Today we started our journey with a luscious breakfast consisting of bread, savory pastries, yogurt, chocolate cake, dried fruits, juice and coffee. We then quickly hit the road traveling north to Tangier. We drove through a heavily agricultural area with rolling fields of lush green. We learned that much of the coastal agriculture that we were seeing was wheat and bananas. We also saw an abundance of sheep and cows along the highway. Throughout the drive two things that surprised me were the clumps of people congregating in park areas beside the highway and the highly manicured nature of the landscapes lining the highways especially closer to cities. I (Madeline) learned that people flocked to the parks that happened to be along the highways leading away from cities because they were usually much cooler than the cities themselves.
On the way we stopped in Asilah, a small town on the way to Tangier. There we stopped for lunch at a traditional Moroccan restaurant. Liam and Clancy were extra adventurous in getting the octopus which was beautifully cooked and, I’m told, tasted amazing. After lunch we walked around the kasbah, a gated old city. Throughout the kasbah, the bottoms of the majority of building were painted blue to pay respect to the Jewish spirituality. While walking through we ran into many people trying to sell us foods, crafts, and other cool trinkets. We saw lots of handmade paintings and special northern Moroccan hats. We learned that the traditional Moroccan woven hats have two distinct patterns, the northern Moroccan variety having colored pom poms and the southern version without. We continued through and passed the Hassan II center for international affairs and another school. Many signs we saw included the three different languages of Morocco, Arabic, Berber, and French. Arabic unlike Berber and French is read from right to left, so it was interesting to compare the three very distinct and different languages. Asilah also had a beautiful view of the ocean which we all thoroughly appreciated through the walls of the city.
After visiting the kasbah we drive to Tangier. While blasting music in the car we had some amazing views of the ocean, including some camels on the beaches. We stopped to take a group picture on the beach, and Ms. Cotton, Charlotte and I (AJ) attempted to take an artsy video of ourselves doing cartwheels. It was so nice to walk on the beach and take in the view of the coast, especially after lots of driving.
Once we got to Tangier, we visited the Grotto d’Hercule (Hercule’s Cave). The rocks from this cave were used to construct many buildings in Morocco such as the medina wall. While walking through, it felt like you were going through a maze with lots of turns and hiding places. At the end of the cave there was an opening to the Atlantic Ocean, which was a super cool sight. Shortly after our cave adventures, we visited the place where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea. Morgan and I (AJ) did some reminiscing, as we traveled here on our Geronimo trip sophomore year. It was amazing to see Spain on the horizon, and it reminded me of sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar and seeing Africa and Spain on either side.
After exploring the city for a while, we had dinner at “El Morocco Club.” The restaurant was a little more Western inspired, as it had pastas and seafood on the menu. Now, this is where things get interesting. As an avid bread enthusiast, I came up with a system of rating the quality of bread we have at each meal. I try to save some of it for everyone else but sometimes it’s hard because I love bread so much. I use my own expertise as well as the general consensus to rate the bread on a scale of 1-10. Three things are taken into consideration: texture, how thoroughly cooked, and flavor. Today the bread at breakfast was a solid 7.5, as it was pretty moist and had a nice flakiness to it. The bread at lunch scored a 6.5, because although it was well cooked and only a little chewy, the flavor was lacking. Thus, the dinner bread won (scoring a 8) because it had a very nice spiced flavor and was the perfect texture (not too chewy or too dry). Overall, today was a very good bread day. I am confident that this system will help us find the best bread in Morocco, and I am excited to see what tomorrow brings.
Love,
Madeline and AJ (bread enthusiast)
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