Occidental El Minzah Tangier

... had our first
beer at a bar that served the only Moroccan brand, had pizza and went to bed as
the large groups of men all over the place were not giving off the nicest
vibes. Just too much staring, nothing more sinister, but hard to enjoy the
place.

The next morning
we got up and went to check out the train. We wanted to get to Fez but had seen
enough of Myknes which was supposed to be very similar. We were looking forward
to stopping a while on the coast in ...

... leaving the harbour, bound, no doubt, for places where restaurants were open and beer was served. We walked past 30 or so restaurants and discos. All closed.

I needed to get some cash out to pay for the ferry the next day so we headed to an ATM. It didn’t have enough cash in it to cover what I needed. We headed to another one and it wouldn’t take my card. Couldn’t find any others. Walked for 5 minutes more through ...

This morning I went for a walk by myself. Working out is my "zen," and I haven't done enough of it. I had never walked alone before, but decided to do it anyway. I know for sure I looked like nothing close to a native, but I stayed along the main areas, and for the most part, I felt pretty safe. I saw a lot of different ...

... espanholado e quando lhe respondi em italiano, o rosto dele iluminou-se :« estou a viver na Italia ha 15 anos, estou nesta merda de pais ha 6 meses porque a minha mae esta doente e vim ficar ao lado dela até que fique melhor, mas ja estou a asfixiar, preciso de bazar ja ». Acabei por ficar a conversar horas com ele e logo ai, no primeiro dia, violei duas das minhas regras de comportamento mais antigas : aceitei, nao sem uma insistência persistente ...

... all this unexpected luxury living by climbing Jebel Toubkal, Morocco's highest mountain at 4,167 metres. I set off next day, driving up into the High Atlas to a mountain village called Imlil (1740 metres), and set off for the 4-5 hour hike up to the Toubkal Refuge at around 3200 metres. Next morning all my room mates in the dormitory leave about 5am to see the sunrise but I sleep in until about 9am and take off alone up the track. I don't have a map with me (you've heard this ...

... standing, as are some of the towers. Within, it's mostly whitewashed residential buildings along tiny, windy passageways. The colors of the buildings are lovely...the doors and windows are usually painted in blues, greens, and purples, and when combined with the traditional architecture, you can snap photos for hours. There are some artisan shops and boutiques with wares ranging from tacky souvenirs to beautiful antique silver pieces. Unfortunately, most of ...

... in Arabic which was a new experience. Cokes in Morocco and Europe are typically still served in glass bottles. After lunch our first stop was a Moroccan rug store where they sell rugs handmade by women from all over the country. Apparently it´s a woman´s activity that allows her to watch the kids while still contributing financially to the family. In rural Morocco not much has changed over the centuries regarding gender roles. The rug store owner showed us the ...

... Berber trading center" and "modern Disneyesque destination for wealthy tourists." I walked through what seemed to be an entire suburb of gigantic new palatial hotels. As seems to generally be true in Morocco, most of the action is in the old walled town, the medina. At the center of it all in Marrakesh is the Jemaa al Fna, the expansive city square. Throughout the day, there are stalls selling dates, figs, sweets, etc, stalls laden with hundreds of oranges ...