Category Archives: Travel Tidbits & Tips

You haven’t been to Marrakech until you’ve been here

Posted on by

Jemaa El-Fnaa Market is a square & market place in the old city or Medina of Marrakech, used by locals & tourists.

During the day it’s mostly fresh juice stalls, merchants with traditional leather bags, jewelry & brass cups, youths trying to get you to pay for photos with monkeys & then there are the snake charmers. There are plenty of small cafes & restaurants to have a meal or Moroccan Mint Tea.

As the day progresses, the entertainment changes: late in the day the square becomes more crowded, with dancing/acrobatic boys (it would be against custom for girls to provide such entertainment), storytellers telling their tales in Berber or Arabic, magicians, and peddlers of traditional medicines or Argan oil lotions & such.

The souks with the spices & fruit are beautiful in their gorgeous colours & smells!

As darkness falls, the square fills with dozens of food stalls as the number of people on the square peaks. Steam rising from food stalls greets you, as do the greeters trying to invite you over for a meal.

The square is edged along one side by the Marrakesh souk, a traditional North African market: both for the common daily needs of the locals & for the tourists looking for something to take home with them.

On other sides are hotels, gardens & café terraces, narrow streets lead into the alleys of the medina quarter.

The square is so busy that you must watch as you go, for mopeds rush past at breakneck speeds! There are carts, pulled by donkeys, loaded down with fresh bread or fresh produce.

If you want to go into the alleyways we suggest one or two things: 1) Ask your Riad or hotel to find you a guide. You’ll pay them a little to help you not get lost & they’ll take you to what you ask to see. 2) If you don’t want a guide, always look like you know what you’re doing – if you don’t, some troublemakers take note & may try to pickpocket you or otherwise bully you into paying them some money. We chose a guide & had no trouble. Our friends went it alone, and did have a bit of an issue.

The best view of the market will be from a restaurant rooftop patio. We suggest https www.zeitouncafe.com You can enjoy the craziness from the comfort up above! You can hear the entertainment + the Calls to Prayer. Take a peek at our video here: https://youtu.be/xqKpYCBXhWQ

Countdown to Morocco

Posted on by

Always on the search for the perfect personal item & the best carry-on… I’m going to give these a try:

Found a Kenneth Cole carry-on branded ‘Reaction’ at my local Winners store. It’s got zippered covers on each side to hold your belongings firmly in place + extra pockets inside. I like the easy movement of the double spinner wheels & the telescoping handle works well. There are protective corner pieces & a few spots with grip handles to make it easy to pick up at any angle. This one was about $90

I won’t travel without compression bags (or socks!) now. They make it so much easier to fit everything you want to take into just a carry-on. These ones don’t need a vacuum to seal them, just roll them up by hand. They also protect your clothing etc from any moisture. They cost about $13 for 4 bags.

Miami Carry On Vacuum Bags

From experience, I know good shoes make all the difference between enjoying your walking tour & totally not. I knew just where to shop local to get them too – Payton & Buckle Shoes in Downtown Chilliwack. These comfy little slip-on runners are by Vionic & are from their Beach line, they actually have arch support. I’ll wear these for our flights as well – easy on, easy off. They can be worn with my capris, skirts or dresses. I love that they’re washable. It’s going to be hot in Morocco so sandals are a must, these gold ones will be cool but are nicely padded & adjustable across the top of the foot. They’re by Aetrex. Pricing varies. www.paytonandbuckle.com

The Aetrex Izzy

This time I ordered my new anti-theft personal item bag from Amazon, a co-worker had gotten a similar one that she took to Mexico & it worked very well. I have to have something with lots of compartments, this one has 2 + 18 pockets! I also wanted an extra USB charger, and something that was easy to get into. This one opens like a doctor’s bag & has padding for my tech so putting in my laptop, iPad, eReader etc is simple & safe. This bag has a strong carry handle or can be used as a backpack. It has the strap to secure it to your carry-on handle as well. There were other colour options but I wanted to somewhat match my carry-on & also not get so dirty., so black with grey it is. The brand is Lovevook and was just over $50. Here’s the link for you: amzn.to/3NvHpL3

