink and a rest at the Koutoubia cafe where we could sit back and watch the world go by. 

This is where you can really take in just how chaotic the roads are in Marrakech. There are all sorts of vehicles from brand new audi's, mopeds and 3 wheeled trucks to donkey carts, horse and carriages and even mobility scooters. Among all this there are policemen blowing their whistles while directing the traffic as well as hundreds of people dodging in and out trying to cross the road.

Back on the bus we hopped off again at Place du 16 Novembre and found a nice little cafe for lunch.  This seemed to be an upmarket area with high street shops and fancy looking apartments.  It felt a little bit calmer here....until the traffic policeman started frantically blowing his whistle.  We stood up for a better view and waited for the road to be cleared.  Shortly after a number of black cars sped by followed by a few motorcycle outriders, then a few more cars, then the official car with flag on the front and King inside, flanked by 3-4 further cars also sped by. And they were literally speeding along. There was a round of applause from onlookers and quite a few more entourage cars before the traffic started moving again. We'd seen the King of Morocco....we'll his cars dust trail anyway!

Over the road we spotted a mini souk so off we wandered only to emerge 15 minutes later clutching some pashminas. It was a good shop Dale.

After all the excitement we headed back to the hotel for a quick rest before dinner.

The Family Stone on DVD

The latest film from LOVEFiLM was The Family Stone.  I’d probably class this as a romcom with a bit of drama.  It’s about a guy that brings his uptight city girlfriend home to his slightly unconventional and whacky family for their annual Christmas celebration.

I feel like I may have missed something at the beginning (but I was watching it from the start) because the family all seemed to really dislike Meredith (the city girlfriend) before she even arrived.  The film then goes through some really awkward moments mixed in with some quite funny bits and also a few sad parts – so really one to get all the emotions going!

Meredith (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) tries to fit in with the family, not to much avail, as they set her up and generally give her a hard time before she gets her sister, Julie, down for support.  This in itself opens up more complications as the family seem to love her instantly and even the affections of Meredith’s boyfriend, Everett (played by Dermont Mulroney) start to sway towards Julie (played by Clare Danes).

Meredith ends up spending the evening in a bar with Everett’s brother Ben (played by Luke Wilson) and then thinks she’s slept with him, which along with the fact that she can tell Everett’s affections are moving to her sister (Julie gets the engagement ring stuck on her finger as Everett was asking her to ‘try it on’) makes her think about her relationship.

The film finishes with the family the following year where Meredith is with Ben (the brother), Everett is with Julie and the mother, Sybil (played by Diane Keaton), has passed away.  At least it looks like everyone is friends at the end!

There were lots of well known names in this film – SJP, Dermot Mulroney, Clare Danes, Diane Keaton, Luke Wilson, Amy McAdams and Craig T Neslon - who played a random array of characters but all it a good share of comedy and drama, not sure there was that much romance though?!

It was nice easy film to watch that kept us entertained while leaving us feeling like we weren’t sure whether to laugh or cry.

I’m going to give this a 3.5 brothers and sisters out of 5

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Hooters World Tour

In recent years, mostly since I started holidaying with the Daves (my friends Dave T and Dave A), I seem to have developed a liking for Hooters chicken. My first Hooters experience was in Las Vegas – well if I’m going to start I may as well start in style!

I had a perception of Hooters in my mind. And this was not really changed once I arrived. But it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. The girls were all really friendly and made sure I got in the picture with them and the boys (although I felt slightly overdressed!). With a slightly TGI feel to it the walls are adorned with sporting memorabilia, photos of famous faces with the Hooters girls and the big screens are all tuned into the sports channels. I was guided by the Daves as to what was good, although I went for the medium sauce as opposed the extra extra hot! The food is actually really nice and in true American style there is always so much of it. Hooters bills itself as ‘delightfully tacky yet unrefined’ and that it is… but in a typical OTT American good and fun way.

Hooters Las Vegas

So from this first experience in the Hooters hotel in Las Vegas the Hooters World Tour began.

