Morocco

Well, Morocco already seems like a distant memory since we were there over two weeks ago, but I'll relive the adventures as I type.  It was quite a change after being in relatively easy Europe for the summer.  When we left home in January and knew our first stop would be India, we had ourselves as prepared as possible for the changes.  This time, however, we weren't really thinking through how different things would be after just a 2 hour ferry ride.  Suddenly we were on a different continent in a very different culture with passport control, and squatty potties, and a very different language, and no phone reception!  We decided Morocco is like an India-lite:  lots of people but not AS many as India, crazy traffic but not AS crazy as India, staring and commenting guys but not AS much, overwhelming but not AS overwhelming.  Our final vote was a thumbs up!

As we crossed from Spain to Morocco, we got great views of the Rock of Gibraltar

We had a three hour drive from the ferry to our first stop which was the coastal town of Bouznika.  Most of the drive was on a beautiful divided highway, our first surprise.  Along the way we were introduced to Morocco's shepherds and donkey carts and little towns and beautiful sunsets.

When we arrived in Bouznika, our host's cute parents got us settled and then drove us to their favorite local restaurant.  We were thankful to have their help in ordering.  Very little English was spoken and the food and method for ordering it was very different--meat is ordered by the kilogram.

This was our first of many meals of tagine, a traditional dish of meat (beef, lamb, chicken) and veggies cooked in these pots.  It was a hit with all of us.

My senses struggled a little with the butcher window right in the corner of the restaurant.  At least we knew our meat was fresh!

This cute guy was having dinner with his family and asked to take our picture with his ipad.  He proceeded to walk around the table and take individual pictures of each of us.  Then he pulled a chair up next to Ella so he could show her all of his pictures on the ipad.  We're wondering why Ella doesn't show that same level of patience with us?!  As he left, he blew us all kisses--so sweet!

The highlight of our Moroccan meals is the mint tea--made with fresh mint sprigs and lots of sugar.  The servers pour it from high above the glass and Trina had fun perfecting that skill.

So we had some bad news and some good news in Bouznika.  The bad news is that we ran into some issues with our van. (New fan, new clutch, repaired power locks, patched tire--for those of you who care about such things)  The good news is that our apartment manager put us in touch with a local mechanic who worked very hard to get us back on the road.

The apartment manager made a plan for us to meet the mechanic at the train station--I don't know why he thought we wouldn't find the place on our own? :)

These guys, Ben and Khalid, went above and beyond--driving Mike around to find parts and delivering the van and working extra hours.  Mike texted them after we had left town to ask for a picture.  They sent this selfie from Friday mosque :)

But the good news gets better!  Of all the places we could be stranded, an extra two days in this place wasn't too terrible!

The beach in Bouznika.  The girls laugh at me for calling things "so Moroccan", but aren't these beach homes so Moroccan?

And we stayed on the beach long enough to witness a beautiful sunset.

Then it was on to Marrakech:

We had a bit of a trick finding our place in Marrakech.  AirBnB has not always given us the most accurate directions, but eventually Amine (the host) gave directions over the phone to a taxi driver and we followed him to the house.  This was Amine's family home which had fallen into some disrepair.  He's renting rooms out while he renovates and things weren't perfect, but it still had so much charm.

This open courtyard and fountain with rose petals scattered around were the first thing we saw as we entered the house. 

And look at one of the sitting rooms.  Isn't it just so Moroccan? :)

But the highlight for Trina was the dogs--FOUR of them, so at least one was always willing to play.

And then it was morning and time to experience Marrakech.  Let's have a little chat about Mike's driving skillz.  We have put over 20,000 kilometers on this van since June, all driven by Mike.  He has driven in London and Paris, down narrow one way streets, over winding mountain roads, on the left side--things that would have had me stopped on the road, curled up on the front seat in the fetal position in tears--but he's unflappable.  But THEN there was Marrakech!  He remained unflappable, even through this whole new level of craziness and stress.

It didn't look so bad at first.  A few little obstacles to avoid, but lots of room to drive around.

Things got a little more interesting when we got into a traffic jam across a bridge and transportation of all sorts jockeyed for spots.  We just cracked up when we looked out our rear window and even donkeyman had claimed a lane.

He's on a cart, not the donkey :)

And then the roads got narrower...

...and narrower

...and even narrower!

