Blogs from Tangier-Tétouan, Morocco, Africa - page 4

The Blue City of Morocco is truly one of the most interesting sites in Morocco. This is for several reasons. First of all, as the pictures will show you, the city is really Blue. The labyrinth that makes up the old city (created in the 1400s) is painted in blue. Apparently the color comes from the Jewish communities who settled there after being expelled from Spain. As for the meaning of the color several theories exist, including it's being a spiritual reminder of heaven and earth or keeping the mosquitoes away (there were no mosquitoes in sight). Second, the city is in the Northwest part of the country and as such is this incredibly mixture of Arabic, Spanish, French and Berber communities. Here my terrible Spanish was just as useful as my terrible French. This city ... read more

The United States declared independence from England in 1776. Maybe you heard about it, it was kind of a big deal. Quick, which was the first country to recognize the new nation? If you answered France you would be almost correct; France was the second country to recognize the United States, in February of 1778. But the very first country to recognize the United States was Morocco in 1777. Of course, the Americans, being busy with the Revolutionary War with England, didn’t get around to formalizing a treaty with Morocco for another decade or so .The first US consul to Morocco arrived in 1797. Morocco occupies a unique position on the northern coast of Africa where the Atlantic and the Mediterranean meet. Add in its proximity to Spain and Gibraltar, along with a protected, deep water ... read more

Nachdem ich den Fußmarsch zu Paul absolviert hatte und ich mich aus dem Straßengewirr von Sale herausgewunden hatte, fuhr ich auf Landstraßen nach Tanger. Die Straßen waren immer wieder gesäumt von Ständen mit Töpferwaren. Ich könnte mich da richtig austoben aber Paul sprach ein Machtwort. Mein persönliches Regengebiet, ich hab es Schweini getauft, ist auch wieder zur Hand. Sowohl in der Nacht als auch in der Früh. Storchennester im Funkmast. Bei McDonald in Rabat (Internet für Screenshot wegen Lage von Hotel) wollte ich gerade gehen, als mich ein junger Mann auf Deutsch ansprach. Er und seine beiden Freunde sind in Deutschland aufgewachsen haben aber marokkanische Eltern. Der eine hat eine Firma für Telemarketing in Marokko (weniger Steuern), die beiden anderen arbeiten für ihn. Sie waren recht verblüfft, dass ich in meinem hohen Alter und als Frau ... read more

No easy way to summarize this side trip from Malaga. Two booking errors on my part led to some temporary grief, but we still came away with a worthwhile experience in a part of the world we have not visited before. The local bus got us to the ferry terminal in Algeciras, but I had bought tickets to Tangier Med, not realizing it was 50km east of the city. Instead of the expected 10 minute walk to our guest house we had to find a way there. Fortunately for us Omar, a fellow passenger, recognized our confusion and arranged to get us into a taxi-van with 3 other passengers and share the fare. Omar actually apologized for not coming with us! The taxi dropped us off outside the Medina (old walled city) and gestured vaguely in ... read more

This is our first full day in Chefchaouen. Given yesterday was not very well organised we gave ourselves a “Needs Improvement” and plan to do a walk up to the Spanish Mosque which is on the outskirts of town. We set out reasonably early. On the edge of town there is a river where the local woman are washing their clothes and a lady with an Ostrich. It costs DHM5 to have a photo with the Ostrich, but it didn’t seem overly Moroccan. We set out on the 30kms walk. It starts off great, well signposted and we get to the Spanish Mosque with ease. The mosque was built by the Spanish, but it was never used by the locals, probably a bit like the Muslims building a church. About a kilometre from the mosque the ... read more