The Athens of the North

My first trip to Edinburgh was in 2007 on returning from Inverness. The video below will give you and idea why this most historical of British cities is called "the Athens of the North"



















Edinburgh, Scotland's capital is for a reserved guy like me the one must see city in Britain. My first time experience of emerging from Edinburgh's Waverly train station and onto Princess street to be awestruck by the uber Gothic Scot memorial was back in 2007; and its history all around, literaly built on a the site of a volcano, its most famous feature being the Edinburgh castle is situated right on one of the several volcanic remnants. The fingers of God have really shaped the Scottish landscape into perhaps one of the most majestic highland regions in the world. The video above is from Claton Hill, the site of another extinct volcano.

The National monument of Claton hill is styled after the Greek Parthenon.

A hill of beans....

Checked in Fajr approaches, unfortunately I was unable to get a Window seat, a chance to see la sécheresse; the growing Sahara, I missed a window seat ticket to what would turn out to be a permiere viewing of Casablanca staring me.

Met Tesslim Salauden at the airport, we finished from the same Alma Mater, the Federal Univesity of Technology Minna, I knew I would meet a famillar face. His entourage of jellof rice and ox tail pepper soup helped ferry the night away.

I havn't made a stop over since my return trip from Dakar. For a muslim a to fly over the Sufi ocean south of Spain, to make a mere "stopover" at Morocco is a bad tease to the beautiful Magreb, Fez, Agadir, Casablanca, Bogart and Bergman.

An unwarranted insult to a concrete noun. But the heart is the from the King, of the King, and to the King. Let's all pray to wear Moroccan sandals one day. Amen, Amin, Om.

Into the Magrib

Morocco is known as the Magrib the Islamic east, a change of window seat on the flight bestow on me the majestic views of the mountains near the city of Agadir.


I believe its a Berber city. Our approach into Casablanca starts at few minutes later they are many farmlands and the human impact more visible as we approach landing.

Dead:lines

Right now I am outside one of the most "dangerous" airports in the World. The rush to get here, the separation from sanity the overbearing pressure of dead:lines, is best forgotten. I once described it as super hot, super flat, and super crowed. I am at the masjid outside the Murtala Mohammed Airport Lagos a man, probably the Iman sleeps in front in the Mirhab niche. Insha Allah lets watch this space.