Maroc

At the end of February, we had a long weekend.  So like with every other weekend, we decided to travel!  This time we went to Morocco!

Our first couscous. Mmmmmm 

I had THE BEST time in Morocco.  I took everything in during those three days.  I don't know what I was expecting before I got there, but it definitely exceeded my expectations.  I thought it was so cool to be in another country, let alone another continent!  Everything was different, but a little similar at the same time.  The sights, the people, the sounds, the food, the smells, the language, the atmosphere, everything.  We were welcomed on our first night by a heaping plate of couscous.  It was JUST what we needed after traveling about 8 hours on a bus and one hour on the ferry (YES, I went on a ferry, stayed totally cool and survived).  

Shops

The first morning we got up early and went to Chefchaouen, the blue city.  Our tour guide took us around, showed us the ropes and then brought us to a really nice restaurant to have lunch.  After lunch we had between two and three hours to explore the city ourselves and do some shopping.  This city is extremely photogenic, especially its doors.  I found myself taking photos of doors upon doors because they were all so different and colorful.  It was really fascinating to be walking around the blue streets of this calm city.

Our view from lunch in Chefchaouen

Within all of the calmness, there were the markets.  Around every corner there were little shops to buy handmade goods like bags, clothes and rugs, food stalls and small pharmacies selling many kinds of teas and spices.  As we wandered in and out of the small shops we practiced the "national sport of Morocco."  Bartering.  I was really, really nervous to be bartering because first of all i've never had to do it before, I was using a currency that I was not familiar with (Morocco uses the diram) and I don't really know what things are actually worth.  Nothing in the stores had a fixed price though, so you had no choice but to take a price that would be ripping you off, or bargain it down to a reasonable price.  In the end, it was kind of fun to go back and forth with the shopkeepers.  Everything ended up being really, super cheap and I barely spent any extra money at all.

Our guide told us that this nook was the BEST photo in the city.

The next day we got up early, packed up all of our stuff and set off for the city of Tetouan.  We entered in the new part of the city, but spent most of our time in the older part.  At first we saw some cafés, stores, government buildings, the royal palace and other things like any city in Spain, but then we crossed over to the old city/Jewish quarter and began to walk through the maze of this city.

A lot of these streets were covered and pretty small.  Just like in Spain, you walked right past the doors of people's homes and businesses.  It seemed like all of the stores were mom and pop type stores.  You would see a street full of wooden doors that were open or closed.  Our tour guide told us that if business men have a really good day one day, they might take the next day off just because they had really good business the day before.  It was really cool to walk by and see people actually producing the products that they sell.  You would look around and see someone sewing together dresses, sawing wood to build things out of wood, or you would see the baker pulling fresh bread out of the brick oven.  There were a lot of people on the street selling various fruits and vegetables, and when we passed through the fish market, the people were gutting the fish right there on the street.  It was an eye-opening and interesting experience.

A closed shop in Tetouan

In Tetouan, we were split into groups.  My group went to two different specialty places.  The first place we went to was an art school where they make rugs/carpets by hand.  We all sat in a room and they kept rolling out carpet after carpet in front of us.  They had us touch them to feel the texture and quality.  Later on we went to a pharmacy where the pharmacist showed us all kinds of herbal remedies and concoctions.  He showed us moroccan oil which is good for your hair, spices for meat & fish, perfumes & musk, teas and other herbal things.

Cave of Hercules

We did not have time after lunch to explore the streets.  We all got back on the busses and went to Tangiers to see the Cave of Hercules and ride a camel.  The cave was really nice, and they said that it is a great place to watch the sunset.  After seeing the cave, we went to another beach and we all had a turn to ride a camel!  It was the craziest experience for me!  Getting up and down were terrifying.  You have to lean against the direction the camel is going, but you still feel like you are going to fall off!  It was really cool and I'm glad I had my five minutes on a camel, that was just enough.

Camel!!

Then, with that, we got back on the ferry and headed back to good ol' España to spend two more nights in Sevilla before going back to our home in Baza.