Cordoba: One last day…

Today was our last full day of our trip; we have an early flight out of Seville tomorrow.  So we did a speed tour of Cordoba.  Really, it amounted to seeing one site -- the Mezquita.  It started out as a mosque in the 9th Century.  Over the next century or so, peiodic expansions were made to make it a huge mosque.  The highlight of this period was the forest of pillars and double arches that filled the interior.  Also, there was an impressive mihrab, the center of worship where the imam sits.  The decoration was exquisite there.

But what was most surprising was that the Mezquita was also a church / cathedral.  Catholics took over Cordoba in the 13th Century and converted it.  But for the most part the Moorish roots have been retained.  A central Cathedral was added, but the building really looks like a blending of the two cultures.  It is also a living edifice, with changes being made as recently as the early 20th Century.  Outside was a patio filled with orange trees (replete with inedible oranges!) and a bell tower that was once a minaret.

We also walked across a Roman bridge, built by Emperor Hadrian (I think, he of the wall).  Then, we saw a small synagogue.  Cordoba really has seen its share of cultures.

Right now, we're at the train station for our train.  We're forced to take the slow train unless we wanted to pay 10€ each for a reservation on a high-speed AVE train.  Since we'd only get in 1h 30m earlier, we didn't think it worth it (it's only an hour ride).

We'll try to see a flamenco show in Seville tonight.  We may not get much sleep since we'll likely want to get to the airport super early what with the high threat level.

Seville: Another tardy train and flamenco

As with practically every train we took on this trip, our train to Seville arrived 30m late, ostensibly due to the rain.  Our hotel was pretty far from the station, closer to the airport.  It was a four-star hotel with very modern rooms (but no WiFi!).

We tried to get a reservation to a flamenco dance, but they were either sold out or too soon for us to make.  But the concierge suggested La Carboneria, a old coal-miner's haunt where impromptu flamenco performances happen.  It turned out to be a great place.  Instead of paying 35€ each for a touristy-show, we only had to shell out 2€ each for a drink.  We got there right before the 11pm performance, but somehow managed to squeeze into a table right next to the stage (and right next to someone from SF!).  At one point we were only a couple of feet from the dancer!

Flamenco music is highly rhythmic with loud clapping and foot tapping accompanying Spanish guitar.  The syncopation is amazing.  The dancer was able to dance quickly, spinning about on a 12' by 6' stage.

We left after midnight.  I think it was our latest night of the trip.  And with our flight we had to leave the hotel at 5:30am.  We had one last panic when the fixed rate for the taxi to the airport was more than we had left.  But fortunately they took credit cards.

There were no new security stuff at Seville.  But in Madrid, we had wait through an hour line to get a very detailed pat down and a hand search of our carry-ons.  Our flight left one hour late.  They also won't let us get up the last hour or so, too.

From the Straits of Gibraltar to Cordoba

We took our last petit taxi, with Chris and Rachel, to the Tangiers port.  We got there and people told us to hurry to get the fast ferry to Spain.  This was a catamaran that would take 35m and cost about $30.  It was well worth it to avoid being stuck in the Straits for 3 hours again.

Anyway, we rushed but for naught just missing the 8:30 ferry.  We would take the next one at 10am.  At that point we noticed that we were going to another port, Tarifa.  But that turned out to be okay, since they'd bus us on to Algeciras.  Our ferry is pictured.  Sudha was worried that she couldn't enter Tarifa -- somewhere we read that the port was for EU citizens only -- but we had no problems.

Algeciras looked much nicer in daylight and sun.  After checking our respective train times (they were heading to Granada while we were going to Cordoba), we wandered the environs for a suitable lunch, for which Chris treated us (Thanks Chris!).  Our friends left us for Granada.  It was really nice having travel buddies like that from Casablanca to Marrakesh to Tangiers to Algeciras.  We seemed to meet up every 8 hours or so to exhange stories and get a dose of Americana.

The train ride is actually a bus ride for the first 80% of the trip, since they're working on the tracks from Algeciras.  It was a nice ride with sun until after sunset when the rains returned.  We had a glimpse of the Rock of Gibraltar and followed the curve of the Mediterranean for a good while, getting a bird's eye vista of Malaga en route.  It seems a picturesque coastal city well worth a visit in summer. 

At Antequerra we finally boarded the train -- the high-speed AVE variety.  Within an hour we were in Cordoba.  There's a slight drizzle here.  Our hotel, Casa de los azulejos (tilework) is at the edge of the town center and very much like a riad.  I guess there is very much a Moorish influence to this city.

We're about to eat dinner at a popular Cordovan restaurant next door, Taverna Salinas.  It says it was founded in 1879.  Let's see how the food (tapas) is like…

Dinner was good.  I had a Cordovan specialty, oxtail.  That was kinda different.  Sudha had some fried aubergine and spinach with garbanzo beans.

On a train somewhere in Morocco…

There's not too much to say here.  The train station, pictured, is very nice.  Morocco seems to have some very well-designed and clean stations. 

Our train was fairly good, too.  We had 1st class sleepers, four to a compartment.  Chris and Rachel were next door.  We had an English university student studying anthropolgy in our compartment.  He seemed to be a very experienced independent traveller, having been on trains throughout the most rural parts of India (he was half-Indian, too).  A fourth person joined us in Casablanca.  But I slept through most of the nine-hour trip. -- they gave us sheets and a pillow.  I woke up to sunrise over some body of water.  I guess it could have been the Mediterranean, depending on how we approached Tangers.