Next stop on the tour was Hooters Honalulu, Hawaii. An equally fun Hooters, albeit a hot one especially with all that hot sauce going around!

Hooters Honalulu

Hooters Tenerife came next. This was a bit of a random one. We were the only people in there so it lacked the atmosphere that the previous Hooters had provided. The food was tasty but not quite as good as the norm. But we did get really good service and our waitress was very chatty and efficient (nothing to do with us being her only customers I’m sure).

Hooters Tenerife

Last year we sampled the UK’s only Hooters – Hooters Nottingham. We were reminded of the usual good atmosphere, service and food here. Being a female I was definitely in the minority in this Hooters as the majority of diners were men on birthday, stag and general boys night out type do’s. There was a lot of audience participation as the girls did their happy birthday routines to poor unsuspecting men. While the birthday boys were downing shots and squeezing into women’s sized cropped t-shirts the rest of the restaurant were encouraged to chant and clap along. Knowing that our group was not quite as loud and leery as some of the other groups we opted for a more subdued version of the birthday pack for Dave T (who birthday night out it was). A shot of JD (they had paid attention to what he was drinking), a quick rendition of happy birthday Hooters style, a photo with the girls and goody bag went down a treat!

Hooters Beer!

So if you haven’t been yet I’d recommend getting yourself along to Hooters – now which one shall I go to next??

The Hooters World Tour

Summer Shape Up

Summer is here! Well ok maybe not quite yet but we have had enough sunny weather of late for that ‘I need to get fit for summer’ panic to set in.  My plan, as always, is to get started at the beginning of the year however, as always, this didn’t happen.  

So as part of my get fit campaign I started off by buying My Fitness Coach Dance Workout for the Wii.  The theory being that this would be more fun and therefore less like actual exercise.  And it is actually quite fun!  I’m not sure salsa dancing is my forte (I think I need to learn the moves a bit more) but there are a number of boxercise routines as well which is much more my thing – I’m practically Jean Claude.


As well as the dancing and boxercise routines there are various mini games that you can play.  My flatmate (Katie) and I are now very adept at bullfighting and karate chopping china vases and melons but could do with a little more work on our Rodeo and kangaroo fighting.




My other get fit product is the Slendertone.  Katie and I went along to a recent Slendertone media event at the Sanctum Soho Hotel.  It was really interesting finding out about all the products for zapping different parts of the body.  Slendertone is probably most well known for its tummy toning device but they also have ones for the arms and face.  And although Katie and I were both envisaging the ‘Face Bra’ when beauty expert, Nichola Joss, was telling us how she and her celebrity clients used it on long flights, it is actually very discreet looking and thankfully nothing at all like the ‘Face Bra’.

I was quite impressed with the all the scientific research behind the products (they have many years of medical experience and strong clinical trials) so it makes me think that it will actually work as opposed to some of the cheaper version you can buy.

The latest product they are launching is the Slendertone Bottom – does exactly what it says on the tin and trims that tush!

 

Katie and I were very kindly given the Slendertone Abs Belt and Slendertone Arms so we’ve got a couple of those problem areas covered between us.  Once we got them home we thought we get straight on with it and strapped ourselves in (it was actually really easy to put them on).  We nervously started off quite slow; I think we thought we were going to get some kind of electric shock or something.  It is in fact electro muscle stimulation technology that mimics the body’s natural muscle action by stimulating the nerves supplying the muscle groups – nothing at all like an electric shock.  It didn’t feel too bad at all, so we started building up the intensity – I possibly got a little carried away had to come back down a level or two as my arm seemed to develop a life of its own.

We were told we’d start to see the effects within about 4 weeks, however as we have not quite been that strict with ourselves and may have a missed a few of our daily 20 min sessions it may take us a little longer.  The good thing about the Slendertone is that you can wear it and carry on about your daily business so you don’t actually have to stop what you are doing to fit your exercise in (note to self: must think of another excuse now).

So I’m feeling motivated and have my first trip coming up in a couple of days so will defiantly have a few last minute sessions with both the Slendertone and on the Wii (and I will look like the women on the front of the box)!   

