Needless to say the first week without "the group" was hard, but Zoe and I were comforted with the fact that the weekend was soon to come and we would have at least a weekend full of adventures with our Australians Maggie and Michael.
Zoe and I could hardly contain our excitement as we took a VERY long train ride from Rabat to Marrakesh and then a bus to Essaouira, a beautiful coastal town. Halfway through the the bus ride, Maggie called with UNIMAGINABLE information for me......she told me to listen closely.....at first all I heard was wind in the phone.....then I heard a BOOM!....Could it be? It was! Maggie yelled into the phone..."IT'S A FANTASIA!" Talk about making the bus ride take SOOO much longer knowing that I was missing the one Moroccan thing I was dying to see!
Between the elation of seeing my friends (if only after a week) and seeing my first fantasia....I could tell this weekend was going to be an EPIC adventure. As soon as we stepped off the bus, we heard the booms of what I imagined a canon would sound like, but instead, as we made our way to the beach, it was the sound of old powder rifles in the hands of skilled tbourida riders.
Zoe and I could hardly contain our excitement as we took a VERY long train ride from Rabat to Marrakesh and then a bus to Essaouira, a beautiful coastal town. Halfway through the the bus ride, Maggie called with UNIMAGINABLE information for me......she told me to listen closely.....at first all I heard was wind in the phone.....then I heard a BOOM!....Could it be? It was! Maggie yelled into the phone..."IT'S A FANTASIA!" Talk about making the bus ride take SOOO much longer knowing that I was missing the one Moroccan thing I was dying to see!
Between the elation of seeing my friends (if only after a week) and seeing my first fantasia....I could tell this weekend was going to be an EPIC adventure. As soon as we stepped off the bus, we heard the booms of what I imagined a canon would sound like, but instead, as we made our way to the beach, it was the sound of old powder rifles in the hands of skilled tbourida riders.
I left Zoe to find Michael and Maggie in the crowd so I could get as close as possible. The poor Moroccans must have thought I was absolutely "meznoon" (crazy in Arabic) with my crazed grin and wild eyes and I tramped through the crowd to block the few of others while I took pictures. I saw about 20 minutes before the performance concluded and I turned around and there was Maggie and Michael approaching: Maggie dressed as her Moroccan alternate personality Lela and "Mountain Man" Michael looking scruffy and happy from a week of climbing in the mountains.
We all then made our way to our hotel at the edge of town, where we shared an awesome 4 bedroom room and a silly tiny bathroom. But we made ready to hit the town as the Gnaou Music Festival was in its opening night, we were starving and Essaouira is known for its AMAZINGLY, just-fresh-from-the-sea, caught-maybe-three-hours-ago, maybe-still-alive seafood!
Right next to the massive stage in the old city of Essaouira, were the fish markets. Talk about intense sellers hawking their products, butI suppose there is some urgency to selling seafood.
We picked out about 10 pounds worth of seafood to try, including crab, sea urchins, sole, shrimp and calamari. We did have the choice of shark, but guessed it might be a bit pricey along with the still live lobster crawling around on top of the rest of the seafood. Almost all of it was chilled on a charcoal fire and kept being served to us in stages with bread and salad. We totally gorged ourselves!
We picked out about 10 pounds worth of seafood to try, including crab, sea urchins, sole, shrimp and calamari. We did have the choice of shark, but guessed it might be a bit pricey along with the still live lobster crawling around on top of the rest of the seafood. Almost all of it was chilled on a charcoal fire and kept being served to us in stages with bread and salad. We totally gorged ourselves!
After having to loosen my belt a hole or two, we made our way through the crowds (where a mischievous 12 year old slapped my butt) back to the stage close to the beach where we saw a Moroccan Reggae band and Maggie got her dancing shoes on. Surprisingly, it was terribly cold with the wind off the sea that I was wishing for my wind jacket. We didn't return to the hotel until close to 2am.
While we didn't expect to get up at such an early hour, we decided it might be best to get out and site-see and enjoy what Essaouira had to offer.
While we didn't expect to get up at such an early hour, we decided it might be best to get out and site-see and enjoy what Essaouira had to offer.
We enjoyed breakfast at a snooty little café mostly filled with tourists (probably because it is highly recommended in the guidebooks), but it was cheap and delicious nonetheless.
After breakfast, we proceeded to conquer all the sites in Essaouira, from the ramparts of a massive fort where Orson Welles filmed bits of Othello in 1949. The harbor, with the ships and fishing boats, fisherman and fish market were unlike anything I've seen in Morocco to date. It is so different from the typical rural dusty Morocco. The boats painted blue and the amount of seagulls hovering around created the essence of a magical town.
At 1pm, after a long morning of site-seeing and wandering in the souk, we stopped for a lunch of epic-ness of sardines, couscous and an amazing sweet tagine.
While Zoe and Maggie returned to siesta in the hotel, I dragged poor Michael to another fantasia that was to my delight happening on the beach again. This time with many more riders and groups. Surprisingly there were no female groups! But I did enjoy every single moment I was there!
This night we splurged on a fancy restaurant called Chez Sam located in the dark (slightly sketchy) recesses of the port and created from an old fishing boat. At the door, it seems like the there is barely anyone in there, but inside the table clothes and bar definitely make the place sparkle with charm and class. Here we proceeded on our second gorging, this time tasting the flavor of the sea whether it was grilled, sautéed or fried, along with two bottles of crispy Meknés-y wine.
The next morning was spent enjoying our breakfast once again at the same restaurant before the real endurance trial began. Because all the mainstream bus companies were booked for getting to the city of El-Jedida, we took a chance on taking a no-name bus to Safi where we would then take a grand taxi the rest of the way. I don't want to gross people out about the bus, nor do I wish to recall the experience in great detail, but I do think the pictures below will illustrate our experience pretty well.
Before the bus ride: Fresh faced, ready for the next leg of the adventure....
After the nastiest, longest 2 hour endurance test of a lifetime...."That bus was shit!"
We finally made it to El-Jedida slightly worse for wear, especially that our grand taxi drivers personality seemed to match the nastiness of the bus we had just gotten off, but El-Jedida redeemed itself in the morning.
The morning at the beach café was gorgeous and inspiring. Afterwards we wandered through yet another amazing place with seafood. The old city was once occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century, so we visited the old cistern which was also another location used by Welles for Othello.
I think this place was by far, my favorite site in Morocco besides the fantasia. The acoustics and the lighting were phenomenal. I think we probably would have spent the better part of the day if the lady hadn't told us that we only had 20 minutes before it closed for lunch.
We walked along the bastion walls to see various parts of the port and sea. It was gorgeous but we worked up our appetite between the walk and Maggie's awesome bartering skills that we opted for a few plates of well seasoned beans before our trip to the beach!
Now I've swum in the Atlantic before, but never endured this type of freezing cold water. The water numbed you quickly, but then returned your body the harsh reality of EXTREMELY cold water. We took two dips and that was it, but it was nice to spend a few hours in a bikini after a FREEZING Berlin winter and being decent in Morocco.
Well that weekend felt so much longer than three days looking back on it, and all the things we saw and traveled to. It was also our last weekend with Maggie. She returns to France for a few months, before going to Qatar on full scholarship to learn Arabic for a year! She's going to be doing amazing things with her Arabic! Miss you Maggie!