Here's looking at you Casablanca!

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Well hello to you Morocco! After over 24 hours in the airport en route, I finally arrived - but my luggage didn't. This is the first trip where I carried all of my medications with me (I usually only take 2-3 days worth) and my electronics as well, so besides being in stinky clothes for a day or two more, life wasn't that bad. I was incredibly fortunate and was met at the airport by the Moroccan family of a Magnolia friend. They were so generous as to pick me up, take me to lunch for a traditional dish of chicken cooked in a tagine (more on this later), and take me to my hotel - their kindness was so appreciated. Kim and I met up later that night at our hotel and had a celebratory dinner for our reunion.

The next day they took us to the Hassan Mosque II the 3rd largest mosque on the planet (Saudi Arabia holds the record). Unlike most mosques, we were allowed to come in as tourists and look around the place and you'll see pictures of the truly incredibly architecture. After a fantastic lunch of couscous (the dish so nice, they named it twice) at their own home, they then took us to the medina for some shopping - camel meat anyone? After feeding some birds in the square and then drinking coffee on the beach, they then took me back to get my luggage (the airport is really quite far from the hotel). Their generosity was so appreciated and we both felt so welcome that I count them as a true highlight of the trip.

Soon we will take the bus to Chefchouen, the Blue City.

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Photos

View from our hotel
I stuck to 2 star hotels in country, which meant we had rooms that were really 4 stars all the way down to -1.