We left Morocco on Thanksgiving day and spent three days in Lisbon, Portugal before we board a cruise across the Atlantic to South America. This was our first time in Lisbon and the city has impressed us. From the mosaic tile work to the incredible architecture, Lisbon is beautiful and is already on our short list to return to when we have more time to explore all it has to offer.
Portuguese is the national language, which is completely different from Spanish, even though there are some overlapping words. Luckily for us, English is widely spoken here or we may be completely lost.
Four Hour Tour
We took a four hour guided tuk-tuk tour of the city which gave us a great overview of the various neighborhoods and landmarks. Our driver was very informative and we learned quite a bit about Lisbon in a short amount of time.
Port
And of course, we couldn’t leave Portugal without partaking in one of our favorite adult beverages which Portugal is famous for – port. A sweet, fortified wine, port is a perfect after dinner drink. We enjoyed a tasting flight of 10-, 20-, 30-, 40-, and 50-year tawny port at Taylor Fladgate, a leading producer of port wine, which you can find in fine restaurants and liquor stores in the US and around the world.
Portugal has so much more to offer than just Lisbon, and after our short time here, we can’t wait to return.
Tour guide, RubenMosaic sidewalksChristmas decorations Monument to the Discoveries
It’s been an educational 15 days for us in Morocco. We learned a great deal about Moroccan people and their culture. Most you will find in our earlier posts, but here are some extra tidbits we didn’t manage to fit into the other posts and thought you might find interesting.
Overall Assessment
Morocco is a very friendly and welcoming country to all. We encountered many different races and religions here, all living peacefully together. We felt safe the entire time we were in Morocco. We would definitely come back to here someday.
Quick Facts
Morocco is a small country in comparison to the US. It is 110% the size of California. You can find more fun facts here.
To Cover or Not to Cover…
In the larger cities you will see a variety of clothing. Some Muslim women choose to fully cover themselves from head to toe while others choose to only partially cover with a simple scarf over their heads. However, the strict adherence to the conservative dress is lessening. Tourists can wear whatever they like, within reason. Of course, just like anywhere, you may receive stares or comments based on how much you are choosing to show. Modesty and respect are important no matter where in the world you are traveling. For more about the covering and the hijab click here.
Muslims are called to prayer five times a day and this call is made live by the muezzin from the tower of the mosque. In Marrakech the call could be heard throughout the old city (medina). We only saw a few locals stop to pray when called, but it likely occurred in the mosque or in private for those not supporting tourism. Several public places such as restaurants and airports had prayer areas which we weren’t permitted in.
Cash is King in Morocco
Nearly every monetary transaction was expected in cash which was a difficult transition for us. We are used to using credit cards for everything but that was not possible here. Some hotels or fancier restaurants accepted cards, but most did not. This meant frequent trips to the ATM to withdrawal cash in $2,000-dirham ($200) increments. Tracking cash expenses is much harder and exponentially more frustrating than it is for credit cards.
Tip for Everything
Tips are expected everywhere and for everything. Since it isn’t expensive in Morocco and they expect only about 10% of the service they’ve provided it isn’t too bad. The hardest part is trying to keep smaller bills and coins on you. You don’t want to carry around 5 pounds of coins in your pocket, but you also don’t want to get stuck with only 200 dirham bills when you’re trying to just use the toilet (which they expect you to tip for after each use). Tips are expected for any form of assistance such as getting directions because you’re lost (personal experience) so it can add up. Also, it is good to remember not all Moroccans are helpful from the goodness of their hearts. They expect a little something in return.
Photography
In Morocco and other Muslim countries, it is important to ask permission when taking someone’s photo or video. This is because in the Muslim faith many believe it is against Allah’s teaching to capture a likeness of a living being. We asked permission of many for the images we used in our Moroccan blog posts. We were told no or asked to not take photos on a few locations. In the market once when I was shooting a short video with the seller’s permission, a covered woman’s escort came behind me, tapped me on the shoulder and pushed my phone down, then scolded me in Arabic. I respected the culture and stopped recording until the covered woman left. I still find myself questioning why a photo of a covered woman would be bad? It’s not like I am able to actually see her. The camera isn’t capturing her at all really. She is covered after all.
Consuming Alcohol
Be ready to sober up! Alcohol is not consumed very much in Morocco. If you need a glass of wine with dinner, you need to check the menus to make sure it is served before sitting. Otherwise, you may be disappointed. Morocco does craft its own beer, wine and spirits. However, since it is illegal to drink where you can be seen from outside and most Muslims don’t partake, this drives up the cost per drink substantially. For example, a cheap bottle of local red wine would cost you $35 at a restaurant. A glass of the same might be $9 which is on par, but the pour is only 4 ounces. The liver needed a detox anyway.
