Saturday Morocco

 

Our Morocco day started with an embarrassing mix-up. I wrote down the wrong leave time and awoke to a call from the coach’s wife telling us everyone was on the bus waiting for us. We got us and were on the bus in just a couple of minutes. We still had to wait for the ferry so no harm was done. It was certainly embarrassing and probably nixes my chances of being selected as a chaperone again.

To get to Morocco, it was a 45 minute bus ride followed by a 45 minute ferry ride followed by a long wait at the border.

After the border crossing, we drove through the most beautiful countryside with dramatic mountains, bright green pastures, and shepherds out one window. The blue Mediterranean was out the other side.

It was a short drive to the city of xxx and as we approached it looked much like any other small city. I saw the signature large blue sign of IKEA but didn’t lay eyes on the store itself. Presumably there’s an IKEA just like everywhere else.

Our local tour guide took us on a walking tour through the historic part of town, the Medina. If possible, the streets were even smaller than the medieval districts in Spain and a great deal busier. It was exactly like the street scenes from Indiana Jones. There were stalls selling all the residents daily needs like fruits, meats, grains, spices, clothes, hardware. Everything but tacky souvenirs. This place is not geared for tourists.

There were people of all ages walking through the town. 40% of the population is under 21 and that was clearly evident. The younger men and a very few of the women were in Western dress. Most women wore a head covering and some people wore the traditional long woven robes with pointy hoods.

The tour consisted mainly of just walking to the restaurant with our guide sharing information. There was a main local guide along with a sidekick whose job seemed to be just making sure that no one got lost along with our main fixer Gonzalo. It was comforting having so much help in the very foreign place.

We learned that each quarter of the Medina has a mosque with an arched door, a public oven for baking bread, and a public bath. A highlight was the bread. A young girl no more than 8 was with her little brother bringing loaves to be baked. Our guide bought some loaves fresh from the oven and let us share it. Fantastic! In the residential areas, you’re just walking through a maze of walls and doors. We’re told that all the houses have courtyards for light on the insides.

We had a very enjoyable lunch in what we’re told is a traditional restaurant. It definitely catered to tourists. There were carpets on the walls, beautiful tapestries on the seats, a band, and even an old man dancing with a teapot and lit candles on his head.

Lunch was very good. Soup followed by a Tajín for each table with couscous, chicken, and vegetables. Dessert was a small, delicious shortbread cookie with sweet mint tea.

Apparently tour groups are required to be taken to see (and given opportunity to buy) local crafts. From lunch we went to the pharmacy and were given a very enjoyable presentation on various spices, creams, and oils said to have medicinal properties or just we nice to use. The host there reminded me very much of Jennifer’s friend Moody. I don’t know if all tour groups buy so much, but they certainly hit the jackpot with our group. This was the last day, the kids had Euros to spend and they knew this was likely the last chance. I bought Moroccan curry spice, a balm for mosquito bites, and orange blossom oil to remind me of the lovely smell all over southern Spain.

We also visited a general shop with traditional dresses, leather good, and decorative dishes. That place didn’t fair so well. We had only a few minutes to spend there because the border crossing took so long and we were counting down the time from when to catch the ferry to catch the buffet in the hotel before it closed.

Overall the Morocco day was very interesting and different from the rest of the trip. Rather than seeing some grand building made from the work of the masses by a king or church, we had a window into a vastly different culture.