Morocco!

I've been back over a week but I've finally found the time to share some of my experiences and photos from my holiday to the Atlas mountains in Morocco. We were only there for a few days but it was amazing! Sometimes this can still be in the rainy season but we couldn't have asked for better weather and the scenery of being up in the mountains was breathtaking!

We stayed in Richard Branson's hotel Kasbah Tamadot which was stunning! We were staying in one of the 'tents' which were the most luxurious tents I've ever seen. We had a balcony with the most amazing view and a private hot tub as well as the 3 main pools. The whole place was so beautifully decorated.

On our first full day we went on a hike up one of the mountains just opposite our hotel. There was no one else around except a couple of locals with their sheep and the higher we got, the more serene it felt. One of the most incredible things was that we could be standing in the intense heat surrounded by greenery and basically see deserts in one direction while the snowy mountains where people were skiing was only half an hour drive behind us.

The next day we went into Marrakech. We visited a palace and an old Jewish university and then just spent the afternoon wondering around the markets and taking in the atmosphere. While it was an amazing place, we were all happy to go back to the calm of the mountains.

On our last day we decided to go off exploring on our own. From our balcony we could see a river and then another mountain with a village on it so we decided to try and get up there. It was instantly clear we weren't meant to because there was no path and there was obviously frequent rock fall. Once we climbed/fell down we waded through the river and met some locals with their sheep who, despite their lack of English, showed us a way up to the village. We met a woman up there (also with very little English) who brought us into her home, introduced us to her family and made us tea. It was a very special experience! 

I hope everyone had a really lovely Easter and it's not too bad going back to school/college/work! 

x x x

Places I Want to Travel to (well some of them)

Lying there every evening looking up at my painting of Paris, world map and pin board of travel photos on the walls above me, it's no wonder I spend so much of my time dreaming of all the amazing places I want to visit! I can't actually think of a country I don't want to visit so I will try to narrow it down to my top 10 and they are in no particular order because that would be far to difficult! Please please let me know if you have visited any of these places in the comments and tell me EVERYTHING about it. Enjoy!

1) India  Isn't this somewhere everyone wants to visit? The vibrancy and colour and culture and bustle. There is incredible architecture both old and new including some of the world's best hotels but for me it's the every day community that attracts me. When I go abroad, of course we do the touristy attractions but I love going and meeting the local people and seeing and experiencing their culture (I think I got this from my mum). I just think you only see a very small part of the country by sticking to the tourist path and you'll never really understand the country. I want to walk through the markets smelling all the amazing spices of every colour. 

2) Vietnam  A couple of years ago I visited Bali, Indonesia with my family and that was without a doubt the best holiday I've ever been on. I couldn't get over how green it was and Vietnam looks the same. Exploring rainforests, climbing through rice fields, relaxing on beautiful beaches- what's not to love? Being a largely Buddhist country, there are incredibly beautiful temples and ancient cities and a lot of cultural history. Truly beautiful!

3) Marrakech, Morocco  I still remember the first time I found out about Marrakech. I was about 12 years old and we watched a clip from a Jamie Oliver cooking program in food tech where he was in Marrakech. I remember being completely entranced by the hussle and bussle and the amazing colours and I remember almost being able to smell the food in the market through the TV and ever since then it has been one of my top places I want to visit! This Easter I am going to Morocco with my parents and I am so so excited. We are staying in the Atlas Mountains and will be visiting Marrakech as well as going for walks through the beautiful scenery. I will definitely do a few blog posts of this week because it will be amazing and I'm sure I will get loads of photos so keep you eyes peeled for that in April!

4) Safari in Kenya  Okay I'm going to admit it... all my life I have had a strange, unnatural obsession with giraffes... like seriously my room is full of pictures and models and cuddly toys of them and as a child I had a whole sticker album just of giraffe stickers. I just think they are the most beautiful and fascinating creatures. Whenever we go to the zoo, I always spend about half my time with the giraffes and for my 7th birthday I got to go in and feed them and it was AMAZING but I have always wanted to see them in their natural habitat. I just think the nature of Africa is so much more grand and impressive than that of England and a Safari seeing all these incredible animals would be a great experience.

5) Zanzibar  Did anyone else read The Wreck of The Zanzibar my Michael Morpurgo when they were younger? It was honestly one of my favourite books as a child and it was back then, reading the descriptions of the pristine beaches and shimmering oceans, that I decided I had to go there! Sadly I haven't (yet). It is a small island of the coast of Tanzania known for it's beautiful, turquoise beaches and white sand- paradise!

6) Northern lights  I feel like this is another classic that is on everyone's bucket list so I'm sorry for not being original but I just think it is something too incredible to miss off. I still can't get my head around the fact that this is created naturally?! 

7) Santorini, Greece  Santorini is a beautiful island of the South coast of Greece with a huge lagoon at it's centre. It has the traditional Greek style of little white and blue houses on hill sides over looking crystal clear waters. Santorini is probably most famous for it's beautiful sunsets. I visited Crete a lot as a child but I have never been to any other Greek island and I feel like I'm probably missing out. I love the relaxed feel of Greece and how important and close families are. 

8) Great Barrier reef  I do a lot of scuba diving so of course the barrier reef is one of my top places to go. It stretches for over 2,300km off the coast of Queensland, Australia and is home to over 600 species of Coral. I love the bright colours and amazing fish and I have always wanted to swim with whales. When I am underwater I feel so at home and I could honestly stay there forever and be happy and where better than the world's biggest and most diverse reef to do that?

9) New York  My parents and sister actually went to New York a few years ago when I was on a music residential and I am still bitter! Not going to lie, the main reason I want to go is for the shopping (obviously!) It is just so big and bold and busy and modern. I want to see amazing shows and shop in huge stores and go out with friends at night.

10) California  This was never really top of my list until very recently. Me and my boyfriend were both quite stressed out by work and we started thinking about our holiday and somehow came on to planning all our holidays for like the next 10 years and he mentioned how he wanted to do a road trip around California and his dad had said that that had been his best holiday he had done. I love the idea of the freedom and spontaneity of driving, being able to go here we want, when we want and for however long we want.

So there you go! Trust me there were many more and it was VERY difficult to narrow down. Please do leave a comment with some of your best travel experiences and anywhere you really want to go to. 

Hurry up summer! x x x