Rabat--The First Day

Saturday, October 02, 2010
Rabat, Morocco
Today was very busy. 7 am breakfast, 8 am meeting and then off to see the City of Rabat. Our first stop was the Royal Palace where King Mohammad VI lives with his wife and two children. The palace is actually a complex occupied by about 2000 people, including his ministers and advisers, staff, army and guards, and servants. The grounds are beauitully landscaped and it was a good introduction to Rabat. Next we visited Chellah. It includes wild gardens, ruins of a Roman town that existed from thefirst century BC, up to bunkers built by the French during WWII. It also is winter home to a number of storks,some of which are nesting on top of an old minaret. After Chellah, we returned to the Hassan Tower, an unfinished mosque that was constructed in the 12th Century. Next to the tower are manycolumns that were brought from the toRoman ruins in Volubilis to support the roof of the mosque that was never built. Adjacent to the tower is the 20th Century  tomb of Mohammad V who is considered to be the father of Moroccan independence. It is beautiful and considered the Taj Mahal of Morocco.
Finally, it wasd time for lunch and we at at a fish restaurant located right on the Atlantic beach . We walked through the Oudaia Kasbah to visit thr Andalusian Garden and a museum of Moroccan folk art and crafts located in the historic palace of Moulay Ismail.
It was time to return to the hotel for a short rest before returning to the Medina for a traditional Moroccan dinner, beginning with an amazing salad, followed bya pastry filled with chicken and spices, a lamb tagine and a wonderful multilayered pastry for dessert. The feast ended with seseme cookies and Mint tea. After dinner we walked back trough the medina along Little Souk Street which was lined with shops and kiosks selling everying from used shoes to cows feet. It was an amazing first day of an exciting trip.
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Comments

James Walker
2010-10-04

Sounds like your having a great time,and I really like your pictures.

Bruce
2010-10-06

Marylea - I need to know the precise date that you will be landing back at Dulles Airport because Carol may not be here on the date that you return and I may have to come and pick you up. I saw Carol yesterday but she's not sure whether she will be here on the date that you return so I've still got the car key.

2025-02-13

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