With teaching responsibilities done for the 2011 trimester, I took advantage of my two-week break to head down to the Land of the Far West, Morocco. Because my incoming and outgoing flights were both out of Tangiers, I chilled out in Morocco's shamal (north) for the entire trip. As I've shared before in previous blogs (Shamal Series), Northern Morocco certainly does not fit into the stereotypical desert oasis image of Morocco with its rolling hills of sprouting winter wheat and grass, lush coastal plains, snow-crowned mountain peaks, and temperatures that chill you to the bone. The shamal offers plenty of beautiful scenery along with the always delicious Moroccan cuisine and famous hospitality.
On this latest trip, I got to spend more time in Chefchaouen hiking the mountain horns on which the city rests, got to sightsee around Meknes visiting the mausoleums, ancient prisons, granaries, plazas, and their majestic and enormous gates to its medieval city. I also got to reminisce with friends in my old hometown of Sefrou sipping some nus-nus (half expresso & half milk) coffee or the famous sweet & bitter green tea at the mostly all-male cafes, and towards the end got to walk around the Tanger medina. All in all, it was a great trip aside from the usual gastric disturbances. Below are a few pics from the trip. Enjoy and safe travels!
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| Al-Maghrib mrra tenia |
