I am happy to report that the cooler weather really does seem to be on the way. This weekend was very nice, temperature in the day around 37C or so, and yes, that really is cooler! Trust me, sub-40 makes all the difference. The fact that there is little humidity at the moment also helps with the perceived comfort level.
Friday we started with a visit to a charity book sale at Times Square Centre, proceeds for Feline Friends. With most books going for 10 dirhams each we stocked up on best-sellers we had missed the first time round; and some older, well-thumbed novels by favourite authors. I think we probably walked away with around 40 books. That should keep us busy for a while. After that we joined Peter & Eunice for frunch, yes again. It was just as delightful the second time, although this time I stayed away from the delicious bread so as not to get too full. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and digesting a very nice meal.
Saturday we thought we would hit the pool, or even the beach, at the Le Meridien as the weather has been so mild, and it was time to get some sun on the legs. We headed over around lunch time, to start with a snack at the Barasti Bar and then mosey over to the pool for a few hours. Alas we were stopped at the hotel door and told that either we had to leave our beach bag at the front desk, or pay 250 dirhams each for the pleasure of using the facilities. Bag swiftly stowed with the concierge we headed outdoors to the bar. I think glaciers move faster than the waiting staff at the Barasti, eventually we managed to get our order in and narrowly avoided dehydration when the drinks finally arrived! I ended up with a very average chicken burger whilst (happily) Stu had a yummy-looking beef burger complete with cheese and bacon. At least the fries were good, and served with mayo which is perfect. We people-watched for a while, there was quite a bit of activity in the marina adjacent to the hotel, some folks have a lot of money alright! Not wanting to waste 500 dirhams for an hour or two poolside we decided to head home, chill a bottle of wine and risk a visit to the communal complex swimming pool, even if it meant having to deal with screaming kids and lots of people. At least we could walk there and I could have a glass of wine and not be designated driver. After getting changed, packing a bag and decanting the wine into a cooler with ice we wandered one street down to the pool. The place was deserted, dead quiet. No one around except the life guard. I was just thinking how pleasant it might be as we reached the gate. Sadly the reason for the dearth of people was not because they were all out visiting relatives, doing homework or walking the dog, nope the sad reality was the pool was closed! We were informed by the life guard that because the water was dirty they added some chemical to it to clean it, and because the filter is not working the water is now full of chemicals and no one can swim. He happily told us that it would be open tomorrow, being Sunday! We asked him if we could please have two pool loungers for under the tree. Nope, pool closed means you can’t even use a cushion to laze in the sun. So we slunk back home, had a cool shower and drank our wine whilst watching the Currie Cup.
What a day! What a weekend. 🙂