Asilah, Morocco

Ahalan Asilah!

About 2 hours up the coast from Rabat was the small town of Asilah, a great little spot to visit.
The drive felt a bit strange, because we were headed North with the Atlantic ocean visible on our left side...weird, right? Such is coastal living in North Africa.

The Asilah Casbah was right on the water, laden with beautiful nooks & crannies.

After our tour of the old city, we went off-roading to arrive at a beautiful secluded beach where we enjoyed some fresh fish and an afternoon in the sand. If we hadn't had our fair share of off roading desert paths in ill-equipt beater cars in Israel, I never would have believed that our economy rental car would have sufficed.  But, lo and behold, we made it! Not too shabby.

What's that in the background?

Yep...camels.

Seeing these guys on the beach was definitely unexpected, but it seemed to fit. What Welch family vacay is complete without a run-in with camels?

Good times, for sure. Up next...Fez!

Shalom Yall,
Welches

Rabat, Morocco

Rabat is the capital city of Morocco.  It is also where our friends live, and they were so kind to show us around and give us the 'highlights' tour.  

Chellah Necropolis

We see plenty of Roman ruins where we live, but it is still impressive to see ruins from such a massive, far reaching empire that are thousands of years old.

Morocco has beautiful foliage.

 

This particular white hanging flower smelled wonderful and caught our attention.  Lydia and Stewart picked several bouquets and handed them out to Dede and me. 

 As I was walking by a guard, he motioned to the flowers.  I figured we were in trouble b/c we probably weren't allowed to pick them.  Then I realized he was motioning for me to throw them down.  With hand charades running he says, "poison," and then does the universal 'it will make you crazy' circular hand motion next to his head.  That's when it registered.  Drop the flowers, wash your hands, don't touch your face.  The flower is an opiate.  Not only were they pretty; they were about to make us all high as kites or worse.  Thank you, Mr. Moroccan Guard.  Your kindness was much appreciated!

Next up, the Mausoleum of Mohammed V & the Hassan Tower

The Mausoleum houses the remains of King Hassan V and his two sons.  The tower is the result of an unfinished mosque and minaret constructed around 1200.  It was intended to be the largest in the world.

Last stop, the Kasbah.  If my understanding is correct, the Kasbah (most cities have them) was a fortified city area or castle where the leaders and other important people lived.  Now, they are often renovated into market areas, although people do still live within the Kasbah or Medina walls.

Local Moroccan cookies and mint tea with a beautiful view.  A sweet ending to a sweet day.  

Shalom Y'all,

E

Morocco

We went on the road with our dear friends and fellow Olmsted scholars, the Musas, touring Northern Morocco.  From Rabat to Asilah to Fez to the Chefchaouen mountains....we covered a lot of territory and saw a lot of intriguing things.  Morocco has a charm that is all it's own.

One thing that is not so charming....the traffic!  People drive (or pedal) like maniacs.

You pass all sorts of things...

People walking or herding livestock,

People steering mule drawn wagons down the highway, 

Or even teetering vans packed to the gills with migrant workers (I just kept praying one of them didn't fall out!)

Piles of steaming, burning trash...

And then gorgeous, breathtaking views like this

or this

or this

or this

And let's not forget one of my favorite things of all time: the doors of Morocco...

More to come...

Shalom Y'all, 

E

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