Weekend ‘Up North’

I’ve been ‘up north’ this weekend and to the actual north – not just a little further on than Watford! My friends and I got in the car and headed up the motorway (detouring via the M40/M1 to avoid the fire damaged M1) to our friends' house in Baildon, near Leeds.

The sun was shining and tunes were playing and we finally arrived at Andrea and Paul’s new house to be greeted with a sun lounger in the garden, bacon butty and a beer!  I could see this was going to be a good weekend.

After brunch we headed off to the Old Tramshed in Saltaire, which – funnily enough – was in fact an old tram shed with tram lines on the floors and all.  It also had a good beer garden and served nice cold Coronas.

The Old Tramshed

Saltaire is a world heritage site so here is a brief history of the area as I was told by Andrea and Paul:

Even got its own 'World Heritage Site' sign

In around 1850 Titus Salt built a large textile mill 3 miles from Bradford on the River Aire.  He also built rows and rows of housing and other amenities for his mill workers, which eventually created the village of Saltaire.  All the street names were named after his sons, daughters and family members such as Ada Street, William Henry Street and Fanny Street.  

The Mill

One of the streets named after Titus himself

Apparently Titus was also teetotal and so there were no pubs or inns in the village and he banned beershops, however as we found out this is no longer the case and in tribute to Titus Salt the bar ‘Don’t tell Titus’ was opened in 2007!  

There are also four lion statues; there was some vagueness over what relevance they had (we are a few beers down by now) but I’ve just done a little Wikipedia and Google research and it seems there is still some vagueness over their relevance.  They are all different and it has been said that they guard Victoria Square – over what though no one is quite clear.  Another theory is that they were made for Trafalgar Square but then there was some falling out, Titus Salt saw them and brought them to Saltaire.  Oh hold on I’ve just read another one!  This builds on the Trafalgar Square theory.  According to legend the lions were very accurately carved to very last detail.  These ‘detailed’ lions were a bit too much for the prudish Victorian Londoners so instead of chiseling off the ‘offending’ parts new lions were made (with not so much ‘detail’) and the old lions, parts and all, were brought to Saltaire! 

One of the 'poses' the lions pull

Can you see the 'detail'?

During this story we’d made our way down to the ‘Don’t tell Titus’ bar and then had moved on towards the recently refurbished, Boathouse.  This was a lovely pub by the river which served really nice food - there is definitely something about Yorkshire fish and chips! 

The evening was spent trying to start a fire in the chimnea, albeit slightly unsuccessfully, mixed in with some good conversation and rum and cokes.

On Sunday we took a trip into Baildon and treated ourselves to a good old full English in one of the local cafés, bought some classic sweets in the old fashioned sweet shop/hut and then headed back to the garden to soak up some of the Yorkshire sun.

After an eventful start – being stuck behind the Nagar KirtanParade (of about 7000 people) and dodging the poor little pony running down the M62 – the journey back wasn’t too bad, however we arrived home to find we’d all ‘caught the sun’ and were looking a bit rosy!

Ben 10: Ultimate Alien on DVD

Now I’ll admit I am partial to watching a few random cartoons every now and then (usually in the company of my friends and families’ young children) but when I was offered this DVD to review I thought maybe not for me…… but I know someone who would like it.  My 6 year old godson and Ben 10 fanatic, Euan – he’ll love this.  So this is my first guest blogger (with a little bit of help from me).

Ben Tennyson (aka Ben 10) is, in general, an ordinary 10 year old boy but with his special Omnitrix watch he can change into an alien – well 10 different aliens in fact.  He uses his power mostly for good but every now and again he does get up to a bit of super hero mischief!

(c) 2011 Cartoon Network

This DVD (Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, Vol: Escape From Aggregor) sees Ben as a 16 year old and features 10 different episodes.

Me: So what does Ben 10 get up to in this DVD Euan?

Euan: He has a got a new watch thing called the Ultimatrix. Its bit like his other one but it means he can change into super aliens that are really strong – lots stronger and better than the normal ones.  Everyone finds out that he is a super hero and he gets really famous.

