2024 – A Trip to Israel, Morocco & Spain

 

 

Prolog

 

In May 2023 we planned a trip to Morocco.  I contacted several travel agencies in Morocco and finally decided to hire one of them, Moroccan Guides Travel, for the upcoming trip in October that year.

On October 7^th, 2023 Israel was attacked by the Hamas Terrorists Group, which killed 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped more than 250 people (including babies, children, elderly, soldiers and innocent citizens in just few hours. They also made crimes against humanity when they raped girls, young adults and women.

A war was declared by Israel.  These events have changed our plans.  

The entire Middle East was on edge.  The entire world was on alert, fears of a global war was on the agenda of all countries in the region and on the entire global community.

I contacted Nur, the Travel Agency Manager, and we decided to postpone the trip and take it a year later (October 2024).

Our daughter Emly and our granddaughter Noa live in Northern Israel (in Kibbutz Genosar by one of the Kinneret shores (Sea of Galilee) . 

We decided to include Israel to start our vacation and added Madrid, Spain for a relaxing finale (after Morocco).

When we departured Los Angeles (on September 22^nd, 2024), Israel & the Hizballah Terrorists Group were in a midst of a year-long war, but according to Emly the Jordan Valley region had been relatively quiet.  However, after landing in Ben Gurion Airport, when we were approaching the kibbutz with our rental car, we received few phone calls from Emly and our family from Kfar Tabor, warning us to be careful, as rockets were launched towards the Kinneret region.

The following 4 pictures were taken in Ben Gurion Airport, Terminal 3.  The entire walkway to the exits of the airport are "decorated" with pictures of the kidnapped Israelis in Gaza.

 

     

Northern Israel

 A reservation for an Airbnb, around the area of the kibbutz, was made on the day we decided to include Israel as part of our trip. That day I made 2 different reservations in Israel:

The first (for a 3-week period) was in the city of Tiberia, right next to the Kinneret and a 9-minute drive to the kibbutz.  The hostess, a very charming lady by the name of Hanny, greeted us and helped us to settle in her one-bedroom studio apartment.

The second reservation I have made was in Tel Aviv, where we had planned to visit for the last 3 days before leaving Israel to Morocco.

     

celebrating Noa’s ninth birthday in the kibbutz

         

Erez & Yardena have been Emly's best friends in the kibbutz from the day they have met (2015).

    

Our activities included swimming in the Kinneret

We spent few times in nearby shelters, hiding from the rockets launched from both Hizballah and then on October 1^st a barrage of 210 missiles rockets were launched at the entire country, by Iran.

This following video was taken from our daughter Emly's balcony, on September 25th,2024.

Click on the following link:

Kibbuz Genosar is under a missles attack (September 2024)

  

We celebrated Rosh Ha-Shana (Jewish New Year) with the Meir Family in Kfar Tabor and then on the day after, we met many family members who came over to see us in Kfar Tabor.

       

         

We spent a day with my brother Ronen & his beautiful wife Yudit.

   

Walking in the paths around the Kinneret

             

Joined a couple of other families to have the Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) dinner (before the fasting for 26 hours) and also were invited to Emly's friends for dinners in a couple of occasions.

 

One evrning, after picking up Noa from the gym, we drove to Kibbutz Kinneret for a fancy dinner

       

We called our dear friend Bilha, who lives 30 miles west of Genosar (in Mitzpe' Adi) and drove over to spend a few hours with her.

On the eve of Yom Kippur, Tova & I went to the cemetery Kinneret to pay our respect to some of our family members, who are burried there,  including our dear Dave Kay.

  

   

Tel Aviv

We started our trip to Tel Aviv with a stop at Yokne’am where my favorite cousin Yael lives. We spent quality time with her and admired her skills as an Architect.  Her house is so beautiful!

   

We arrived to Tel Aviv on October 13^th and settled in our luxurious apartment in western Tel Aviv, right next to the Mediterranean Sea.

After returning the rental car we met with our best friends in Israel Danni, who came over to the rental place and took us both to his lovely home in the city of Rishon Le-Zion.  Hanna & Danni welcomed us with so much love.  We felt at our own home the entire time we were there. Dinner was served and was so delicious!

After dinner Danni & Hana took us to the Kammery Theater in Central Tel Aviv where we met with Emly and attended a fantastic show.  We also visited the center where the families of the kidnapped prisoners gather daily to protest the Israeli Government, who has not done enough to release their dear ones.  It is called Kikkar Ha-Khatoofim (or The Kidnapped Square).  It was mesmerizing and a very emotional experience.

    

      

The next day, Tova & Emly along with Noa, went shopping, while I took the public bus and arrived at the hometown of Holon, where I met my brother Ronen.  

