Riad Mimouna Essaouira

... about, I stumbled upon a very tres, tres chic hotel with wifi in the lobby! Thus, with my trusty little iPod I was able to swiftly log in here and post an entry. Easily entered the date 'n place, but... when I got to the interface for pecking the "Story" - alas for some strange reason my iPod (actually I believe it was a travelpod glitch) wouldn't bring up the keyboard so I couldn't type anywhere ...

... it. This riad was my least favourite of all, it really needed some TLC, it was quite run down. The owner recommends a nearby restaurant and then gets offended when Alex asked if it was run by a friend or family – she meant no harm, she was just interested, maybe he was in a bad mood, I don’t know, but he says no I am taking you there because the food is good – however when we get there he walks straight past everyone and shows us to a table, so we thought he ...

... covered with goats eating it. So strange show=) Look it;)

We had a lot of day free ahead of us so after a little dinner at the hotel I decided to go to our former hotel, Agadir Beach Club with newly found friends=) We sat here listening by beautiful singer, she was performing great, known by everyone, oldies songs, I talked with some french pair sitting next to us=) And when she was ...

... need assistance planning your day (perhaps a hike to explore the lovely


Atlas Mountains?) or a babysitter for the kids so you can have a night out alone on the town.


The list of entertainment possibilities is endless.
Both within and outside the hotel's walls. Pace through the courtyard of Heure Bleue Palais
and let the gorgeous palm trees and breath taking fountain put you ...

... We headed down and crossed the creek (quite an experience for Sandra who had given her hiking boots to Sharon for her hike). Sandra and I let the boys continue on and we decided to turn back and attempt to cross by ourselves. We managed OK (with me going over each section first then going back to help Sandra across) until we got to the main crossing and a herd of goats and 3 men were crossing towards us. We got the ...

... the middle ages and no cars or motorcycles are allowed in the medina. Even if you have a shop or move into a house, there is no exception, so everything gets transported by wheelcarts. It is a friendly city where you can peacefully stroll through the streets without constantly being hassled by vendors. I checked into Riad Baladin, a wonderfully restored old house with a central courtyard and ...

... from us. They were not doing the Ramadan fasting so were happier than the rest of the population who are grumpy and aggressive from lack of sleep, food and water. Straneg things we have seen carried on bicycles include a satellite dish, exercise ball and a monkey plus many more weird and wonderful items. We walked through the narrow alleyways of the medina taking in the tall whitewashed buildings with their blue shutters and heavy blue doors. The medina is home to ...

... Moroccan nightclub dancing-essentially a sped up version of the finger snapping, hip shaking traditional dancing he showed us at the mountain gîte. JT's got nothing on Arabic booty shaking; and 7) enjoying the sunset over the Atlantic ocean from the ancient walls of the city that rise precipitously out of the sea. After two nights, we had shaken off the dust from the Sahara Desert and the High Atlas Mountains and were ready for our final stop in Marrakech.

... we watched the men fishing(?), sitting in inner tubes in the ocean, and the tourists taking pictures astride the canons lining the walk. There were more groups of older tourists, French I believe, and also more couples with young children, than in Marrakech. I can see why-- Essaouira is less hectic, and gorgeous. But I couldn't help but think that the little kids might get pretty bored, pretty fast. When we were done with lunch, we took our bags for ...

... ramparts fronting the seaward side of the town. These were constructed in 1770 and many of the original Spanish cannon are still in place. Where they have disappeared you can climb into the crenellation, dangle your feet over the wall, shelter from the wind and watch the seagulls playing in waves drawing windsurfers and kitesurfers to town. Built into the ramparts are the woodworkers shops. There are other things to buy in town but Essaouira is ...