Me: Which was your favourite episode?

Euan: I liked the third one the best.  The one where all his enemies are trying to get his mum and dad.

Me: Is Ben 10 more sensible now that has grown up and is 16 years old?

Euan:  (laughs) No he is still a bit naughty!

Me: So did you like this DVD?

Euan: Yeah it was dead good.  I’m going to watch it again!

Me: How many stars out of 5 are you going to give it?

Euan: Erm…I think… 4!

So there you have it straight from the mouth of a 6 year old this is a good DVD.  It’s out on Monday (18th) so might help keep the kids amused over the Easter holidays!

Hampton Court Palace

Last weekend I joined my flatmate, her mum, auntie and cousin on a day out to Hampton Court Palace.  I haven’t been to Hampton Court Palace since I was really young when my uncle was doing a dig there.

Here’s a brief history of Hampton Court Palace: (there is more information on the website)
1494 – Hampton Court medieval manor is occupied and modernised by Giles Daubeney
1514 – Cardinal Wolesly leases Hampton Court Palace and rebuilds it on a grand scale – Henry VIII comes for a visit
1529 – Henry VIII royal workmen take over the building works
1689 – Sir Christopher Wren knocks down parts of the Tudor palace and rebuilds it for King William III and Queen Victoria II
1760 – George III becomes king and abandons Hampton Court Palace as his royal residence
1838 – Queen Victoria opens the gardens and state apartments to the public for free!

As we walked the courtyard it was all set up as market day for some filming that was taking place.   

We made our way round Henry VIII’s Apartments and then on to Mary II’s Apartments.  

In Mary II’s Apartments there was an additional exhibition called Florimania – where all the state rooms were filled with spectacular flower displays.

The weather was still holding out so we trekked outside to the maze!  As I said I haven’t been to Hampton Court Palace since I was young so I remembered the maze being a lot bigger than it actually was – but maybe it’s because I was a lot smaller?! 

I’m not sure we really had a ‘plan’ as such I sort of just followed everyone else in the hope that they knew what they were doing.  Eventually, after only a few wrong turns, we made it to the middle – yay!  Luckily it’s a lot easier to find the exit…

Where is everyone.......?

...oh there they are....

Made it!

Last port of call was Henry VIII’s Kitchens including the kitchen sounds and smells!  We talked to one of the guides/characters who was decorating a marzipan ship who told us about the banquets and feasts.  Apparently a feast is for everyone with lots of meats and desserts but a banquet is for selected guest of the King only and usually took place in more private quarters.  A banquet was all about sugar, sugar, sugar! It was sweet treats and sugar overload all round.

 
Hampton Court Palace is a great place to visit and I think I’m going to take my mum there in the summer!

Skyline on DVD (Blu-ray)

Monday might's movie was Skyline.  This sci-fi horror was a cross between Independence Day and War of the Worlds.


Set in LA the film follows a group of friends who wake up (in a very nice apartment) after a party to find weird blue lights in the sky. They quickly discover that if you look at the pretty blue lights then you lose control of yourself and get sucked up into the alien crafts.


After trying various different ways to escape (the Ferrari gets stomped on!) they are given some new hope when they spot military planes flying in. And all seems to go well as one of the fighter jets manages to shoot a nuke at the mother ship sending it crashing to the ground. Not sure any survivors in the buildings below thought it was a relief though.


The jubilation is short lived as they notice the mother ship is one if those aliens 'that just won't die' and begins putting itself back together.


The special effects are really good and look great on blu-ray - with the exception of the part when Jarrod attacks one of the aliens with a breeze block!


Eventually Jarrod and Elaine, the only two left, are at the mercy of the aliens and have a very emotional journey being 'sucked up' into the mother ship.


There are scenes of alien destruction all over the world (notably London and Vegas) giving you the impression that there is no hope for mankind and that the aliens have taken over the world. But wait. In the style of 'The Descent' there is more.