We later rode to Jaffa to meet Amit, Ronen’s son, and had lunch at Abu Hassan, one of the best Humus restaurants in the world!

The beautiful woman, in the picture below, is one of Israel greatest comedianne: Rotem Abu-Av, who was enjoying food, at Abu Hassan, at the same time.

   

 

Ronen took me back to the rental place and we were asked to watch Noa, while Tova & Emly could go to finalize their shopping!

We took Noa and walked to Dizingoff Center to witness the Fountain Square artifact with pictures of the kidnapped Israelis and also pictures of the dead, whose corps are also held by the terrorists group.

In the evening, we were invited to the home of Ortal (Ronen’s daughter) and Sharone for dinner.  Ronen, Yudit and Matan (Ronen youngest son) joined us.  In the middle of dinner the siren, warning of a rockets attack, sounded off and we all went to one of the bedrooms (converted to become a shelter or "Sealed Room") to hide for the next 10 minutes.

  

The next morning Tova & I went shopping in the morning and then returned to the apartment to rest.

In the evening, we were invited to my cousin’s home, Simona, who also invited Ronen & Yudit as well.  We had a lovely evening.

 

Morocco

El Al Airlines took us, in the morning, to Paris, France and we took our Air France Connection to Casablanca, Morocco, later in the afternoon.  We arrived to Morocco in the early hours of the evening.

We met our driver Fariss outside the terminal.  Fariss is going to be our driver for the duration of the trip.  He does not have a Guide License, therefore, he is not allowed (by law) to guide us in any way.  Only drive us from one attraction to the next. There will be a local guide for every city along the way.

The first city on our agenda was Rabat.  Our guesthouse was inside the Medina of Rabat.

I'm sure you have heard the word Medina before.  What is Medina?

The word "medina" means city or town in modern-day Arabic. The medina is the old core of any city in Morocco, usually from the middle ages. It is surrounded by a wall and you can only enter through the old city gates, called Babs.

This guesthouse was a disappointment, for the way it was designed. which made the room uncomfortable:  The Master Bedroom, with a king size bed was on the second floor but the bathroom plus toilet were located downstairs in the children room.  We opted to use the downstairs tiny bedroom with its tiny beds.

    

The guesthouse was rented for only one night and this is how we convinced ourselves: "It is only for one night...Let's make the most of it".

Breakfast, however, was fresh and tasty.  Morocceans eat lots of dough in the morning and so did we.

 

Rabat

Right after breakfast, a local guide, Elias, came over to the guestshous and we started our day.

Rabat, the capital of Morocco, rests along the shores of the Bouregreg River and the Atlantic Ocean. 

It's known for landmarks that speak to its Islamic and French-colonial heritage, including the Kasbah of the Udayas. This Berber-era royal fort is surrounded by formal French-designed gardens and overlooks the ocean. The city's iconic Hassan Tower, a 12th-century minaret, soars above the ruins of a mosque. 

We took a walking tour to the best attractions of the city: The Mausoleum of King Mohamad the 5th, and King Hassan the 2nd.  

It was an amazing tour.  The Elias told us about the Monarchy and about the history of the country. 

   

 

  

We arrived to the Royal Palace (or Dar al-Makhzen) and were mesmerized by the huge complex and the beauty of architecture. 

The Palace is the primary and official residence of the king of Morocco in Rabat. 

It is situated in the Commune of Touarga and Its official name is El Mechouar Essaid.

The Alawi (or current) sultans and kings have maintained a palace in Rabat since the 18th-century reign of Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah, who used Rabat as one of his imperial residences and renovated royal palaces in other cities.

The current building was built in 1864 by Mohammed IV to replace the older palace

      

When most of Morocco came under French control in 1912, the colonial administration wanted the sultan to be largely stationed in one place, near their administrative headquarters, to show his acceptance of the new regime. 

Although kings had many residences at their disposal when independence was declared in 1955, they chose to keep the Dar al-Makhzen palace as the main palace of the monarch.

Some monarchs, particularly Mohammed V, preferred the smaller and relatively secluded palace of Dar-es-Salaam, further out of the center of the city, maintaining the Dar al-Makhzen as their official and administrative residence.

Several important events in the lives of several Moroccan royals have taken place in the palace, including the birth of Hassan II in 1929 and the marriage ceremony of Mohammed VI and Salma Bennani in 2002.

The last attraction was the Kasbah (Fortress), next to the Atlantic Ocean.  Its full name is The Kasbah of the Udayas. It is located on a hill at the mouth of the Bou Regreg River opposite the city of Salé, and adjacent to the Medina Quarter of Rabat. 