Marrakesh: A day in the souks…

Amazingly, we had seen much of the Medina that first day.  So this day became our shopping days.  The souks can be a shopper's paradise.  Hundreds of stalls in miles of streets that twist around in a labyrinth.  Thhere are no prices; everything is done by bargaining.  And it's hard to know what really is a good price.  I suppose it's if you are happy with the price you pay then it's good.  I can't imagine we were especially good at bargaining…

The biggest purchase we made was of some ceramic tagines and bowls.  Some are glazed a partictularly energetic shade of dark red.  We couldn't find a similar shade anywhere else in the medina; or rather that's what we told ourselves when we paid more than we planned!

For lunch, we ate at a terraced restaurant that had a nice view of the medina.  I tried one thing I had wanted to in Marrakesh for a while -- a tride of pigeon.  It waw basically a whole pigeon over a few layers of pasta-like crepes.  I fear I wasn't very good at picking the meat off the bird.

Our one last tourist stop was the Saadian Tombs.  They were equisitely decorated tombs from the 15th Century.  But I think at this point we were saturated on sites.  It didn't help that we had to wait 30m for a 5m view of the interior tombs.

We returned to our landmark cafe, Café Arabe, for a coffee and ran into the father and daughter, Chris and Rachel, again.  The doorman there had been very helpful during our trip.  Here I am with him.  Apparently, he was an extra for Gladiator, The Mummy, and a few more movies.

We had a very rushed dinner at our riad before heading to our overnight train to Tangers.  More later…

Marrakesh: Djemma El Fna

So I've been mentioning this square, Djemma El Fna, a lot.  So what is it?  It's the center of life and tourism of the Marrakesh medina.  During the day, it's filled with all sorts of street performers -- trained monkeys, acrobats, water carriers (guys dressed like Mexican mariachis carrying sacks of water), and, of course, snake charmers.  You can see the latter surrounding a dozen snakes.  They'd be holding one and trying to drape it around someone's neck (and charging to remove it).  I don't have many pictures since if anyone sees you taking a picture of them, they run over to ask for money.

There are stalls of fruit-sellers.  You can get a good fresh-squeezed orange juice for 3 dirhams (~40 cents).  There are terraced cafes from which you can watch the activities.  At night, more performers and activities come out -- story tellers, soda bottle fishing, putting and bowling games, and much more.  Food stalls set up with cheap food.  We never tried these this time.

The square is always filled with people.  We were there as late as 10 or 11pm one night, and it was still filled with people.  It is supposedly hopping as late as 1am or later!

Marrakesh: The desert meets the west

After our late night, we took our time getting out today.  We had a traditional Morrocan riad breakfast in a 2nd floor alcove overlooking the courtyard.  Breakfast consists of yoghurt, bread, and "buthbuth" (a traditional Morrocan crepe) with jam and butter.  Drinks are fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee and tea.  It's not too heavy, but it's good.

Today, we explored the souks and hit a few of the monuments.  This medina is a bit different from Fes in that the streets have mopeds and bikes zooming through.  There is even the occassional car! 

The Marrakesh Museum was a well-restored palace.  Within were arts and crafts from the 16th to early 20th Century as well as a modern art exhibit.  There was a neat 1200kg brass ceiling light.

Bin-Youssef Medresa was a old dormitory that had 132 rooms though they looked more like cells, particularly the ones without windows.

The Quoba was one of the only surviving Almoravid ruins.  The Almoravids were one of the earliest Moroccan ruling dynasties, back in the 11th Century.  They were the ones that invaded Spain.

Next we walked through Djemna El Dna to the Koutibia Mosque.  We couldn't go in, but as you can see it has an Almohad minaret like the Giralda in Spain.

Wandering around we were diverted from cordoned off areas by police and we saw a gathering crowd.  Apparently, the King was going to pass by.  Someone passed out small Moroccan flags and a picture of the King.  We waited for a while but got tired and left.

Our last site was the Bahai Palace.  This building was built by the Grand Vizier just before the turn of the 20th century.  It hasn't been kept up too well.  Although some architectural elements do still remain, it also served as an exhibition space for some modern art.

We had a coffee overlooking the main square.  There was a fairly good view of the activities there.  But it quickly got chilly.  Marrakesh was warm enough that I was down to short sleeves.  But I guess since it's perched on a desert, it quickly gets cold.

Marrakesh: Talking baseball at Les Premices

Over the course of the day, we played phone tag with the father and daughter from Chicago.  Or rather SMS tag wherever we could find WiFi access.  Somehow, we managed to set up a meeting place at Café Arabe, the place where we got directions the first night.  This was one of those cases where you miss cell phones.

We had dinner at Les Premices, a restaurant overlooking the square.  I had harira, the spicy tomato-based soup and a lamb tagine, while Sudha had a vegetable tagine.  The food was okay.  But it was nice to talk about baseball and other travels.

One last walk through the square and then our evening was done…

Marrakesh: Yet another flavor

Our arrival from Casablanca was a bit later than expected.  Already slowed by rain, the train engine broke down about 5 miles from Marrakesh.  They had to get another engine to bring us into the station.  We ended up getting in 3 hours late at 9pm -- the trip took twice as long as planned.

Fortunately, the station wasn't as chaotic as in Fes.  In fact it was super modern, complete with a McDonalds.  All of the petit taxis were trying to get us off fare and pay more.  In the end we shared a grand taxi with the father and daughter to near the big square in the Medina, Djemaa el Fna.  More about that place in a future post.

All of us traipsed through the Medina, occasionally getting help from a local.  Eventually, we stumbled on Café Arabe, a modern-looking restaurant.  The doorman kinda helped us while the father and daughter called their hotel to pick them up there.  We went off on our own, promptly getting lost again.  Eventually, we succumbed and had a local guy take us to our riad.  It was literally down a darkened alley; we probably never would have found it on our own.  I wasn't happy with having a guide latch onto us on.  I paid him 5 dirham in loose change, although he was clamoring for more.

