Exploring Morocco

If there's one thing I love about my fellow Morocco Team 5ers , it's that we were always up for another adventure or seeing more of the beautiful and diverse country we were calling home for the next month. To that end, here are some of my favorite pictures from the cities we've visited:

Casablanca
I'll start with the city we're calling home, Casa. Ironically, it's the city we've spent the least amount of time exploring since the first weekend we arrived! I detailed most of it in a previous post, but I didn't have a chance to share other pictures from Casa.

Our guide in Casa

A beautiful church next to our hotel

Palm trees line many of the streets downtown

This area has a lot of nice cafes and upscale stores

Hassan II Mosque, which has the tallest minaret in the world

The entrance to the medina of Casa

We also visited the medina in Casablanca, where we saw the souk (the market/shops) and many other things. A medina is an old arabic word for "city". The medinas in northern Africa are typically walled with narrow, winding roads that contain ryads (or houses), mosques, markets, and other things. Find out more here. I've since wandered through far more complicated, congested, historic, and even hectic medinas than the one in Casa, but I feel a sense of comfort or coziness here that I haven't felt in the others.

Chicks!

Inside the medina

Fes

The entrance to the Fes medina

The entire Fes medina...and we didn't get lost!

Fes was another amazing city whose medina was built in 859AD. We could have easily gotten lost among the winding roads and alleys within the souk. Amid all of the sights, smells, sounds, and bustling crowds, there was the most beautiful architecture and rich diversity.

We also had the opportunity to see many people at work producing the goods sold in the medinas, including the leather workers, ceramic workers (creating tajines, pottery and mosaics), and other artisans.

 

The leather tanneries

 Volubilis

After Fes, we drove by Volubulis to see the ancient Roman ruins nearby.

Chefchaouene
This was probably the most picturesque and beautiful town we visited. The city was founded in the 15th century and had a rich religious and political history.

Tangier
Tangier reminded me a lot of Beverly Hills, CA. It was a hilly city situated on the coast of Morocco, just 13 miles from the Spanish coast.

Gibraltar, in the mist

We can see Spain from the Moroccan coast!

Beautiful street art in Tangier

A parking lot for all forms of transportation

Since this was our program director's home, she invited us into her mother's home for an afternoon tea. The spread she prepared for us was amazing, and it was a unique perspective into a Moroccan home.

Imane's entertainment/family room.

The beautiful (and delicious) spread from Imane and her family!

Moroccan tea

This was a very quick snapshot into our travels, but I could write pages and pages about each of these cities. Each city was so unique, I truly enjoyed getting a taste of the diverse cultures and histories that make up Morocco.

#ibmcsc #morocco5