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| Day 02 Nov. 11, 2008 Rabat Meknes | Submitted by Dolores goblearms@att.net | |
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We took the tour bus from Casablanca to Rabat. During the trip Meli, by request, gave us a brief talk of Islam and some of its main tenets, which was very interesting. We passed a lot of sheep and cattle in the fields. Signs along the road advertising "Palm Beach", "Eden Island", "Sahara Beach", Cafe L'Miss, Pizzaghetti, Club Ski, There was high surf with foam in some parts of the water (the Atlantic Ocean), lower surf in other areas, with fishermen and many birds on the beach in places.
Interesting
to see so much cactus just like in West Texas and Mexico, wheat fields,
beautiful yellow
flowers, a golf course,
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We saw the Casbah at Oudaya Andaluz, a Muslim cemetery. Had lunch at a charming restaurant. Saw the Mausoleum of Hassan II, the Hasan Tower (from the Mohad Dynasty), a member of the Touareg tribe (?)
in the traditional blue
clothes and turban, on a horse, and a Berber in colorful traditional
dressand the water cups. We went to a weaving center where the and also saw women picking olives. In the town of Khemisett (sp?)
we had lunch at the Hotel Diouri (good cappuccino
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the King's sister palace,
horse-drawn carts, roadside vegetable and fruit stands. A lot of new
construction and many luxury week-end homes for the wealth who came for
vacations. Also some beautiful high cliffs.
women can
make carpets and sell in the souks as well as at auction. We passed
trees where the bark is scraped to make cork. Along the road there were
occasionally Berber hats on display in trees. I don't remember the
symbolism or reason for that. We went through the small town of Touflitz
(sp?)
for only 10 dirham,
better price than Houston!) There were also people selling escargots on
the side of the road occasionally, which Meli said is against Muslim
rules to not eat shellfish, but the people need to earn the money. We
were introduced to the covered casserole dish called a
"tejine" which was very popular throughout the trip. We stayed
at the Hotel Rif that evening, and had the best pumpkin soup I've ever
had! It was a night with a full moon and a good ending to a good day.