Early morning in Rabat. Visit the sites then head out to Chefchaouen.
Our first stop, the qazbah just a couple minutes from our Riad. Qazbah des Oudaya. There was also a small Japanese exhibit as part of their culture outreach. As we walked in, the guy who was standing at entrance told us which way to go then as we hesitated, he started to tell us some information about its inhabitants and such. But apparently he was not a certified tour guide, he didn’t gave the badge. So Sameer and Michelle sent him away, haha. We explored a little bit on our own. Going through a small section that reminded us of Greece with the blue and white houses, we end up in the main courtyard. Several pictures later, we are off.
Hassan Tower. The unfinished mosque that was planned to be the biggest in the world. However, the king that commissioned it died during its construction and it was left in that state. This king would be the grandfather or ancestor of the current king. There were two other buildings in the same area, with guards at every corner and door. One was a mausoleum for Mohammed V while the other was an open air building of columns.
Roman ruins, Chellah. The map had some strange characters, either Phoenician or possibly the ancient writing of the Berbers. Greeted by stray cats, we head down into the ruins. Within the Roman walls, there was a mosque, hammam, graves, mausoleums, and other random Roman buildings such as an Arc de triumph. Several stray cats within, as well as huge huge nests on top of several of the towers within the ruins. Looking on Instagram after the fact, it looks like they were nests for herons or cranes. Too bad we didn’t get to see that.
On our way to Chefchaouen, about a 4 hour drive. So much rain… So much.
We finally arrive at our next place, a hotel! Running through the rain into the hotel, we warm up and are served some tea. After the rain died down a little, we were taken to the villas out in the back. The whole place is nice (relatively), too bad the internet doesn’t extend back into the villas. Jerks. Each of the villas have their own private terrace and a larger one just up the stairs. A really nice view of the city. The city is actually built on the lower part of a mountain, the slopes and stairs are plentiful and there is a large wall that lines the back of the city, splitting it from the mountain. Protecting it from.. whatever, I guess.
Still early, we’ve got sunlight, we venture out into the city to take photos, and shop for souvenirs. There isn’t much to see within the city aside from the city itself. It was very reminiscent of Portugal and Greece. Portugal because of the way things were built and Greece because of the white and blue painted walls. So much blue. Not as nice as Greece, Mykonos though… Walking among the many shops and browsing in the rain, our usual greeting was “konnichiwa”, I guess they get a lot of Japanese tourists? Up and down the alleys, shops line the wall. A nice quaint city.
Wandering back to the hotel for dinner. Moroccan soup, Fish Pastilla, Cream Chocolate. Eh, I didn’t really like any of it. Should have gave some to the cat that was lurking around under the tables and chairs. Ate my fill and off to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a lot of driving as well, it will take about 6 hours to get to Fez with stops every couple of hours through other cities.
Qazbah des Oudaya, Frogs in Qazbah des Oudaya, Mausoleum of Mohammed V, Chellah – Mausoleum, Chefchaouen, Alleyway in Chefchaouen
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