Our riad (Riad le Coq Fou) is quite different than the others we stayed at.  This one is more rustic.  We've noticed that most of the riads here in Marrakesh have courtyards open to the sky.  Ours was summarily covered with a clear plastic tarp, 50 feet over our heads.  I think this open style is keeping with the warmer summers here.

It was 10pm and there was no dinner at the riad (well, they did offer me a pastilla -- chicken or pigeon in phylo -- but nothing for Sudha).  So we went back to Café Arabe.  I had my pastilla (only with chicken though :() and Sudha had some mixed vegetables.  The restaurant was very nicely done and the staff was quick and friendly.

Finally, the long day caught up with us and we returned to the riad, managing to find it without getting lost.

Casablanca: The mystique unveiled

In all but geography, Casablanca is about as far from Fes as one can get.  It is cosmopolitan and modern.  Women wore Western clothes and mostly did not have head scarves.  More people spoke English.  The streets were well-paved and modern new cars abounded. 

We came into Casa in the evening but with little of the chaos that surrounded our arrival into Fes.  One petit taxi driver tried to fleece us with a 40 (and then 30) dirham fare, but we were forewarned this time.  We went with a different taxi and went by the meter for a 10 dirham (~$1.30) fare. 
Our hotel, Hotel Guynemer, was a pick in both the Rough Guide and Lonely Planet.  We selected it and called from Fes in the morning.  While it had a nice Art Deco-influenced design, it was something of a disappointment.  The bathrooms weren't that clean, and the rooms were so-so.  Breakfast was self-serve and nowhere as interesting as what we got in the riads.

For dinner, we hopped into a petit taxi to the port, and I had the monkfish, memoralized in my Christmas Eve poem.  Sudha (who chose the place) had green beans and french fries, chased with a fruit salad.  Returning to the hotel, we whiled away the Eve listening to a man playing a lute.  That's when I penned the poem (while Sudha just listened to the music for the record -- so I take full credit and blame for the poem).

Today, we got an early start and did a self-guided tour of the Art Deco-influenced architecture near our hotel.  It is French-flavored Morrocan and is called Mauresque style.  You see iron-wrought gates and statuesque balconies.  Some buildings were run as hotels, but a lot were in disrepair.  They were nice to see, but nothing exceptional. 

After checking out, we went to the Hassan II Mosque.  It was completed in 1993 and is huge.  The minaret is 210m high with a laser pointing to Mecca.  It can hold 25,000 worshippers with another 80,000 in the courtyard, the third-largest in the world.  It's perched on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean; Muslims can supposedly worship on a glass floor with the water below.  Non-Muslims can go on guided tours but we were there on a Friday and there were no mid-day tours.  So we contented ourselves with the free outdoor visit.  The tour is 120 dirhams (~$16) per person, and, I think, a way to fund the upkeep of the Mosque.  At a cost of $750 million to build, it actually had a noticeable impact on economic indicators in this fairly poor country.

We walked on to Rick's Cafe, named after the place in the movie <i>Casablanca</i>.  No real places from the movie remain, so this place of homage is the best you'll get in the city.  One would expect this to a be tourist trap replete with cheap souvenirs and bad food, but this was a very good restaurant, perhaps one of our best meals in Morocco.  I had "Obama" chille con carne and Sudha had tagiatelle accompanied with vegetables.  We had a great tarte tatin for dessert.  The ambience was muted reverence, with the decor evoking the mystique of the filmb (complete with a piano!).  Upstairs, a screening of the movie looped soundlessly behind a bar.  This restaurant, owned by an American ex-diplomat rises to a place to go in its own right, with slightly higher prices fully justified.

After lunch, we picked up our bags and headed to the train station.  We ran into a father and daughter who were also at our hotel.  They're on this train as well as the same night train to Tangers on Sunday!  This train isn't quite as nice as the Fes-Casablanca train.  But it's only a three-hour ride.

Since Casablanca looms large in the imaginations of many, I should add a few notes.  It is a large city of 3 million, reminscent of a European one, albeit a tad dirtier and less kept up.  Apart from a small medina, its history stretches back only about a century, built as the colonial center of administration for the French.  While colonial influences are still there, they linger on only in facades and hints here and there.  Casablanca is not a city that clings to its past; instead the city is a west-looking port that is riding the wave of business to the future.  So… a half-day here was perfectly sufficient.

Oh, today is Christmas, that's right.  I totally forgot.  As intimated in the poem, there really is no hint of Xmas, not even the commercial aspects.  New Year has much more significance, and we've seen many signs for parties.

Casablanca: Christmas Eve in the "White House"

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through Casa,
No snow was on the ground, only warmth on "noses"
No carols could be heard, no jingles in the air,
No bells were a-ringing, jolly Saint Nick was
surely rare

Echoing in their heads, was not a reindeer-filled dream,
Nor scents of trees of pine, nor the sweet tastes of desserts of cream,
The only thought they gave, oh so far from home,
To this Western holiday, was this awful poem

From the train they came, descending upon this cosmopolitan city,
Ceded by the French, in a long-ago treaty,
Glimpsing the Atlantic, the man set upon a monkfish,
Not a tajine, but a wonderful new tasty dish

The adventure of Morocco, has been this trip,
No arid desert, a deluge and not a sip,
Wet medina walks, days of rain,
The sun peeking out, only when we're on the train

From a ferry long delayed, to a taxi stuffed to the gills,
Battling touts and false guides, became a battle of wills,
Exploring the maze of the Medina; inevitably becoming lost,
Wending round and round in circles, going nowhere "fast"

When the dawn breaks, half a day in this House of white,
Rushing about the town, for our time is tight, Then back to the station, onto the train we go,
The Marrakesh bazaars call, the weather an implacable foe

Fes: A Sumptuous Fassi Feast

As we whiled away the evening, we could hear the sounds of cooking.  Peeking into the modern and clean kitchen, we saw three women cooking up a storm.  Most wasn't for us though -- some big parties are coming in the next few days.  You can see one of the women working a mortar and pestle.