   

It is listed, along with other sites in Rabat, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Later on, we met with Fariss and started our drive to our next destination.

 

Chefchaouen

On our way to Chefchauen, (or as it is called) The Blue City, we saw an antenna with storks' nests.  The locals believe that if you touch the nests or kill the storks, bad luck will follow you for the rest of your life.

Fariss opted to take the countryside road to get to our next destination Chefchaouen.  We enjoyed the road a lot.  We stopped at a steakhouse and ordered steam lamb, lamb chops and chicken. All dishes came with steam vegetables. Fariss told us that this Moroccan Vegetable Tagine is the cure to cold Winter evenings. Carrots, butternut squash and chickpeas are stewed in a spicy tomato sauce that is spiked with preserved lemons and fragrant spices for a flavoursome vegetarian tagine! 

Pita bread and tomatoes salad were available as well. I loved this restaurant.

      

Just as we arrived to the outskirts of Chefchauen, we were able to view the Blue City, as it is called, from the top of a mountain and the views were spectacular. 

   

We approached the Medina.  A representtative from our new Guesthouse, carried our luggage and led us to our 5-stars hotel inside the Medina, through the many maizes and many stairs of the city, and into our luxurious room.

       

The room was amazing.  It was spacious, clean and warm.

Chefchaouen 

We woke up at around 7:00 am and went downstairs to the dining room.  Breakfast was served and it was fantastic.

A new guide by the name of Hussein,  arrived at 9:30 and we started our hectic day: 

             

Hussein told us few interesting facts about Chefchauen:

This is a summary of what Hussein had told us:

Generally speaking, Chefchaouen, or Chaouen, is a city in the Rif Mountains of northwest Morocco. It’s known for the striking, blue-washed buildings of its old town. Leather and weaving workshops line its steep cobbled lanes. 

In the shady main Square of Place Outa el Hammam is the red-walled Kasbah, a 15th-century fortress and dungeon, and Chefchouen Ethnographic Museum. The octagonal minaret of the Great Mosque rises nearby. 

We wandered around the Chefchaouen Medina, where the houses are painted blue and the views of the streets with the painted homes were spectacular.

                

Throughout the medina, we saw plenty of areas for photo opportunities. We tried to find the best locations for our perfect spot, but then we recognized that every spot in this magnificent city was "The Perfect Spot". We made notes of these locations, and marked them on Google Maps, and then returned later at other times of the day and also the next morning, when the lighting was better.

In Plaza Uta El-Hammam, is where the hustle and bustle of Chefchaouen’s medina takes place. Plenty of restaurants and little cafes surround the main square, offering places to grab a tagine or a coffee. 

Located near the Plaza we found the Kasbah, which I mentioned above, and the Grand Mosque, which is not open to tourists as it is still an active religious place of worship. 

The Kasbah, built in 1471, is designed in the Andalusian style, complete with crenelated walls and a watch tower with a prison at the bottom. The top of the watchtower, we saw the expected panoramic view of the countryside. The museum is small and doesn’t have many English descriptions explaining what we were looking at. There was also a beautiful garden inside the Kasbah that provided a nice atmosphere to sit and relax. 

                 

As mentioned above, the shades of blue made our photos look amazing. As we walked through the small and narrow alleyways, taking in the sights and sounds, we navigated in and out of little nooks and crannies, providing a calming atmosphere. 

Shop vendors were not as aggressive as one should expect, and we found ourselves conversing with the vendors who explained their arts and crafts to us.

The guide took us through the maze of alleys for 4 hours. I asked him to visit all of the photographic spot and I have taken a couple of hundred shots, but don't worry, I will share only some of them. We really enjoyed our walk and were mesmerized by the beauty of the city, which inhabits only 10 thousand people but because of its popularity, has 4-5 times more people, who are tourists. 

One other interesting thing is the population of stray cats. The locals adopted them and you can see plates full of food & water at the doorsteps of almost every house.

We ended this part of the day with a stop at a small cafe', and said goodbye to Hussein.

We met with Fariss at the Plaza Uta El-Hammam and he introduced us to Omar.  

As part of our tour package, a local family invited us to a traditional lunch. Omar, the patriach of the family, met us at the town Square and led us to his house, where we met his 2 little daughters.

       

Lunch included a vegetable soup, goat cheese covered by dates sauce, couscous with steam vegetables (Tagine), chicken, beef and of course fruits, strong tea and cookies.

OMG: what a fantastic treat for any tourist. The mother, who cooked and prepared the meal, was out working at a restaurant (she is a chef) and let gave her husband the pleasure of hosting us.