I wanted to downsize my toiletry bag but couldn’t seem to find what I wanted until I came across this cutie with some travel size Moroccanoil products inside (no that wasn’t planned – Morrocanoil products to Morocco… lol) – extra volume shampoo & conditioner, a light treatment & a clean, light body spray. I learned awhile ago to take much less makeup & skincare. I’m never away that long so a decent wash of my face using my favourite Dermalogica wash, my good quality moisturizing sunscreen, my powder foundation with SPF by Eminence, a toothbrush/paste & some excellent lash extensions by my girl Tracey from Voila Lash Lounge (Downtown Chilliwack & Downtown Abbotsford), deodorant & my tinted chapstick with SPF are really all I need. www.voilalashandbeauty.com

Morrocanoil Travel Kit

It’s always so much easier to pack for a warm weather holiday than it is a cold weather one… no bulky heavy clothing & footwear, so a carry-on is all you really need. Lessons learned: always take pjs, an extra change of clothes, any medications & your toiletries in your personal item… checked baggage gets lost. A lot. This way you can at least change into pjs & wash the clothes you’re wearing, letting them dry overnight & able to wear your spare outfit until you get your luggage back. I always pack a couple of sheets of Tru Earth laundry strips, they melt easily in the hotel sink & despite not having a strong scent, or major suds, they clean very well. You can also take less clothing if you’re washing in between. I’ll do an update once I’ve tried these bags out.

Tru Earth Laundry Strips

What we do when we get on the plane & in our hotel room

Posted on by

Simply put, we check it all over, then clean. If you think the airlines have time between one flight & another to do a thorough clean, then think again. There is no way they can clean up everyone’s mess they seem to leave all over the floor(that’s a rant I’ve already posted grr), reload the plane & get everything perfectly clean & sanitized in often less than 20 minutes.

I put our bags under our seats, my husband places anything that needs to go in the overhead there while I get out the disinfectant wipes. I’ve seen how gross people can be (adults are almost worse than kids!) nose picking, bare feet placed on tray tables… I shudder at some things I’ve seen. We wipe down the window, the seats including belts, the TV monitor, the seat pocket, tray tables… once a woman was giving me the side eye as I cleaned, so I flipped over the cloth to show her how BLACK it was, she gagged & asked me if I had an extra wipe… I keep empty sandwich bags with us, the dirty wipes go into them in the seat pocket until the flight attendant comes around collecting garbage, then we use hand wipes on our hands & those also go in the sandwich bag.

Once we get off the plane, we head straight for the nearest washroom, wash our hands & use damp paper towels to wipe the outside of our carry ons since they’ve been on the floor of the aircraft the whole flight.

At the hotel we drop our bags just inside the door, then check that the room is what we paid for, that the bathroom & main room is clean, and most important… the bedding. is. spotless. This sounds like it should be a given. It is NOT. We’ve found, unfortunately more than once, hair or even blood on the bedding. Nope. Absolutely not acceptable.

If something like that happens, one of us stays in the room & the other goes to speak to a manager at reception. Sometimes they come to check, but mostly they’re mortified so just give you another room immediately.

A couple of places we’ve been, that’s the way it is… the standards of cleanliness are not as high as other places, so you keep your shoes and socks on & use some clothing to cover the pillow you’re going to sleep on, or better yet, roll your clothing and sleep on that. Our hotel in India was like that. Also, our hotel in Whitehorse, Yukon.

It may seem like overkill, but now that you’ve read this, you’ll really notice people’s behaviour on long flights, it’s like they lose their perception of what’s appropriate in the company of hundreds of other people. We witnessed a guy walk barefoot into the plane’s washroom, then saunter out, and place his feet on the seat back & his TV monitor! Especially in the wake of Covid & Norwalk… why wouldn’t you take some simple precautions to ensure your hard earned holiday doesn’t get cut short due to illness or worse… staph infection.

PS Do NOT put anything but trash in the pocket in the airplane seat back… we’ve been told by former air crews that most people blow their nose & put the used Kleenex right into the pocket…

Check the bedding, especially the sheets
Look around the beds, pillows, for hair or dirt.
Check the towels & sink, etc have been cleaned.
Wipe down all surfaces that you’re going to touch, then sanitize your hands.

Travel Tootsies

Posted on by

I have these comfy, colourful world map slip ons in white & also black. They’re part of my capsule wardrobe that makes it possible to only take carry on luggage on our travels.

