tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428477.post6528478182112365182..comments2024-03-05T17:09:37.012+00:00Comments on Bill's Comment Page: The cleanliness of Moroccan toilets - and poetry, too!Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10393265755614039206noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428477.post-44961832924446678092010-07-11T17:16:47.833+01:002010-07-11T17:16:47.833+01:00I saw some really nice bits of Casablanca, and onc...I saw some really nice bits of Casablanca, and once I got away from the coach drop off point and therefore away from the minority of professional hucksters looking for 'wealthy' westerners from whom they thought they might be able to extract a fast buck or to whom they might be able to sell some 'herbal' products, it was all good. <br /><br />We were never in port for more than a few hours, so Marrakech was never on the itinery. However, it's right at the top of the list for the next time I find myself in North Africa. <br /><br />The cruise ship work I just fell into, to be honest. It fitted fairly well with the day job, since it was only ever over xmas/New Year, and never for much more than 3 or 4 weeks at a time, which could be fitted (at a stretch) around holiday entitlements. I'm not sure I would have been so enamoured of it had it been a full time gig - I loved the pub 'gigs' and doing the theatre shows, but there's only so many 10am sing-a-longs and dance classes you can face conducting when you've been out in the crew bar until only a few short hours earlier :-)<br /><br />We had it easy as guest entertainers, since we were basically treated like passengers. However, if you were full time, it would have meant working up to 50 hours a week including rehersals, with little to do in between time other than drink or work on your cabin fever. Nice to have done, but nicer in my view to be able to fit around other, more long-term commitments!Richard Thomsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00380671811598211337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428477.post-77911745431751586612010-07-08T18:33:16.576+01:002010-07-08T18:33:16.576+01:00PS / How interesting - working on P&O cruise s...PS / How interesting - working on P&O cruise ships with a band.<br /><br />Not in Casa but in some other places that cruise ships called we used to provide local banking services in rotation with other banks, so I was able to visit quite a number of vessels over the years (mainly American or French).Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10393265755614039206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428477.post-267530129558326302010-07-08T18:29:19.863+01:002010-07-08T18:29:19.863+01:00I think it is one of those things that has passed ...I think it is one of those things that has passed down from mouth to mouth for a long time - Fry obviously got it from somewhere else. The only thing certain is that Cloacina is the Roman Goddess of Sewers (viz. Cloaca Maxima, the ancient sewers of Rome).<br /><br />I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Morocco - Casabalnca is of course the commercial centre of the country and not an ancient city at all, but is pretty modern, although parts are lovely - I lived in two places when I was there (and a third temporarily), all in very attractive parts of the city; there were some lovely villas (some were mini-palaces really) around where I lived.<br /><br />I liked to go to Marrakech about once a month for the weekend (there was a great restaurant in the valley on the way up to the ski-station at Oukaimeden in the Atlas, about an hour from Marrakech) and other favourite places were Fez and of ocurse there was a nice (and safe) beach just south of Rabat at Mohammedia; most of the Atlantic sea coast in northern Morocco is treacherous with dangeorous under-currents, so most use salt-water pools along the coast at Anfa on Casa's outskirts. Great restaurants there too . Ramadan is a problem for visitors, I agree, but a whole lot less difficult than in many other Moslem countries, I assure you.Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10393265755614039206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428477.post-28037134757423192922010-07-08T18:14:19.722+01:002010-07-08T18:14:19.722+01:00No idea who was responsible, but it was the only p...No idea who was responsible, but it was the only piece of 'poetry' that your subject matter brought to mind! <br /><br />FWIW, I think the version I left smeared unhygenically on your blog was from a Stephen Fry book - Paperweight, I think - although he almost certainly wasn't the one who concocted it. Any misquotation from the original I hereby blame on him...<br /><br />I've been to Casablanca twice, when I was working on a P&O cruise ship with a band. On the first occasion, I'm ashamed to say I ran for the safety of McDonalds to escape the attentions of the hustlers. I was also a bit perturbed to find out that they'd kicked us off the ship without warning us that it was Ramadan, and that any attempt to try and find food in the (invariably closed) cafes was likely to meet with great agitation! <br /><br />My second visit was a lot more enjoyable... even though the guard denied me access to the Hassan II mosque on that particular day on the grounds that it was 'Muslim only'. Morocco is a country I'd like to spend a lot more time in, even if Casablanca isn't necessarily the place I'd like to spend that time in.<br /><br />Cheers!<br /><br />RichardRichard Thomsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00380671811598211337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428477.post-77312858933854741212010-07-08T17:46:23.693+01:002010-07-08T17:46:23.693+01:00Hi Richard,
¿Qué? ;)
ماذا؟
John Gay, I suspect? ...Hi Richard,<br /><br />¿Qué? ;)<br />ماذا؟<br /><br />John Gay, I suspect? (Or perhaps Byron, according to one possibly tongue-in-cheek attribution), Here's a slighly different version:<br /><br />O Cloacina, Goddess of this place,<br />Look on thy suppliants with a smiling face.<br />Soft, yet cohesive let their offerings flow,<br />Not rashly swift nor insolently slow.<br /><br />Cheers!<br />BillBillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10393265755614039206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428477.post-56504920468992086882010-07-08T17:09:23.083+01:002010-07-08T17:09:23.083+01:00O Cloacina! Goddess of this place,
Gaze on thy sup...O Cloacina! Goddess of this place,<br />Gaze on thy suppliants with a smiling face,<br />Smooth and consistent may their offerings flow,<br />Neither rashly swift, nor insolently slow...Richard Thomsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00380671811598211337noreply@blogger.com