We returned to the guesthouse and after a 2 hours siesta we met with our new guide Mohamed, and headed uphills towards the Mosque, on top of a rock, outside the city.  We left early and arrived early.  It was a smart move because the place, next to the beautiful structure of the Mosque, started to get crowded later on, with people looking for good spot to take the best photos of the famous sunset from the top of the mountain.  Most people gather in front of the mosque, sitting on the walls or the pavement. 

"You should head up the hill early if you want a good spot", Fariss told us, and boy, he was so right with his advice..

it was one of the highlights of the day and I am sure for for most travelers as well. Yes, we had to walk uphill, but the hike is not strenuous, and we took our time. 

However, we found out that if you sneak over to the sides or go slightly down the grassy hill, you can watch the sunset without a crowd of tourists standing in front of you.

      

  

We climbed up with many other tourists and locals who did the same, at the same time, as we all hiked for the same reason: sunset viewing. 

After the 45 minutes moderate hike we arrived to the summit and waited for the nature show of sunsetting. 

It was spectacular.

In the next morning, after we finished our delicious breakfast, we headed out early,   to explore the blue alleys at another part of the city ahead of the arrival of Fariss.

        

We left Chefchauen at around 9 am and crossed Port Lukkos, where the 3rd longest river crosses on its way to the Atlantic Ocean. We stopped at a market to buy dried figs and also had coffee in a gas station.

 The scenery started to change to a desert-look as we arrived to a Roman ancient site: Volubilis.

  

Volubilis is a partly-excavated Berber-Roman city in Morocco situated near the city of Meknes that may have been the capital of the Kingdom of Mauretania, at least from the time of King Juba II. 

Before Volubilis, the capital of the kingdom may have been at Gilda.

          

      

The ruins remained substantially intact until they were devastated by an earthquake in the mid-18th century and subsequently looted by Moroccan rulers seeking stone for building Meknes. It was not until the latter part of the 19th century that the site was definitively identified as that of the ancient city of Volubilis.

 A guide named Hallal showed off his extensive knowledge and elaborated about each home, alley and style of this beautiful site.

After the extensive tour, we stopped for a late lunch in the nearby city, where the man who brought the Islam to Morocco, Uqba ibn Nafi, is buried:  In  681 AD under the leadership of Uqba ibn Nafi. The Umayyads conquered most of the Maghreb, which includes modern Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya. The indigenous Berber population slowly converted to Islam.

  

We stopped for lunch in a restaurant on the city's main street and had kufta (lamb kabbob) and it was out of this world.

     

We entered the city of Mekenes (Miknas), which is known for its imperial past, with remnants including Bab Mansour, a huge gate with arches and mosaic tiling. The gate leads into the former imperial city.  After a short break we continued to our final destination for today: Fes (or Fez).  Once again, a courier, sent by the guestshouse,  greeted us at the gate to the Medina.  He came with a wheelbrrow and put all of our brlongings inside.  We walked through a complicated maze of dark narrow alleys until we finally arrived to a tall door where our courier rang a bell and we were allowed to walk into the lobby.  Our room was at the top of the building and we climbed the narrow stairs to get there.  The room was spacious with a huge bathroom and pretty large bedroom.

Fez

  

Breakfast was something special and our new guide, Abdul, showed up at around 9:00 am and we started our day-long tour of Fez. 

Abdul told us that the city, which has about 1.5 million inhabitants, contians 9,411 (!) streets/alleys in the El Medina and he continued the sentence with a claims that he knows them all!!!

     

Abdul thought for some reson that we were interested in converting to the Islam, as he not only has told us about the history of the city but also elaborated to tell us how good the Islam is , claiming "it has been better that any other relgion"

The following is a short version of what Abdul had to say about his home-town:

Fes is a northeastern Moroccan city often referred to as the country’s cultural capital. It is primarily known for its Fes El Bali walled medina, with medieval Marinid architecture, vibrant markets and old-world atmosphere. 

The medina is home to religious schools such as the 14th-century Bou Inania and Al Attarine, both decorated with elaborate cedar carvings and ornate tile work.

with a population of 1.2 million, the city is Located to the northwest of the Atlas Mountains, it is surrounded by hills and the old city is centered around the Fez River, flowing from west to east. 

Fez has been called the "Mecca of the West" and the "Athens of Africa". It is also considered the spiritual and cultural capital of Morocco.

Founded under Idrisid rule during the 8th–9th centuries AD, Fez initially consisted of two autonomous and competing settlements. 

Successive waves of mainly Arab immigrants from Tunisia and al-Andalus (Spain/Portugal), in the early 9th century, gave the nascent city its Arab character. 