Dinner lived up to expectations.  Again, the highlight was the mezzes (pictured) -- baba ganoush, stewed tomatoes flavored with lemon juice and salt, salted cucumbers over a bed of lettuce, and bread.  For the entree, I had a chicken with olive and onion tagine.  The chicken was so tender that it melted off the bones.  Sudha had fried brochettes filled with something like a cole slaw mixture.  As seen in the picture, the presentation is quite well done.  Dessert was a fruit salad with cut bananas and apples drizzled with orange juice.

Here are a few pictures of our riad.  The central courtyard is the highlight.  The ceiling are 50 feet high.  All of the rooms look in on it.  Off of the courtyard are little alcoves for lounging and eating.  In the back is a small gardem with roses and jasmine. (Hence the name of the hotel, Riad au 20 Jasmins.)

Fes: One last mad jaunt through the medina

We aimed to leave for Casablanca around lunch time so we had time for a bit of exploring.  The only specific thing we did was to visit the Museum of Wood ($1.50) -- a smallish museum of wooden impelements.  It was decent, though the signs were only in French.  Otherwise, we roamed the medina, getting moderately lost and going around in a few circles.  But no major panic, just a little bit of "disquiet" since we did have a train to catch.  There are these signs that mark out some routes, but you can't always rely on them since they aren't always well-placed.  We weren't too bothered by "false guides" and touts, though some men tried to steer us to the tanneries by claiming the route ahead was closed (even though there were people coming from that direction.) Here's a picture of one of they alleyways, but it doesn't really do it justice.

We made it to a glistening train station with no problem.  Unlike the bus station, the police kept the touts at bay.  We are taking the express train to Casablanca.  Even though, we are only in 2nd class (~$14), the coach is amazing.  See the picture.  Definitely better than Spanish trains and probably U.S. ones too.  It's a smooth ride as well.  People are right when they say travel via the trains.  Our grand taxi and bus (which we learned wasn't even the top-notch, safe and recommended company) was what the masses travel on.  Now we're traveling like Moroccans of means (and tourists) do!

Fes: The guided tour continues…

Continuing our narrative, we were taken by our guide to a local restaurant that obviously catered to tour groups.  He got a free lunch, and I'm sure some type of tip.  The food was at least fairly good.  I had a chicken with almonds tagine and Sudha had couscous with seven stewed vegetables.  The appetizers were probably the highlight.  We had about 6 plates of <i>mezzes</i>.  All were vegetarian and very good -- beet salad, steamed potatoes and tomatoes, babaganosh, bread and a few others.  Dessert was fresh fruit -- oranges, tangerines, apples,  and Sudha's coveted pomegranates.

After lunch we pretty much returned to the riad.  Oh, we learned that a riad is a house with a garden; without one, the house is a dar.  Then, we hired a tourist taxi for ~$20 and went out of the medina.  If the weather wasn't so bad, I would've suggested walking.  Then again we were told that it wasn't too safe.

First, we went to the Merenid Tombs dating back to the 12th Century.  No one knows who exactly is buried there anymore, but you get a panaromic view of the medina on one side; on the other were verdant vales below the Middle Atlas mountains.

For our next stop, we skirted the suburbs (les bainlieus) of the new city (La Ville Nouvelle) and took us to a ceramic factory.  We had a nice demonstration of how thing were made.  Then, I was suckered into buying a small tagine.  Turns out, we later saw it start at less than one third the price ($20 vs. $5).  Similarly, the leather goods we got were probably $10 too much.  Lesson learned: don't buy anything with a guide in tow (he takes a cut) and the "factories" don't have anything you can't also get in the souks for cheaper.  We'll do better in the medina in Marrakesh.

Our last stop was a walk along the Jewish Quarter to the Royal Palace.  There is not a significant Jewish population here anymore -- they all emigrated to Israel or America.  But the balconied houses were renovated by UNESCO and were rather nice.  For the Royal Palace, we really couldn't see much.  Ordinary people here seem a bit put out in not being able to see inside as well as the ostentaciousness of the King to have one or more palace in each major city.

As we returned to the riad, we paid the guide (~$32).  In retrospect, I still think it was worth it.  With him, you get a level of comfort with the medina.  It really isn't as scary or intimidating as it first looks.  You just have to be careful in making sure the tour is more about seeing things and not buying things.

With the return of rain, we camped out in the lounge of our riad, killing time until dinner.  The riads definitely offer a refuge from the hustle and bustle of the medina.

Fes: A bit saner now…

Some of our "frazzlement" (Is that a word??) likely crept into our post.  After some time with a local anchor (i.e. our riad manager) and in daylight, albeit rainy, we are a bit more relaxed. 

Dinner last night wasn't at the riad -- there was no cook.  At first we were taken to a nearby restaurant that offered a show with local dancers and musician.  It was $40 per person!  It seemed a lot like any other tourist trap dinner show that I'd been to in other places (think Hawaii, Cambodia, Egypt, and probably a few others).  So we beated a swift retreat and opted for a local place, still likely catering to tourists.  I had a beef kebab while Sudha had a vegetable tagine.  Tagines are stews cooked and presented in conical ceramic dishes.  They are a staple dish here in Morocco.  I also had harira, a spicy pasta and chick pea soup.

