Blogs from Morocco, Africa

Three days in Marrakesch. The blog has been all over the place, I know. Tangier to Algeciras made sure of that. I'm doubling back to Marrakesch because it wasn't given full cover, apart from our lovely riad..... Our guest mansion (Riad Tizwa) was perfectly located. Selecting accommodation online isn’t the easiest thing to do, there are so many options available all glowingly described. It takes plenty fact-checking plus imagining what the facts could translate to in reality. I looked for a place where we could walk at will to some of the city’s major attractions, getting there without taxis or transport, free to move when and where we wanted. Tizwa was that. The #1 attraction in Marrakesch is the thousand year old Medina, a UNESCO World Heritage site. madīnah al-qadīmah "the old city" lies within high ... read more

Of all the places we visited, Marrakesch was my favourite. It was our first destination after arriving at Casablanca airport whose long lines of arrivals were reminiscent of Piarco! 25 immigration counters were open yet we took an hour to exit. Good news aside - next year they are dispensing with the documentation that takes all the time at immigration desks everywhere. A six hour train ride brought us to this bustling ancient-modern city and our accommodation - Riad Tizwa - on the edge of the old Medina. The taxicab found our street but a "foot taxi" (i.e a man on foot with us walking behind) took us to the door. Farrida had put me on notice about this and here they were “taking” us the final way, because vehicles cannot drive along the narrow ancient ... read more

More musings or as Lee condescendingly remarks more ramblings. Because it’s train time again and I have almost 2 hours on a line we have travelled before but in the opposite direction and no Julie I do not mean backwards! This time we are Fes to Kénitra whereas 4 days ago we traveled Kénitra to Fes. We loved Fes, did last time did this time. The atmosphere is friendly and more so than Marrakech, the souks just as enchanting, the food better and our accommodation the equal or better than anything we have experienced. Having our 40 anniversary, and advertising the fact well, sure helped as the riad went well beyond expectations with gifts and little bonuses but the place is delightful. The staff were terrific and they have a policy of leaving a tip in ... read more

Feasting in Fes. First feast breakfast. Then it’s feasting for the senses as we negotiate the souks. Then it’s feasting time after I prepare our tajine chicken, smoked eggplant and tomato salad and our dessert of orange, orange blossom, cinnamon and mint. No surprise at our Moroccan breakfast, again deluged with fruit, yoghurt and small buns that I spread with goat cheese, honey or jams. Lee has an omelet that looked good and is significantly better for her than attempting to eat around the wheat based products. Our breakfast was bought to us in the courtyard which curtailed the number of glasses of juice I consumed but if that’s my biggest grumble things are still more than good. It was a very leisurely start as we weren’t at breakfast until about 9 o’clock and not finished ... read more

Breakfast for one today. Lee is not terrific and decided to stay in bed. Without sounding too heartless breakfast was still very good. I could just about live on the fresh juices and mint drinks here. Apart from that cucumber concoction I mentioned yesterday I have not tasted one that is t delightful. Even now I’m by the retreat pool sipping a lime/lemon/mint and soda drink that is very refreshing and most welcome. At Jemaa el-Fna I had one of the mixed fruit drinks that are spruiked everywhere and again it was delicious, quite filling but very nice. Despite thinking I could live on juice I still managed muesli, yogurt (very good here), fruit, cheese, smoked salmon and a couple of pastries. Thinking that was enough to fortify me for the market I set out for ... read more