1. Morocco (March 2014)
Marrakech, Morocco
Our first stop in Morocco was none other than Marrakech. We were so excited to explore this vast desert inhabited country. It was definitely a huge culture shock for us, but we embraced it with open arms. The city was extrondinarily chaotic, and the minimal amount of French I remembered in high school made it even more so. The most impressive part of our journey was exploring the markets, or souks. We would get lost for hours, trudging through the unmarked streets and steering clear of the occasional donkey cart that passed by. Marrakech was dirty, a little scary, and a colorful air of general pandemonium; I cherished every moment of it. In addition to this we also stayed at the most amazing bed and breakfast, or riad, in Marrakech called Riad Qodwa. I would definitely recommend this bed and
breakfast. I couldn´t believe what €14 bought us! Let me paint a picture for you: We stayed in a huge house with mosiac title scattered throughout the vicinity, where a gorgeous pool sat outside with fountains spraying water across the beautiful sunny sky. The pool overlooked the Atlas mountains and we really did enjoy the birds singing as they slowly awakened us every morning. It was paradise. We stayed one night in the busy sqaure of the city and after one night we decided to get the hell out and boy was that the best decision we made the whole trip. Riad Qodwa is a great place located 15km outside of the center of the city. It was peaceful, stressfree and just what we needed to recharge. The riad also came with a shuttle service that would take you to and from the riad every 4 hours--free! We definitely took advantage of that and had a very pleasant stay. In addition to visiting the sights, tanneries (where they soak animal skins in pigeon poop and cow piss...yeahhh...the smell was fantastic), and other local attractions in Marrakech, we also did a day trip to Ourika Valley. This valley is home to the famous Berber community in Morocco. Although we were kind of suckered into a tourist trap (but everything offered here is) we had a great time and met some fabulous people from Beglium and Germany on our trip. I called this trip a tourist trap because what it entailed was a local guide transporting the foreigners to specific vendors that sold rugs, jewelry, oils, etc. Although there are a variety of options to choose from, we felt obligated to go where our guide told us to go. I felt like my independence was compromised, but hey, what can you do? This is how it is in Morocco. The locals all work together to exploit the foreigners, and I´m sure they make a pretty penny. We explored a Berber house, a local Argan oil extraction ´facility´ (and by facility I mean a hut where they told us that the villagers made this oil by hand to tug on our heart strings...hmm....I was not convinced). After this we also headed to a magnificent lunch destination on the river that ran through the valley. Once we had our fill of Moroccan salad and Berber tajine (a Moroccan stew concoction), we hiked to a pretty cool waterfall. It wasn´t extremely impressive but it was great to be in a National Park again! It was a fantastic stay and I was really sad to leave the sunshine and ethnic food, but that just means that next time we visited Morocco we will head to the Sahara and the ski resorts! Yup, there IS skiing in Africa!
Casablanca, Morocco
Our second, and last, city that we visted was Casablanca. We were hesitant to visit this city but we wanted to explore more in Morocco so we made the capital our final destination. We only stayed one day there and I wouldn´t recommend anymore than one day. It was great to see something that wasn´t touristy, because that is all that Marrakech was. The only thing to really see in Casablanca though is the huge mosque (Hassan II) that can be viewed from virtually anywhere in the city. It is the most beautiful building I have ever seen. The fine detail of this structure is so impressive that you can´t help but stare. I think I took probably 50 pictures of this huge structure. It really was such a perfect sight to see in a crowded, dirty, undeveloped city. This mosque is more than just a religious worship to these people-- it´s definitely represents a greater idea of the beauty that can be found in the world. Most of these people have only the bare esstentials to survive daily yet when they look at this magnificent mosque you can see in their eyes something that keeps them going--hope.
Our first stop in Morocco was none other than Marrakech. We were so excited to explore this vast desert inhabited country. It was definitely a huge culture shock for us, but we embraced it with open arms. The city was extrondinarily chaotic, and the minimal amount of French I remembered in high school made it even more so. The most impressive part of our journey was exploring the markets, or souks. We would get lost for hours, trudging through the unmarked streets and steering clear of the occasional donkey cart that passed by. Marrakech was dirty, a little scary, and a colorful air of general pandemonium; I cherished every moment of it. In addition to this we also stayed at the most amazing bed and breakfast, or riad, in Marrakech called Riad Qodwa. I would definitely recommend this bed and
breakfast. I couldn´t believe what €14 bought us! Let me paint a picture for you: We stayed in a huge house with mosiac title scattered throughout the vicinity, where a gorgeous pool sat outside with fountains spraying water across the beautiful sunny sky. The pool overlooked the Atlas mountains and we really did enjoy the birds singing as they slowly awakened us every morning. It was paradise. We stayed one night in the busy sqaure of the city and after one night we decided to get the hell out and boy was that the best decision we made the whole trip. Riad Qodwa is a great place located 15km outside of the center of the city. It was peaceful, stressfree and just what we needed to recharge. The riad also came with a shuttle service that would take you to and from the riad every 4 hours--free! We definitely took advantage of that and had a very pleasant stay. In addition to visiting the sights, tanneries (where they soak animal skins in pigeon poop and cow piss...yeahhh...the smell was fantastic), and other local attractions in Marrakech, we also did a day trip to Ourika Valley. This valley is home to the famous Berber community in Morocco. Although we were kind of suckered into a tourist trap (but everything offered here is) we had a great time and met some fabulous people from Beglium and Germany on our trip. I called this trip a tourist trap because what it entailed was a local guide transporting the foreigners to specific vendors that sold rugs, jewelry, oils, etc. Although there are a variety of options to choose from, we felt obligated to go where our guide told us to go. I felt like my independence was compromised, but hey, what can you do? This is how it is in Morocco. The locals all work together to exploit the foreigners, and I´m sure they make a pretty penny. We explored a Berber house, a local Argan oil extraction ´facility´ (and by facility I mean a hut where they told us that the villagers made this oil by hand to tug on our heart strings...hmm....I was not convinced). After this we also headed to a magnificent lunch destination on the river that ran through the valley. Once we had our fill of Moroccan salad and Berber tajine (a Moroccan stew concoction), we hiked to a pretty cool waterfall. It wasn´t extremely impressive but it was great to be in a National Park again! It was a fantastic stay and I was really sad to leave the sunshine and ethnic food, but that just means that next time we visited Morocco we will head to the Sahara and the ski resorts! Yup, there IS skiing in Africa!
Casablanca, Morocco
Our second, and last, city that we visted was Casablanca. We were hesitant to visit this city but we wanted to explore more in Morocco so we made the capital our final destination. We only stayed one day there and I wouldn´t recommend anymore than one day. It was great to see something that wasn´t touristy, because that is all that Marrakech was. The only thing to really see in Casablanca though is the huge mosque (Hassan II) that can be viewed from virtually anywhere in the city. It is the most beautiful building I have ever seen. The fine detail of this structure is so impressive that you can´t help but stare. I think I took probably 50 pictures of this huge structure. It really was such a perfect sight to see in a crowded, dirty, undeveloped city. This mosque is more than just a religious worship to these people-- it´s definitely represents a greater idea of the beauty that can be found in the world. Most of these people have only the bare esstentials to survive daily yet when they look at this magnificent mosque you can see in their eyes something that keeps them going--hope.