27 July 2011

Travelogue: Rabat, Morocco

Kasbah des Oudaias

As mentioned in this post, John and I honeymooned in Spain and Morocco. Our few days in Rabat were some of our favorites out of the whole two weeks. Rabat just has something. There's an electricity about the city, the people's smiles are contagious and their surroundings are picturesque. I love Rabat because even though it's a big city (the capital of Morocco) it still has a small town feel and you can really relax and enjoy the culture there.


Overlooking the Atlantic from Oudaias

Rabat is a coastal city bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It has been the country's capital since 1912 when it was moved from Fez. The city is broken up into two worlds- the new city and the old medina. The newer side of the city has nice hotels, bus and train stations, and lots of places to shop. The streets are impeccable (compared to other Moroccan cities, and other parts of Rabat) and are lined with tall palm trees.

John and I walked through the new city, but spent most of our time in the medina and surrounding areas. Our hotel was inside the medina walls in a beautiful old dar (house) owned by a French woman. If you make your way to Rabat I highly recommend the Dar Zouhour and it's central location. See my review here


Overlooking part of the city





John and I spent much of our time checking out the major sights and exploring tiny alleys.The oudaias is a great place to do this. Just inside the kasbah walls is a beautiful neighborhood. The whole place is painted in stark white and vibrant blue. On a sunny day the color is almost too much to handle, it just pours happiness into your heart. This is a must see, and on your way out you can take a walk through the tranquil kasbah gardens.

Warning: Men stand at the entrance to the oudaias telling you that you aren't allowed in because prayers just finished up. That's a lie. Blow right past them as politely as possible, anyone is welcome in the city and you can walk in, prayers or no prayers, as long as you stay out of the mosques (generally speaking Morocco does not allow any non-Muslim to enter the mosque, but in some cases you can stand just outside to peak in at a particularly historic one.)


Oudaias



Typical Moroccan doorway. Beautiful!


Another great sight to see is the medina and market (souk) at night. After dark, around 8 or 9pm head over to the souk and get lost in  the crowd. Moroccans love to be where the people are. If they go to the souk and it's not crowded they will go home until later when it's packed out. It is the place to be and it is full of new sights, sounds and smells. If you miss this, then you will have missed Morocco entirely.  Keep some cash in your front pocket for street food and hole in the wall restaurants. There's lots of great shopping around here, but bargain hard.


John and I at Le Tour Hassan

Lastly, but certainly not least-ly, make sure you take a walk over to Le Tour Hassan and the Mausoleum of King Mohammed V. The Tour (tower) is an unfinished minaret built by Almohad sultan Yacoub al-Mansour in 1195. It was intended to reach 60m (the tallest in the Muslim world), but only made it to 44. Even at it's current height, the tower impresses.

The beautiful mausoleum (not pictured) is the burial site of the late King Mohammed V, much loved by the country and visited by many throughout the year. It's a solemn place to visit, and it is great to see all the care put into the design work inside.




To the right of the mausoleum is a large and beautifully decorated mosque. Go visit this area near the time for one of the prayers so that you can stand in the square between Le Tour Hassan, the mausoleum, and the mosque when they sing the call to prayer from the loud speakers. We enjoyed watching the locals flock to the area and leave soon after prayers were finished-  culture happened right before our eyes!

Rabat holds a special place in our hearts and we talk about going back all the time. Even though we visited many beautiful cities in the country, Rabat stood out among them all!


Question of the Day:
What's your favorite sight that I saw?





30 comments:

  1. the photo of the blue building is breath taking!

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  2. My favorite is all the blue skies! So gorgeous in this part of the world!

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  3. What a great place to spend a honeymoon! I love that doorway with the color of the walls. So beautiful.

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  4. You have been to so many fun and exotic places. Off the beaten path for sure! I would love just walking around and seeing all the Moroccan architecture, like that beautiful door.

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  5. this is definitely one of my must visit places of all time... so beautiful!

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  7. how lucky to honey moon here!! I think my favorite sights are the ones scene by just wandering the streets of a foreign place. the little sights, smells, and atmosphere of the everyday life of a place. These photos are so lovely! It makes me feel the travel bug coming on:)

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  8. I've always wanted to go to Morocco, it looks beautiful!

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  9. I love the doorways, so gorgeous! I can appreciate a good door, they are so pretty!

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  10. I really want to go to Morocco so bad! the pics look amazing.

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  11. Those pictures are amazing!! I'm glad you had fun!

    Becca
    http://blondeslogic.blogspot.com

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  12. Love the shots! You guys look so happy in them!!

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  13. What an amazing honeymoon!! I've been wanting to go to Morocco for a couple of years now! My favorite is the picture of the doorway - so beautiful and exactly what I imagine!

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  14. Sounds like you had an amazing time! Morocco looks gorgeous! Would love to go there one day...

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  15. I think my favorite site that you saw are all the little everyday architectural details like the beautiful doorways! I love when a culture appreciates the beauty in 'everyday' life.

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  16. WOW, what a beautiful city, your photos really captured the vibrancy of the colors. I love your writing, I can completely imagine the paradise you were describing with the white and blue being almost to much to handle. Morocco is definitely on the top of my travel list.

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  17. what INCREDIBLE scenery... I would love to visit there one day. For sure!

    xoxo, chrissy
    The Perfect Palette

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  18. morocco looks like such a beautiful place to visit! the architecture of the buildings must have been amazing to see in person!

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  19. Wow - this looks amazing. I love the photo of the door. Beautiful!

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  20. Oh my goodness just BEAUTIFUL! I hope to go there someday! Fabulous pictures too!

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  21. Thanks for the yoga link Hannah...I can't wait to go to Morocco. I've been really hooked on their recipes and learning to use my tagine better. I think the Oudaias would be my favorite of the places you visited :)

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  22. I love these posts! My favorite picture is the building in the oudaias. ...And I love the sentence "On a sunny day the color is almost too much to handle, it just pours happiness into your heart." ... My heart sighed a little just looking at the pictures :)

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  23. wow. looks like someone took a paint chip of the sky into sherwin williams, and they matched it perfectly! love all the little detail everywhere. just gorgeous...

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  24. My favorite sight is that door! I had to do a double-take. There is so much of this world that I've yet to see.. so much beauty!

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  25. Wow, these photos are beautiful! I just love traveling...thanks for so much for sharing! Very inspirational!

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  26. I wish you had great time in morocco...

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