Essaouira & El Jadida

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Essaouira & El Jadida



We arrived in Essaouira from Marrakech. The bus ride we took was a bit hectic, where the bus stopped and picked up locals going from one town to the next as we thought it was a direct bus without any stops. None the less at each stop "beggers" would climb onto the bus and ask for change. We made it safe and sound and walked to our Riad through the souk. The souk we found walking to our riad was a lot less hectic as it was in Marrakech so it was a bit relaxing. Upon arrival at our riad our place was beautiful, with immaculate paintings and art work everywhere (doors, ceiling, walls) which were quite unique pieces of art. After a short stop in our riad we went out walking around and decided to get something to eat. We found a nice restaurant that was on a rooftop patio called Taros. The prices were quite more expensive from what we seen in the past towns and cities in Morocco. We ordered a "curry chicken" which when it came we realized it was only an appetizer and "curry chicken" was covered in some kind of cold mango type of jelly/ketchup. For lack of better terms it was not the greatest and Jill wouldn't even eat it. So we ordered a "banana lasagna" for desert, this thing I tell you was amazing!



We enjoyed Essaouria for our short time there that we decided that we would extend for one more night at our riad. The next day we explored a castle that was on the water with canons pointing out into the sea, it was quite a beautiful sight. We also walked out along the beach and this is where the locals play their football "soccer" on the weekends and lots of people go kite boarding and surfing. There was a lot of football games going on while we strolled along the beach. After heading back to our riad we just loved the art work that we decided to ask the manager if the artist was local to Essaouira or not. And he was, so he showed us on a map where his shop was and we made our way there. Upon our arrival we were thinking that the paintings were going to pretty pricy so we would only get one. But the price was right so we loaded up. Backpacks again full to the rim the day after we just shipped back our package from all the purchases we have made over the last 2 weeks back home. Well worth it though and we are happy we purchased them!



Our next stop in Morocco we decided to head to El Jadida which is approx. 4 hours north of Essaouira and approx. 1 hour south of Cassablanca. This time we ensured we were on the CTM bus which is the main Morocco bus company. Much better 😊 El Jadida is the town where most well off families come to from Cassablanca for a vacation. Upon walking around for a while trying to find our riad as shown on google maps and on the riad's website I decided to go into a shop and ask if the men knew where our riad was located. One elder gentlemen said he knew where it was and we followed him. We dropped off our bags in our room and Jill and I decided to go out and walk around the old Portuguese city. It is quite different than that of the walls in all the other towns and cities we have been too thus far. The walls were built on the edge of the ocean with canons agin pointing out to the sea. These walls you had a wall in front of you but you could walk behind the wall raised up that you could see if ships were coming to try to take over the city. They were very neat and interesting. Also in the old Portuguese city was a place that was called the Portuguese Cistern. It was underground with large columns and a slight layer of water on the ground and a large hole (like a wishing well) in the middle that went up to the street level. With the natural light shining down the hole and some help of lights in the cistern the reflections of the columns is quite spectacular to see. There is not as many tourists in El Jadida so finding a place to eat was a bit of a challenge, we found a place then headed back to our riad and called it a night as we were taking the train the next day to Casablanca to catch our flight to Rome.



Until next time,



Tyler



More pics below

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