One night in Paris...(and a history of Morocco)
Ok - the last few days were a bit surreal - not in a bad way, but just odd.
We finally got to Fes via Madrid - and that day (the day after Thanksgiving) was a bit of a waste. The thing was, we got to have a relatively proper Thanksgiving dinner on the day - Turkey and corn and potato with a bit of spice...that was the one nice thing about having the apartment!
Anyhow, we went to Madrid...decided to fly since it was actually cheaper than the train and we had to get to the airport anyway. So we left about 4 hours in transit since we were changing airlines and had to go out of security for passport check with Ryanair.
The connection was pretty uneventful and we arrived in Fes around 6pm. We decided to take the bus from the airport to town and then get a small taxi once we got to town. That worked pretty well, until we reached the parking area where we were told to go. Luckily we found a willing local to take us through the Medina to our Riad.
We got to the Riad and found out that the next day was Eid al-Abha - like the Muslim Christmas... WHOOPS! That meant that the whole country would be basically shut for 3 days - - ironically the amount of time we had left in Morocco! OOPS!
Anyhow, we had a lovely dinner at the Riad. We also got to know many of the guests as well as the owners of the place pretty well. The next morning was the actual feast day. Every family was chopping the heads of sheep and goat as a re-inactment of the story of Abraham and his sacrifice of this vs. his son.
It was actually a very interesting experience...goat heads being barbequed all over the Medina in Fes and even a house fire as we ate dinner on the Terrace of the Riad.
The Riad was lovingly restored by a Norwegian and an Iraqi couple. They were really interesting to talk to and it really felt like we were guests in their home and not staying at a hotel. It was really lovely.
Yesterday, we hopped on the train and headed to Rabat and a very scary rain storm (got soaked!) We had a bit of lunch to wait out the rain and then headed to the hotel. It rained again. We went out between storms and had a walk through the also quite closed Medina. We ended up at the Atlantic Ocean with a strong wing letting us know that it was going to be a stormy night.
It POURED all night (luckily, our hotel as well as its restaurant were an LP top pick! We had a nice light dinner (goat cheese salad...gotta keep up with the feast's theme!) and then a decent bed time. Today, we walked around the Kasbah and the Medina in Fes and also saw the mauseleum of the Moroccan kings and the famous tower that was never completed. After lunch it was off on the train for Casablanca's airport (glad we stayed in Rabat instead of Casa - much less hectic!) and our 3 hour flight to Paris CDG. Tonight at the airport Hilton (and my 25,000 bonus miles!) and then off home in the AM. We get in at noon and I have a ton to do (will try and upload some photos to FB, but no promises).
Can't wait to see the kitties, too! :)
We finally got to Fes via Madrid - and that day (the day after Thanksgiving) was a bit of a waste. The thing was, we got to have a relatively proper Thanksgiving dinner on the day - Turkey and corn and potato with a bit of spice...that was the one nice thing about having the apartment!
Anyhow, we went to Madrid...decided to fly since it was actually cheaper than the train and we had to get to the airport anyway. So we left about 4 hours in transit since we were changing airlines and had to go out of security for passport check with Ryanair.
The connection was pretty uneventful and we arrived in Fes around 6pm. We decided to take the bus from the airport to town and then get a small taxi once we got to town. That worked pretty well, until we reached the parking area where we were told to go. Luckily we found a willing local to take us through the Medina to our Riad.
We got to the Riad and found out that the next day was Eid al-Abha - like the Muslim Christmas... WHOOPS! That meant that the whole country would be basically shut for 3 days - - ironically the amount of time we had left in Morocco! OOPS!
Anyhow, we had a lovely dinner at the Riad. We also got to know many of the guests as well as the owners of the place pretty well. The next morning was the actual feast day. Every family was chopping the heads of sheep and goat as a re-inactment of the story of Abraham and his sacrifice of this vs. his son.
It was actually a very interesting experience...goat heads being barbequed all over the Medina in Fes and even a house fire as we ate dinner on the Terrace of the Riad.
The Riad was lovingly restored by a Norwegian and an Iraqi couple. They were really interesting to talk to and it really felt like we were guests in their home and not staying at a hotel. It was really lovely.
Yesterday, we hopped on the train and headed to Rabat and a very scary rain storm (got soaked!) We had a bit of lunch to wait out the rain and then headed to the hotel. It rained again. We went out between storms and had a walk through the also quite closed Medina. We ended up at the Atlantic Ocean with a strong wing letting us know that it was going to be a stormy night.
It POURED all night (luckily, our hotel as well as its restaurant were an LP top pick! We had a nice light dinner (goat cheese salad...gotta keep up with the feast's theme!) and then a decent bed time. Today, we walked around the Kasbah and the Medina in Fes and also saw the mauseleum of the Moroccan kings and the famous tower that was never completed. After lunch it was off on the train for Casablanca's airport (glad we stayed in Rabat instead of Casa - much less hectic!) and our 3 hour flight to Paris CDG. Tonight at the airport Hilton (and my 25,000 bonus miles!) and then off home in the AM. We get in at noon and I have a ton to do (will try and upload some photos to FB, but no promises).
Can't wait to see the kitties, too! :)