After the downfall of the Idrisid Dynasty, other empires came and went until the 11th century when the Almoravid Sultan Yusuf ibn Tashfin united the two settlements into what is today's Fes el-Bali ('Old Fes') quarter, a.k.a. Medina of Fez. 

Under Almoravid rule, the city gained a reputation for religious scholarship and mercantile activity.

The city consists of two old medina quarters (!), Old Fes and the much larger modern urban Ville Nouvelle area founded during the French colonial era. 

The Medina of Fez is listed as a World Heritage Site and is one of the world's largest and oldest urban pedestrian zones (car-free areas). It contains the University of al-Qarawiyyin which was founded in 857 and is the oldest continuously functioning institute of higher education in the world. It also contains the Chouara Tannery from the 11th century, one of the oldest tanneries in the world.  To my question, what is a Tannery, Abdul explained that Tanning, or hide tanning, is the process of treating skins and hides of animals to produce leather. A tannery is the place where the skins are processed.

Our first stop, after the extra long lecture from Abdul, was at a Vista point overlooking the entire city (old and new). We then heard a little bit regarding the Jewish life of Fez that has been stretched for few hundred years.

There were always good relationships between the Muslims and the Jewish people here in Fez. The latter were famous salt businessmen. They had discovered that the salt could keep meat fresh longer and were known Salt Merchants. The Jewish Ghetto was known by the name Melach (מלח), which is SALT in Hebrew.

 A visit to a Synagogue was next.  It was something I'll never forget.  An evidence of Jewish life in a Muslim country.

Abdul gave us some overview of the Synagogue:

The Ibn Danan Synagogue (Hebrew: בית הכנסת אבן דאנן) is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue. The synagogue is located in the Melach (Salt) district within Fes el-Jdid (New Fez), one of the components of the historic medina of Fes.

      

The first synagogue on the site was completed in the 17th century; and has been destroyed, either in part or completely, and restored on several occasions. After a prolonged period of renovation and restoration, the synagogue reopened in 1999.

The time was around 11 when Abdul told us that for the next 5 hours we will discover the Huge market of Fez.

      

It will be impossible to describe such a great market

It has hundreds of alleys, each with varieties from food to cell phones, from appliances to clothing. Just unbelievable!

          

At around 3:00 we entered a 5-storey high restaurant and had an early dinner (or late lunch) at its rooftop. We picked the Pastille filled with ground beef, rice, raisins and cinnamon. Omg. Out of the world. So delicious 😋  

  

Fariss was called to pick us up and a few minutes later we drove to the El Medina and back to our guestshouse.

 

The Atlas Mountains And The Sahara Desert

Fariss, our loyal driver, showed up at 8:30 am and we started our 380 miles journey to the Sahara Desert. 

We re-entered Mekenes and then took a few minutes break in the next city, Ifrane - or as it is called in Morocco: Little Switzerland, for the architecture Swiss style. A lion carved into a rock is one of the highlights in the city center. There is also a world known university there. 

Another important city, on the way was Midelt, which is known as the Apples Capital of Morocco, and we drove through the main road, which had Orchard of apples. 

For lunch, we stopped at a home cooking place in the city of  Zaida, that Fariss knows its owners. We ordered cooked beans in one dish and cooked intestine in another one. Real home cooking!!! and really good!!!

      

Errachidia was the next town and we crossed It .  There is a military base in town and we saw that the new section in town has been developed for the families of the soldiers in town, so they could live next to their love ones.

      

The landscape has changed and the Atlas Mountains were in the horizons, with white snow peaks!

We finally made it to an intersection where only 4x4 could be used to enter the Sahara. 

Our destination today is Mierzouga Tented Campground, which is situated in the Sahara Desert. A Toyota truck has taken us to the middle of nowhere and a camel was assigned to each one of us (many tourists had shown up, as well). 

The Camel Ride was the highlight of the day (and in my opinion, the highlight of the entire trip!). 

   

     

   

  

     

     

After an hour on the camel's back, riding the dunes of the largest desert in the world, we made it to the campground and to our luxurious & spacious tent. 

Dinner was served later (9:00 pm) and then we joined the other groups for a musical event of singing along, sitting around a fire pit.

 

     

On Our Way to The Gorges of Toudgha

     

We woke up at the Mierzouga Tented Campground to a beautiful sunny day. After breakfast, the same 4x4 Toyota SUV that had brought us to the camel's pickup place last evening, showed up to return us to the awaiting Fariss. Twenty minutes later, we were reunited and the 7th day of our trip to Morocco started. 

We stopped at a market in Toughach to get some fruits and a couple of fresh & hot laffas (large Pita bread), straight from the Tabboon (arabic oven). 

