Tuesday
We met everyone at Heathrow Airport, Jo, Stephen, Peter, David, Graham,
Martina, Jacintha, Martin, and John & Kirstine. Soon we were on the way
to Casablanca. We arrived, collected our luggage and got through customs
with little trouble, however we were wondering about Moroccan
hospitality! We then made our way by bus to our lovely hotel and soon
became impressed all though there seemed to be a few translation
problems when ordering lunch. However after a while we all got our very
Moroccan lunch of Pizza! We then retired to our rooms to unpack and
rest, as it had been an early start! Later that afternoon we went for a
walk and found a restaurant for dinner.
Wednesday
This morning we woke up to beautiful sunshine. After breakfast we went
to see the beautiful Hassan II Mosque. It was very impressive and we
were privileged to be shown round. We then walked along the beach front
& had drinks in a cafe. Then our tour of Casablanca took us the
beautiful gardens of Place Mohammed V, Cathedral du Sacre Coeur, the
Grand Mosque, Clock Tower & the impressive Marrakech Bab (which means
gate) to the Old Medina.
Thursday
This morning we took the train to Rabat. After checking into our hotel,
we walked to Kashbah des Oudaias which is the site of the original
Rabat. The main gate, Bab Oudaia is Almohad like so many of Morocco’s
great monuments. It was built around 1195. Kirstine expertly navigated
our way through the Kasbah with its tiny streets and out the other side
to the beach. After a well earned drink in the cafe we sunbathed on the
beach while David frolicked in the sea, joined at various times by Jo,
Peter, and Martin (who took an unexpected dip helped by a rather large
wave!) Stephen, Martina & Graham also joined in the fun. Every now &
again the waves would increase & we watched the surfers. In front of us
a group of young men set up an impromptu game of football. After
expertly making our way back through the very busy Medina streets where
people sold everything from old electrical goods (not sure they still
had the guarantee or even worked!!) to brand new washing machines,
scarf’s & leather goods. Jo who had a talent for spotting postcards at
100 yards, found every stall that sold them! People bought a collection
of paintings, key rings, jewellery, t-shirts & Jo added to her
collection of fridge magnets and Martina her bracelets! We had a lovely
dinner next to the hotel where some people tried the couscous or Tagines.
Friday
Unbelievable we woke up to rain!! We walked in the opposite direction to
see the Bab er Rouah which was almost as impressive as the Oudaia Gate.
We walked along by the Palace to the Grand Mosque. Just behind was the
archaeological museum which we looked round. It had an impressive
collection of roman era bronze, which was found mainly at Volulilis and
some pieces in Challah. There were also some impressive statues of Cato
the Younger & Juba II. In the afternoon we visited Chellah reputed to be
the most beautiful of Moroccan ruins. It was certainly an impressive &
beautiful site as we approached the gate & walls. No one has
lived there since 1154
when the people moved to Sale. Before then it was a busy city with a
port and one of the last cities to cut its ties with the Roman Empire.
It was the first city to proclaim Moulay Idriss founder of Moroccos
original Arab dynasty. The ruins also contained the mosque of Abou
Youssef, and his tomb. Abou Youssef was the 2nd Sultan who married an
English lady who converted to Islam her name was Shams Ed Douna. There
were over 600 storks’ nests in the grounds. We went to the spring pool
which is held sacred and women come to feed the eels with hard boiled
eggs to help with fertility, all the girls were forbidden to feed the
eels!!!!! Although Graham gave them some egg!
Saturday We set off after
breakfast on our next train journey to Meknes, we arrived by taxi in the
main square of the Medina and took our suitcases through the narrow
cobbled streets to a big door to our Riad. Once inside we received a
very warm welcome from our hosts and were given some traditional mint
tea. The Riad was simply beautiful with little terraces on the roof top
where we could sit & relax. We ate our picnic lunch in the little court
yard outside Kirstine, John and Martins rooms. Some of us explored the
Souks and Kirstine, Jo & Martina went to the Hammam for the traditional
Moroccan bath!