Getting Around
Google maps worked great in the newer parts of the city and to drive between cities on the main highways. However you can’t trust it in the medinas. The tight streets and high walls make it difficult for the satellite to find you which led to several frustrating U-turns and unkind words directed to our phones.
Language
Language was quite the barrier for us in Morocco. Arabic is the primary language, but many also spoke French. We speak neither. So, we hired English speaking guides to accompany us as we journeyed to several places within Morocco. They were a wealth of knowledge and created experiences we would not have been able to create on our own. Here are some key words to know when in Morocco, spelled out phonetically..
English
Arabic
French
Please
Min fad lee ka
See voo play
Thank you
Shoe kran
Merci
Yes
Nam
We
No
La
Non
I’m sorry
Ana ass ah fun
Jay swee day zo lay
Excuse me
Af wan
Pardon
If we have missed anything you are curious about, please let us know in the comments and we will respond as quickly as we can.
Happy Thanksgiving! We are grateful for the ability to wander the world and for all of you who wish to come along. We promised you the good, bad, and ugly. There will be a little of everything in this Thanksgiving post today.
We arrived late in the afternoon a few nights ago to spend 3 nights in Casablanca. We were thrilled to walk into our room which felt luxurious compared to some recent stays since leaving Marrakesh. The first item on our agenda after checking in was to find a FedEx to ship home some gifts we’d purchased. The office wasn’t too far, so we chose to walk since we’d been sitting in a van for 3 days. Google Maps routed us through an ugly, dirty, and very smelly part of the city. This didn’t help our first impression of Casablanca at all. So far, this wasn’t the romantic seaside city people had talked it up to be. In Rountree fashion though, we decided to hold judgement until the end of the stay.
Casablanca is like any large city. It’s population is 3.84 million, similar to Los Angeles. Of course, like LA, there are safe and unsafe areas, filth, homeless, graffiti, and crime.
Hassan II Mosque
We took a familiarization tour the morning of our first full day. The tour provided us entrance to the Hassan II Mosque. This is the only Mosque in Morocco which non-Muslims are permitted to enter. It was breathtaking. Everything was hand crafted from the carved plaster, marble inlaid mosaic floors, wood ceilings, and the chandeliers. There is no air conditioning, so the roof retracts in the hot summer months to promote air flow through the open arches above all the doorways. Construction took six years to complete with three crews working around the clock seven days a week year round to complete the mammoth project. The majority of the materials used in its construction came from Morocco.
When Muslims enter the Mosque for prayer, men and women enter through separate doors and must first wash their hands, face, and feet three times in the ablution room, or in the fountain outside the Mosque. Men and women also pray in separate locations. The men on the main floor and the women in the balconies above.
This is the largest mosque in Morocco and the third largest (height and capacity) in the world. A maximum of 105,000 worshipers can gather together for prayer: 25,000 inside the mosque hall and another 80,000 on the mosque’s outside ground.
Hassan II Mosque
Rick’s Café
Opened March 1, 2004, the café was designed to recreate the casino/bar made famous by the 1942 film Casablanca. The location and film name was created after the producer and director of the movie dined in a riad which is now home to Rick’s Café. The interior did not match the movie set, but the meal and service was delightful. We’d rank this as the second best meal we’ve had on this journey so far. That honor is still held by La Trastienda in León, Spain.
Rick’s interior
Hotel Issues
We don’t want you to think everything is always so wonderful when we are traveling. Sometimes issues arise causing frustration. On this leg of the journey our hotel in Casablanca was the thorn in our side. The saga began right at the start on by our first full day as we were locked out of our room after breakfast. Our card wouldn’t work and multiple resets by the front desk didn’t resolve the problem. We got the manager involved who had maintenance break in to the room while we were out on our tour, but without necessities we’d planned to take with us (like TP and sunglasses). When we returned the key worked. No biggie, these things happen.
But then on day two, when we returned from breakfast we were again locked out of our room in the same manner. Once can be dismissed, but twice? I was a bit annoyed since Rex and I planned to get some work done that morning and now we couldn’t. After escalating to the manager again, they had to break into the room once again and offered to move us to a “suite” which wasn’t as nice as the room we already had. However, we appreciated the move and hoped it resolved our lock out problem. We are grateful for their attempts to work things out but overall customer service is not this hotel’s strong suit.
Locked out!
