24.4.2009.
I'll split these up by days so that all the corresponding pictures show up with each entry. So, Morocco. Well, getting there seemed to be the problem at first. Andrea, Angela, and I were under the impression that we were supposed to be there by 5:15 a.m. when the bus was leaving. No. Instead, we were supposed to be there at 5 to get all of our luggage onto the bus and find a seat. We left our apartment complex at 4:30 because it was a very long walk. Andrea and I had roll-on luggage which also slowed us down. We were walking along the river when we got a call telling us to hurry up! Yes. We were the last people on the bus, but then again, the bus did take off on time at 5:15. To get out of Sevilla, you have to cross a bridge. While crossing the bridge, we all heard an unexplained bang. However, the bus seemed fine and so we continued on. About 15 minutes later, the bus was pulled over on the side of the road and Jorge and Manu (some of our guides) were rooting around with flashlights trying to figure out the problem. Turns out we hit something (hence the bang) and the suspension was broken. We had to wait an hour for a replacement bus to be sent out to us. Thankfully, Jorge had given us a cushion of time to get on the ferry and we made it there to catch the 9 am ferry with plenty of time. I slept most of the way there but woke up around Tarifa, the Spanish port. I guess people do some surfing there too because the town had a beach vibe to it with many surf shops. We hopped off the bus to go and get our passports stamped (I got 4 new stamps on this trip!) and loaded our whole group onto the ferry. When I visited the Strait of Gibraltar last time, it was cloudy and not very clear but today was beautiful. You could see Tangiers, the tip of Africa, and some of the snow capped mountains behind it. The ferry ride was not that long but I'm not sure the exact time because all three of us fell asleep on it.
When we woke up, we were pulling into the African port, Tangiers. As I'm sure some of you have heard, I had my wallet stolen the Friday before the trip and had some trouble getting a debit card and/or money out of my account to spend on the trip. However, Jorge, who is one of the founders of DiscoverSevilla, lent me some money to hold me over until my debit card was activated so the trip went right along smoothly. Once getting off the ferry, we had our passports stamped again and went to exchange our money. The currency there is in Dirhams (not pronounced like Durham) and about 11 dirhams equal 1 euro. So basically, to figure out a price, we just divided everything by 10. After everyone exchanged their money, we hopped back on the bus and drove down the Atlantic coast toward Rabat, the capital of Morocco. Rabat is pretty cool. It's the second largest city in the country behind Casablanca.
The drive there showed me some scenery I was not expecting. When I was preparing myself to come to Africa, I was thinking of a flat tan place with either lots of sand or savannas, like you see on Discovery Channel. Not the case here. Northern Morocco is green, lush, and mostly farmland. There are the Reef and Atlas Mountains as well. It was so different from what I had imagined. Rabat is a town divided in half by a river. Surprisingly, it's a known surf spot. We drove in and stopped to have lunch at a nice restaurant that sat on the beach. We sat in the covered porch area but you could see the waves crashing from there. For lunch, we started with Moroccan salad which is a mixture of peppers and then the main course was a chicken pie. It was baked with a flaky crust and topped with cinnamon and powdered sugar. Now, you wouldn't think those would go well with chicken, but it was absolutely fantastic! I ate the whole thing. Also, it was fun to order soft drinks there because the writing on the coke bottles was in Arabic. Another note: you do not drink the water there. Everything you drink needs to come out of a bottle. Finally, for dessert, we were given ice cream.
After lunch, we had a little bit of time to run down to the beach, take pictures, and stick our feet in the ocean. It's so strange to see the Atlantic from the other side. The water was cool and blue there. Once taking in the view, we hopped back on the bus and they took us first to see the Mausoleum of Muhammed V. He is the King who negotiated with France for Morocco's independence. Morocco is an interesting mix of its previous occupants. It's been a Spanish and French territory. Now it is an Arabic monarchy. However, you will see French and Spanish architecture and depending on which city it is, the people speak Arabic and French or Arabic and Spanish, but many times, all three. Anyway, Muhammed V has his own mausoleum and is buried there with his two sons.
The Mausoleum is located on the grounds of the unfinished mosque started in the 12th century. At the time, the mosque was intended to be the largest in the world (and if it had been completed, would only be smaller than the Taj Mahal) and also contains to Hassan Tower, the sister tower to La Giralda here in Sevilla. The tower is only half its original intended height. The unfinished mosque is a forest of columns that would have been used to hold up the mosque's ceiling. Also in the mosque is the tomb of the unknown soldier as memorial to those lost in WWII. The soldier is buried on his right side facing east toward Mecca.
After checking out the mausoleum and mosque, we drove over to the Kasbah of the Udayas. I was wondering what the difference was between a kasbha and a medina (because we visited both) and here's what I found: a kasbah is a type of medina while medina literally means city or town. The kasbah normally is built for military purposes whereas the medina has more residential and mercantile purposes. The kasbah served as a place for the local leader to live and as a defense when the city was under attack. It has high walls with no windows. The kasbah we visited was very cool. On the inside, the walls are painted white and blue. The blue is to keep the mosquitoes away. We walked up to an overlook to see the jetty and where all the people go to surf.
Once we had a speedy tour of Rabat, it was time to get back on the bus and drive east toward Fez. The drive was not too bad and they played movies for us to keep entertained. After we arrived at our hotel in Fez, everyone checked into their rooms and ran upstairs to get dinner. The majority of our meals were buffets so we were able to choose what we wanted to eat. The food in Morocco was absolutely fantastic! Well, the food at this hotel was just ok but at the other places we ate, I was so full! First, they start off the buffet with huge bowls of any type of salad you could imagine: carrots, corn, beans, potatoes, cucumbers, regular lettuce, olives, etc. Lots and lots of veggies. After, there were the hot foods like meats and vegetables cooked with them. Also, they rely heavily on rice and couscous. Dessert normally consists of some sort of tart-like cake and lots of fruit. Needless to say, we stuffed ourselves.
And that was my first day.
love you and miss you all
Elle
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