Sunday
After a relaxing Moroccan breakfast we sunbathed on the terraces and
relaxed in the beautiful surroundings. We went to Dar Jamai Museum which
was originally a palace built in 1882 and is possibly one of the best
museums in Morocco which houses beautiful examples of Meknes pottery,
jewellery and carpets. Without all the artefacts the building itself was
well worth the visit with the gorgeous upper floor reception rooms with
the intricate wood carving on the ceiling. We had a leisurely late lunch
in the Place el Hedim and explored the souks buying bargains! That
evening we returned to the square for dinner and watched the hustle &
bustle of life which included a fire eater & musicians.
Monday
Everyone was sad to leave the Riad including the staff at the Riad who
had made us feel so welcome. But it was time to get our bus to Moulay
Idriss. We arrived in the small town which takes its name from its
founder, Morocco most admired saint. He brought Islam to Morocco. His
tomb is in the heart of the town which gives the town its
sacred status, a trip
here is worth a fifth of the hajj to Mecca. However non-Muslims are
barred from the shrines. We did get as close as we could. We had a guide
who walked us up the hill (we all need to go back to the gym!) When we
eventually arrived at the top we were all glad we had made to journey as
the view was well worth it. After we left Moulay Idriss we headed to
Volubilis which is an old Roman City. It was the Roman Empires most
remote base; the Romans were here for over 2 centuries. We had a guide
to walk us round and show us the public baths, Basilicca and the various
houses named after the impressive mosaics. We walked up Decumanus
Maximus which was the main street where all the shops would have been.
We then moved onto Fez and our hotel.
Tuesday We spent the morning
recharging our batteries by the pool of a local hotel. After Lunch
Kirstine arranged our tour guide to give us a walking tour of Fez. Fez
was founded by Moulay Idriss but developed into a city by his son Idriss
II. Our guide took us to a traditional weavers
place.
They explained how the looms worked and we had a demonstration. They
then all kitted us out with the traditional scarf for a picture. From
there we moved on to the metal area where the men made all sort of pots
by hand. It was very noisy but impressive. We then moved on to the
tanneries, as we walked in we were handed some mint. It soon became
obvious what this was for, the smell was something else! We looked down
at the most striking sight in the medina. Hundreds of skins are spread
out on the rooftops to dry having been through the process of soaking in
pigeon poo to loosen the fur, after it has been removed the skins are
then dyed. They use turmeric for yellow; poppy for red, indigo for blue,
mint for green and antimony for black. Little has changed to the process
since the 1600s. It was certainly very impressive. Our guide took us to
see the oldest university in Morocco, the water clock, the library (a
very impressive building with huge doors, Kairaouine Mosque and the tomb
of Moulay Idriss II. We had walked our socks off by the end of the day
but everyone agreed it was worth it and our guide was very knowledgeable
and informative.
Wednesday
This morning we got up not really looking forward to our 8 hour train
journey to Marrakech but it actually went very quickly. We arrived at
the train station and were happy to see that we had cabins like the
Hogwarts Express. Most people caught up on some much needed sleep, this
sightseeing is very tiring! When we arrived in Marrakech we got out of
the train and were amazed by the heat, it was a lot warmer than
everywhere else we had been. We transferred to our hotel which had a
traditional Moroccan feel. That evening we had dinner on the roof top
terrace and then headed out to Djemaa el Fna, the world’s most amazing
city square. An open air circus of snake charmers, fire-eaters, acrobats
and musicians, which was quite an experience. There were hundreds of
stalls selling things from clothes, traditional Moroccan products,
freshly squeezed orange juice and food such as dried figs and almonds.
Thursday The next morning
everyone voted to take a tour of Marrakech in a horse drawn cart. So we
set off for our 2 hour tour. Luckily we had the covers up as the sun was
very hot. For some reason our guides thought we
would like to see the
lovely hotels that were out of our pockets! We were all impressed at how
clean Marrakech was especially in comparison to the other cities we had
visited. We saw the royal palace, Ben Youssef Mosque and through the
Medina with all the wonderful stalls. Our trip was far too quick and we
were amazed to return back to the hotel and find we had been out for 2
hours. For lunch we headed to the Djemaa El Fna. It was then time to get
those gifts we were after. We walked round the stalls selecting our
goods and bartering for a better price. Graham spotted a monkey so we
went over but the monkey did not seem to be too friendly! David managed
to get a sneaky picture of it. When we had shopped till we dropped we
headed back to the hotel but stopped and had ice cream sundaes on the
way.
