Auntiegwen's guide to 5 days in Marrakech

Stay in a raid in the Medina. Stay at Riad Dar Nour El Houda,  Nourredine and Aysia are the best of the best, I wanted to hide under the bed and not come home. Aysia fed me, nearly as well as mr auntigwen does although I don't have to do anything for my dinner for Aysia..

Get a good map and don't look lost, some enterprising young lad, any age from 8 to 80 will rescue you, take you somewhere you don't actually want to go and charge you for the privilege.

Prepare yourself for everyone trying to sell you something. We have developed a good no thanks patter due to extensive practice in Turkish markets and holiday resorts.  We were tested.

There is no set price in the souks, know in your head what you are prepared to pay then stop looking. You will always find something very similar but cheaper two stalls down, I have the most expensive caftans ever bought in Marrakesh, I expect I was on the news as the single biggest boost to their economy. I have made my peace with it, they are gorgeous

All the guidebooks tell you to eat at the street food stalls at Jemaa El Fnaa main market square, it's a Unesco world heritage site. It has snake charmers, traditional dancers, fellas in frocks and monkeys in football strips, sunglasses and nappies.  Waste not your dirhams on stall 25. It's a vastly over rated experience.

Ditto the excursion up the Atlas Mountains to visit the Ourika falls

Bahia palace and Ben Yussef madrasah  were my best places we visited

Jardin Majorelle, Badii palace and museum of photography are okay, another damned by faint praise review by your auntie

I really wished I'd gone up in a hot air ballon over the Atlas Mountains, I will definitely do that on my next trip

Alcohol was served in only 1 of the dozen or so restaurant's we visited, don't be expecting to get drunk there. I drank an awful lot of water. I also had a really nice strawberry milkshake one day too, probably the first one since primary school, we even looked like kids with our sensible Velcro walking sandals, no there are no photies of our feet. We shall gloss over the indignity.

This trip was mr auntiegwen's birthday present, we flew Ryanair and our Riad included breakfast. Our 5 nights cost LOOK AWAY NOW husband dear, I paid £309. Do you think I could set myself up in a wee business finding nice wee jollities for people? My middle aged feet can't cope with the middle aged lady lecturing outfit shoes

auntiegwen's guide to 2 days in Berlin

 We have been on our travels once again. Courtesy of £40 return flights and a first for us a £75 night airbandb studio in the highest residential building in Berlin, very close to Alexanderplatz, named the concrete sky studio, it's designed to be soviet Spartan chic, we liked. We had great views of the TV tower from our 14th floor apartment.

Berlin has everything I like in a city, lovely buildings, easy public transport, interesting history and some of the interesting history for free, I especially like free museums, as most museums and galleries in Glasgow where I grew up are free, that's what I kinda expect, I'm more than happy to chuck good cash money in the donation box but I do like a free visit. I have always been interested in WW2 history and find the whole rise of the Nazi party scarily fascinating so Berlin is right up your aunties strasse, himself has blogged it better HERE but my tuppenyworth...

Do a free walking tour, I can't get enough of them

Topography of terror and the Museum of the German resistance are great and free and WW2 focussed

Tranenpalast and the remains of the Berlin Wall are good and free and Cold War focussed

The Tiergarden and the memorial to the Roma and Sinti are beautiful and free, do you see a theme?

The Riechstag is braw and you can book a free trip to the roof terrace and the dome, we went at night and it was so beautiful. Book in advance and take your passport.

Eating and drinking was reasonably priced and we walked everywhere, we used public transport for the train from airport to Mitte and back again but that was it, the rest of the time we walked, a lot. Total cost of the 2 days was £230 comfortably within the £300 city break limit we set ourselves. For me this was the best of our jollies. As always we financed this oor own selves, I am stunned that no one is offering me free digs when you get this level of top travel tips, aren't you?

auntiegwens 2 days in Glasgow

After returning home from Riga, early next morning we were packed up again and headed to the Mother country. As my parents become older and frailer I feel more and more guilty about the level of support my sister is having to provide as I live so far away. I haven't written much as its been fairly depressing stuff but we have been through 3 months of chaos and more chaos.

My mother was formally diagnosed with dementia 2 years ago, since December she has been in full time nursing home care, looking after her 24 hours a day 7 days a week has taken the most awful toll on my dad and after the weekend from hell and several weeks of broken sleep and her continuously rising levels of agitation and aggression she finally went into care. My mother as she is now is unrecognisable from my mum of a few years ago. Since going into care she has gone downhill even more rapidly but I think she seems to have plateaued and I hope she will stay at this level for a wee while.