   

We continued our way and arrived at a popular restaurant named Reda for lunch. Fariss met his brother there, who is also in tourism and also a driver/tour guide (for another company), who brought with him a bus loaded with tourists.

The 2 brothers, who hadn't seen each other for more than a month, were very happy and excited to see each other. 

   

We arrived at the Oasis City of Tinghir, an oasis city located at the end of the Todra Valley in the High Atlas Mountains facing the Jbel Saghro mountain range. It is an arid subtropical climate with hot dry winters. It is located north of the Little Atlas in south east of the country.  

Years ago it used to be a major Jewish community center. The Atlas mountains, shaped like a human brain, surrounded the area, where a 6.9 earthquake shook the area in 2023. 

    

The next attraction was the highlight of the day: The Gorges of Toudgha, standing 400 meters tall. 

These are a series of limestone river canyons, or wadi, in the eastern part of the High Atlas Mountains, near the town of Tinerhir. 

Both the Todgha (or Todra) River and the neighboring Dadès River are responsible for carving out these deep cliff-sided canyons on their final 40 kilometers (25 mi) through the mountains. 

The height of the canyon walls, as I had mentioned, can vary, but in some places can be up to 400 meters (1,312 ft) high.

      

We arrived at Gorge Dedris, and before checking into our hotel, we continued to the top of a mountain for a photo opportunity of the view of the zigzag road. 

       

The hotel, Dar Blue, is about a mile off the main road.  We drove on a narrow unpaved path to the reception area of the hotel.  The room was large and the bathroom was even larger.  The only negative side was that the room did not have any heating devices and the trmperature outside was in the low 50F.  The 5-Stars restaurant was a gem and offered a 4-course dinner, which  was amazing.

     

 

The Way to Marrakech

After breakfast, we met our guide/driver Fariss and started our day. 

We stopped again at the brain-looking High Atlas Mountains, for more photo opportunities. 

      

We arrived later to Quarazazate, which for us, symbolized the exit of the Sahara Desert. We saw on our way, the Morocco Films Studio CLA. 

After a few more kilometers, we arrived at Ait Ben Haddou, a popular site for filmmaking. 

Azziz, our new guide, was already waiting for us, and we started the one-hour tour. 

   

Azziz mentioned to us that many production movies were filmed here. Hollywood's filmmakers love this area of Morocco to film some of the big hits. For example, Game Of Thrones (2013), Ali Baba (1954), Indiana Jones 3 (1996), Gladiator (1 & 2) and many more. 

We crossed the river, using a primitive bridge, and then climbed a steep hill, passing by merchants, painters, and other local artists, then finally reached the top of the hill for some more pictures takings of the valley. 

 Some merchants had Jewish artifacts for sale, as well. 

               

We continued our journey and stopped for a late lunch at one of Fariss's favorite restaurants. We had lamb kabbob, couscous, chicken with vegetables and finished with "Moroccan Whisky" - a strong and sweet tea, lots of sugar and plenty of Mint Leaves (nana). 

  

   

We arrived later this evening to Marrakesh and were picked up by an older man who had taken our luggage to our new Guesthouse in the heart of the El Medina.

 

Marrakech

Our Guesthouse in Marrakech's El Medina was located deeply inside the walls of the city, and we opted to spend the rest of the evening inside rather than walk outside the walls.  

    

After breakfast, our new guide, Rasheed, showed up, and we realized that he was the same guy we had met in one of our lunch-stops along the way to Marrakesh, a couple of days ago. 

Rasheed gave us an overview of where we were:

Marrakech, the fourth largest city in Morocco, is a former imperial city in western Morocco, is a major economic center and home to mosques, palaces and gardens. 

The medina, where our Guesthouse was located, is a densely packed, walled medieval city dating to the Berber Empire, with mazelike alleys where thriving souks (marketplaces) sell traditional textiles, pottery and jewelry. 

   

The medina quarter is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and contains the Jemaa el-Fnaa square, the symbol of the city, which is visible for miles, is the Moorish minaret of 12th-century Koutoubia Mosque, and many other historic and cultural sites. 

The city serves as a major economic center and tourist destination. Real Estate and hotel development in Marrakech have grown dramatically in the 21st century and is particularly popular with the French, and numerous French celebrities own property in the city.

   

Our first stop was the famous and historic Mosque: Kutubiyya Mosque, the largest mosque in Marrakesh. and as I had mentioned earlier, it is located in the southwest medina quarter of Marrakesh, near the Jemaa el-Fnaa marketplace (not far from the guesthouse, and is flanked by large gardens. The Mosque was founded in the middle of the 12th century. 

   

We used one of the 16 gates to get into the old city and walked in the alley of the market and headed towards the Jewish Synagogue, Salat Al-Azama, which, to our disappointment was closed. 