Today, we hired a local guide to take us around the Medina.  The medina is the old city and is a warren of narrow alleyways.  No cars are allowed -- only donkeys and small handcarts.  I think hiring a guide was a wise decision.  We weren't bothered by touts and without one we'd quickly get lost.  For sites, there weren't too many big ones that we were allowed into.  The mosques are all off limits, though we could peek into them from the outside.  Kairaouine Mosque (pictured), the big medersa, both a university and a mosque, was one of the oldest in the world, dating back to the 14th Century.  Outside of it is a water clock that no one knows how it worked now.  Legend has it that a pregnant Jewish woman was startled by the tolling of the clock and had a miscarriage.  Her husband was so mad that he cursed the clock and it never worked again.

A good part of the tour was to take you to various stores and souks.  You're given a small tour of the building, often a riad, and shown how the craft is manufactured.  Then you're shown the wares and given a mild sell.  We went to a tannery for leather goods, a weaving shop, a rug place, and a herbalist.  You can see a picture of the tannery here as well as one of a weaver.  We resisted most stores, ending up with just a few leather goods.  It's almost certain that the guide gets kickbacks for taking us to the stores, but I guess you just have to accept it as a fact of life here.

I'll end this post here and talk more about lunch and after later…

Fes: Chaotic Encounters of the Third World

Wow... in all my travels, I've never had an introduction to a city like this. Although thinking back, I can't say I've travelled quite so independently as on this trip.

We actually made it into Fes and disembarked without any problem. Then we were accosted by a series of touts that seemed to loiter about the bus station like flies. They wanted to recommend hotels or take you somewhere. One guy acted aggrieved and complained as to why I was coming to Morocco and not being friendly. (This same guy looked excited when I told them there were other tourists. And to top it off we couldn't find a taxi that knew of our riad.

Finally, to avoid the touts, we took out on foot hoping to find a taxi outside. No luck, but appeared that the place was nearby. So we proceeded into the Medina, a veritable maze of narrow streets. We struggled to get directions from shopkeepers while avoiding the teenage kids offering to take us to a "cheap hotel". Eventually, almost to the point of despair, we found it. I'm amazed that we did -- the door is practically unmarked and down an alleyway. We were led by a man with a walkie talkie claiming to be a tourist policeman. But he didn't have a badge so I didn't quite believe him. Turns out he was one and had just forgot it. I guess paranoia rules the day. Anyway, more stories and impressions tomorrow… (and some pictures hopefully!)

Tetouan: Onward to Fes

There's a certain amount of adventure in travelling in Morocco. 

Part of it of course is not being able to understand the language; my high school French and simple Spanish keep us from being totally lost.  People understand just enough Spanish or French to manage a simple conversation.  I'm sure that our exchanges would be comical to an observer.  My biggest problem so far is to figure which language they know -- we're close enough that Spanish still abounds.  The main language, of course, is Arabic.

Part of it is a certain distrust, almost paranoia, that influences one's interactions with the locals.  There are enough "helpful friends" wanting to know where you are from and to guide you to where you want to go that you have to give credence to the stories in the guidebooks.  So you have to take any advice with a grain of salt and ounce of skepticism.

Finally, there's the organized chaos through which locals seem to effortlessly navigate.  I was completely floored by yesterday's car ride in the grand taxi, packed tight for a 50km journey.  Today, our biggest worry was how to get to Fes from Tetouan.  Would it be a series of grand taxis bounce through the towns to Fes?  Or would we have to take a grand taxi back to Tangers and then hope for a train or bus to Fes.  Timetables didn't seem to be readily available. 

In the end we went to the main bus station, le gare routiére.  A local who said he worked at the station helped us.  There seemed to be a bus to Fes leaving right then.  I asked the man to show a card to prove he worked there, and he very bemusedly pulled out an id I couldn't read, asking if he just showed us a card, we'd trust him.  I didn't completely, corroborating with other passengers that this was the right bus.  It's completely full, but reasonably comfortable.  It cost 60 dirhams each, about $8 for a 250km ride.  A 6 hour trip.  Let's see how this chapter unfolds…

Hello again.  We're about 5 hours into a ride.  One lesson learned is to explicitly budget time for travel in Morocco.  We'll have used up the better part of 3 days in getting from Fes.  Sure, the weather slowed things down and prevented us from seeing a lot, but travel is a lot slower here.  We'll see how the trqain is when we go to Casablanca and Marrakesh.  At least blogging is a good time sink!

The bus ride has been mostly routine.  We have been chatting with our neighbors, a youngish couple, mostly via pantomime and pidgin Spanish.  People have offered us sips of their drinks and a hand-rolled cigarette (both of which we've politely declined).  I gave the guy a moist towelette, which amused them to no end.  We've made a few rest stops of uncertain length -- there seems to be a risk in getting out and seeing your bus leave!  I still ventured out in the longer last one.  I was tempted by the smell of the kebabs at the rest stop, but I managed to refrain.  There better be a good meal at our Fes riad!

Tetouan: The Riad and the City

Since we're amidst a six-hour bus ride to Fes, I've prevailed upon Sudha to guest blog… with a bit of editing from myself.  Without further ado…

We spent the first night in Morocco in a riad. Riads are old Moroccan homes or palaces that are renovated and modernized with western toilets, etc. to cater to tourists. The riad we stayed at in Tetoaun was called El Reducto and was run by a Spanish woman. It used to be the home of the last Spanish governor of Tetouan. The rooms were small but were decorated with beautiful chandeliers and lamps (with electric bulbs of course).  Behind the bed was an intricately carved wooden headboard which also doubles up as a closet for valuables.  While the hotel rooms were in the second floor, the lower level had the restaurant.  The decorations there were similar with the addition of 18th century Spanish tiles on the walls.

As soon as we checked in, we were served the traditional Moroccan mint tea.  It was very refreshing even though a bit too sweet.  Later at dinner, Nitin had a locally produced red wine, while I had freshly squeezed orange juice which was very good.  For dinner, we had couscous. Dessert was orange slices with cinnamon and a custard with almonds and cinnamon.  Oranges here are especially good.

