We slept on the plane most of the way from Paris to Rabat, which was good since we hadn’t gotten much sleep in the last 24 hours or so. Getting through Moroccan customs was very quick and easy, and a driver from Tauck met us at the airport and drove us to our hotel, which is La Tour Hassan. There were nine other people on our tour getting picked up. While we were checking in at the hotel the electricity in the whole hotel went off, and stayed off for around an hour. If this had happened five minutes later we might have gotten stuck in the elevator. We walked the four flights to our room and unpacked. Welcome to Africa.
By then it was around 3:30 and we were hungry but didn’t want a big meal so we walked over to a nearby Palestinian restaurant, Sufra, for some soup and falafel.
It was very good although the pumpkin soup, which I ordered, was much better than the lentil soup, which Barbara ordered. Being the good husband that I am we switched soups halfway through.
We then walked over to Muhammad V Boulevard, which is one of the main streets in Rabat. There was some mildly interesting architecture there but we heard that it is illegal to take pictures of government buildings and we didn’t want to wind up wasting away in a Moroccan prison, so we didn’t take any pictures.
After walking a while the street abruptly transitioned from an elegant boulevard to a sprawling, bustling old city marketplace – the Medina.
We walked through the Medina for a long time, getting lost a few times. Fortunately Google Maps works well in Morocco so we were able to find our way out. Otherwise we might still be there.
On the way back to our hotel we stopped at a cafe for some mint tea, which is a Moroccan specialty.
The tea was good, made just with mint leaves, and it was an interesting experience.
Someone shining shoes was walking around the cafe and the man next to us had his shoes shined while he was drinking his tea. I think he was just trying to help the guy out.
We got back to the hotel around 7:00 and were both very tired from the time change, lack of sleep, and long walk. I think I fell asleep around 8:30. Barbara lasted a little longer.
The weather today perfect sightseeing weather – it was in the sixties and mostly sunny. Today was a very good start to the trip.
Jim and Barbara's Travel Journal 