Morocco: Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakesh

The big winter break trip that I took was to Morocco. We did and saw so many things that I have broken the Morocco trip into different sections. Here's part 1!

Brad and I booked a CityLife tour for 10 days around the country. We wanted to do the trip by ourselves like we did in Mexico, but when we looked at flights, a return trip would have cost us more than the tour! In the end, the tour ended up being really great. Because it was so jam-packed and we went all around the country, there was a lot of time spent in vans which wasn't ideal. At the same time though, we did a lot of things and always got into places late so we really used those van rides to nap!

DAY 1 + 2

Our journey started off with an overnight bus ride from Madrid to Tarifa where we would catch a ferry in the morning to take us across the Straight of Gibraltar to Tangier. We ended up on bus 3 with an awesome tour point man named Tito. He and Brad really bonded during the trip - due in part to pranks on both sides. We also had a really nice bus driver named Asdeen (spelling questionable), who we fondly referred to as "Ice T" as it sounded similar. He got us through INSANE Moroccan traffic. Two of the other vans got in a car accident, so we were beyond grateful that Asdeen got all through 9 days of crazy drivers. We ended up with a van of really nice people from different backgrounds - Philippines, USA, Germany, UK, Romania... one of the girls in our van ended up going home halfway through the trip because she was really sick. Brad and I were both a bit confused why she even came in the first place as she had been terribly sick since before Day 1 of the trip (Brad got to listen to her puking on the bus on the way down to Tarifa). Of course the trip cost a lot of money...but if you're so sick you're puking and about to pass out/need to be hospitalized (she did), you shouldn't travel to another country! Later in the trip, another really fun guy named Jay joined our van and made our group even more entertaining.

Our first stop was the Medina of Rabat. We weren't able to go in and see the Hassan Tower up close because the King of Morocco was arriving later, so there was a lot of security around the area and no one was allowed inside (below - guards on horses. Apparently they are all decked out for the king...so I cannot confirm is they are normally on horseback and dressed as so).

We kept peering through the gates to see if we could see the King...maybe we saw him, maybe we didn't. We'll never really know. Below is my attempt to take a picture of someone who could be the King? If you look at the building and zoom in on the archway, you can see a figure there...MAYBE?!

We believe that the Kasban of the Udayas (checked Google because we didn't get a 100% confirmation there from CityLife) -- was our next stop.

It was such a good second stop -- it was a collection of blue and white buildings in what looked to be a castle from the outside! I never would have expected to find a little town like place on the inside of the structure with small streets and shops. The streets eventually lead to a lookout over the ocean. Because everyone was hungry as we hadn't had time to have a proper meal (due to the two vans colliding and everyone having to pull over and wait for them, we were behind schedule), we didn't stay long. Brad and I were so excited to have our first meal in Morocco...until we pulled into a McDonalds. So sadly, our first meal in Morocco ended up being fast food (went next door to Burger King though - I really couldn't handle the idea of McDonalds being our first meal).

On our trip, we found it really surprising that a lot of places accepted Euros instead of Moroccan Durans (1:10 conversation rate). It was also really surprising (and stressful) that we had a really hard time finding ATMs. We had counted on ATMs to withdrawal money, yet they were scarce! I'd never had a problem like this before...even in big cities, we didn't see too many around. Thankfully we had some euros on us which got us through (we had cards too, but a lot of places didn't accept them).

Our first night we stayed at this really nicely decorated place - although the lighting made it difficult to handle. Upon check in, I recognized a girl I thought I knew. Thankfully she approached me (I was being shy and awkward) and we really did know each other! We had met at a Christmas Party a few weeks prior. Her name is Jo, she's absolutely lovely, and from there on out we've been friends! So glad she approached me and said hello. Throughout the trip we would run into each other and chit chat, but we didn't see each other a lot because she was in a different van (the vans always got to locations at different times) and we were always in different rooms. That night we FINALLY had our first REAL Moroccan dinner of rice, chicken and vegetables with bread.

DAY 3

Breakfast the next morning was CHAOS. There were just so many of us and the hotel really wasn't prepared to handle the number (at least 100 of us). We were still able to nab breakfast before heading over to the Grand Mosque of Hassan II in Casablanca (above). It is the world's 3rd largest religious building and the 2nd biggest mosque. When we visited, it was gloomy and wet, but the mosque was still so powerful and beautiful. There was so much amazing decor - every piece of color carefully placed by hand.

