Morocco At a Glance

TRAVEL AND CHANGE OF PLACE IMPART NEW VIGOR TO THE MIND -- Seneca
Hi all,
I have figured that documenting my entire trip on this blog will be too difficult but I will capture some trip highlights below; however, I will post some photos here and will be sure to send you all some extended photos through email.

As an overview, I just wanted to indicate some highlights of our trip and our routing. We drove over 2000+ miles throughout Morocco visiting the following major cities:
- Meknes (the city I was born in and lived until I was 4); we spent 4 nights here investigating my childhood (hospital I was born in, house I lived in, bakery where my parents both worked/met, farms where I spent the summers, schools my brothers attended, places we used to picnic, fish and spend family time). This visit was very sentimental for me and was surreal.
- Chefchaouen (a picturesque city that is situated in the Rif Mountains. The streets in the small old medina have been painted glorious shades of blue which contrasts wonderfully with the mountain backdrop. We really enjoyed this city a lot and bought quite a few unique gifts here.
-Agadir - the reborn city after total ruines caused by the earthquake in February 1960; we spent one night here.
- Marrakesh - This is where we visited the The Koutoubia Mosque. The central square of Marrakesh, Djemaa el-Fna, may be the world's oldest permanent carnival; this is where we were greeted by the cobras and monkeys. We stayed here 2 nights.
- Ouarzazate - This name means "the door of the desert". This city is known as the Moroccan Hollywood. We stayed here one night at the Hotel Oscar. This hotel featured the Atlas Corporation Studios where they have filmed movies such as: The Mummy, Lawrence of Arabia, The Man Who Would Be King, Cleopatra, Kundun, Gladiator and lately Alexander, Kingdom of Heaven and Babel. It was also the location of the November 26, 2006 episode of the television series The Amazing Race. We visited the sets but joked that the hotel was a bit creepy. We also took a tour of the Kasbah Taourirt; very amazing in structure and style.
- Essaouira - This is one of Morocco’s most enjoyable and attractive towns on the coast; we thoroughly enjoyed visiting the fishing port, colorful boats, seeing the fisherman bring in the catch of the day (some being 30,000tons of smelt), eating dinner in the medina, and purchasing lamps, paintings and wooden treasures. We stayed here one night. This town features constant wind, good for wind-surfing and surfing. The windy city has become internationally famous for its contests and has brought windsurfers from all over the world.
- Fes - This is the third largest city in Morocco. Here we visited the Medina of Fes el Bali, the largest of the two medinas of Fes. We had a picturesque tour of the tanneries where they die the skins of camel, goat, sheep in pigeon droppings and cow urine. The smell is quite captivating; they actually give you a mint stalk before entering so you can clear your senses every once in a while.
- Tanger - This town is at the crossroads of Africa and Europe, the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. We witnessed the bustling ocean vessels transporting passengers between Tanger and Spain. The beautiful scenic ocean drive was capitvating and a highlight of this area.
- Mohammedia - We stayed in this beautiful little port village for 2 nights. It has a nice beach and a fishing port. people call it madinate lwouroude wa riyada which means "city of flowers and sports".