Europe 1979 Marrakesh to Folkestone

Djemaa el Fna Square Marrakesh, Morocco

Deb and the waterboys.

The narrow streets.

The camel market.

Snake charmer hucksters.

The governor (second right) and his barmen.

We were captivated by Morocco. It was such a exotic place, like nothing we had experienced before. When we arrived in Marrakesh we were overwhelmed by the activity and strange people we met in Djemaa el Fna Square. There were ornately dressed waterboys, snake charmers, dancers, animal acts, musicians, and all of them were after your money! For an amount you could pose with them. If you were reluctant one might drape a snake around your neck and then get Deb to take a photo and then charge you for the privilege. It was lively and exciting. We went to a camel market out of town and I took a picture of some camels with a man leaning against one. Immediately he came over looking for money because I took his picture. I refused and walked away, I didn't want to perpetuate this type of scam. If you look at the photo (the one labeled camel market) you can see he was hardly the centre object of my photo. We loved our time in Morocco. We spent most of it in Essaouira on the coast.

We were out of money and had to find a way back to London to make our return to Cananda. We took a ferry from Tangier to Ceuta Spain, and then boarded a long haul train to Calais. We had to change trains at the Spanish-French border because the track guage was different. THen we took the ferry to Folkestone and stayed at the London and Paris Hotel. They were not used to travelers coming by at this time of year and had to turn on the heat in the room. We stayed a couple of days and had great time with the 'govenor' and the locals. At that time pubs had to close by 10, by anyone staying in a room could stay and drink. The govenor handed out keys to all the regular patrons and we drank and played darts to the wee hours. In the centre of the photo is Peter, how came to visit us in Canada about two weeks after we got home! Then we took the train to London and flew home. What a great adventure!

Europe 1979 Ios to Essaouira

Ios Beach, and our taverna home for three weeks.

Two well tanned beach bums.

Our hosts in the taverna.

More British friends we met on the island.

Ios town.

Hiking the hills.

Mykonos, Greece

Drying octopus.

The beautiful windmills of Mykonos.

The lions of Delos.

The Parthenon, Athens.

The Sultan Ahmed or Blue Mosque, Istanbul

With Denis and Vicki from Yorkshire and Patrick from Tasmania.

The Hagia Sophia Museum

A fish restaurant on the Bosphorus Sea, Turkey.

And away we go.

Essaouira, Morocco

Smoking while eating tagine.

Berber entertainment,

Amazingly vibrant and hustling place.

I had visited the Cyclade Islands in 1975 and this time I wanted to see a couple of others. We chose Ios, a smaller less visited island south of Mykonos. After disembarking from the ferry we walked about the small whitewashed town trying to decide where to stay. We took a bus to the other side of the island to a crescent beach. The end where the bus stopped was fairly busy, but by walking along the shore towards the other end, we found less people and a little taverna at the far end. We liked the area so much and the people who ran the taverna we stayed for three weeks! We had a marvelous time relaxing and recouping from our tour across Europe. We hiked all over the island and met two couples from London, who were traveling together. The owners like us so much they saved the catch of the day for our dinner. At the end of the three weeks I had to do the calculation of the accommodation bill.
Next I revisited Mykonos, this time with Deb. We stayed in a small hotel for a few days and explored this beautiful village. We took a memorable day trip to the religious island of Delos. We boarded a round bottomed boat, which makes it easier to land in both harbours. We noticed a large number of buckets hanging from the superstructure of the cabin. The day was sunny and warm and the water calm, until left the sheltered harbour. Then it got really rough. Now we knew what the buckets were for. Deb and I did not get sick but many others did as the boats pitched and rolled in every direction thanks to the size of the waves and the round bottom. At times all you could see was water as we slide down a wave. Not being a confident swimmer, Deb was very nervous and apprehensive. We had a great tour of the island and its ancient relics, but unfortunately all Deb could think of was the ride back! Luckily that turned out to be less challenging and we survived.

By this point Deb and I had decided that we were not going to be able to travel for a whole year and go around the world, our dwindling resources wouldn't allow that. So we had a choice to make. We wanted to go to Egypt and Morocco, but our money and our remaining time on our six month return ticket to Toronto demanded a choice. We chose Morocco, which I am very glad we did, because it is an amazing place; but sadly we wanted to see the pyramids and had told all our friends to send the next batch of mail (snail mail - pre e-mail) to the main post office in Cairo. Oh well, couldn't be helped. We flew to Tangier and stayed for a couple of days before heading south to Marakkesh and Essaouira.

Europe 1979 Venice to Santorini

The Grand Canal, Venice

Basilica Di Santa Maria della Salute

Cathedral of Santa Maria Del Fiore and Giotto's Bell Tower, Florence, Italy

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Roman Colosseum

St. Peter's Square, the Vatican

A cove on the Greek Island of Corfu.

Deb, with four English friends from Leeds.

Great fun renting a scooter and touring the island.

Our international home.

Matala Beach, Crete

Deb at the harbour of Heraklion, Crete.

Fira or Santorini, Greece

The steps from the town on the cliff to the sea.

We opted to walk instead of riding the overworked donkeys.

Thanks to two quick friends we slept on this boat one night after missing a ferry.

After we left Venice by train we stopped at Florence and camped there. We loved the city, the Ponte Vecchio, the David statue and the museums and of course the Duomo of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Del Fiore. Beautiful building that was completed in 1436.

Then on to Pisa to see the famous leaning tower,  which is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower of the Pisa Cathedral. It of course is famous for its nearly four degree lean, the result of an unstable foundation. From there we went to Rome to see all of its antiquities including the amazing Colosseum, the Vatican and St. Peter's Cathedral and the Sistine Chapel.

We took the train to Brindisi and the ferry to the Greek island of Corfu. We loved the island, the blue seas, the relaxed pace, the food and the scooters. I remember taking a scooter to a beach with Deb and when we left we had to go up a steep hill. With the two of us on it, the scooter struggled. So I told her to brace herself and I'd gun it. It popped a wheelie and took off. I looked back and saw Deb standing on the road where the bike had left her with legs spread.

We took a ferry to the west coast of Greece and a bus to Athens where we visited the famous ancient Greek sites before taking an overnight ferry to Crete. We took a bus to the town of Matala on the south coast that we had heard of from our friends Mike and Gail. We camped there and enjoyed the beach, food and hiking over the hills. The hill on the right side of the beach was riddled with caves reputedly used by soldiers in the second world war. Then we took the bus back to Heraklion where took a room and explored the fort and town.
On the way back to Athens we took a number of ferries and visited some of the other islands of the Aegean Sea, starting with Santorini (or Thira). This is a beautiful rugged island formed by a volcano that erupted and blew off half of the island in the 16th century BC. As a result there is a high cliff overlooking the sunken caldera upon which the town of Fira is perched. There are 587 large sloped steps from the port to the town which you can either negotiate by foot or on the back of a poor unfortunate donkey that spends its life hauling visitors up the hill. We decided to walk. We stayed in a lovely room in the town before venturing to the other side of the island and its beautiful black sand beaches. I remember having a case of traveler's trots and having to clamber out of the tent late at night and swat in a field, only to use the flashlight and discover a donkey standing about ten feet away watching me.
On the day we left, we walked all the way down with our packs only to discover we'd missed our ferry. We didn't walk to hike back up, so we hung around and met Sue, a Canadian and her British boyfriend who were sailing a yacht around the Aegean. We spent time with them and had dinner together and then the let us sleep onboard overnight, and we caught the ferry the following morning.