After dinner, we went for a short walk aroun d the Spanish quarter of the city. Not very exciting. We saw a lot of men on the streets but very few women. Almost all the women here have their heads covered, so I have been wearing a scarf too to draw less attention.

We had a hearty breakfast this morning.  We started off with orange juice, yoghurt flavored with pistachios, coffee cake, toast with butter, marmalade and cheese.  It was accompanied with a cafe au lait.  The highlight was the arabic version of Indian parathas (without any filling).

We continued our exploration of Tetouan through the narrow streets and medina.  Shops were just opening, and we didn't linger very long.  Tetouan is nestled at the base of the Rif Mountains, which afforded spectacular views of the climes, framed by a backdrop of dark, ominous clouds, portending more rain.

Returning to the riad, we fortified ourselves with mint tea before taking a petit taxi to the bus station…

Tetoaun: Safe and sound and finally dry in a riad…

Our adventure on the ferry continued.  As we chugged into the port of Tangiers, the slow, undulating roll of the boat prompted a wave of seasickness.  Once into port, nearly 3 hours late, there was a mad rush to line up (okay, line is generous; mass or horde might be better) at the boat's information desk in order to get a custom's stamp.  It was pure chaos.  It took us an hour to get a stamp! 

Finally, we made it to Tangiers.  Only accosted by a few touts due to the rain, we walked 5m to the bus terminal.  There were no buses so we caught a petit taxi (for use within cities) to the grand taxi station.  The grand taxis are shared taxis for travel between cities.  They hold the taxi until 6 passengers are there, all in an old Mercedes sedan.  No seatbelts, packed in like sardines (two in the front passenger seat; four in the back).  Fortunately, the roads were fairly decent.

It took about an hour to get to Tetouan where we caught a petit taxi to our hotel.  I'm amazed after all that we made it here.  The hotel is an attractive restored riad that used to be the residence of a prime minister in the 1950s.  By the time we got here we were so wet and bedraggled that we didn't go anywhere apart from a short walk around the environs after dinner.

Dinner was in the hotel and fairly good.  We both got a couscous dish…  Here are a couple of pictures.  I had dinner company; the hotel owner's cat sat next to me and kept me warm.  The hotel owner is a very friendly Spanish woman who has been very helpful.

Getting sleepy now, so that's all for now…

Algeciras: Onward to Africa... Hakuna Matata!

We're waiting for the ferry to Tangiers in Morocco.  We didn't quite make the fast catamaran ferry at 9am, so we're taking the 10am ferry which will take 2 hours instead of 1.  It doesn't matter too much since the weather is vile.  It's been steadily raining the past day or so, and it will likely continue for the next few.  Hopefully, we'll be able to outrun it as we head into the continent…

Some of the journey from Granada seeped into the food commentary so I won't delve too deeply here.  Things we saw on the train ride down -- sheep, olive groves, picturesque views of the Sierra Nevadas, windmills (the modern type sans <i>Don Quixote</i> unfortunately), and solar farms (maybe next to a nuclear plant, but I'm not completely sure).  You definitely get the sense that the energy generation distribution is a bit different from the U.S., at least from the train ride.

When we took the bus on the last stage, we twisted our way through a sinuous mountainous road that had us nearly kissing the lowest of the clouds.  We caught a glimpse of deer bounding on the hillside and saw rugged hill development properties clinging next to one of the hilliest golf courses I've seen.  Some houses looked more like extravagant villas…

We thought of continuing onto Tafifa, a smaller town than Algeciras and closer to Africa.  The views of the North Africa oast are supposed to be great; but with the weather it didn't seem worth it.

Sudha was very apprehensive about wandering about the port town (it really wasn't that bad), but we quickly found a decent hotel walking distance from the train terminal and right across from the ferry port.  We braved the rain to venture into the Centro.  Since it was Sunday, the already scarce subset was almost reduced to a null set.  Eventually we settled on an Old Faithful -- a pizzeria. 

One interesting thing to note is that police and janitorial staff are all garbed in fluoroscent green or orange outfits.  Seems quite smart for safety, yet you rarely see them in the States.  Maybe they're more fashion conscious in the U.S.

I'll wrap this up here.  We're waiting in line to check-in but no one seems to be manning the line and we're only 10 minutes from departure.  Okay, we were told that the ferry is "closed" due to weather.  Stay tuned…

Turns out even the fast ferry was cancelled.  We're now queued up to board, but the rain seems to have intnesified.  One Moroccan woman told us that last year she was on a ferry that was stuck 7 hours in middle of the Straits of Gibraltar, unable to go to either port, rather like the stuck Eurostar trains last week.  Let's keep our fingers crossed…

Final update here.  We made onto the ferry and now we're cruising the Straits of Gibraltar.  It's a smooth crossing but there's not much to see with the rain.  We left nearly 2 hours late.  We need to take a grand taxi or bus from Tangiers to Tetouan.  We'll get later than we planned but with the weather, I'm not sure it matters…

Oh, no pictures here.  They'd all be grey and we're!

Algeciras: Onward to Africa... Hakuna Matata!

We're waiting for the ferry to Tangiers in Morocco.  We didn't quite make the fast catamaran ferry at 9am, so we're taking the 10am ferry which will take 2 hours instead of 1.  It doesn't matter too much since the weather is vile.  It's been steadily raining the past day or so, and it will likely continue for the next few.  Hopefully, we'll be able to outrun it as we head into the continent…

Some of the journey from Granada seeped into the food commentary so I won't delve too deeply here.  Things we saw on the train ride down -- sheep, olive groves, picturesque views of the Sierra Nevadas, windmills (the modern type sans <i>Don Quixote</i> unfortunately), and solar farms (maybe next to a nuclear plant, but I'm not completely sure).  You definitely get the sense that the energy generation distribution is a bit different from the U.S., at least from the train ride.