Morocco vs Croatia World Cup Match
We watched the Morocco/Croatia opening round match with lots of locals and some fellow travelers in our hotel. The action was exciting, but the match ended in a 0-0 tie, much to the excitement of the local crowd. Apparently Morocco was the underdog and the tie was a good result for them.
Finding gratitude
All in all, our experience in Casablanca was just okay. The hotel rooms themselves were nice, but hotel service was lacking for the rates they charge. Hopefully this will improve in the future. We likely will not return to Casablanca, and if we do, we wouldn’t stay at this hotel. However, Morocco as a whole (especially Marrakech) we will revisit for sure.
We are grateful to have our health, family & friends, ability to travel the world, food in our bellies, a roof over our heads every night, and so much more.
We left Marrakech and decided on a multi-day road trip to visit a few more cities before leaving Morocco. We hired a private driver (Mustafa) to take us from Marrakech to Fes, then to Chefchaouen, and finally to Rabat, and Casablanca over 3 days.
Our first stop was Fes. Our host in Marrakech arranged a private guide to show us around the old city (Medina) for the afternoon. We learned that Fes has the oldest and most complicated Medina in the world, the Fes El Bali. Without a guide we would easily have gotten lost for days and Google maps doesn’t work at all in the walled city. Hilly and narrow, the medina is vastly different from Marrakesh. It was like stepping back in time. There were no motorcycles whizzing by us, only donkeys and pedestrians which made roaming the medina much more peaceful. Fes is also home to the oldest theological university ever established in Morocco, dating back to the 14th century and founded by a wealthy woman from Tunisia.
We had an interesting tour of the largest leather tannery in Morocco. It was tucked away in the middle of the Medina where they process cow, camel, sheep and goat leathers. The smell was horrific. We were offered free sprigs of mint on our way in the building to help offset it. Thank goodness, it was bad. Apparently the smell comes from ammonia in pigeon poop which is used in large quantities to soften and remove the fur from the leather. Who knew?! The poop is expensive too, so they joke and call Chanel #6. It was interesting to see the steps involved in preparing the hides and to see the beautiful bags, jackets and other items that get created once it’s done.
Minty fresh!
Chefchaouen
We left Fes and made the 4 hour drive to Chefchaouen (pronounced chef-sh-owe-en) which is known for its blue walls throughout the city. It is also known as Morocco’s “blue pearl.” The Medina is beautiful and was much easier for us to navigate. It is a photographers dream. We were taking pictures around every corner.
Apparently, camels aren’t just for riding. In Morocco they are also for eating! We had a camel burger tonight for dinner. Camel is not served in steak form. You’ll see it served mostly as burgers or meatballs in Kefta dishes. It was slightly drier than beef, but tasted mostly the same. If you ever see it on a menu, give it a try!
Mustafa
We’re back on the road again tomorrow. We have two more cities to visit before we say farewell to Morocco.
Today we were lucky enough to be invited on a personalized cooking class with a shopping trip to the souk where the locals buy their meat and produce included in the experience. We learned to prepare two separate meals which became our lunch one day and dinner the next.
Moroccan cooking looks complex, but it’s very simple once you get the hang of it. The warm spices make for some serious comfort food that will have us craving it again in no time once we leave this beautiful country.
After working in the kitchen most of the day, it was time to go to the spa. I hadn’t yet indulged myself with a massage after the Camino, so I finally changed that by visiting my first hammam.
Entering the hammam, the decor, layout and architecture were simply beautiful. There was a pool in the center with loungers on either side. The actual hammam was in the back. There was a large marble room with a marble block riser in the center. The room was hot, very hot, as was the stone floor and riser, but I acclimated to it quickly. The tellak (technician) rinsed me with hot water then rubbed Moroccan black soap all over my body. I was then told to relax for about 10 minutes to let the soap work it’s magic. I was rinsed again, then sanded down. You read that right, quite literally sanded down. I thought they used a medium grit sandpaper glove. I want to say I’m joking, but I’m not. The glove they used is called kessa mit and can be found online. After the initial shock, it actually felt quite nice and the results were amazing. So much dead skin was sloughed off of me! Kinda gross, but also kinda cool. My skin has never felt softer. When the hammam was complete, I was escorted to a lounger where I was served Moroccan mint tea and had a pre-massage foot massage. Oh, slow down now, I could get used to this. This was followed shortly with an incredible 60 minute full body massage. The entire treatment took about 135 minutes and cost only $75. I walked out of there soft and relaxed. I want to go again!
Hammam
Today is our last day in Marrakesh. We leave to explore more of Morocco tomorrow. It’s been a great experience, but it is time to see more of the country. Thank you Marrakesh, we will be back.
