A different world

I was recently lucky enough to experience two very different sides of the Mdina. First was when I decided to take a "short cut" on my way to class. Through the Mdina, early in the morning. This turned out not to be such a short cut as I got a bit lost after turning too early and ended up walking around a school for a bit. However I am so glad I did it as I saw a totally different side of the Mdina. The abandoned side, the free side, the empty side, the streets before they are filled with the busyness of the day and the bustling of the merchants and shoppers. I never expected to find the Mdina so empty and this was what caught me more than anything. I liked being part of the beginning of the day, having somewhere to go and joining the few other people around doing other necessary early morning tasks.

Pushing way way through the crowded alleys on my way back from class I decided to treat myself to something new - mini churros. The man who sold them was so sweet and the whole cornet cost 70p! Unfortunately this meant that many people felt they could shout comments my way. Fortunately my Arabic is not really up to scratch yet so I had no idea what they were saying :-).

Subsequently I was even luckier when despite a dreadfully rainy day (I will talk more about this later) I was with M and I and they agreed to accompany me to walk the Mdina at night. I was told by A that it is a sight and indeed it was a magical walk. The dim lights made such images I could not resist talking photos. The way the light danced off the carved doors made every image different, it was such a contrast to the day, and again the morning. 

Actually walking the Mdina in the rain was not such a bad idea as much of it is covered, every now and again our paths would meet with that of others making their way to another destination. In a strange way it made me think of Christmas. I think it is probably due to the day the light was not dissimilar to that cast by fairy lights and the rain didn't make the weather too unlike that of England.

This was one of my favourite pictures, the shadow of a passer by was caught just in time. who knows how many shadows wanders these streets at night, the Mdina was all that existed before the French arrived in 1912 and the essence of over 100 years of use is all around.

However things have not changed much as the roads are often too narrow for cars so carts are used to bring supplies to the merchants for sale. This particular cart made me laugh as it had a French number plate - a number plate being rare on these two wheeled transportation machines, let alone a French one.

This is an example of the French architecture which was characteristic of some of the buildings on the outskirts of the old Mdina. I think the cobbled streets also add to the atmosphere here, it is such a beautiful place. I will try and do a post about it during the day to show the contrast.

The reason I referred to the rain as dreadful is that currently Morocco is being hit by some of the worst floods in decades. Whole villages have been wiped out, bridges are collapsing, leaving thousands of citizens stranded and people are dying. The King has said he will pay for their funerals but the people say money would be better spent in trying to have a better coping strategy in place as it is the lack of infrastructure which is in some way to blame for this disaster. The army has been mobilised and people are rallying together but for many hope is being washed away with their homes, livelihoods and for some their lives. My thoughts are with those who are struggling at this time, when the Christmas season of merriment is about to start in the UK, it is hard to forget the sights here in Morocco. Global warming is indeed playing havoc with the weather systems - this time last year people were at the beach!