Interesting note - apparently there was a time change of one hour (?daylight saving time) 2 days ago but the government did not change it so nothing else got changed either - automatic clocks, cell phones, computers, phone lines - yup - quite a mess! Our welcome dinner was an hour late the first tour night as the hotel time was off; people missed their outgoing flights, our local tour guide was 15 minutes late when he thought he was as per usual 45 minutes early -what???????
This morning we left Rabat by bus "or fancy coach as we call it" and got to Fes, Morocco.
First we visited the Mausoleum of Mohammed V and his two sons - he was the Sultan of Morocco 1927-1953, then was exiled (or kicked out?), then returned as was king 1957-1961 when he died.
This is one of the Royal Horses to guard the grounds and they are handsome and well cared for.
The Mausoleum - wow - it was beautiful and is supported by the country. Our guide said Rabat is the capitol and has the government offices, embassies etc and with the 2.9 million population and most are government employees. 61% of the population is under 25 years old - wow - a lot different than the USA.
The beautiful brass,gold and lighted dome in the Mausoleum. I have seen a lot of domes but nothing quite like this.
The tombs of Mohammed V and his two sons and the guy on the ladder on the right is polishing the brass - or is it gold? People were all over polishing.
Yup - in our 70s and still going strong.
This guard was a really good sport as everyone wanted a photo with him and he never smiled.
This was all destroyed by tremors during the enormous earthquake of 1755 that destroyed the city of Lisbon, Portugal - wow that seems a long way from here!
They had two kinds of horses and they gave the breeds but I call them brown or white.
Well - this is a mobile post office, bank and ATM machine. Seriously - would I get money out of this ATM - NOT!!!!
One of many side streets. And the color blue is everywhere as it is a city of fishermen and their boats are blue and they have kept the blue and white colors for centuries.....and they are still fishing.
This guy offered free tastes of this squeezed sugar cane but nobody took him up on it. We have been warned to not drink the water or use tap water to brush our teeth - hard to remember but so far so good and we can have bottled water everywhere.
This was the public library building and was full of books - awesome!
The beach of the Atlantic Ocean meeting the river in Rabat. The other side is being hugely built up by a large development company in Dubai.
This was a public garden is the Kasbah and it was perfectly maintained and beautiful.
And this is our map handout. Rabat, Meknes, Fes, Marrakech, Casablanca, Essaouira with stops in between.
There were acres of olive groves, fruit trees, lots of figs and dates, cows, goats, sheep, chickens - definitely a productive country with a lot of farms.
And we saw a lot of these horses and carts loaded with stuff going somewhere.
This was entering the Volubilia Vineyard in Meknes where we had wine pairings with lunch (Moroccan of course), a tour and I got a great bottle of wine for $10. They hope to be able to get approval soon to get it to the USA.
The bottling and labeling area.
And the cases of wine ready to be shipped or sent - 80% is used in Morocco. The vineyard guide did explain the discrepancy between all this wine production all over the country in a mostly Muslim country. Ask me if you see me:)
The water at the vineyard lunch pouring the customary mint tea from high above while standing on a table and he didn't spill a drop.
Red Taxi strike - they are protesting Uber and similar companies taking away their business. The streets were so blocked the took back streets which made it even more interesting.
View from our hotel window in Fes with the Atlas Mountains in the background.
Seriously - I have never seen a bathroom like this - more like a spa tub and surrounded by glass. The tour guide did warn us and said they had sheer curtains we could pull if needed!
And our Room With a View - wasn't that a movie?
I did not proof this and I'm going to bed!
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