Madrid

Find myself in Madrid the day that Juan Carlos has announced that he will abdicate the thrown to his son Felipe. Lots of excitement here in the center of town. Can't tell if they are protesters or supporters, but I presume the former. "No democracia con reyes" read one sign. Very visible police presence.

Central Madrid is gorgeous. Visited the Museo del Prado (it's free after 6pm). Lots of Goyas, of course, El Greco, and Bosch (El Bosco) - "The Garden of Earthly Delights" triptych! Tons of religious stuff but fascinating nonetheless.

By 11pm the protest has pretty much wrapped up. Just a small crowd now and a bunch of folks selling cans of local beer Mahou, the ground strewn with empties.

Casablanca

Took train from Fes to Casablanca, about half way back to Marrakech. This is a sophisticated, modern city with all the incumbent noise and crowds. The medina is clean and well-organized, nobody accosting me to buy the crap they are selling. If this was the only medina you visited in Morocco, you'd have a misleading impression!

Had a great meal at Restaurant du Port de Peche. Started with half dozen oysters from Oualidia, a place I was tempted to visit just for the oysters. Really nice. For main, filet of St Pierre au gratin - bits of meaty white fish baked with cheese over top. Just what I needed. And a really nice local red wine to go with.

Breakfast at La Scala - great coffee, finally, more Moroccan pastries, and eggs with camel meat. Yum.

The Hassan II Mosque: wow, enormous. Built by the king (Hassan II) between 1986 and 1993, architected by a non-Muslim Frenchman, it's the third largest mosque in the world. About a third of the mosque is built over water, a proportion that comes from the koran. Almost all materials come from Morocco, some of the places I have visited:
Cedar - Ifrane
Carpets - Rabat
Granite - Agadir (High Atlas)
Marble - Tiznit
Except chandeliers - Venice
Some columns - Italy
Enormous doors are titanium from Russia to be lightweight and withstand corrosion.
Main floor holds 20,000 (men)
Women's floor holds 5000
Niche is towards Mecca
Columns in ablution (washing) rooms are coated with Venetian plaster to absorb humidity.
There is a beautiful hammam that has never been used - always "next year".

A cooking lesson, or How I learned to appreciate beets

Fatiya, the cook here at the Riad Tara, gave me an informal lesson in Fassi (from Fes) cooking by allowing me to simply watch her prepare tonight's meal - lamb tagine with vegetables. She is a wonderful cook so I felt quite fortunate. She speaks no English but we managed to communicate with gestures and my French phrases. We started by gathering ingredients at the market. Then I watched as she expertly prepared all the dishes simultaneously, me taking notes. Cauliflower in tomatoes for one entree, beets for another, the lamb, and poached pears for dessert.

Now I am indulging, so much more appreciative of the flavors. Outstanding. Can't wait to try it out at home.

Middle Atlas

I hired a guide today to drive me around the villages and forests of the Middle Atlas mountains, home to the Berber people. Monir (sp?) was an excellent guide and indulged me by speaking English all day, although I did try my broken French with him.

Driving past endless olive groves, we first visited a waterfall in Sefrou. Then drove around the mountain to Ifrane, my real curiosity. This lush mountain town is intentionally architected to feel like an Swiss village, with pitched, red tile roofs everywhere and a distinctly European feel. Apparently it snows a lot in this area. Some ski fields nearby. Someone carved a lion from a rock outcrop in town.

In the town of Imouzzer, we stopped in on a woman who has lived in a cave (grotte) all her life, literally. Dinky, one room grotto right in the village where she has raised her family. She served us fantastic Berber tea and demonstrated her weaving skills.

On to the once-a-week souk (market) in Azrou. Huge, temporary affair where everyone must be doing their shopping for the week. The cherries from this area are delicious. Wonderful kebab lunch in town.

Next was the forest where Macaque monkeys live. Very tame and accustomed to visitors.

For dinner, fantastic chicken pastilla at Riad Andalib with a couple I met from Manchester/Marseilles. Pastilla (or bastilla or bisteeya) is filo wrapped around a filling, baked into a pie, and sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Sweet welcome and savory sustenance in one dish. Ground chicken and almond is common, as is squab. Also started the meal with Moroccan salads - 6 small plates each with their own vegetable base - tomato and honey,  courgette, aubergine, carrot, red pepper, and cauliflower. 

Fes medina

Walked around the medina today. The Fes medina is the largest in Morocco with thousands of little alleyways (derbs) to get lost in. I managed without a guide, which I was told was adventurous for my first time. Very crowded, even on a Monday. Found the oldest mosque, medersa (school), and library.

Some of the comments from guys trying to get my attention: "I'm friend of Obama", "You look like Jimi Hendrix", the latter intended to see if I would respond, I'm sure. Made me laugh. 

Marrakech to Fes

Train to Fes pretty much consumed the entire day. It is scheduled to take 7 hours but took a bit longer due to delays. Will need to rethink how I get back to Marrakech.

Found the Riad Tara in the very confounding Fes medina on my own ... almost. I was about 30 feet from the gate but turned around and got directions from another friendly hostel. This place is a massive maze! I'll have fun exploring tomorrow, no doubt getting lost once or twice. So many things to see here.

Topped off a long day with dinner at the riad, including local wine from Meknés - petite syrah, I think.

Agadir to Marrakech

Drove the excellent A7 motorway ("Autoroute du Maroc") from Agadir to Marrakech through a low pass in the High Atlas mountains. Interesting geology but not allowed to stop ("Arret Interdit") anywhere for photos. Just have a few.

Tonight was the UEFA Champions League final match between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, with Real heavily favored. I walked around the Place close to where I'm staying, near the train station, and found a smoky dive bar to watch the game. Most of the patrons were Real fans, not surprisingly, so it was fun to watch the crowd when they were down 1-0 until the 93rd minute in injury time, when Sergio Ramos scored to send the match into overtime. Then Atletico just didn't have the stamina to withstand Real and fell apart, losing 4-1. Very entertaining.

Wonderful fish meal at highly-reviewed Al Bahriya. An older French couple sat down beside me at the communal tables and shared a bit of their fish with me. Turns out they will be on the same train as me to Fes the next day!