Today we opened a new chapter in the Morocco trip. We left the desert, and flew with the only flight that left Ouarzazate on Monday to Casablanca. This was my first time walking to an airport from where we stayed. It was a less than twenty minute walk. The tiny little airport works pretty well, although the staff was missing basic knowledge of English. But our French was quite enough for the basics. After a 35 minute flight we arrived in Casablanca. This solved a big issue, because the way over the high Atlas is extremely slow with the bus, so it saved us a lot of hassle. Royal Air Maroc gave an excellent flying experience with an extra big legroom for everybody.
From Casablanca we took then the train to Meknes. The train runs up to Rabat and Kenitra, turns east and crosses the Rif mountains.
Meknes is an interesting city. In a way is much less touristy than Marrakech. The souk in the medina serves the locals and not the tourists. We saw a lot of sheep in small carts getting transported within the medina, they may be served us for dinner tonight, who knows. Chicken are running around the streets, being scaled before being sold and probably cooked in a nice tageen. The orange juice is as great as everywhere in the country. As it later turned out - these were preparations for the Eid al-Adha. A nice dinner on a terrace overlooking the Bab el-Mansour (gate) of the old town is priceless. A great way to refresh the mouth is with some sabres, the cactus fruits we all know in Israel, are being sold from trolleys and being peeled for only one dirham each.
The higher humidity makes the heat feeling stronger, and we had to nap in the middle of the day to our air conditioned room in the riad.
We visited the mausoleum of Moulay Ismail. This sultan made Meknes the capital in the 17th century.
The Meknes museum features metalwork, clothing, carpets and jewellery.
In the afternoon we walked to the the enormous stone lined lake, named Agdal Basin. The lake was built by the sultan and is a popular place to hang out for locals.
The day after we went to Volubilis, about which I write in another post. However in the evening we had a very special experience in a family restaurant. Mille et Une Nuits is actually the living room of a local family. The have a menu but they cook and prepare everything upon request. Since it was already the Eid, is difficult to get certain stuff like coca cola which Jeruen ordered. But instead of admitting that they don't have any they sent their kids to run all around the town to get one. After 80 minutes or so arrived the soup and 30 seconds after that arrived the mains. We had one of the tastiest meals there, no kidding. It was a real authentic experience for us.
From Casablanca we took then the train to Meknes. The train runs up to Rabat and Kenitra, turns east and crosses the Rif mountains.
Meknes is an interesting city. In a way is much less touristy than Marrakech. The souk in the medina serves the locals and not the tourists. We saw a lot of sheep in small carts getting transported within the medina, they may be served us for dinner tonight, who knows. Chicken are running around the streets, being scaled before being sold and probably cooked in a nice tageen. The orange juice is as great as everywhere in the country. As it later turned out - these were preparations for the Eid al-Adha. A nice dinner on a terrace overlooking the Bab el-Mansour (gate) of the old town is priceless. A great way to refresh the mouth is with some sabres, the cactus fruits we all know in Israel, are being sold from trolleys and being peeled for only one dirham each.
The higher humidity makes the heat feeling stronger, and we had to nap in the middle of the day to our air conditioned room in the riad.
We visited the mausoleum of Moulay Ismail. This sultan made Meknes the capital in the 17th century.
The Meknes museum features metalwork, clothing, carpets and jewellery.
In the afternoon we walked to the the enormous stone lined lake, named Agdal Basin. The lake was built by the sultan and is a popular place to hang out for locals.
The day after we went to Volubilis, about which I write in another post. However in the evening we had a very special experience in a family restaurant. Mille et Une Nuits is actually the living room of a local family. The have a menu but they cook and prepare everything upon request. Since it was already the Eid, is difficult to get certain stuff like coca cola which Jeruen ordered. But instead of admitting that they don't have any they sent their kids to run all around the town to get one. After 80 minutes or so arrived the soup and 30 seconds after that arrived the mains. We had one of the tastiest meals there, no kidding. It was a real authentic experience for us.
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