Hey folks!
So these past two weeks have been insanely busy between academics and travel, so I had to push the blogging to the side for a bit. Midterms are over, and it seems like this will be a pretty chill week in Sevilla. Perfect for catching up on things! Let me back track to two weekends ago when my friends and I left the European continent and crossed the straight into North Africa for a weekend in Morocco:
My two friends and I went to Morocco through Discover Sevilla, a travel agency based out of Sevilla. Overall I would say they did a pretty good job at organizing the trip. Our hotel was nice (no wifi, but one can manage to live without internet for 3 days), the food we ate was delicious, and I always felt safe with our guides wherever we were. Their price is also fairly reasonable so if you are studying abroad in Sevilla, you should definitely check them out!
We headed off to Morocco on Friday afternoon. It was about a 3 hour bus ride to Tarifa, a small port town in the province of Cádiz. I wish it didn't get dark so early because the countryside that we were passing by looked absolutely gorgeous, but I was unable to get any great pictures. When we arrived in Tarifa we went through passport control and then boarded the ferry that would take us across the Straight of Gibraltar to the port in Tangier.
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| Ferry to Morocco |
It took about an hour to cross the straight. The straight of Gibraltar is where the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean meet, so the water is pretty choppy. If you ever cross the straight, I highly recommend bringing dramamine or other sea sickness medicine. Lots of people were feeling pretty bad on the boat, myself included. We all made it across in one piece however, and we made our way to the hotel where we had dinner and then headed off to bed for some much needed rest before a day of sightseeing.
Saturday:
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| View of the Atlantic, near where we road camels |
Saturday morning we rose early for probably the most cliché activity that one can do in Morocco: camel riding on the beach. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved every minute of the camel ride, it just felt very, very touristy. The views of the Atlantic were absolutely breathtaking, and camel's grins were so silly, they just made my day.
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| Rachel, me and an adorable baby camel |
After camel riding we headed off to the Cave of Hercules, a beautiful series of caves that open to the Atlantic and flood at high tide. Legend has it that this is the spot where Hercules came to rest after completing his 12 labors.
In the afternoon, we went to the town of Asilah, a small beach town outside of Tangier. Asilah has been around since the Phoenician times, when it was a big trading town. Nowadays, Asilah mainly attracts tourists who tour the Medina, or old historical part of the city. While it is a big tourist location, Asilah was quite beautiful. In particular I found the street art to be very striking. The majority of the city walls and buildings in Asilah are painted white, so the colors of the graffiti pop out right away.
After getting a guided tour of the town we had free time to wander around and try shopping, Moroccan style. In Morocco, items in stores don't have a fixed price, so you have to barter with the store owner. Most shop owners spoke Spanish, so I didn't have a problem communicating with them, although that didn't mean I was any good at haggling.
Views of Asilah
We spent Saturday evening in chilling in our hotel, studying like bosses for midterms. Look how enthused we all were!
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| Brett, Rachel, and me. Clearly working hard. |
Sunday morning we woke up equally early for our second and final day of sightseeing. In the morning we had a bus tour of the town of Tetouan, another port town on the coast. We got out quickly to take a look at the Royal Palace located in Tetouan. I can't really tell you anything about Moroccan royalty, or pretty much anything about the city of Tetouan. We spent maybe 30 minutes there, and I couldn't really make out anything that our tour guide said with his limited English.
We completely made up for our not so stellar morning with our afternoon in the town of Chefchouen, a small town located in the Rif mountains of Morocco. Chefchaouen was a relocation point for many Jews and Moors after they were expelled from Spain during La Reconquista. The mix of Arab, Jewish, and Spanish culture is still very much present in Chefchouen, and it was a delight to get to walk around and barter with the locals (although I didn't improve with bartering at all day 2)
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| Royal Palace, Tetouan |
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| Chefchouen |
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| Rif Mountains |
Chefchouen is known for it's periwinkle buildings and doors painted in vibrant shades of blue. With the mountains as the backdrop, it feels as though you are walking through clouds. It was absolutely stunning.
We enjoyed an extremely fantastic lunch while in Chefchouen. Every meal we had while in Morocco started off with a salad of rice, lettuce, cucumber, pepper, tomato, carrot, onion, potato, corn and tuna all doused in olive oil, that you would then mix yourself. It was absolutely delicious. We also had lots of chicken cooked in various sauces. The chicken we had in Chefchouen was baked in a fantastic lemon sauce.
We spent the afternoon meandering the streets of the shopping district. I "haggled" and bought a cool tapestry to hang on my wall at home. The day went by way too fast, and soon it was time to get back on the bus and drive the 3 hours back to Tangier for the ferry. Morocco, while so close to Spain, is so beautifully different, and I'm so glad I got the chance to chance to experience it, even if only for two days.
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