When we took the bus on the last stage, we twisted our way through a sinuous mountainous road that had us nearly kissing the lowest of the clouds.  We caught a glimpse of deer bounding on the hillside and saw rugged hill development properties clinging next to one of the hilliest golf courses I've seen.  Some houses looked more like extravagant villas…

We thought of continuing onto Tafifa, a smaller town than Algeciras and closer to Africa.  The views of the North Africa oast are supposed to be great; but with the weather it didn't seem worth it.

Sudha was very apprehensive about wandering about the port town (it really wasn't that bad), but we quickly found a decent hotel walking distance from the train terminal and right across from the ferry port.  We braved the rain to venture into the Centro.  Since it was Sunday, the already scarce subset was almost reduced to a null set.  Eventually we settled on an Old Faithful -- a pizzeria. 

One interesting thing to note is that police and janitorial staff are all garbed in fluoroscent green or orange outfits.  Seems quite smart for safety, yet you rarely see them in the States.  Maybe they're more fashion conscious in the U.S.

I'll wrap this up here.  We're waiting in line to check-in but no one seems to be manning the line and we're only 10 minutes from departure.  Okay, we were told that the ferry is "closed" due to weather.  Stay tuned…

Turns out even the fast ferry was cancelled.  We're now queued up to board, but the rain seems to have intnesified.  One Moroccan woman told us that last year she was on a ferry that was stuck 7 hours in middle of the Straits of Gibraltar, unable to go to either port, rather like the stuck Eurostar trains last week.  Let's keep our fingers crossed…

Final update here.  We made onto the ferry and now we're cruising the Straits of Gibraltar.  It's a smooth crossing but there's not much to see with the rain.  We left nearly 2 hours late.  We need to take a grand taxi or bus from Tangiers to Tetouan.  We'll get there later than we planned but with the weather, I'm not sure it matters…

Query: Who's out there??

Just out of idle curiosity, who out there is reading this?  Are you enjoying it?  Any other entries you'd like?  Drop a comment here so we can get an idea of how big our following is. 

Right now, it feels like we're on stage, squinting into the lights, unable to see who's in the audience…

Commentary: Food in Spain

As we sit in the train to take us to the southern reaches of Spain, we pass countless olive groves, I'm inspired to spend some time on the food and drink of the country.

First and foremost for us, since Sudha is a vegeterian, was the preponderence of meat in practically every entrée.  This made for a little bit of adventure as we searched for suitable restaurants... and kept us away from some of the more quintessential Spanish establishments.

Of course, there were tapas places, especially abounding in Sevilla.  Dishes were very traditional; there was probably less variety than in tapas places in the U.S.  Cheese and Spanish ham -- jamón iberico -- were staples.  Jamón here is nothing like what you find in the States.  It's thinly sliced and, I guess, cured, and extremely flavorful.  The cheese is often manchego -- with both dry and non-dry varieties -- or some type of goat-cheese, although even that is not as bitter as the chevre we have back home.  Other tapas include octopus and achovies.  I found both of these to be smoother and tastier here.  Olives and pickled onions accompany most meals.  For veggies, there are only a handful of options and not all places have them.  Patatas bravas (broiled potatoes) and espinacas con garbonzes (spinach with chick peas) were two of the most likely.

In all Spanish restaurants, bread is an extra charge per person, but it's always brought to your table.  Water, like most European countries, is not offered, and if you ask for it, you'll get bottled water.  At first, we tried for tap water and did get it at a few places, but not without some difficulty and perplexity.  So that was the end of that quickly.  The bottled water you get is very local -- in Granada, it comes from the Sierra Nevadas that overlook the city.

One nice thing about Spain is that wine and beer are as cheap if not cheaper than coke or water.  The house red wine is ofted quite good, too, often a rioja or a local varietal.  Sangria is a tad different here -- it's a little sharper, almost fizzy, with far less fruit.   It's also fairly strong.  Another Andalucian specialty is the sherry but it's too sweet for my tastes.  I prefer the port better though that's an import from Portugal.

Coffee here is amazing, almost as good as that in Italy.  Daily, I have 1-2 cortados, the local version of a macchiato.  The big brother, cafe con leche (coffee with milk, essentially a latte), is equally good.  Sudha did also tried a hot chocolate, which is a far cry from the watered down equivalent back home.  Here it is literally liquid chocolate.  A tad sweet for my tastes, but I still liked it.

Returning to food, the other Spanish dish (actually Catalon) we had was paella in Barcelona.  It's rice often  cooked with veggies (for Sudha) or all types of seafood (for me).  For some reason it's always required for two people to get it, though in Barcelona we got lucky and were able to get it for one (having to pay for that privilege).  The paella was good though I think what you can get at B44, a Catalon restaurant in SF, is just as good. 

All of the Spanish cities we went to had some non-Spanish food.  Barcelona was the most cosmopolitan, but that's to be expected of a city of three million -- we even saw a few sushi restaurants (mmmm... but not on this trip!).  Chinese restaurants are ubiquitous the world over.  Indian not so much, apart from Barcelona.  Granada had a Moorish quarter with lots of Moroccan and other Arabic cuisines. 

We haven't partaked too much in dessert, mostly because we're too full by then.  I had a nice Granadan honeyed cake called a penononos.  It was very sweet.  I guess we'll have to try more sweets here after we get back from Africa...

The bodega on Las Ramblas was an vibrant farmer's market with lots of variety, but we only came away with oranges for fruit.  They're much better than that orange Sudha tried in Seville, but on par with Californian oranges.  I supposed we should have tried pommegranate in Granadas (since las granadas = pommegranagtes); I guess it'll be better in Morocco...