Finally we found a little parking lot.  Now all Mike had to do was turn into the tiny entryway, surrounded by concrete, with about 1 inch of clearance on each side, uphill, with a manual transmission.  You had to be there, but it was quite a feat!  You may have even heard a little applause...or sighs of relief...or prayers of thanks when we were finally parked.

First we were trying not to hit the pedestrians.  Now suddenly we're the pedestrians, trying not to get hit!

The Medina (Old Town) of Marrakech was a huge maze of streets and alleys just full of stalls and vendors and foods and souvenirs and people and animals.  So interesting and colorful!

We visited the Ben Youssef Medersa, a former Islamic school.  Morocco is full of beautiful mosaic tile and carving.  This was one example.

As a cultural experience, Mike likes to visit barbers when he's traveling, so this time we hung out with him.

A view out over the city.  Hard to see the historical landmarks over all the satellite dishes!

A Marrakech treat--henna!

Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech

And then in Marrakech, we celebrated Trina's 11th birthday!

Trina has been a great traveler--equal parts independent "tween" and fun loving kid.

We celebrated at an Italian restaurant with birthday desserts.

And then we celebrated with gift giving.  It's fun to see how creative and sneaky the girls get about birthday gifts.  Ella saw Trina eyeing this at Belfast Titanic and bought it for her birthday.

Our final stops in Marrakech:

The Saadian Tombs--members of the Saadi dynasty were buried here around 1600 and the tombs were rediscovered in 1917.

Jardin Majorelle.  The gardens were designed by a French artist, Jacque Majorelle in the 1920s and this blue is now called Majorelle blue.  Ives St. Laurent later bought the gardens and his ashes are here.

Then it was on to Fes:

This was one of the streets leading out of Marrakech.  The old towns were crazy because they weren't made for cars, but the rest of Morocco was surprisingly clean and organized and beautifully landscaped.

Hey--there are camels in the road!

In Fes, Ella reserved a great place for us.  The old town is filled with Riads--old houses with courtyards in the middle that now are hotels.  Ours was just inside the old town and "so Moroccan".

We thought maybe we could at least drive the car up to the entrance to drop off bags.  Um, no.  We walked down an alley that led to this alley that led to our entrance.

This was the top floor with its little outdoor restaurant and a couple of rooftop decks.  The three older girls also had a large room to themselves up here.  Mike, Trina and I had another big, traditional room on the first floor that opened up into a courtyard.  A peaceful oasis in the middle of a loud and hectic old town.

Everything we read suggested a private guide, for information but also because it's nearly impossible to navigate all the alleys without getting lost.  Thami, our guide, was valuable on both counts.  He was a wealth of information and showed us fun little foods and things that we would have never noticed, in addition to historical sights.

This is a map we were given of the old town of Fes.  Thinking the guide was a good way to go.

The Blue Gate--a well known entrance to the Fes Medina (Old Town).  Our riad was just a couple of blocks from here.

Fes is known for its tanneries.  Here we could overlook the process:  1. Lye, which makes the hair fall out.  2. Pigeon poop, used to soften the hide. 3. Dyes.  The pigeon poop gave off a horrendous odor.  The wind direction this day and the mint sprigs they gave us helped a little, but not much.  Can't even imagine working in that every day.

The down side of tour guides is that they always rope you into some buying presentation.  Here we were HIGHLY encouraged to buy a rug.  At least we got to sit and enjoy some mint tea.

And then there was the scarf guy

Love looking at the interesting foods in all the different markets.  See the shark head?  And my big missed photo op was the hanging camel head I saw right at the end of our day

A special pic for my brother.  The Purity Cylinder Gases Morocco Division!  Since the alleys are too narrow for vehicles, everything is hauled in by donkey or pushcart.

And this is a special one for Grandpa and Grandma Lanser.  Trina enjoyed reading her week of birthday e-greetings!

We were in Morocco just days before the Muslims celebrated Eid al-Adha or the Feast of the Sacrifice.  Sheep were the star attraction in preparation for the sacrifice day.  We saw sheep markets and passed many trucks with sheep in them.  We even saw a couple riding in the back of a mini van!

Update since Morocco:  We've returned to Europe and traveled along the southern coasts of Spain and France, making some stops in Italy, and are now spending some time in Greece.  More on that soon!