Friday
Today we said goodbye to Morocco and flew back to London. We were all
exhausted but agreed that we had a truly amazing trip.
Wednesday
Friday
lived there since 1154
when the people moved to Sale. Before then it was a busy city with a
port and one of the last cities to cut its ties with the Roman Empire.
It was the first city to proclaim Moulay Idriss founder of Moroccos
original Arab dynasty. The ruins also contained the mosque of Abou
Youssef, and his tomb. Abou Youssef was the 2nd Sultan who married an
English lady who converted to Islam her name was Shams Ed Douna. There
were over 600 storks’ nests in the grounds. We went to the spring pool
which is held sacred and women come to feed the eels with hard boiled
eggs to help with fertility, all the girls were forbidden to feed the
eels!!!!! Although Graham gave them some egg!
We set off after
breakfast on our next train journey to Meknes, we arrived by taxi in the
main square of the Medina and took our suitcases through the narrow
cobbled streets to a big door to our Riad. Once inside we received a
very warm welcome from our hosts and were given some traditional mint
tea. The Riad was simply beautiful with little terraces on the roof top
where we could sit & relax. We ate our picnic lunch in the little court
yard outside Kirstine, John and Martins rooms. Some of us explored the
Souks and Kirstine, Jo & Martina went to the Hammam for the traditional
Moroccan bath!
Sunday
Monday
sacred status, a trip
here is worth a fifth of the hajj to Mecca. However non-Muslims are
barred from the shrines. We did get as close as we could. We had a guide
who walked us up the hill (we all need to go back to the gym!) When we
eventually arrived at the top we were all glad we had made to journey as
the view was well worth it. After we left Moulay Idriss we headed to
Volubilis which is an old Roman City. It was the Roman Empires most
remote base; the Romans were here for over 2 centuries. We had a guide
to walk us round and show us the public baths, Basilicca and the various
houses named after the impressive mosaics. We walked up Decumanus
Maximus which was the main street where all the shops would have been.
We then moved onto Fez and our hotel.
We spent the morning
recharging our batteries by the pool of a local hotel. After Lunch
Kirstine arranged our tour guide to give us a walking tour of Fez. Fez
was founded by Moulay Idriss but developed into a city by his son Idriss
II. Our guide took us to a traditional weavers
place.
They explained how the looms worked and we had a demonstration. They
then all kitted us out with the traditional scarf for a picture. From
there we moved on to the metal area where the men made all sort of pots
by hand. It was very noisy but impressive. We then moved on to the
tanneries, as we walked in we were handed some mint. It soon became
obvious what this was for, the smell was something else! We looked down
at the most striking sight in the medina. Hundreds of skins are spread
out on the rooftops to dry having been through the process of soaking in
pigeon poo to loosen the fur, after it has been removed the skins are
then dyed. They use turmeric for yellow; poppy for red, indigo for blue,
mint for green and antimony for black. Little has changed to the process
since the 1600s. It was certainly very impressive. Our guide took us to
see the oldest university in Morocco, the water clock, the library (a
very impressive building with huge doors, Kairaouine Mosque and the tomb
of Moulay Idriss II. We had walked our socks off by the end of the day
but everyone agreed it was worth it and our guide was very knowledgeable
and informative.
Wednesday
The next morning
everyone voted to take a tour of Marrakech in a horse drawn cart. So we
set off for our 2 hour tour. Luckily we had the covers up as the sun was
very hot. For some reason our guides thought we
would like to see the
lovely hotels that were out of our pockets! We were all impressed at how
clean Marrakech was especially in comparison to the other cities we had
visited. We saw the royal palace, Ben Youssef Mosque and through the
Medina with all the wonderful stalls. Our trip was far too quick and we
were amazed to return back to the hotel and find we had been out for 2
hours. For lunch we headed to the Djemaa El Fna. It was then time to get
those gifts we were after. We walked round the stalls selecting our
goods and bartering for a better price. Graham spotted a monkey so we
went over but the monkey did not seem to be too friendly! David managed
to get a sneaky picture of it. When we had shopped till we dropped we
headed back to the hotel but stopped and had ice cream sundaes on the
way.