It's been fairly grim and since she went into the home my dad has been very low in mood and really turned his face to the wall. He has ended up in hospital with repeated falls and a whopper of a chest infection. My sister and I have been frantic with worry, she became safe but isn't in the best place, he's become our worry and every time we phoned or visited we had the fear we wouldn't find him alive. He had hit rock bottom and was taken into hospital, just about everything wrong with him and the process of getting him back to his own self began, so after a few weeks in hospital and lots of new equipment, panic buttons, falls alarms and the like he has come home again.

 So we head up for a few days so we are there whilst he comes out of hospital, he doesn't want to come and stay with me so back up the M6 I go, I am getting a dab hand at Glasgow hotels now, this time we stayed at GoGlasgow urban hotel due to its proximity to the hospital, loved the decor, breakfast and staff superb, owned by a family company who give 50% of their profits to local charities, they also give you a Tunnocks tea cake in the room, I was mightily pleased by that, himself was very enamoured of the retro style phone although he did not eat it.

We then had a very welcome complimentary night at One Devonshire Gardens, himself had mentioned to staff that we hadn't slept well on our previous anniversary stay, steady yourselves now, due to the bed. Being the all round excellent hotel they are they offered us a free night and as we spend lots of time in Glasgow  we were very pleased to accept. They gave us quite a swish room too, completely different in style to GoGlasgow Urban but lovely none the less. The bath in the bedroom thing is is quite a few of their rooms, we had that previously when we stayed in the Vettriano suite.

The service in both was top notch, I loved the decor in GoGlasgow and as its at least £100  cheaper per night, I guess I will be staying there lots but because One Devonshire is where we got married if I have the cash I will be happy to go there at least on our anniversary. Go and stay in either, they're both brilliant hotels.

My dad is now home and has become fixated on the idea of my mums funeral, God love him, last few weeks you wouldn't have got good odds on it being him but there you go. It's become a thing he has to get fixed, so we sort it out, we have found the paperwork for the cemetery lair my mums parents are buried in, we also have a spare slot in the lair her aunt and uncle are buried in, were that kind of family, 2 plot kind of toffs, that's us. We have bought a funeral bond and chosen hymns, it's been a bit surreal but my mum is completely unaware of it all. 

I was with her just 5 weeks ago and on this visit I'm not convinced she recognised me when I went in. She was less well kempt than I would have liked to see her and they seem to have given up putting her damned teeth in which is my big pet peeve, they had been lost for weeks but turned up in my mums handbag, also lost in one of the staff lockers, the mind boggles.. Despite looking like Draculas granny she has managed to acquire an amour, she was sitting holding his hand when I arrived, I had been pre warned by my sister about this man , who coincidentally has the same name as my dad, I guess she just shouted out 'Jim' and this wee man answered, he seems happy enough with it so I guess I am pleased she's found a pal. Hopefully it'll stop her kleptomania, this visit she had someone else's teddy bear, handbag and the photo frame on her bedside table was of people she was sure were her family, I have a very nice looking younger brother and a cute wee niece I am completely unaware of. Still, I'm not having to buy presents for them or babysit. Every cloud and all that.

auntiegwen's guide to 4 days in Riga

We are currently in Riga, which is beautiful. It is cold, as you would expect in the Baltics, it is not cold enough for himself, last week is was minus 20 and under several feet of snow, disappointed is not even close to how he feels. The poor old Latvians have had a shocking time of it, it comes to something when the Nazis were the better deal. We like a good bit of awful history when we do a city break, last time Poland and the holocaust, this time Latvia and the Red army, they have pretty well been occupied from the end of WW1 until the 1990's.

We are staying in the Old Town,which is lovely, we have a fancy window that opens up into a balcony with lovely views. The hotel Welltown Spa gives you free fizz at breakfast, what's not to like? 

We have walked the legs off ourselves, there are several charming parks with lots of statues, great churches, lots of monuments and as I travel with himself lots of trips to war museums, I enjoyed the museum of the occupation and himself the corner house which is the KGB headquarters, this building and staff within were still providing their own brand of torture till the 1990's ! 

