Wednesday 6 February 2008

London vs Rabat

Having just got back to Rabat after a few days in London, there were just a few noticeable differences.
1. Spending time wandering around bookshops, looking at books and even buying a few, is one of the highlights. I even managed to find a Moroccan recipe book in English, and it didn't cost much either. My favourite is Stanford's Travel Bookshop in Covent Garden. It just makes me wish I had a fortune to buy many of the wonderful books there (and a much larger luggage allowance!!).
2. Understanding what everyone around me was saying, well mostly. Not having to think when reading the menus. Ah!! Then there was reading the papers, a novelty I don't get here in Morocco where the only English-language paper is the International Herald Tribune, which doesn't inspire me.
3. Speaking of menus, dining out at an Indian restaurant. Special because there is none here in Rabat, and the trip to Casa just to visit a restaurant could only be justified on a very special occasion. Chicken Tika Masala, mmm I can still remember its creamy texture and spicy flavour.
4. Organised traffic. pedestrians that only cross when the cars are stopped by a red light except for one crazy woman I saw outside Hammersmith Station who almost got herself run over by walking out, waving her arms wildly, into the fast-moving traffic.
5. A hot English breakfast, with fried bacon and fried mushrooms, two hard to get foods here. Plus crunchy Granny Smith apples. It really is the simple things that make life great.
6. But best of all were my Aussie finds. I managed to not only get a jar of Vegemite but also a large can of Milo. It is strange, but when I don't have them, I crave them, even though normally I don't eat a lot of either. Unfortunately I didn't manage to find Violet Crumbles. I will have to wait until my nephews bring some over for me.

1 comment:

Tracey said...

Ah, yes, for me it was always Cherry Ripes. And Twisties. Oh, and Vegemite, of course. But that goes without saying...

And going the other way -- we'd get people coming from the UK to bring us Boost bars. Of course we have them here now, but it was the coconut ones I loved best. Mmmm.