Our last night in Granada saw us dine at a fine restaurant on the Alhambra hill, just down the way from our hotel.  It was almost worthy of a Michelin star.  Though slightly pricy, one reason we chose it was that it was nearby.  At 8:30pm we were the first customer!  Spaniards eat notoriously late; the maitre d' said one couple was going to show up at 11:30!  It does get tiring to eat so late each night...

I've included a picture of the menu for this nice restaurant.  The maitre d' was very friendly and helpful.  He arranged for a vegeterian pasta with eggplant for Sudha.  I had a great Andalucian loin of venison with chestnuts over risotto.  Here's a picture of the sprig of garnish.  Anyone know what it is?

Lastly, one thing I haven't quite grokked is tipping.  We've been told 10% is typical, but you don't see other people doing that.  It doesn't seem as hard and fast the 15% in America.  And there's no room for tips on the charge receipt.  Tipping always is the hardest thing to figure out in a new country since everywhere it's different.

Oh, once again, I'm pleased by the portable credit card swipers that waiters bring to your table.  It's always nice to always be able to keep an eye on your card.  I wonder why they haven't caught on in the U.S...?

We're now on the bus to Algeciras -- the train doesn't run on the last 2 hours over the mountains on Sundays.  I guess there isn't enough clientele for it to run, so they just bus you for the last stretch.  Anyway, all this talk of food is making me hungry!

Commentary: Photos and Posts...

I should speak a little bit as to how I've been posting.  I alluded to seeming like a 1960s journalist in the field, and for the most part that's what I've been doing.  I'm writing posts offline on my Droid.  Then when I have WiFi access I send them in via email.  It appears that some spotty connections cut some of the pictures before they're fully uploaded.  Also, sometimes multiple instances of post seem to get sent.  I'll try to correct these whenever I have a chance and a better connection.  So please bear with me.

As for the photos, since they get sent in as attachments, I don't have control of how they appear on the blog.  In fact, sometimes I don't see how the blogs look until several days later.  This means I can't add captions to the pictures.  I try to describe them in the text, but if you have questions about any specific one, just post a comment and I'll get back to you when I can.

Oh, all photos in the blog are taken with my droid.  So they may not be high quality.  I'll add pics from my resurrected big camera when I get home.

Granada: Alhambra, Jewel of Andalucia

And I awake, well rested after a deep sleep filled with dreams, to a bount of sunlight streaming through the window... Hmm, that las part was still a dream, for it was raining once more. We were up early so as to make our 10am reservation at the Alhambra. Unfortunately, the nearest patisseie was at the bottom of the hill, so we had to content ourselves with a not-too-exciting breakfast of toast and coffee downstairs. Then, a traipse thru the rain to the Alhambra.

The warning to get there early must have been for those sunny days in peak season. The crowds were mostly sparse except for a couple of itinerant tour groups. Even though the entrance to the complex was only a 10 minute walk from our hotel, it did take another 15 minutes to get to the entrance of the Nazrid Palaces. The whole site was huge, and we probably walked 2-3 miles just there.

The Alhambra was by far the best place we've seen so far. It was also the most cost effective -- we spent 4+ hours there and it only cost 13 Euros! (Take that, Sagrada Familia!) Well worth the visit.

So what made it worth it? It's hard to type expansively on the Droid but I'll try. The Nazrid Palaces had wonderful frieze work adorning the walls and intricate wood designs in geometric patterns on the ceilings. Like the Real Alcázar in Seville there were courtyards with serene pools of water and fountains.

One surprise was coming across a room for Washington Irving. Apparently, he stayed a few months in Alhambra and was inspired to write <i>Tales from the Alhambra</i>. There was a museum exhibit here on him -- I had no idea that he was an ambassador to Spain. This museum was housed in Carlos V palace. He was the grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella and commissioned the palace as a future capital, but he forgot that idea and the palace was never completed. The big highlight was a circular open-air portico in the center. There was also a nice history museum there as well.

Next in the Alhambra was the Generalife, literally Garden of the Architect. These were equisitely maintained gardens replete with the requisite pools and fountains. You had great views of the Nazrid Palaces and the Darro Valley -- where some of the shots of the Alhambra from yesterday were taken. Today, a different view of the Alhambra overlooking some of the arches of the Generalife. Also included is a picture of the Generalife with a dead cypress tree. This tree was supposedly where the sultana, the wife of sultan Boabdil, had a secret liaison with a leader of the rival Abencerraje family. There's a room named after them in one of the Nazrid palaces where the sultan slaughtered them when he learned of the affair. Bloodstains still mark the floor...

Last on the hill was the Alcazaba, a citadel with defensive walls and towers. More great views -- one of our hotel is included. There was one sign commemorating the defeat of the Moors by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492 -- a busy year for the monarchs!

Leaving the Alhambra we descended through Puerta de Las Granadas, a gate festooned with pommegranates, which is what <i>granadas</i> means. So down the hill to the Darro Valley and then back up the other side to Albaicín. We had lunch at fondue place with views of the Alhambra. In the U.S. it's cheesy; here it's a Granadan specialty -- I guess cheesy too but in only one way!

After lunch we stopped at another tetería for tea (Generalife flavor!). We chatted with an Irishman from Cork who was very excited to meet an Indian (Sudha, not me!). He was an art professor on holiday who was also going to Morocco in the coming week. Here's a picture of us, ensconced in a corner of the small shop.

I haven't been as prolific at posting in Granada since there isn't free WiFi at the hotel. By tracking down hotspots I rather feel like a journalist of yore, calling in or telegraphing my stories!

So we're still not sure what we'll do tomorrow... So who knows, my next post may be from Africa!

Adios!