We couldn't go inside, but that was really okay as we still got some amazing pictures and got to walk around the mosque. We hopped in the van and then headed to Marrakesh! After quite a few hours of driving, we arrived at our hotel early enough to grab some food. Brad asked Tito where we should go, and two blocks down and right around the corner was a small street of restaurants. We were convinced by a very smiley, friendly man to eat at his place (and there were 2 tables full of people and kids, so we thought it was a safe bet). While simple, that is still one of the best meals we had in Morocco. We just had chicken beef with french fries, but it was seasoned so well it just melted in your mouth. We figured out later that what we got is called "Brochette" -- Moroccan kebabs/skewers, but we didn't get the skewer. Brad asked our waiter if they served beer and our waited laughed at him, shook a finger "no" at him and laughed some more. Which caused me to laugh too. Our waiter definitely liked us -- in general, Morocco had amazing hospitality which was something that I really loved about the country.

Our 7 dollar meal was filling and delicious. We were kinda confused why many of our fellow travelers didn't get food at any of these restaurants, as we were sure glad we did. The overall experience was just amazing as well -- our waiter and Brad even engaged in an intercambio of sorts, exchanging Arabic and Korean. In general, the Moroccans we encountered seemed to love that Brad was Korean. They usually guessed that he was Japanese (a few times Chinese), but after a long exasperated and joking "no!" some would guess Korean and then Brad would teach them how to say hello and they would get so excited. I suppose that's the beauty of traveling and having people of different cultures meet.

We met back up with the group for our tour of Marrakesh - which wasn't great because the English speaking group was so big we couldn't really hear our tour guide. However, we did get to see a lot. We saw the Koutoubia Mosque, the biggest in Marrakesh. We only walked around it - we were not able to go inside.

We learned about the different neighborhoods in Marrakesh and the different personalities: the Jewish, Arab and European quarters. We wondered through the streets until we got to the Royal Palace. It was beautiful, with a welcoming garden.

Inside, the palace was a maze of rooms with all of the rooms intricately hand decorated with patterns and designs. We were told that the colors didn't fade because they are made from natural dyes, like herbs.

Again, it was so crowded we couldn't hear much, however we did learn that long ago, the King had 3-4 wives and then 12-20 other women given to him as gifts from different provinces in Morocco. What was interesting is that the King couldn't (or wasn't supposed to) engage in sexual activities with these women even though they were "gifts". They acted more like ambassadors apparently, and could even marry and meet very socially important people in the palace. It was supposed to be a good and wanted position in life.

After, we went across the street to a spice shop and learned about their different products. We were definitely paying a bit more for things there, but to know we were for sure buying real products was comforting (at least for Argan oil, which is apparently unique to Morocco and valuable. We were told how to tell the difference - that it should feel dry even though it is an oil...but we just went with what we were offered for the convenience and comfort of knowing it was real). We picked up some gifts for friends and family there. As we were leaving, Brad tried a bit of what we believe was raw Argan. It looked a bit like a nut, so Brad thought it would taste fine...as you can see from his face below, it was very bitter and didn't taste good (also note the lady laughing at him). Brad gave some to our tour point person Tito as a prank -- cementing their friendship.

We were then navigated through some narrow streets lined with stalls until we made it to Jemaa el-Fnaa Square, the main square in Marrakech.

It was amazing and I enjoyed it, but was also disappointed in a way - I think just because I had such high expectations. I had also expected more of a variety of stalls in the square, but they were all food stalls - either sit down and eat or snail soup or juice. We were told eating at any of them would definitely be an experience, but that they were also not necessarily the cheapest. They were also the most aggressive there when it came to trying to get you to sit down and eat -- otherwise I didn't ever feel harassed to come into a restaurant or shop in Morocco.

At the square, there was a concert going on - which was so cool! It really picked up later in the evening, with the whole square packed full of people. Before dinner, we embarked into the Souk Market - a maze of clothes, lamps, oils and other trinkets. We wondered and chit chatted about items and gifts we were thinking about buying, while keeping an eye out for a place to eat.

My favorite meal in Morocco was probably the one we had in Marrakesh at a place called Corner Cafe. We actually passed it at first, but kept it in mind due to a funny sign that looked like it advertised FREE FOOD, but in small print said something like FREE enjoyment great FOOD. It was so cute. We got to sit in this small cafe at the top in a cushy corner and were served yummy bread with banana juice while we waited for our meal. Finally we got the 5 star food: Kefta Tajine with egg (first picture) and Pastilla (second picture). While it may not have been a "traditional restaurant", the food was delicious and the service great, with a deal of a price and atmosphere. Tajine just refers to the kind of triangle dome shaped top the food is cooked in, kefta is like meatballs - together, traditionally lamb. Pastilla is this pastry filled with chicken...it's this interesting sweet an savory taste...and so good.

After, we walked past closing shops to the concert and enjoyed the music for a bit. We went back to the Koutoubia Mosque and saw it lit up at night and got some Moroccan mint tea while waiting for the CityLife bus to pick us up.

After such a long day, we crashed pretty fast. Marrakesh was a warm, fulfilling and great city and introduction to Morocco.