     

We continued our walking tour, passed by many merchants, and finally arrived at the Bahia Palace. 

The Bahia Palace is a mid to late 19th-century palace in Marrakech. The palace was first begun by Si Musa, grand vizier under the Alawi sultan Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman, in the 1860s. It was expanded by his son Si Ba Ahmed ibn Musa, grand vizier of Sultan Moulay Abdelaziz, between 1894 and 1900. Today it is a well-known historic monument and one of the main tourist attractions  in the city.

            

  

Rasheed elaborated and told us, in many details, about the palace and its day-to-day life. The sultan had 4 wives and as many concubines as he wished. 

On our way to lunch, still inside the market, we witnessed a damaged home, evidence of the destruction from the 6.9 earthquake of 2023.

            

Lunch was good, but Tova had a minor accident, stumbling down when she missed a step and fell, hurting her knees. (after applying ice on her knees, she was able to keep on walking). 

We kept on our schedule and headed to the Old School: Meddersa Ben Youssef, an Islamic madrasa (college). The madrasa is named after the adjacent Ben Youssef Mosque and was commissioned in 1564–65 by the Saadian sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib. Functioning today as a historical site, the Ben Youssef Madrasa was the largest Islamic college in the Maghreb (Morocco in Arabic) at its height and is widely recognized as a pinnacle of Saadian and Moroccan Architecture. 

  

   

We headed back to the guesthouse, passing on our way many more merchants.

 

 

The Road to Casablanca

Fariss already notified us earlier that there is not going to be anything special today. It is going to be a transfer day from Marrakesh to Casablanca. 

Tova "jumped" on the news and hence, Our first stop was at a Nails Salon in the New City. I escorted her into the salon and joined Fariss at a Cafe across the street. An hour later Tova has joined us and we srartred the 3.5 hour drive to the most populated city of Morocco, Casablanca. We did have a stop, along the way for lunch, in a popular restaurant called Afrique. I order one pound of lamb chops and Fariss ordered a huge burger. Both dishes were excellent. 

   

We arrived to our hotel here l, named The Gray Hotel, which was located in the new city's center and has been elegant, luxurious and spacious.

 

Casablanca

Fariss showed up right on time and we started the day by visiting the famous Cafe by the name of Cafe Rick, used in the movie classic, Casablanca. This Cafe was owned by Rick (played by Humphrey Boggart) and this was the place where he reunited with the love of his life, played by Grace Kelly. "play it again Sam" were the words Rick has used when he saw her sitting.  Sam, the pianist played THEIR song...

   

We took a few photos and continued our day towards the most beautiful and astonishing Hassan Mosque. We've never seen anything that looked or measured like this mosque. We toured the Mosque's main hall and heard a lecture (in English) telling us many facts and some history of the Mosque. 

   

It is the second largest functioning mosque in Africa and is the 14th largest in the world. Its minaret is the world's second tallest minaret at 210 metres (689 ft).

Completed in 1993, it was designed by Michel Pinseau under the guidance of King Hassan II and built by Moroccan artisans from all over the kingdom. The minaret is 60 stories high topped by a laser, the light from which is directed towards Mecca. The mosque stands on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic Ocean; worshippers can pray over the sea but there is no glass floor looking into the sea.

   

The walls are of hand-crafted marble and the roof is retractable. A maximum of 105,000 worshippers can gather together for prayer: 25,000 inside the mosque hall and another 80,000 on the mosque's outside ground.

 

The Mosque is next to the shotes of the Atlantic Ocean and we decided to walk the five miles distance, towards Hotel Azure, and meet our driver Fariss, who has been waiting for us over there.

  

         

   

       

After a coffee break,  we arrived to one of the 26 synagogues in town: Synagogue Beth El. Today has been the Jewish Holiday of Simchat Torah and we arrived just after the prayers. We met some of the members of the small community and heard the Rabbi telling us some facts, regarding the Jewish life here:

In all of Morocco there are between 2,000 to 2,500 Jews, which is a significant decrease from the peak in the 1950s, when the Jewish population was between 250,000 and 350,000 where around 1,000 of them live here in Casablanca. 

They invited us to join them, offering us food, wine and deserts. 

We met Fariss outside and headed to a row of seafood restaurants, near the beach and near the seafood market. 

Lunch was superb. 

    


Fariss wanted us to see their new and modern Mall of Morocco.  He dropped us off at the entrance of the mall and we winodows shopped for awhile and then had a Sundae Ice Cream at McDonland.

It was time to return to the hotel and upon arrival to our room, we packed and prepared our luggage for our trip to Spain 🇪🇸 tomorrow.

