winifredcreamer

Around the ramparts

Our friends Joyce and Jean-Marie joined us at the riad and brought their car, so we took advantage to do some exploring outside the medina. The book “Fez from Bab to Bab” by Hammad Berrada, is a classic guide to the medina and it starts by suggesting a driving tour around the ancient city walls.Continue reading “Around the ramparts”

Market Sights

Here are some of the things we see in the market.

Getting used to Fez

We planned for a long time to stay a month in the Fez medina. Now we are here in a riad of our own. There are lots of surprises in the medina. No cars are allowed in most of the area, but donkeys and horses clop back and forth. The animals give you timeContinue reading “Getting used to Fez”

Museums and Sites in Rabat–mixed opportunities

Rabat is Morocco’s capital. It has strong competition from Casablanca for economic prominence and with Marrakesh for cultural prominence. I’d like to see the capital with museums that reflect the best of all periods of Moroccan history, but Rabat seems to have thrown in the towel on the museum front. I already mentioned my fruitlessContinue reading “Museums and Sites in Rabat–mixed opportunities”

Rabat, Morocco

We arrived in Rabat, and got to our hotel in the medina with minimal confusion. The Rabat medina is more spacious than others we’ve seen in Essaouira, Agadir and Marrakesh. As in the others, no cars are allowed, though motorbikes race through. When we arrived at the walls of the medina, we called our hotelContinue reading “Rabat, Morocco”

El Jadida, and the “citerne portugais” of Orson Welles

We drove to El Jadida and discovered that along with the coastal beaches there is a stretch from about 10 km outside town into the city that is heavily industrial. Smokestacks from a power plant and phosphate plant are followed by a huge port facility, petroleum storage, LPG storage, one huge facility after another. NoneContinue reading “El Jadida, and the “citerne portugais” of Orson Welles”

Taking a break in Oualidia

It’s easier to say as Wah-Lidia, a small beach town on a lagoon that offers a surfing school (we enjoyed watching the wet-suited group from a distance), oysters farmed locally that we ate every day, and bird-watching. From our Airbnb home we have a great view over the lagoon to the ocean. It was aContinue reading “Taking a break in Oualidia”

Along the coast

We’ve spent two days driving along the coast, first from Agadir to Essaouira, and then from Essaouira to Oualidia, our outpost for this week. On the leg north from Agadir, we were surprised to see how much the landscape looked like versions of other places. Northern California is an easier comparison. We saw people surfing.Continue reading “Along the coast”

Essaouira, city of doors

We dodged a few raindrops and ducked into a restaurant for lunch just as it started to rain. We ended up on the third floor in a low-ceilinged room with several other groups of foreigners, French, Spanish and German. We had an especially nice chat with a German woman who was on a two weekContinue reading “Essaouira, city of doors”

A hidden treasure in Essaouira

We arrived on the outskirts of Essaouira, fortunately with our phone GPS working. The surroundings are a bit intimidating. There were ancient and modern hazards. Fortunately, there were strategically posted signs. We found the Domaine de l’Arganaraie, a delightful set of large houses around a common swimming pool and dining area, spacious and beautiful, aContinue reading “A hidden treasure in Essaouira”