Inside the mother ship is a huge pile of humans who've had their brains removed (this is what regenerates the aliens) and their bodies discarded like chicken bones at KFC. All the brains are blue except Jarrod's. His is red. And we see the film set up for a sequel as Jarrod protects still alive, still human and still pregnant Elaine from the other aliens.....


This was an enjoyable number and well worth a watch.


I'm giving it a 4 alien legs out of 5.

Jaws at Victoria Baths courtesy of Curiously Cinnema

Yesterday I jumped on a train to Manchester. The first good thing about this was that I didn't miss the train! The tube I am fine with but 'big' trains not so good.

Anyway I headed off to Manchester for a Curiously Cinnema event. My team at work run the events for Curiously Cinnamon and the idea is that we show 'great films in unusual places.'

We've already done The Shinning at Wollaton Hall in Nottingham and Goal at St James' Park in Newcastle. Last night was Manchester's turn. The film was Jaws (a classic) and the venue was Victoria Baths. Very fitting.

Victoria Baths was the winner of the BBC's Restoration programme and has been restored to almost it's original state. Although they still have work to do it is an amazing building and has so far been restored beautifully. They use the venue for events like ours which helps bring in the money to continue the restoration work.

So, we were in the ladies pool and we were literally in the pool! Thankfully there was no water in the pool but instead a large cinema screen and about 100 guests ready to enjoy the world's most famous great white bring chaos to Amity Island.

Instead of popcorn, Curiously Cinnema provided 'curious popcorn' of the cereal Curiously Cinnamon, which is actually strangely addictive!

There was also a photo booth and a queue of people lined up to get in the shark costume for their memento photo's.

I haven't seen Jaws for ages but it is still a great film and watching it while sitting in an empty Edwardian swimming was definitely an interesting way to see the film again, albeit a tad on the chilly side. These Edwardian heating systems are not what they used to be!

I know I am biased because I worked on the event but the round of applause at the end of the film and the great comments on the Curiously Cinnamon Facebook page are a good sign that people enjoyed themselves.

I'm looking forward to some more events and finding some more weird and wonderful venues!

The Ideal Home Show

After being bashed around on the tube by all the random mops and back rests, I thought I'd find out where everyone was getting all these random homewares from and took a trip to the Ideal Home Show last week.

The Ideal Home Show was on at Earls Court (it’s finished now though) and is ‘Britain’s best loved home event’ with areas covering: ideal Interiors, ideal Home Improvements, ideal Gardens, ideal Gadgets, ideal Food & Housewares, ideal Shopping and ideal Woman.

River boat anyone?

I like having a wander round these sort of places looking at all the lovely home and garden things (the latest home entertainment equipment, lights in all different shapes and sizes, Hawaiian garden huts, river boats and go no-where swimming pools) and planning where I will put them in my large mansion and grounds (that I get when the lottery cheque comes through that is).

The showhomes section....

Once we'd done the homeware section we moved onto the Ideal Woman section.  Now while I'd managed to avoid being lured into buying the most amazing mop, that-will-practically-cook-dinner, in the world I knew I'd be in trouble here!

I was almost suckered into the miracle hair appliance that is the curling wand. I do still want/need one of these. Even though the prices has been slashed for the show to a half price £80 I managed to walk away.

Just as I thought I'd escaped empty handed and we were on our way to the Ideal Food section I spotted the nail stand! My weakness. After having a chat with the lovely lady on the OMG Nails stand and having my nails done with some pretty nail art I succumbed, handed over my credit card and walked away with the MoYou Nail art set!

Not too bad for my first attempt!

Now I know it seems like I was lured by the sales talk and show price bargains but I do think this is something I'll use! Here is my justification:

1) I like painting my nails
2) I like a bit of nail art
3) My friends will like having their nails done
4) I estimate that I spend 2080 minutes a year painting my nails
5) I estimate the cost per use to be £3 a go or less so really it is a bargain

So I left the show feeling mixed between like I'd slightly let myself down but at the same time rather pleased I'd got a new toy to play with!

I think I'll probably try and go again next year.......