 

Last Day in Morocco

 

We made it to our last day in Morocco. Fariss picked us up at 10 am, so we could arrive three-plus hours before our international flight to Spain.

 

When he showed up (as usual, on time!), we heard for the 1st time that there is a city Marathon around Casablanca and many main roads would be closed until 1:00 pm.

 

I opened up both Google Maps & Waze spps, but though they both knew about the roadblocks, both apps were not able to give us alternative roads to get out of the city and onto the highway that should take us to the international airport, Mohamad V.

At the end, it was a Police Captain who enabled us to get on the proper  road that led us to the airport.  We had only one hour for takeoff, but still made it to the gate on time, despite a new problem: long lines.

We said goodbyes to our loyal driver, who, after he dropped us off,  waited outside the main terminal for just in case scenario that we would be late for our flight.

The first queue was a long one, it was called "Pre-Security". They wanted to check out the luggage of all passengers before being allowed to get into the main terminal.  It took us about 20 minutes to get through. However, the service at Iberia Airlines desk, which was next, was great and we were in-and-out in a cople of minutes, then we had 3 more long lines: security, immigration and finally custom.

We arrived to our gate at 1:25, only 20 minutes before take-off. 

Phew!

 

The short flight of 90 minutes was pleasant. 

 

Once we arrived to our hotel in Madrid, we went to a Georgian Restaurant, named Kinza, where the authentic food was fantastic.

  

We realized that the location of the hotel was in a perfect spot: Right in the middle of the city, with restaurants, cafe's, major department stores and lot of attraction, just steps away.

Madrid, Spain

 

Day 1

Good Morning Madrid!!!

 

After breakfast, we started by going to the meeting point with our pre-arranged walking tour guide: Alexander. 

 

   

We found him next to a statue of a bear and strawberries in Puerto Del Sol (the Sun Gate). The bear was surrounded by many people with one purpose in mind: touching  the bear"s butt. 

  

Alexander gave us first some facts about the art piece: The statue is the work of the sculptor Antonio Navarro Santafé (1906-1983), and it was inaugurated on 19 January 1967.  It represents the coat of arms of Madrid.   He then explained that there are many legends in Spain and there is one for why people are doing so (touching the bear's butt): In recent years tourists and visitors have taken up the habit of touching the bear's tail or heel, repeating the gesture that is performed in similar sculptures around the world with the thought that doing so brings good luck. However, there are no historical references to it being a typical Madrilenian tradition. 

This gesture causes the bear's tail and heel to discolor, which encourages other tourists to repeat the gesture thinking it is something that is done traditionally.

 

Alexander also talked about another statue, this one that has a person on a horse. The man is King Carlos III, the richest king in the history of Spain and, of course, Madrid. He invested most of his fortune to build the city. 

 

We continued to explore and stopped next to a restaurant, World famous for its tasty Calamari Sandwich. 

 

We arrived to Plaza Mayor, a major public space in the heart of the capital of Spain. It was once the center of Old Madrid. It was first built (1580–1619) during the reign of Philip III.  

 

  

   

The next stop was a restaurant that has been open continuously for almost 300 years. It's named after its first Chef.   Sobrino de Botín is fast approaching its tricentennial, after first opening in 1725. 

Everything about this place is a delight, from the antique wine cellar to the intimate dining rooms, all wrought in bare brick and withered wood. The house special is the cochinillo asado, a roast suckling pig served with parboiled potatoes.

    

We stopped at a gate of a convent where you could order cookies by communicating with nuns without seeing them. 

We moved on and arrived at the famous City Hall.  Known as Centro and Palacio de Cibeles, The place is the administration center for Madrid and as such it wouldn't normally be a tourist hot-spot.  However, its archetacture was amazing.

Our last stop today was at The Royal Palace of Madrid (Spanish: Palacio Real de Madrid). 

 

It is the official residence of the Spanish royal family in the city of Madrid, although it is now used only for state ceremonies. The palace has 135,000 square meters (1,450,000 sq ft) of floor space and contains 3,418 rooms. It is the largest royal palace in Europe.

       

It was time to thank Alexander.  He was great!

 

Dinner, in Chinatown, was next.

 

Day 2

When we woke up and looked at the cloudy skies, we already guessed that this is going to be a rainy day.

It turned out to be true.

The showers arrived and so did the wind.

During breakfast we decided to make this day dedicated to SHOPPING.  We started at 10:00 and finished at in the late afternoon. 

The stores were full of shoppers: domestic and international.

We ended up buying few items and went to dinner, catching a break when the rain subsided.

Day 3

Breakfast and then Uber to the airport.

We arrived to Los Angeles later this evening.

 

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