We spent a total of 5 days in Essaouira. 2 days before the Sahara and 3 days after our tour of southern Maroc. It was our home base so to speak. We stayed in a Riad close to the Bab just inside the Medina. Rashid and Abdul took very good care of us. Every morning I would wake to the sound of oranges being made into juice. We would climb the stairs to the roof and have breakfast with the bees. The bees were mad about the jam and we found tricky ways to distract them. Funny thing about meals in Morocco, only about 1/2 the time were we handed a menu. Mostly they would just start bringing food. Breakfast was always whatever they were serving but totally delicious. Often at lunch or dinner after we had been served olives, bread and some other appetizer type food the proprietor would simply ask us what we wanted. To our quizzical stare he would make suggestions. Food was such a big part of the experience. For most of the trip we wondered why they served so much bread. Then when we had lunch with a local family we realized it was their fork, spoon and knife. they used the bread to scoop the tagine into their mouths. So, when you hear that they eat with their hands that is only partially true.
Essaouira is a coastal town on the Atlantic and there is a port with a lot of fishing activity going on. Down the boardwalk to the beach we found kids and adults playing soccer in the sand. They played soccer everywhere there was a patch of flat space. They carried the goal with them. This is the view from the roof terrace at Riad Nakhla to the soccer space next to the Mosque. 
No comments:
Post a Comment