Blogs from Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer, Morocco, Africa

Although we had landed in Casablanca, we were quickly transported to Rabat, where our tour officially began. At the airport, we had an opportunity to experience first-hand the relaxed attitude of Morocco's population, as we patiently waited for officials to finish socializing before tending to the long lines of travelers waiting for passport check. The trip between the two cities seemed long, probably because we were tired from the long flights, and the arrival to the city was uneventful. The extended city of Rabat, or nouveau ville, is not much different from any modern generic metropolis. Our hotel, The Sofitel Rabat Jardin des Roses, was a lovely oasis a distance from the center of town. It boasts 17 acres of Andalusian gardens, and an enormous pool hidden by tall palm trees. It also includes several restaurants ... read more

Scorrono tranquille le giornate qui in Marocco, inaspettatamente posizionato sullo stesso fuso orario dell' Italia anche se situato ben più ad Ovest; sono cosi' riuscito a trascorrere i miei primi due giorni nel paese indietro di un'ora rispetto a tutti quelli che mi stavano attorno, ma poco male. Meglio comunque farsi subito la mano ed abituarsi in fretta a tutti quei termini arabi a me ancora ben poco familiari. Innanzitutto "Medina", cioè la città vecchia, il centro più antico dell'abitato molto spesso circondato da mura o da cio' che ne rimane; qui si concentrano la gran parte delle attrazioni turistiche e degli hotel più economici (altro luogo a colpo sicuro è vicino alle stazioni di autobus e treni!) che bene riescono a riassumerne le principali caratteristiche: decrepiti, bui, sporchi, in generale di bassa qualità ma tutto ... read more

Still love Rabat. Breakfast on the sun balcony required a ‘parasol’ as today’s sky was as blue as we have seen anytime in Spain or Morocco (or England!) and the sun quite intense. Moving around there’s been a refreshing breeze but the delightful blue sky remains. Breakfast was very Moroccan which is fine by me but a bit tougher on Lee as much is bread based. There was honey, jams, fresh pot set yoghurt, goat cheese and olives. As well some lovely lemon juice but the basis was crepes, a form of flat crumpet and some pastries. We share the riad with a small group of travel agents, many or most are Australian and several are a little loud especially around 7 o’clock in the morning. Shame they didn’t want 2 typical tourists to trial a ... read more

If at noon the king declares it is night, behold the stars… ~ Moroccan Proverb HE SAID... Today we were travelling northeast from Casablanca to Rabat. We were catching a morning train to Rabat, so we headed down to the hotel lobby for an early breakfast. Breakfast was a reasonably simple affair, but enjoyable all the same. We started with freshly squeezed orange juice and mint tea, then grazed on baguettes, boiled eggs, croissants and jam. We organised our packs in our room, then loaded them into a minibus and made our way to Casa Voyageurs, one of Casablanca’s three main train stations. The station was empty, so we breezed through the various ticket collectors and settled into our oven-like carriage. We eased out of the station at 9:45am, and stared silently at the decrepit and ... read more

We enjoy the best breakfast of the holiday in the riad. Freshly cooked, piping hot pancakes, a perfect omelette, bread, yogurt, fresh fruit and even a bowl of tiny strawberries, halved and macerated in a little sugar. Madame who is in charge is French, so that is probably why. Thus refreshed we set off to visit the Bou Inania Medersa (what they call a madrassa in Morocco). Despite being listed as opening at 9.00, it’s closed when we arrive. The cleaning lady tells us it opens at 10.00 so we decide to walk back to the main square, confident we now know the route. However, the souks are entirely different this early. None of the shops have opened, so instead of navigating our way down incredibly narrow passages between the shops selling young men’s fashion, and ... read more