Morocco, the unexpected surprise!

November, cold - okay, as cold as it can get in Rome, where I currently live - dark, summer still too far away, way too much office time, feeling to breathe fresh air again. Suddenly, I decide to have a look at the Ryanair website, usually they have amazing deals departing from Rome, and in less than 10 minutes I have a ticket to my next, still unexplored country: Morocco! At first, I buy the ticket just because it is way too cheap to leave it there, but the expectations I have about Morocco are quite low. I don't really know why, I just was never really interested in this country before. And, thanks God, life always proves you wrong :o)

Stop number 1: RABAT

I arrive in Rabat, the capital of Morocco, in a mild evening of December. I have booked myself into what it's probably the best Riad of the city, Darzouhour. This place is located in a perfect spot, the center of the old, huge Medina of Rabat. Traditional, clean, beautiful place, with the friendliest owner, I feel immediately at home. I get into my room, take a shower and tell to myself that I did well in treating myself to this beautiful Riad for the first night of my trip - this place is slightly expensive but it's totally worth it. I get ready and in few minutes I am out in the street, surrounded by the multiple, tiny, identical streets of the old Medina. I realize once more that this is what makes me feel alive, seeing new places, feeling excited and, at the same time, slightly scared about the unknown. I throw myself into the crowd, I eat escargots from a small - and quite dirty - street food stand in the middle of the road, I wander around into the still crowded local markets and, quite tired, I decide to go back home...AAAANDDDD..I am lost :-/ All streets of the Medina look the same, including the point of references that I took before leaving my place, I have no map with me and have no clue about where I am. The streets are slowly getting emptier, no women to be seen, and creepy guys at the horizon. I start walking and, at one point, I ask to a couple of men talking in a corner for the directions to my street. They look at me and they offer to bring me to my place, as, they say, it can be dangerous for a girl to walk alone into the dark. One of them is quite young and we start talking about his wedding, his wife, how do they imagine Europe, what shall I see in Rabat; at times the two speak in Arabic to each other, and I don't know if I should trust them or not, as we are walking for at least 20 minutes and we're not there yet. But my instinct has always been right so far, and after a couple of minutes I am in front of the door of my dear Riad. I offer them some money (which, obviously, they don't accept) for bringing me home safe and sound: without them, I would still be wandering in the Medina, probably walking in circle again and again. I am so grateful, thank you guys.  

The morning after, after my amazing Moroccan breakfast, I take off and direct myself to the Gare of Rabat, reachable by walking distance. Next destination, the Imperial City of Fez.

Street food - escargots - Rabat

Riad - Rabat

Stop number 2: FEZ

I walk until the central station of Rabat, going thru the same Medina that I had seen the night before, and everything seems more colorful, brighter, nicer, more comforting. The train to Fez takes a bit more than 2.5 hours. I am the only foreigner sitting in my coach, for the rest they are all locals. An old couple sitting in front of me starts eating fried anchovies in bread crumbles, with hot paprika, olives and typical Moroccan bread. They immediately offer me some, which I accept with pleasure as the smell is delicious...and the taste, even better :o) In exchange I give them some of my cashew-nuts and a bottle of water, as they didn't have any. This is the meaning of travelling to me, exchanging with locals, sharing meals, time and smiles together. As I arrive in Fez, I grab a cab that brings me up to the oldest and biggest Medina of the Arabic world, the Medina of Fez. This place is also one of the largest pedestrian zones in the entire world, declared World Heritage Site. My Riad is right after the amazing Blue Gate (Bab Boujloud), once more a great location to start exploring this city! In Fez I also rented a room in a super nice Riad, called Riad Hala. The place itself is very nice, you have a top terrasse from where you can observe the entire Medina, wait for the sun to set and listen to the calls to the pray coming from the different mosques. The only thing that I didn't like about this place was the owner and his insistence for me to rent a local guide to explore the city, saying that I would get lost if I didn't do so. My advice: do NOT rent any local guides, it is a SCAM, they will bring you to places where you would end up alone anyways (there are very clear indications all over the streets of the Medina to the most important sites), plus they will try to have you buy overpriced stuff from the stores of their friends from whom they get, obviously, commissions. And your visit will consist just in going from one shop to another at the guide's pace, instead of yours. Unfortunately, I got convinced by the owner of the Riad, but after 30 minutes together with my guide, I said goodbye, paid (10 EURO) and continued on my own. The Medina of Fez is really amazing, there are all sort of handicraft shops, spices shops, typical food stalls, mosques, rooftop bars with amazing views, but the most impressive site to visit (and the more stinky one) are the Lather Tanneries of Fez. This is a must see site, as they still treat the lather as we probably used to do a century ago. I bought 3 lather bags in Fez, I am not too proud of it, but hey they were just too nice to leave them there. You should also visit the local ancient bread ovens, and buy a piece of round bread, still warm, for only 1 dirham! Apart from the Old Medina, in Fez you should visit the Fez Mellah, the most authentic and less touristic part of Fez. This is the Jewish quarter of Fez, full of markets and local street-food stalls selling the tastier foods/sweets/fruits. You can walk from the Old Medina to the Mellah, and pass by the Royal Palace of Fez, also a must see site. If you go to the modern city of Fez, you will notice a huge difference between its population and the one of the Old Medina: women dressed up in Western style, no hijabs, fast foods, trendy clothes shops, modern buildings - interesting social and cultural gap in such a small distance. After 2 nights in Fez, I feel ready to leave this city to my final and most loved destination: Chefchaouen, also known as the Blue City.

