April 16th, 2017 - Moroccan Road Trip

Left early this morning and made a quick photo stop at Meknes, the first Imperial City, founded in the 17^th century.

 

Then it was on to Rabat and the Kasbah. The Chellah ruins and surrounding gardens were fascinating. The real highlight here for many of the visitors, including myself,  was seeing all the nesting storks and their huge nests. The males come first to build the nests, and then the females follow to lay their eggs.

 

Stopped at the Mohammed V Mausoleum and the adjacent Hassan Tower.

 

Made our way back to Casablanca and did a little wandering around in the souks of the Old Medina before re-boarding the ship.

 

Looking forward to sleeping in after the whirlwind five day road trip in Morocco.

April 15th, 2017 - Moroccan Road Trip

Fes (Fez) was founded in the 8^th century and walking through the medieval walls of the Medina and 9,000+ streets  discovering the mosques, museums, squares and souks is an experience. It is like walking through some ancient old ruins, except people still live and work here!

 

The day  included a visit to the Jewish Quarter (Mellah), next to one of the royal palaces and a visit to a traditional pottery factory. We then stopped to enjoy some delicious Moroccan food – did not like everything – but, gave everything a try, including the local olives.

 

Went back into the maze of the Old City  to see the dye vats of the medieval tanneries. It was amazing to see all the huge vats filled with the different colors of dye and to watch the barefoot workers pick up the skins with their feet and work them manually. According to the guide book this job pays fairly well – I certainly hope so, because in addition to the hard work, the smell of the decaying animal flesh was  overpowering, even from my vantage point on the balcony high above.

 

Took advantage of the clear skies and went up to get a birds eye view of the Old and New Towns of Fes before calling it a day.