My sister got me into these great little shoes by Bucketfeet. They’re super comfortable, slim for packing & easy on & off when going through security at airports.

There are lots of funky designs that are creations of actual artists, making these cuties available by limited edition only. These are perfect for me because the map (hellooooo travel!) & each continent actually looks like different fabrics (my other hobby – sewing!)

Bucketfeet let you to express your personality & individuality + you’re wearing art on your feet, making YOU a patron of the arts.

http://www.bucketfeet.store/info.

Golden Gate Bridge ~ San Francisco

Posted on by

The first day we crossed the 6 lane, 1.7 mile Golden Gate that now ‘bridges’ the communities of San Francisco & Marin County, we were lucky enough that @KarlTheFog had taken the day off so we could see it in all it’s suspension bridge glory. This is one of the seven wonders of the modern world & opened in 1937 after four years of struggling to build against winds, rock, treacherous tides & of course #KarlTheFog. 11 workers’ lives were lost during the construction (10 on the same day) & over $35 million was spent in principal. Pedestrians can walk, bicycle, jog, go in a wheelchair or stroller on either side of the Golden Gate (but no roller skating, roller blading or skateboarding please).

IMG_2424

Some crazy stats are:
• 5,000 – 10,000 gallons of paint are used to repaint the Golden Gate Bridge each year
• three babies have been born on the Golden Gate Bridge – all three were boys
• it’s named after the Golden Gate Strait at the entrance to San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean
• International Orange was actually the color of the primer but then was chosen as the finished
colour as it provides visibility in the fog for passing ships & suits the environment
• the bridge has only been closed three times due to weather since it was built – all three times due to
high winds gusting close to over 70 miles per hour
• the bridge has also been closed for the visits of President Franklin D. Roosevelt & President
Charles De Gaulle of France and also on its 50th & 75th anniversaries.
• the chief engineer Joseph Strauss’ first design was rejected as being too ugly
• the bridge has lost some weight! 12,300 tons to be exact! How? when the roadway was replaced in
the 1980s
• The twin towers are 746 feet high, with 2 cables, each more than 7,000 feet in length, both
containing 80,000 miles of wire. This looped around the Earth’s equator in a single strand would
circle the planet three times!
• more than 2 billion motor vehicles had passed over the Golden Gate Bridge by 2015

 

The rating above is based on a five ticket recommendation. We compare to hundreds of locations and activities during the last ten years.

Muir Woods National Monument

Posted on by

IMG_2376
We decided to go on a trip to the 100 year old Muir Woods, one of the country’s oldest national parks. We had rented a car but found that we could take a shuttle bus from the Visitor Information so thought that would be better for us both enjoy the drive. Now, here is what we learned – there are literally tens of thousands of people going there in August… TENS… of THOUSANDS. It was crazy busy. The parking situation is not great so there were constant backups but there was a park ranger out front directing traffic the best he could. This made us happy we had taken the shuttle bus. It’s $5 per person to take the shuttle – PLEASE REMEMBER THIS: you pay once you get to the park & if you do not get your shuttle ticket you will NOT be allowed back on the bus. It was $10 per person to go in to the park… we didn’t have a problem with that as the money goes to help preserve the park – what we did have a problem with was that tons of people were walking in right past the ticket window without paying since there is no gate. We also discovered that it took nearly two hours of waiting before we could get the bus back down to our car because there were so many people. I’m not saying don’t go to Muir Woods – I’m just saying to expect your excursion there to take a lot longer than you might think. Despite waiting for the shuttle for so long, I would still suggest doing it that way because if there are even close to as many people as when we went… you’ll be walking miles from where you’ve parked to get in to the park. Miles. Muir Woods is one of the last stands of old-growth Redwood forests on Earth. If you’ve read my other posts about our trip to San Francisco you’ve seen me mention @KarlTheFog, he is, well, the fog in San Francisco. Not only is he super helpful for growing some wicked, awesome grapes for Sonoma & Napa Valley wines but he is also partly responsible for such lush & green forests such as Muir Woods. These trees thrive because of @KarlTheFog, as do the ferns & other ground cover that helps protect the Redwoods roots. William & Elizabeth Kent purchased this forest in 1908 & then donated it to the nation, requesting President Theodore Roosevelt name it in honor of John Muir, an intrepid explorer, naturalist & environmental activist. There is a gift shop & a nice cafe with a lot of choice for food & drinks, but you can only take water on the actual hikes with you as there are wild animals, of course & National Parks does not want any form of litter to be left around or any feeding of the animals.

