Barcelona - Ripoll

I've been to Barcelona 5 years ago so this time I gladly didn't take any photos and enjoyed the city in a more relaxed pace. I love it - Barcelona is a gem. Here I am taking the same picture of me in front of this glass building like five years ago (I am the red dot in the middle):

You'll find lots of these funny pooping miniatures in Barcelona and it's nice to read the story behind them:

We left Barcelona behind today to head for the Pyrenees but before we wanted to do the route from Lloret de Mar up to Sant Feliu de Guixol. This is a must ride full of tight bends following the coastline:

Somewhere in the middle of this one I found one of the best spots on earth to dock your yacht:

Somewhere on the C25 this thing happened:

...and usually then you get this:

My good old v-strom passed 100.000km...live long my Suzi!

We made it to the town of Ripoll. Nice one. Check out the pictures while I'll try to get some rest:

There's some Greek everywhere:

Bye Morocco, back to old EUrope.

We had the best dinner in Morocco on our last night. Full view to the sun sinking in the Atlantic ocean while having the most fresh lobster possible plus another fish I can't recall its name. Delicious both of them.

My Aussie mates put that cute Koala on my mirror while waiting for the ferry to Barcelona.

Feels really nice back to the civilised Europe but that doesn't mean I regret those two weeks at Morocco at all. Today we'll walk around the city (been here 5 years ago) before we hit the Pyrenees for a week.

Moulay Boosselham

Seems like the more North we head as we finish our days in Morocco the less exotic it looks. Kenitra last night didn't offer anything exciting nor did the route and today half of us made it to Moulay Boosselham. A nice fish village that made me feel like home on a sunny day by the sea. I had the chance to put my feet in the Atlantic for the first time. Very beautiful:

Lots of garbage, one piece was usefull though:

The stairway to the beach was semi destroyed:

The really funny thing was the place we decided to stay. The best value for money we could find around was a ruin from the French glory of the past overlooking the coast. Amazing view but the place is a neglected time machine:

You can even find pictures of the guys who used to live in there:

I am starving right now and can't the owner is out to get us some fresh fish for our dinner. Can't wait!

Essaouira - El Jadida

We started on the N1 leaving Essaouira behind and then we took a wrong turn to Safi which led us to a terrible road full of gravel parts, dust and trucks on top speed. Terrible but fun:

The Atlantic coastline offers great chances for pictures like this:

After some fishfood at Oualidia we made our way to El Jadida. The Portuguese influences of the Medina and the fortress add a special character to this town:

Είχα και άλλα να γράψω και άλλες φωτογραφίες να βάλω αλλά κάπου εδώ αφήνω τις υπόλοιπες όμορφες λεπτομέρειες της ημέρας γιατί γίναμε μάρτυρες μιας σκηνής μάλλον συγκινητικής. Επαίτες έχουμε συναντήσει όλοι μας ουκ ολίγες φορές και κανείς μας δεν περίμενε να μην συμβεί κάτι τέτοιο στο Μαρόκο. Η ιδιαιτερότητα εδώ είναι ότι βλέπεις κατά διαστήματα παιδάκια ακόμη και 3 χρονών μόνα τους να κάθονται κατάχαμα στα βρώμικα σοκάκια έχοντας απίστευτα πράγματα προς πώληση (π.χ. 2-3 γλυκά).  Σήμερα καθόμασταν δίπλα σε μια μάνα με το παιδί της που πουλάγανε χαρτομάντιλα. Δυο από μας έτρωγαν καλαμπόκια και το παιδάκι μόλις τα είδε άπλωσε το χέρι του και προσπαθούσε να φύγει από την αγκαλιά της μαμάς η οποία το τράβαγε πίσω. Δεν χρειάστηκε πολύ ώρα για να τους δώσουμε το ένα καλαμπόκι το οποίο το έδωσε η μάνα στο παιδί και μετά της δώσαμε και το άλλο το οποίο το έφαγε η ίδια. Μας ευχαρίστησε με χαμόγελο που μάλλον δε θα ξεχάσω. Τη σκηνή δεν είχα το θράσος να την αποθανατίσω. Μου θύμισε κατ' αντιστοιχία την ιστορία μιας φίλης μου στην Αθήνα η οποία έδωσε σε ένα γυφτάκι που επαιτούσε ("δεν έχω να φάω κλπ" ) μια τυρόπιτα και αυτό την έβρισε...

Marrakesh - Essaouira

This is the guy carrying our stuff from the hotel to our bikes today morning:

This is our bikes parked on the first stop on this boring route to Essaouira:

Boring straights most of the way:

Essaouira though is not boring at all. A total different world compared to the other places in Morocco so far. Bright colours, laid back, people at the stores are MUCH more cool and you can have a look at things taking your time without any frustrating behaviour from them, quite wonderful! Have a look: