Chilling in Chellah

A £1.40 taxi ride took me 3 miles to Chellah, site of spectacular Roman and later Arab ruins. I paid the 80p entry cost and was immediately astonished by the scale of the site. The Roman town ruins date back to the first century AD (why do they use AD in a Muslim country? Should it not be AM? After Mohammed?) and the Arabs constructed on the top of these. A French archaeologist found and excavated much of the town in the 1920's.

The site is not just famous for the ruins but for this incredible colony of nesting Storks. These elegant and large birds build huge nests on the higher walls and even on the top of the minaret of the ruined mosque. There must be over 100 Storks and perhaps 50 cats! These seem well fed and are looked after by the curators of the museum. It's funny that I've seen 100's of cats on the streets but not a single dog. Maybe I'll see one on the menu tonight!

I threw my Dinar into the wishing well and already it's grown by 3 inches!

I took this photo of a twisted tree as I thought it looked like a sleeping dragon, or is that all the wacky baccy I've been smoking!

I walked back past the King of Morocco's gaffe but they would not let me in, so continued into the modern city centre for a Cesar salad and a cappuccino. I found my way back to the Medina, where I'm staying, and took this picture of the passage I had to ride my bike up to get to the Riad!

I got a text from John (my Brother who I abandoned in Spain!) the day before yesterday saying that he had broken down on his nearly new Triumph and was in trouble. But in typical John style he landed on his feat and ended up staying at the house of the owner of the Triumph dealer in Cadiz who let him take out the latest models while he had his bike fixed!

Having walked through the whole city today I think l I know my way around quite well so will head out shortly for some dinner.