Blogging A to Z EXTRA: Morocco

My regularly scheduled "M" country is Monaco, which is fascinating. But another place I'd really like to spend more time in is Morocco!

Moroccan mosaic ~ Photo by Bonnie Falk

The Kingdom of Morocco is a North African country. On a clear day you can see Europe across the Straights of Gibraltar. On our epic Euro Trip of 2010 we took a ferry from Algeciras, Spain (Europe) to Ceuta, Spain (Africa). Morocco has two Spanish exclaves along it's coast. So, even though we were on the continent of Africa, we were still staying in Spain. Weird.

The view from our Parador in Ceuta ~ Photo by Bonnie Falk

My hubby did most of the booking of accommodations on our journey but this time I found us a place to stay! Spain has Paradores, government-run historic buildings turned into hotels for the sake of financial maintenance. We stayed in an old Portuguese fort. It had a lovely view of the sea! :) The pool would open the week after we left. :( {Neither of us speak a word of Arabic and our Spanish is a bit dodgy so we mostly communicated in French with the hotel staff. I remember trying to ask... "Umm... quand de la picine ouvre?"}

Tetuan medina from the roof of the rug sellers ~ Photo by Bonnie Falk

Our plan was to do the touristy thing and go on a bus tour into Morocco for the day. We found a very reasonably priced tour that allowed us a morning in Tetuan and an afternoon in Tangier, including a traditional Moroccan meal.

A very wide section in the Tangier medina ~ Photo by Bonnie Falk

For the most part, it was great! We did have to sit through a sales pitch for hand-made Moroccan rugs and later, herbal remedies by a very skinny Pee-Wee Herman looking man in Gucci jeans. I purchased a beaded blue shirt from the rug people. The sales were kind of annoying but we did get our first experience of the Moroccan tea ritual! The tea is so good I had to learn to make it at home. It is a VERY specific recipe and the slightest variation can ruin the whole thing but it is so good!

AMAZING bread from a random baker for free! ~ Photo by Bonnie Falk

It was wonderful to have a guide to lead us through the twists and turns of the "old town" medina in these two cities. We would have gotten hopeless lost without him. It was also fascinating to see the Riff Mountains and herders of sheep, goats and cow tending their flocks along the roads.

Cows on the highway, Ceuta in the distance ~ Photo by Bonnie Falk

The Moroccan food, tea, architecture and culture is so beautiful and interesting! I would love to be able to spend a lot more time here.