Coming from the Pacific Northwest, where it rains (or, at least drizzles) much of the year, it’s been a bit of a shock to live in such an arid part of the world. Generally speaking, Morocco is a dry country. Though there are regions, especially in the north and among the foothills of the Atlas Mountains,…
Within Rabat, the capital of Morocco, are the remains of an ancient city called Chellah. Originally Phoenician and Carthaginian, then Roman, then Muslim, the ruins are fairly well-preserved. Eventually, the site became a cemetery, or necropolis, as the Muslims favored nearby Salé. The site also contains a lovely botanical garden and has become a favored…
Reason 591 Why I Love Morocco: If you look helpless enough, eventually someone will take you by the hand and lead you through the morass of paperwork necessary for renewing your carte de sejour.
Sometimes, it’s nice to just get in a car and take a mountain drive. There’s nothing like the freedom to explore an area at one’s own pace, stopping at scenic viewpoints, lunching at an out of the way café, eating pomegranates while watching the sunset, or hanging out with shepherds watering their sheep. Unfortunately, Peace Corps…
I can’t be sure, but I doubt any country celebrates it’s monarchy as enthusiastically as the Dutch. I hadn’t planned on it, but my brief stopover in Amsterdam, Netherlands coincided with the national holiday of Koningsdag, or King’s Day, preceded by Koninginnenacht, Queen’s Night. Coming directly from another monarchical system, I reflected on the difference between the…
During our time in Seattle, and as we become more accustomed to living without a car, Erika and I have begun to walk more. Several of our journeys have been serious treks around Seattle that take most of the day and extend for many miles.The slower pace has been a nice reminder to slow down…
On our way home from the French countryside, we stopped by Portbou for a celebration honoring the memory of Jewish philosopher, Walter Benjamin, who, while attempting to elude the pursuing Nazis during World War II, committed suicide to avoid capture. While there, we caught a glimpse of award-winning German director, Wim Wenders. That’s him near the…
Tangier, Tanger, Tanja (طنجة), whatever you call it, is a city full of intrigue and secret histories, or at least that’s what I’ve been told. Yet, despite our investigation and openness to experience, it was much like every other large city. To be fair, the mystique was surely exaggerated in the first place. As a…
It looks like the weather will be lovely for the beginning of our trip! Here’s to a warm Mediterranean vacation. This bodes well for adventure and swimming in the Adriatic Sea.
On our way back from Spain, we stopped off to see some of northern Morocco. In part, this was to enable me to finally finish my self-appointed task of seeing every UNESCO heritage site in Morocco. We stopped in Tangier for a few days (that’ll be a post later), then headed to Chefchaouen, a small…
