H: We celebrated the start of engaged life with a couple of days wandering around Marrakech. It’s an amazing place, made even more so by the fact that it is only a 3 hr flight from East Midlands but it’s like being in another world. The traffic is crazy, there are donkeys pulling karts everywhere, snake charmers in the main square and a few camels along the roadside. The houses are all the same sandy colour and the streets are filled with locals, spices and silks.

The main square is surrounded by souqs, little neighbourhoods of tiny winding alleyways. Most don’t have street names, and most aren’t mapped (you’d need a very detailed map!) so the best thing for it is to wander until you are completely lost and tired, and then keep wandering until you find either either the square or the main road that rings all the souqs!

We treated ourselves to a meal in a nice restaurant (again Greg abusing his money freedom) to celebrate and even had wine. We are really going to have to not get used to this luxury!

For tea we got lost again and found ourselves back in the square which is set up with endless food stalls for the night. We wandered up and down refusing all until one guy perfectly mimicked about 10 accents from the UK so we decided to eat at his place.

Our second day was filled with more wandering and food this time in the local quarter. And by local I mean local – so local I didn’t dare eat there. It was full of local men, no women, and flies and food scaps on the floor and cats eating the food scraps on the floor. Apparently the food was good but a packet of crisps for me was not the most healthy option but certainly the safest! I want engaged life to last longer than a few days before we end up with another bout of food poisoning!

H: Having worked far too hard for the last couple of months, Greg very romantically decided he wanted to take me away somewhere for a few days break. This worked well for me as I had an exciting trip to look forward to. It also worked well for G as he could spend what he wanted without me trying to rein him in.

Now I think I am very restrained when packing, especially for a girl. But it does take some effort, and this was made much harder by not knowing if I was going somewhere cold/mild/hot. Was I walking/swimming/beaching/towning? Were we eating cheap/smart?

In the end G conceded and told me we were going somewhere warm. However this didn’t solve all the problems. Were we going to be spending time in air conditioned places therefore needing cold weather gear too? If we were walking were we climbing mountains so even if it was hot walking it was going to be cold at the top. See the difficulties?

Eventually G managed to get me to put out what I needed and I left him to it. We get to the airport and I still have no idea where we’re going. Warm meant south but I didn’t know how south. Secretly I was hoping not for a city break even if it was a warm one – G knows I’m not too great with museums art gallerys etc zzzz.

So I was VERY excited when he told me we were going to Marrakech! Somewhere I had definitely wanted to go, and more excitingly, our first trip onto the African continent, our second to last one to visit (Antarctica being the last which isn’t going to be an easy one). We got on the plane and G produces Heat magazine (a very very rare treat) and a little bag of Cadbury buttons (a much more regular treat). Wow G is earning big brownie points.

Because G was in rare control of the money, he took advantage and booked a taxi from the airport to get this – not a hostel but a full on proper guesthouse! With clean sheets and towels and a real bathroom. Bliss.

Bliss stopped at 6am the next day though when the alarm went off. G had arranged for us to go somewhere, but he wouldn’t tell me where. So I basically packed up everything I’d got with me (see reasoning above) and we met a guy in reception. Who turned out to be our driver and was going to take us through the Moroccan countryside and through the Atlas mountains.

It was hot, the skies were blue and it was beautiful. We stopped at the Telouet Kasbah, a ruins of a big home that a wealthy family used to own. We then continued on through the mountains to Ouarzazate to see the fortified village (ksar) of Ait Benhaddou which has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. We didn’t go inside it though as I think G felt lunch was calling…

So we set off across the desert and off the tarmac roads with the driver telling us he was off to find somewhere quiet and away from tourists as G had requested when he booked it. I should have clicked then.

Our driver suddenly pulls off on the side of the road and tells us he will cook lunch so we go for a wander. Greg produces another bag of Cadbury buttons and offers me one. Feeling unusually restrained I take just one and am confused when he immediately asks if I want another one, he normally tries to moderate my chocolate eating.

But this time I found a ring and he proposed :o) So now I was engaged AND had Cadburys – there’s not much that could beat that is there? G followed it up with a romantic picnic lunch made by our driver with a specially-asked-for bottle of wine. Awww, he’s not a bad catch after all! :o) :o) :o)