IMG_1402

Here are the hiking routes in & around Muir Woods:
Main Trail Loop – takes about 30 mins to an hour, it’s about 2 miles round trip & is classified as easy to hike. The path is wide, paved & wheelchair/stroller accessible.
Bootjack Trail to Ben Johnson Trail Loop – takes about 4 hours, it’s about 6 miles round trip & is classified as moderate to hike.
Canopy View Trail to Lost Trail To Fern Creek – takes about 2 hours, it’s about 3 miles round trip & is classified as moderate, and is steep in sections.
Canopy View Trail to Redwood Trail to Sun Trail to Dipsea Trail – takes about 3 hours, it’s about 5 miles round trip & is classified as moderate to hike.
Ben Johnson Trail, Return Via Dipsea Trail – takes about 3 hours, it’s about 4 miles round trip & is classified as a moderate/strenuous hike.
Fern Creek Trail to Camp Eastwood – takes about 2 hours, it’s about 3 miles round trip & is classified as moderate to hike.
Redwood Creek Trail to Muir Beach – takes about 2 hours one way, it’s about 3 miles (one way) & is classified as an easy hike. PS there are poison oak & ticks along this trail.

 

The rating above is based on a five ticket recommendation. We compare to hundreds of locations and activities during the last ten years.

London in 180 minutes

Posted on by

https://flic.kr/p/GyeC2d
https://flic.kr/p/GhnKzN
https://flic.kr/p/FM6uNc

With less than three hours available between flights from UAE to London and then to Vancouver, we had the opportunity to take in Westminster Bridge, Big Ben (perhaps London’s most famous icon) and the London Eye for a few minutes. Travelling on the tube from Heathrow Airport to Earl’s Court on the Piccadilly Line was very straightforward. From there we hopped onto the District line which took us right to Westminster (all in all about 60 minutes on the underground). Enjoying some temporary blue sky and sunshine, Big Ben stood proud as did the Houses of Parliament. Seeing the London Eye for the first time (up close and personal) was quite amazing.

Note: Big Ben is part of the Palace of Westminster originally started in 1020. The palace was burned down in 1834, so the Gothic architecture you see today is comparatively recent.

The palace houses both of the the UK’s ruling bodies — the Houses of Parliament and the House of Lords.

Hundreds of people eagerly gathered in the area representing dozens of nationalities; even one lonely piper merrily played a Scottish medley on Westminster Bridge. After snapping a few photos we could not resist taking in a quick lunch at the County Hall, the place to enjoy ‘Great British Fish & Chips’.

Leaving County Hall we gazed at the London Eye — at 135m, Coca-Cola London Eye is the world’s largest cantilevered observation wheel. It was conceived and designed by Marks Barfield Architects and was launched in 2000.  When enjoying the sights from the ‘Big Wheel’ you can also add to your experience by  ordering a ‘mouth-watering’ bottle of Champagne for a cool 165 pounds. (Pommery Cuvée Louise)
With a quick dash back to the Airport we managed to catch our flight back to Vancouver.
Other useful links include; Big Bus Tours and Thames River Cruise.

 

The rating above is based on a five ticket recommendation. We compare to hundreds of locations and activities during the last ten years.

The “I Amsterdam” city card

Posted on by

iAmsterdamCard

The “I Amsterdam” Pass

  When travelling in Amsterdam, before you even leave the airport, stop in at the Visitor Information office and buy the “I Amsterdam” city card. There are different packages depending on how long you are visiting with lots of tips and savings.

  The line ups at most attractions are very long but you are able to be fast tracked and go into a completely separate line if you have the pass. There is free public transportation as long as you swipe your pass upon entering and leaving the transit bus. We rode the bus from the airport right near to our hotel for free. 

  We received a free canal boat tour with the pass, there are many discounts on food and other things, and we did get to tour the unbelievable Van Gogh Museum for free as well. There was an extremely long wait outside of the museum but when they saw we had the city card, we walked right in!  

The Return Ticket gives the “I Amsterdam” Pass: four tickets out of five.