The art nouveau district is particularly charming and definitely worth a wander, sadly the museum was closed during our entire visit but the buildings more than make up for it. Also in the evenings everything s beautifully lit, the auntie loves a fairy light so I'm very happy. We ate heart shaped pizza and watched a wedding as befits Valentine's Day so it felt very romantic.

Eating out is always an adventure for this fussy vegetarian as I don't eat meat, fish, eggs or poultry, this is another meat heavy region but we managed to find Miit, which is a vegetarian place and we had the lunch deal, we had a fantastic tomato and lentil soup with cashew cream and a polenta thing, both courses with a sparkling water for me and a beer for him for 13 euro. I wasn't fussed on the polenta thing. I would also recommend Burger Story,  my spinach burger was alarmingly green but extremely tasty, he had a fancy burger with loads of different bits of dead animal, very nice skin on chips and 2 beers for less than 20 euro.

The local beers were good and cheap and I drank Rigas the local sparkling hooch, a lovely wee lady bottle was 1 euro 50 ish, get the Brut one if you don't want your teeth to fall out, I made the mistake of the Rose, once.

We flew Wizz air from Luton and our return flights and 4 nights in a fancy room at the Wellton cost £300 for the 2 of us, so if you fancy a city break with lots of history, scenery and all within waking distance, come to Riga.

Please note we paid for the break ourselves, it was my Christmas present to the lovely mr adventures.

auntiegwens guide to 1 night in Glasgow

As some of you will know, I grew up in Glasgow and still I think of it as home although I haven't lived there since 1987! And yes I am fully aware of how old that makes me sound, thank you very  much. 3 years ago I was fortunate enough to get married and we (I) chose One Devonshire Gardens as our venue. 

I love this hotel and we our intention was to spend each of our wedding anniversaries there. We have only managed to do it on our third attempt! We have stayed there quite a few times now and to us it will always be special, the service is impeccable yet friendly, the surroundings grand but homely and it is just a stroll away from Byres Rd with its great shops, good bars, fantastic restaurants and not forgetting the independent cinema and the Jewel that is Oran Mor.

This  time we opted to eat outside the hotel and we headed to Cafe Andaluz on the recommendation of the lovely lady who served us in Time and Tide which is a gorgeous interiors shop at the top end of Byres Rd, I couldn't pass it by, just my taste, I wanted to buy everything, I gave it my very best shot! 

At Cafe Andaluz we had the pre theatre menu of 3 tapas plus pud for £15 and a bottle of cava. I had the aubergine and manchero bake, the goats cheese and marmalade and donated my 3rd to himself, he ate meaty things, I have not a notion what they were. For pud we were going to have half of each other's but my meringue and raspberry was too nice to share so I ate it all! 

Suitably revived and replete we meandered back to the hotel. I would say that of all the rooms we have stayed in at this hotel, it was our least favourite, by no means was it bad, it just wasn't as good as the others, it didn't have the wow factor for us, judge for yourself, it was a but busy for your auntie. The bathroom was nice though.

The  hotel which is part of the Hotel du Vin chain provides bathrobes and slipperstoiletries are Miller Harris and smell citrusy which I like and rooms have iPod Bose stereo thingies and Nespresso machines ( quite frankly I would rather have a kettle, no point in wasting fancy coffee on me, I have instant tastebuds, himself loves them, we have one at home, I never touch it) 

Breakfast is good and was included, not sure it is ever worth the extra as I have coffee, toast, yoghurt and I'm done. Himself had eggy things this time, if I don't eat it I tend not to notice nor care, if it's pinchable by me you have a chance of a description. We paid £165 for 1 nights b&b so not the cheapest but when you love you love, don't you?

auntiegwens guide to 3 days in Kraków

When I first met mr auntiegwen aka mr Adventures he said the thing he most wanted to do was travel. He had spent 20 years with his previous partner who wouldn't, so the most he ever got was a week in Cornwall in dog friendly accommodation, he can get himself worked up about the standard of dog friendly accommodation, quite frankly, I encourage it when I think he needs to let off a bit of steam.
I have spent the last 23 years holidaying with my offspring, I have done the gamut of trying to placate fretful babies to grumpy ' I don't want to be here teenagers' with some glorious and memorable holidays in between.
 As 2015 was the year that my youngest child was already 18 and could be left home without social services being concerned we decided to have as many trips as we could.
Our penchant is for a city break, we like to be able to walk a lot, we always use public transport as I am a big fearty about driving abroad and we will go anywhere we can afford. This seems to mean we go everywhere in the winter! We have had some fantastic breaks in gorgeous cities in feck it's cold temperatures, I suggest thermals and good boots, we are not glamorous travellers, no little black dresses and high heels for us, himself finds they don't go with his beard.
 
