Rabat: Day 2

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Hassan Tower

Mausoleum of Mohammed V

Necropolis at Chella

Ville Nouvelle



Today we visited all of the above sites Walked thru the boulevards of the ville nouvelle and sipped on cafe Au lait in a laid back cafe

The atmosphere of the ville nouvelle is a far cry from the bustles of the old Medina The boulevards are wide and flanked by mostly white art nouveau buildings

similar to the parisians the rabatians afford themselves the occasional laid back experience of a cafe seated in rows along the walkways facing the streets and observing the comings and goings of daily life

Some discuss passionately and some sit in silence sipping on a cup of coffee served in a small clear glass

What is striking about these sites are the tile work the mosaics the plaster and wood carvings Delicate intricate precise detailed mathematical And all just breathtaking

I can not say enough

Necropolis, The old Roman town turned Muslim fort and now ruins is riddled with abandoned grave sites mausoleums cats overgrown vegetation and storks and stork nests

The place is so many layered that it requires, in my humble opinion, a whole day of exploration ours took a little less than 3 hours

The one interesting but not specifically described part of it is that it was part of the Camino De Santiago De Compostela the entry gateways are flanked by the sea shell motives of the Camino

It was relevant to us, because my husband had just completed the French path of the Camino and subsequently joined me in Rabat

We walked from the necropolis thru the ville nouvelle to our Riad

Fatiha the keeper of the Riad prepared us a sumptuous Moroccan dinner of tangine with poulet citrone and zeitun ( chicken pickled lemons and olives) with eggplant purée (something like a baba ganoush) and pimiento (pepper) salad. For dessert we had fruit salad with rose water butter cookies and sweet mint tea

I will leave you with that

Until tomorrow inshallah (god willing)

M

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