Blue Gate - FEZ

Old Medina - FEZ

Old Medina - FEZ

Stop number 3: CHEFCHAOUEN - The Blue City     

After a 5 hour bus journey, in a warm afternoon of December, I arrive in Chefchaouen and I immediately fall in love with this tiny, sweet city covered in blue. When it comes to historical sites, there is not too much to see; however, I can advise you to visit the Grand Mosque, the Kasba and its Andalusian gardens. For the rest, just wander around in the old Medina, eat local cheese and olives. There is a very nice rooftop restaurant on the main square (Plaza Uta-El-Hammam) where you can eat delicious traditional plates for very little money and admire the Mosque and the city from the top. The name of this place is Aladdin, it may be a bit touristic, mainly because of its location, but a dinner there it's worth just for the view. While I was in Chefchaouen, I also visited the Akchour Waterfalls, very nice trekking if you like this kind of activity. While getting there - by taxi, 15 dirhams, about 40 minutes - you can also admire the Rif Mountains, surrounding the city. On this mountains, they cultivate about half of the entire world's hashish production; believe me, if you are into joins, you will not have any difficulties in finding one, and they say it is the best quality of the world, very pure. Over there, smoking is really part of the culture, while during the entire trip I was not able to drink a beer nor a glass of wine. In Chefchaouen, I also had the most local of the experiences: the post office! Indeed, I needed to book a bus ticket back to Rabat, and the only place where they sold it was the local post office. Funny scenes, no line to be seen, it was enough to push a little bit to make my way to the counter - when it comes to this kind of situations, coming from the South of Italy really helps, we are more similar than we like to admit.    

Old Medina - Chefcaouen

Akchour Waterfalls

Old Medina - Chefchaouen

Friends chatting in Chefchaouen

Old guys

  

Stop number 4: back to RABAT

I take my bus from Chefchaouen at 7am and by 1pm I am back in Rabat. I decide to go to the station and leave my luggage there in order to explore a bit more the city, as my flight is only in the night at 9pm. But guess what, at the central station of Rabat there are no locks to secure my luggage, so I am obliged to bring it along with me for the entire day. I manage to visit the old Kasbah of Oudayas, its gardens and get a nice view on the ocean. I go back to the Medina and buy fried fish, sweets and dates to celebrate my last Moroccan lunch - so good!

Kasbah - Rabat

Good bye Morocco, you have been a real discovery to me!

General advises:            

If you arrive at Rabat airport, take the local bus that brings you to the Central Station down town (20 dirhams instead of 200 by taxi). If you are staying at the Medina, just walk from the Central Station as it is very close by. If you decide to take a cab, please make sure they put the taximeter.

Back in December, I experienced a huge temperature difference between morning and evening. I am not sure how it is during the other periods of the year, however, because of the desert, I believe it is always pretty much like that. Bring something heavy for the evening, as it can get quite cold, while in the morning I was in t-shirt.

You will not find anything alcoholic to drink, unless you want to pay ridiculous amount of money for something that has nothing to do with real wine or beer and that you'll have to drink hiding in a restaurant's basement.

Buy Argan oil, but make sure it is the pure, bio one. My skin is born again since I am using it :o)

Buy dry fruit and dates, they are the best!

Drink Moroccan mint tea in the traditional way.

If you are a woman travelling alone, avoid sitting outside a bar where there are only men. You will be stared at by both men and women passing by.

Always negotiate when buying something.

Enjoy Morocco!

Love,

Gaia