Anyhoo, Kraków, it's a beautiful city and visiting in December you find it very sparkly and twinkly which suits your auntie just fine. We got cheap flights from Stansted into Kraków and it was a very cheap zloty ride on the train into central Kraków and our hotel was literally across from the train station and a few minutes walk to the old town market square. We stayed from Thursday tea time till Sunday evening, so we had 3 nights but 4 full days. Mr auntiegwen aka mr adventures is also blogging about this trip but over HERE.
We stayed at the Puro hotel, very modern, you work the lights, heating, tv from a tablet. Rooms have colour change lighting and probably the most unusual thing for me was the bathroom being glass walled, even as someone who has been seen naked by my travel companion, I was slightly disconcerted by that until I found the privacy curtain! Very contemporary design in grey and ochre. Good size rooms and very helpful reception staff but a downside for me was that you had to go down to reception  area to access the free fancy coffee machine, I would have much preferred a less fancy kettle in the room and not having to get dressed before my caffeine.

We found our way to the market square courtesy of himself having a fancy phone app called 'Here' and we meandered round having some mulled wine and local delicacies such as watery soup for me and huge sausages for him, I got a bit of the fear that I would be a very hungry auntie this trip due to my vegetarianism. The market square is beautiful and the oldest one still in use in Europe. There are stalls selling gorgeous handmade glass decorations, lots of food, souvenirs and even a working blacksmith.

The next day we explored the area around the castle, we saw a tour group with a British flag saying ' Kraków free tours' we were sorry we had missed the first part as Ela the guide was tremendous, she was so good we joined her for the afternoon walking tour of the Jewish ghetto, mr auntiegwen was beside himself with excitement, free, walking and history all in one go! The castle and area surrounding it are full of charm, cobbled streets and beautiful architecture which remained intact despite WW2, I expect having the Germans occupying had to have some upside. It must have been so odd for the citizens of Poland to find themselves invaded, their country ceased to exist, they got rid of the Germans at the end of the war only to find themselves occupied by the Russians for next few decades!

                  In the afternoon we walked to the Jewish quarter with Ela from Kraków free walking tours and as the afternoon progressed we had our minds blown by the ruthless efficiency the Nazis employed to remove the Jewish population from Kraków. Schindler's List was filmed around here, we finished up at the Heroes of the Ghetto square with its very moving chair memorial. Tour finished we headed up to Oscar Schindler' s factory museum and in the evening we remained in the Jewish quarter and on Ela's recommendation we sampled the student bars where we added a good few decades on to the average age, I got quite fond of the cherry vodka and himself the bison grass vodka, we even ate the famous zapikanka, theFrench bread pizza the students invented, first time I have ever had cucumber and ketchup on a pizza, probably the last too! 

Next day we were picked up at the crack of sparrows and headed for Auschwitz  and Birkenau, our guide for the day was a high school history teacher who got the balance spot on, it's hard to explain how vast Birkenau is as how it was set up to kill as many people as quickly as they could, it's not an enjoyable day out in the traditional sense but I'm glad I went,  our guide Adam really knew the subject well and encouraged us to think why we were taking photos, which is why I only took one of the famous 'work will se you free' sign. 

We ended up back in the Jewish quarter and back in student bars drinking vodka, we did manage a padlock on a bridge though, we always want to do this but we never seem to travel with a padlock! Himself bought some in a supermarket!

Our last 2 days we walked, took photos and ate, we drank vodka and just enjoyed the beautiful  architecture.

You should go, it's very cheap to eat and drink, the people are very helpful and you can navigate your way round easily. You should definitely do a free walking tour, drink cherry vodka and visit  Auschwitz, it fairly puts your life problems and issues into perspective. Pro secco is around £3 a bottlein supermarkets there too, that might be an incentive to visit all by its own self, no judgement from your auntie.

They also have lots of interesting outside lights and cobbled streets, which seem to be the thing I photograph the most, especially lampposts, I could do a book on lampposts throughout the world, in this post I have restrained myself, you're welcome. 

PuroHERE