Rabat, Morocco

Dates and dry figs line the street in front of a mosque in Rabat's medina

Many Moroccans pointed out to me that Morocco was the first nation to recognize the United States' independence and therefore Morocco is the US's oldest diplomatic partner, which some Moroccans tout with pride.

At evening prayer time, the interior of this mosque gets so crowded that they put out mats outside on the sidewalk to accommodate the overflow crowds of praying men.

Looking out at the Atlantic from the Kasbah of the Udayas

A soldier in uniform stands guard outside the entrance to the Mausoleum of Mohammed V

Medina streets

Chellah, ruins of a medieval fortified settlement

Storks have taken up residence along the ramparts and tops of crumbling buildings at Chellah.

Rabat is the capital of Morocco and these protesters were outside the Moroccan parliament.  Any Arabic readers care to translate these banners?

Casablanca, Morocco

Street and car lights along a big avenue in Casablanca

In Casablanca's medina...

In the unused baths below Hassan II Mosque

Outside Hassan II Mosque, the largest mosque in Africa

Chefchaouen, Morocco

This blue city in the Rif Mountains of northern Morocco is beautiful to walk around in. The locals paint their homes blue in Chefchaouen's (or just Chaouen's) medina every spring.

Many shades of blue... 

Chefchaouen somewhat resembles a Spanish Andalucian hill town in blue instead of white, and there's no coincidence for its resemblance to Spain.  In the 1400s, many Spanish Jews and Muslims immigrated to this area of Morocco to avoid the Spanish Inquisition.  And locals here can generally speak and understand Spanish - much more than French.

Here is the oldest hamam in Chefchaouen.  A hamam is similar to a turkish bathhouse. Below is another hamam, evident due to the large pile of firewood outside used for heating up all that water.

Technically, I was in Chefchaouen to volunteer as a WWOOFer at Julian and Catherine's farm, A-Tabiaa outside Chaouen.  But it was so rainy and cold in early February that we only worked at the farm for a few days while I was there.

Catherine demonstrates how to prune their olive trees.

Fes, Morocco

The old medina (walled city center) of Fes may be the oldest medieval city in the world.  It also has the most labyrinthine cluster of streets in what some consider to be the world's largest urban car-free zone.  Also boasting the world's oldest university, there's a lot of history here. Unfortunately, the locals didn't seem to be as easy-going and friendly as other Moroccans.  They seemed solely concerned with making money from us and expressed their hostility when we didn't want to buy something or insisted we had no desire for a guide to lead us through the maze of the medina.  After all, getting lost is half the fun and there were plenty of narrow alleyways (often dead ends) to keep me busy.

The tanneries of Fes are world famous.

Photographers love to capture these picturesque colored tanks filled with liquids used in this centuries-old practice of turning animal skin into leather.  It's a big tourist destination replete with touts attempting to give you tours of the tanneries or kids trying to lead you there. The smell of ammonia can be overpowering so locals hand out handfuls of mint for you to breathe through (for a tip of course).

The Bou Inania Madrasa

Two views of Bab Boujloud, one of the main gates into the medina

Amazing architectural details in the streets

Butcher slicing a chicken's neck

In the medina, donkeys are used to pull carts for construction projects, transport or trash collection as the narrow streets are much too small for cars.

Marrakech, Morocco

In Marrakech, I purchased a djellabah, (basically a traditional Moroccan Berber robe that looks like a costume from a Star Wars movie).  And I hardly took it off for many days, as I felt that it helped me blend in the crowds and Morocco in January was colder than I expected so the robe helped keep me warm.  Here I am in a 'magic shop,' surrounded by dry lizards, giant pythons skins, animal pelts, herbs, potions, tinctures, horns, etc. with a spiky fierce-looking desert lizard on my chest.

Walking through the ancient street and narrow alleys of the souks of Marrakech is a sensory overload.  It is easy to get lost in the alleys, which just keep winding around and around and before you know it, you're totally turned around.  Some areas seem to have an endless supply of the same tourist goods: leather slippers and jewelry.  But then you turn a corner and there's a row of beautiful lamp stores, beckoning to you like Ali Baba's magical cave and you have to stop to admire them, or smell the spices or taste the sweets.  And the vendors certainly aren't shy; most are eager to invite you into their shop for a cup of tea.  

The thoroughfares are jam-packed with pedestrians, yet bicyclists, hand-pulled or donkey-pulled carts, scooters and even cars try to push through the flood of humans packing the streets of Marrakech's medina (old city center).  

Just going for a stroll in Marrakech becomes a vibrant experience.  The call to prayer gets broadcasted out over the old city from the minarets of the mosques five times a day.  Even in such a tourist destination as Marrakech, alcohol-drinking establishments are rare, as alcohol cannot be served if it is within view of a mosque.  The easiest option to obtain alcohol is to go to a European supermarket like CarreFour.  Hash, on the other hand, does not seem to be as condemned by Moroccan Islam. Young men (and even a couple young boys) constantly offered me hash on the streets of the medina.

Wandering through the souks long enough will bring you to other types of markets where the locals do their shopping. Here the alleys open up into the spice market square.  There are other areas of the city that are just brass workers or wood workers, all selling their wares.


Acrobats perform in Jemaa el-Fnaa, Marrakech's huge open square in the heart of Morocco.  This square is utilized by locals and tourists both and one can find food stalls, musicians, fortune-tellers, dancers, snake-charmers, boxers, monkeys wearing sunglasses, juice stalls and vendors of all sorts. Everyday in the square is a spectacle of sights, sounds and smells.

Throughout the mazes of alleys, rounding a corner, you'll come upon an ornate entrance to a mosque.


Posing with the djellabah in our riad we found cheap on Airbnb.


More lamps


The ornate architecture all around Morocco is incredible.  We visited the inside of the Bahia Palace to admire the beautiful symmetry and designs of this old residence.








But you don't have to pay an entrance fee to see ornate architectural elements.  You can find crazy details in doorways on the streets or in the riads (old homes converted into hotels or guest houses).


A chameleon on Lily's head at the magic shop


And Marrakech even has an Earth Cafe though it's not related to my family's Earth Cafe in Norman, OK. But I did feel at home among the orange colors.