Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year...from London

It’s hard to believe that another year has passed us by. It honestly feels like just the other day that we were sitting in Holland providing our last Christmas update. Without a doubt, this year has been the fastest ever.

We have had a lovely and relaxing Christmas and New Years break. With 11 and 12 days off work respectively, we have caught up on plenty of sleep, while also making the most of being in London by busying ourselves with lots of fun activities. Upon reflection, December has been a really fun month! A few highlights include….

Paris on film

It has been a lot of fun learning how to shoot with the Lomo Diana F+. Shooting on film is such a different game compared to digital, especially on the Lomo. While there are have been some really tough and disappointing lessons, the results have also been incredibly rewarding.

Buying a roll of black and white film for Paris was a great move. For the record, the shots above are straight out of the camera – no editing or adjustments.

Our 2 year wedding anniversary...in Paris!

  

Waaayyyyyyyyy back in July we decided to head across to Paris to celebrate our two-year wedding anniversary. It was a lovely and relaxing few days. While we definitely did a fair bit of touristy stuff, we also made sure that we took some time to take it easy and soak in the Paris atmosphere.

A few highlights included….

> Staying in a beautiful top floor corner hotel room overlooking The Pantheon...

> A daily routine of sitting outside at a brasserie, eating croissants, crepes and omelettes, and watching the world go by...

> Making a trip out to Versailles and reliving the incredible gardens of the Palace, and Marie Antoinette’s hamlet...

> Somewhat unexpectedly having an amazing night out at a Paris swing-dancing club...

> Toughing out the long queue to go up the tower of Notre Dame. Seeing the ubiquitous gargoyles overlooking Paris was well worth the wait...

> Getting caught in the rain at The Louvre. It cleared the square of people, giving us the rare opportunity to take some tourist-free photos. The cost…we got drenched!

The Souks, bartering, the people, and a closing word

Morocco was definitely the most extreme destination that we have been to so far on our adventures. The culture and the pace of life was radically different to anything we had previously experienced, which was at times exhilarating, and at times really tiring...

Blood in the streets of Fez

It really was quite an experience being out and about on the Eve of the Eid – ‘Feast of the Sacrifice’ - the second most significant festival on the Muslim calendar. Like Christmas for us, there was a genuine buzz of excitement in the air, with people making last minute preparations and purchases in readiness for a week of feasting and family time.

The one key difference, however, was that rather than going to Safeway to buy some nicely pre-butchered and pre-packed meat…people were out and about picking up a sheep so that they could DIY.

Pigeon poo and Cow wee

Finally, we arrived in Fez. We were very grateful to be there in one piece, but a tad stressed out for the experience.

We followed a random guide straight to our Riad – a restored 14^th Century palace – and made a plan for the rest of the day. Being the artisan capital of Morocco and renowned for the quality of it’s craftsmanship, we had planned on getting out and doing spot of shopping over the course of our stay. We were a bit stressed, however, to discover that we had basically arrived on the equivalent of Christmas Eve and Fez was going to be shutting down for a week. We therefore had a very small window of opportunity to get out and see the city before everyone went into a festive hibernation.

‘Come and look at my shop…or how about some hashish?’

We caught a bus to a small rural town set in the valley between two mountains – Chefchaouen. We had a really quiet three days, doing our best to relax and get a little bit of sun. We definitely managed to relax, but unfortunately the sun let us down a little bit.

Chefchaouen has two main claims to fame…