Right away, I could tell that I'd benefit greatly from this Smithsonian Journeys tour: the day-by-description was helpful to me even before the tour started, and I will refer to their crisp summaries here in my blog (I can't pretend to be so arrogant as to do better research than the Smithsonian).
Storks had made themselves literally at home, with the large branchy nests on the highest points of the ruins. I had never before seen a stork live, and I could see why people think they bring babies: they're certainly large enough to carry a bundle of joy in their beaks!
Rabat has been the Moroccan capital since 1912, specifically after Morocco gained its independence from France in 1956. It was also one of the four ancient capitals, otherwise known as Imperial Cities. Here is one of the gates to the royal palace in Rabat, which is protected by pairs of three guards in three different uniforms (to signify the three different branches of the military and police).
We started our morning by visiting Chellah's Roman relics, which includes vestiges of the Roman port Sala Colonia abandoned in 1154.
We next visited the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, which was imposingly beautiful. The level of detail on the walls and ceilings was just amazing.
Lunch was at a gorgeous private home that was previously the residence of an official (basha). The current owner is the daughter of this official, and she has done a great job in maintaining the building and turning it into a destination for events such as weddings. I loved the colors and details -- in fact, I'll be using it in the future to inspire my own interior decoration!
After our scrumptious meal, we headed to the new Mohammed VI Museum of Contemporary Art, which is the first of its kind in Morocco and opened just the year before. We walked through the streets of the Kasbah des Oudaias, which was photogenic at every turn. The gnaoua musician sprung into action when he saw us coming, and earned a tip from me -- I was particularly impressed by his ability to simultaneously sing, play, and twirl the tassel on his cap. The colors were eye-catching to say the least. I need to swap out the black items in my closet for some brighter ones!
Dinner was back at the hotel. Although I was still feeling full from lunch, I couldn't stop myself from partaking because I just wanted to touch and taste everything. I will be first to attest that presentation matters!
