Spanish Fly: The Journey Home from Morocco, by way of Spain
SAN SEBASTIAN - BILBAO - BARCELONA
This past summer I made my virgin voyage to Africa, with a tour of Morocco that took me through the Atlas Mountains, the Saharan desert, and coast to coast. It was an extensive road trip that covered at least a dozen cities and towns, 9 of which I blogged about. But sometimes, you can have too much of a good thing. As they say in France (and Morocco) - c’est l'embarras des richesses. After 10 days of being on the road, spending each night in a different town or city; and eating enough tagine, cous cous, and lamb to last a lifetime; I couldn’t quite head straight back to the grey skies and gravy of England, could I? I needed a transition destination - a holiday to recover from a holiday, if you will - in a country that was different enough to be interesting yet familiar enough to ease me back into reality. So I spent 5 much-needed days in Spain: decompressing and recalibrating in San Sebastian, Bilbao, and Barcelona. As one does...
November 30, 2018
The Santorini of North Africa? The seaside town of Essaouira is the antithesis to everything I had yet experienced in Morocco.
THE MOROCCO DIARIES, PART 10 of 10 - ESSAOUIRA
My tour of Morocco was approaching its zenith. After a week on the road that took me in a circle from the coast across the High Atlas Mountains, the final city to be discovered (before ending where I started, in Casablanca); I was ready for a laidback day and night in the coastal city of Essaouira. Although only a couple of hours’ drive from Marrakech, the atmopshere of Essaouira is a world apart: the seaside town is uncrowded and calm - here, the only crowds are of seagulls. Then there are the city’s colours. Everything is blue here; from the vibrant cobalt doors and window shutters to the turquoise taxis that linger around the gateway to the Medina. The Medina itself, an 18th century Unesco Word Heritage site, is a fine example of European military architecture in North Africa. With its strong European influences, a constant refreshing salty breeze, and next to no crowds; Essaouira was a serene scene that was unexpected but very welcome.
MUCH MOROCCO