mosaic road

Cheese and Clogs , part three

I have spent three lovely days in Amsterdam staying in a very old weatherboard Captains cottage. Two resident sausage dogs were there to greet me at check in and visited daily. A small canal or dyke borders the end of the lush green garden, complete with herons and ducks. The location of the house is ideal, just out of the city but barely. A fifteen minute stroll along the towpath leads to a big ferry pier. The free ferry takes passengers, bicycles and motorbikes across a wide waterway with the trip lasting all of three minutes. Both the bike and the boat traffic  in this city has just amazed me. 

Cheese and Clogs , part two

Gourmet cheese shops more than dot the main city streets ( think every second shop) and they offer samples galore. I loved seeing this texas muffin tin being used as the perfect receptacle for offering the little diced cubes that showcase an amazing and diverse product range. All the normal cheesey suspects are there and then suddenly yours eyes alight upon the all  colours and unusual combinations and your jaw drops. Lavender, hemp, olives, all types of peppers and chilis, pesto, herbs, mushrooms.......400 varieties in all. Perfect snacks for passing hungry tourists as you could or can dive into any number of these little outlets, fain great interest in the Dutch dairy industry and grab a handful of free samples. Chutneys (try the apple), dips and crackers can round out your free meal on the run !!!!

Cheese and Clogs , part one

Here I am in Amsterdam, first ever visit and I am loving it. Of course I am thrilled to see the fun  Dutch icons, all those things we think of when Holland is mentioned like cheese, clogs, dykes, windmills, skinny houses and legal marajuana hahaha .

What's in the Boxes ???

 

Pick a flavour !! Chai, popcorn, fairy bread......... How incredible are these colours and taste sensations. Zumbo is a must for all dessert and patisserie lovers. They have a creme brûlée soft serve ice-cream in a donut cone !!!!!  I cannot begin to imagine this particular eating experience and I have devastatingly run out of time to indulge. 

The Big Pineapple

It seemed so huge when I first visited but over the many years I have been coming this way, the Big Pineapple has shrunk a little each time or maybe the  palms around it have got bigger !! It seems quite dwarfed now. Come what may this icon holds lots of family holiday memories. No one visits Noosa without a trip to the Big Pineapple and a ride for the children on the nut mobile before eating a fruit salad sundae in the cafe. The souvenirs were were just as tacky as ever which is very reassuring in this rapidly changing world !!

Of Interest in Imlil

Walking around your own suburb is often dull, you just traipse your regular path and see nothing. All that changes for me when I visit a new town or village in Morocco. I have actual palpable excitement. I waked for about an hour or so through the back laneways of Imlil last month. The rugs are always on fences and gates, a colour pop waiting for customers. The unfinished  stone building is actually a hotel and being built by an Englishman but has been incomplete for quite a while. But it does give an idea of construction style and the look of local "new" architecture. The green doors are more of the old architecture style and who knows what lies behind them. There are so many buildings in Morocco that are vacant, abandoned, unfinished , empty, in ruins etc for reasons that can never be quite explained to me.  I did get a great explanation re the photo with all the Arabic writing on the blackboard. The sign is in the front of a half built mosque. It is being built solely by local donations so an honesty box accompanies the sign, ready  for donations if anyone passing has a spare dirham. I don't know how that would go in Melbourne !!!!!

An English Country Garden

But we are not in England or anywhere near Great Britain. These wonderful hollyhocks growing amid green and lush gardens are in the Atlas mountains in Morocco. As is imaginable they certainly are not native to the area and the seeds must have been brought over here at some stage a long time ago. They look amazing and are tall and statuesque so the growing conditions must suit them. Once again, expect the unexpected in Morocco !!!

 

Fresh Produce

I think Morocco has fabulous fresh produce, even up in remote mountain areas . The scales are an essential at all roadside or "pathside" stalls like this one. The above is a shop, this is it, this is what was on offer that day. Limited choice but fresh and organic.

An Agressive Argument

Cock fighting ( a cruel blood sport until death and I think, mostly banned) is common in Asia with money being won and lost. Owners of prize cocks groom them and feed them up and nurture them. When walking through a mountain village recently I came across this pair fighting over who knows what, quite vicious fighting too. No owners to be seen and certainly no gambling as it is illegal in Morocco. They stared each other down very seriously, then much squawking, flapping and pecking. Winner unknown.

A Little Mountain Sojourn, part six

This blog post today is just to show a little of what a typical Atlas mountain village house looks like. Pink in colour with a flat roof is the typical look, often built into the side of the rocky mountain. The flat roof top is considered extra living space, storage, entertaining area, laundry and more. Before Eid, a sheep or two might be kept up there, being fattened up......