The reason for it might also be that I carry myself with a smile but also with confidence.
There are idiots and nice people just like in any other countries. The difference here is that the nice people are all very personable.
I did not know what to expect from the small cities where I had to stay between Casablanca and Marrakesh. Settat was a very positive surprise. It was very clean and quiet and almost felt like a small american town.
Out of Settat I had the opportunity to help a guy get going by pushing his vehicle. It was a good feeling that I could finally help someone else after I had received so much support by many people on the trip.
It was also not necessary any more to take care of my knee, so I could not resist playing football with some local teens in Ben Guerir.
Going further South and approaching Marrakesh, the landscape suddenly changed to an empty stone desert along with rising temperatures.
Soon I reached my final destination. Marrakesh is beautiful and green with wide streets.
Immediately I cycled to the center and roamed around the medina.
It is obviously a strange feeling that there will be no more cycling. I settled down in a good but affordable hotel and saw a little bit of the town every day.
A year ago my colleague Salvatore at work told me about his Marrakesh experience and about the monkeys on the market.
When I felt the desire to do the long bicycle trip through Europe, I chose Marrakesh as the final destination. When people doubted that I could do it, I told them I would cycle to Marrakesh with my 30 year old bike and take a picture with the monkey on the market.
It was always my wish to end this trip with this picture, so here it is, exactly 4 months after I left.
Obviously I have seen amazing things and met wonderful people, like Kabi or Laurent. It seems surreal when I scroll through the blog that everything happened on one trip.
The best memories are those of unscheduled places that were stunningly beautiful, as well as the moment when people invested a lot of time, effort and stuff to help me and refused to take money from me, like Laurent or Marcelo.
Thanks to everyone who helped me, like Antonio, Sabrina, Milan, Elli & Robert, Mladen, Frane, Kabi, Luca, Eda, Laurent, Regis, Jean-Baptiste & Romain, Monica, Marcelo, Hassan, Mohammed and many others.
I will fly home, not knowing what to expect. There is a lot coming at me that I'm not used to, like actually having to work. Getting up with an alarm clock every morning. Wearing long pants.
But for sure I will be able to adapt to it, after all this is what I did most on the trip, adapt to the shit that is thrown at me but getting it done to enjoy the beautiful things of life.