Making the Rounds in Rabat

It’s the second full day of our two-week Morocco Encompassed tour and today we’ll explore Rabat, the capital.

Here’s a quick look at our hotel room, which I’m sharing with my tour roommate, Tally from Australia.

Our view, looking towards the old walled city:

After settling in, our tour guide extraordinaire Mohamed leads us towards the old city for a meal overlooking this gate:

Here’s our happy group, eager to eat more Moroccan food:

Waiters show off their skills by pouring Morocco’s famous mint tea from sky-high positions — and never missing their target. We’ll see this throughout the country but tonight is our first time and we’re enthralled.

I love these girls — that’s Tally, Natalie, and Ellen being cheeky in the foreground with Karen and Natalie looking on.

A glimpse of our meals — meat skewers below and then meatball tagine below that.

One last look at these show-off waiters:

Leann — we call her Jersey because of where she’s from the U.K. — shows off her glass of sweet mint tea.

I’m captivated by the design details in Morocco, like the intricate metalwork on this teapot.

After dinner, Mohamed leads us into the old walled city for a look at the local night markets.

We pass a food section and then wander past shops selling textile goods and more.

This gentleman sells snails — a whole trough of snails.

The next morning we begin our tour of Rabat in earnest, starting with the Royal Palace. We don’t go inside but the exterior is quite picturesque.

Natalie and Ellen chase birds on our way back to the van.

Next up is Chellah, a former city destroyed by an earthquake which now houses ancient Roman and medieval ruins.

This guy plays music out front for arriving tourists; you can photograph him in exchange for a tip. My photo buddy Karen leads the way with her camera and I follow suit. We’re taken by the depth and character of his eyes.

Inside the gates, our local guide points out this tree which, if you stand in a certain spot, looks like a dragon or similar monster.

Morocco is famous for its doors — they are any combination of boldly colored, intricately carved, elaborately studded, geometrically shaped, and beautifully weathered. This is an example, with many more to come. Our group never tires of photographing such doors.

These storks have set up shop all over the place. It’s their territory; we’re just visiting.

Aww, look at the widdle kitties! I’m not even a cat person (allergies) but they’re pretty cute.

Colorful flowers amid the historic ruins:

Next we head to the Mausoleum of Mohammed V and Hassan Tower.

This guy poses out front, still as a statue. As a general rule we’re told not to photograph anyone in uniform, but this is an exception — he’s Morocco’s equivalent of the guards at Buckingham Palace and tourists eagerly line up with cameras.

We head towards the mausoleum.

That is Hassan Tower in the distance — construction began in 1195 and it was intended to be the largest minaret and mosque in the world, but it was halted in 1199 when the sultan who ordered it passed away. The minaret currently stands at about half its intended height and the mosque was never completed beyond the field of columns featured below.

Our guide Mohamed poses with Leann / Jersey.

Here is the inside of the Mausoleum of Mohammed V.

Our final stop in Rabat is Kasbah of the Udayas, an old fortress built at the mouth of the Bou Regreg river.

The van drops us off by this mass gravesite with a view to die for…

More grave sites overlooking the sea:

We continue walking into the Kasbah of Udayas; it has pretty blue doors and alleyways, a preview of what we’ll find on tomorrow’s trip to Chefchaouen.

In unison now: awww…

A menagerie of pretty doorways, alleys, and homes:

Our walk ends at this charming patio overlooking the Bou Regreg river.

Locals sell baked goods, a variety of butter-based cookies with almond or orange or sesame flavoring, some topped with powdered sugar. We all indulge.