Manchester to Marrakech – 2nd January

I woke up having had a good night’s sleep at The Tribe hotel, Manchester airport, on Friday 2nd January. Our flight to Morocco wasn’t until 3.25pm and check out at noon so we had plenty of time. When we went down for breakfast it was very busy and lots more guests than average who didn’t know how the toaster worked. It turned out that there were about 500 people in the area who’s plane had been cancelled so had ended up in hotels for the night. The hotel was very cold but the breakfast was pretty good. I stayed in the restaurant while Captain Caveman went back to the room for his morning meeting. I caught up on some blogging and checked my social media posts for Resort Experts.
We checked out and walked from The Tribe hotel to the airport (it’s very close) and, as we only had hand luggage we were through security fairly quickly. By 1.15pm we had bought some Duty Free, paying £17.29 for a bottle of Captain Morgan’s Black Spiced rum. We knew Marrakech was likely to be expensive for alcohol so we could have a drink in our hotel room if we liked. Interestingly, Facebook sent me 3 posts to recognise improvements in my conversations and posts on social media – at least someone appreciated me chatting on in my unique way!
The airport was busy and we decided to get a drink in one of the bar/restaurants upstairs. The service was slow so Captain Caveman went to the bar and bought us a couple of pints for about £18.
Next we took it in turns to have a wander round and decided to go to the gin bar downstairs. It was quieter but the gin was pricey. Captain Caveman had a pint and I had a glass of red wine (less than £20 for the both). We got chatting to a couple who were going to Poland and had another round. Neither of us has been to Poland so it got added to our list of places to visit.
The Happier January chart that I was following said ‘Make time today to do something kind for yourself’ so a wine at the airport and a trip to Marrakech seemed a good start!
Our flight was delayed a little and on the way to the gate, Captain Caveman bought 2 meal deals at Boots for £13. Once on the plane, Captain Caveman put his headphones on and that was him done for the journey.
When we landed, it was gone 10pm, the main doors to the airport exit were cordoned off due to a problem with the facade of the building. We were redirected to the nearby domestic terminal and there were no taxis there, just a large carpark. I noticed that there were taxis still parked up where we should’ve exited but Captain Caveman was having none of it and we started walking. The temperature was quite mild but it was very windy as we walked down a dual carriageway. I’d had 3 wees on the plane but, as we walked, I started to think I might need another one. Captain Caveman had maps on his phone and was confident we could get a bus. I noticed that even when there were bus stops the buses were in different lanes, in the middle of the dual carriageway and weren’t able to stop. Of course, Captain Caveman wasn’t listening, I ran out of water, he had to carry my bag after an hour of walking and I really needed the loo. By the time we got to where a hospital was it was after 11pm and I started to worry our accommodation would assume we weren’t turning up. In the end I got upset because, as usual, Captain Caveman was determined for us to walk all the way and I was not up to it. My (previously broken just 4 months ago) foot hurt, I was desperate for a pee and I was frustrated at the speed Captain Caveman was walking. This happens pretty often and I never learn – I saw cars and taxis and insisted we get in a taxi. When we got dropped off after a journey of less than 10 minutes, which the driver still tried to charge us £20 for, Captain Caveman was miffed that we were almost there and the taxi was unnecessary. We managed to find the riad, which was in the medina, and a young boy was trying to con tip money out of us for showing us the way, even though we had maps. Captain Caveman was having none of it and told him to bugger off. I had to wait until we’d checked in and given our passports for a photocopy before being shown to our ground floor room. The bathroom was small, traditional and clean – the room smelled nice.
Finally we had arrived and we were in bed before midnight. I logged on to the WiFi to check the map and saw that it said our riad was 1 hour and 40 minutes’ walk from the airport! At least it was flat but I was pretty annoyed at Captain Caveman because he would’ve known how long it would take to walk it – he had the map! I couldn’t, and would never, understand why this always happens and he knows it always ends in tears, but does it anyway. The taxi would have only been £20 for the whole journey and was less than 20 minutes’ drive.

Gratitude List
1. A lovely breakfast at the Tribe hotel
2. Drinks and food at the airport
3. Finally, making it to our accommodation.