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When the travel bug bites at a young age, it is days like yesterday that you are after.  It was our first full day in Morocco and it was such an interesting day for both of us.  I think part of it is that it’s also the first day of a journey that we’ve dreamt about starting for a couple of decades together, but I think most of it is being in a new culture and intentionally taking the time to just wander.

Essaouira was built up in the mid-1700s and the majority of today was spent slowly exploring the port area and the Medina.  A medina is an ancient part of a city, often built inside old city walls and that is the case here.  The port is very active and the fishing boats here make for great visuals.  There are many stalls around the port area that are set up for immediate purchase of the catch of the day.  Lots of variety as well – different types of fish and shellfish.

The port sits just outside the Medina, which was our next area to roam.  From what we’ve read, it seems that the Medina in Essaouira is easier to navigate and the shop owners are less pushy about buying their goods.  We don’t have anything to compare at this point, but it really is a nice experience wandering through the area.  It is small enough that you can find your way out after getting lost in the narrow alleyways and the owners are definitely not in your face.  The colors of the carpets, clothes, and shops; the smells of the spice shops, leather shops, and cafes; the sounds of Arabic chatter and music – all blend together into a really interesting and enjoyable afternoon walk.

As we explored the Medina, we took a pause at a café just off the square called Place Moulay Hassan.  At an outside table at Grand Café, we each had a chicken shawarma and enjoyed an unhurried mint tea.  Mint tea is ubiquitous here in Morocco and this was our first one.  I can get into the routine of sitting with a mint tea in an unhurried manner and watch the world go about its day.  While we sat at the café, we mapped out the things we wanted to do and see with our time in Essaouira.

We wandered through the Medina a little more after our break and then walked in the direction of the Joutya Souk.  We read that it is a clothing market that we wanted to check out.  It was one of the strangest walks we’ve taken in a long time.  The path was down a street that once we were a few hundred meters outside the Medina, it reminded me of the deserted land in which Charlton Heston found himself in Planet of the Apes.  We’d see the occasional person.  Sand was blown across the street.  The buildings seemed to have been abandoned and in disrepair for years.  As we went, the abandoned buildings appeared to contain all kinds of scrap metal and old cars that people came by to take parts or scrap metal.  It was just a very strange and eerie feeling. 

One of the modes of transportation here along the main avenue is horse-drawn carts.  Part of our walk took us through either a storage place for all of the carts or a trash pile of old carts and a huge pile of horse manure.  Finally, when we arrived at the location of the market, there was absolutely nothing there.  All very strange and for both of us, added to the interesting day.  Sandy said the deserted street we walked haunted her for the rest of the day and into the night just wondering what the place is.  We’ll see if we are ever able to figure it out.

We then walked back to our neighborhood – about a 25-minute walk as we took the beachfront.  We made it just in time to catch sunset.  Dinner was at Le Panoramique on the south end of the beach.  We had mixed fruit juices, shared a marinated sardine salad, and we each had a tajine.  One was with minced beef and the other was vegetables.  We split them between the two of us.  Tajines are one of Morocco’s famous dishes.  They are typically made with vegetables, chicken, fish, or beef, I think.  They are cooked in an earthenware pot that has two parts – a flat shallow bowl on the bottom and a cone-like top.  The shape allows for the condensation from the cooking to drip back down to the bottom and keeps the ingredients moist.  I’m sure the dish is available at various restaurants in the States – I just don’t remember having tajine before.  They were both really good and the perfect finish to a day of relaxed exploration in Essaouira.

As interesting as yesterday was, today felt more like work.  We’ve mentioned before what an exercise it can be to grocery shop in different countries, especially when the language is not English.  Today, we decided we wanted to try a different grocery store from the Carrefour we went to on Thursday when we arrived.  In hindsight, we should have just stayed with the one we were familiar with.  Do we think it was a lesson learned?  Not really – it’s interesting to learn about the different markets so we’ll likely do it again in another town down the road.  It’s just tiring.

Off we went to Aswak Assalam Market.  It’s a larger store with more household goods on the second floor.  There were plenty of options at the store but we couldn’t find some of the specific things we were looking for.  An example is hair ties for Sandy.  Her hair is getting longer and she’d had her eye out for ties but hasn’t found any yet.  We thought this store may have them since it was larger.  No luck.  Also, the produce wasn’t as healthy as what we wanted for the time we will be here so it didn’t take long to realize that we were going to need to go to Carrefour anyway – which is on the complete opposite end of town.  We finished our shopping, walked back to the apartment, grabbed a pizza at one of the cafes right by the apartment (Rosa Blanca) and headed off to Carrefour.  After our second grocery shopping experience of the day, we were both beat from the intensity of the sun and as much as we like to walk the areas, we opted to taxi back to the apartment.  I don’t remember if I mentioned how inexpensive the taxis are (well, just about everything really).  Our cost to taxi back – 7 dirham (70 cents), although we didn’t have small change so we gave 20 dirham ($2) to our very nice driver.

Dinner tonight was spaghetti – how many times have we had spaghetti so far?  Not sure, but it’s my favorite meal and I’m glad Sandy is ok with it as often as she is.  We went up to the rooftop of our building to watch sunset and had an early night in.