The Harem

The last couple days have flown by and the pace is likely to stay the same. It's weird to think that yesterday morning I was in Casablanca. Since then I've been to two different cities and one Roman ruins out in the country side. Craziness!

The first city was Rabat, capital city of Morocco and residence of the King. Needless to say this place is pretty swank compared to Casa. Huge boulevards lined with palms and fountains. And it's clean! Well... relatively. We only had 4 hours there but managed to squeeze in a run of the Medina, a quick look around the local Kasbah (fortified village), a romp around a spectacular unfinished mosque, a mausoleum to some past king, and the Roman ruins of Chellah. Needless to say by the time we wrangled ourselves though a crazy train to the city of Meknes we were dead tired.

This morning I awoke to the sound of a 5am prayer call going out. Which was beautiful until I decided I'd had enough and popped in some earplugs. Around 9 a bunch of us headed off on a tour of the ruins of some fabulous graineries and stables. Neat stuff. But the highlight of the day has to be buying fruit in the Old Mellah (Jewish quarter) and getting lost in the Medina markets. Even got to try Camel meat! It's kind of like a cross between beef and lamb. First you go to one guy and get him to mix you up a patty of lean camel meat, a bit of the fatty hump to help it cook, some onions and seasoning. Then you take your patties to the grill guy down the next alley, who cooks it up on open coals and shoves it in a bit of bread. Loved it! Actually really enjoyed Meknes. It seems more authentic. Especially when you're standing in unidentified sludge while buying your bananas!

Now we're all in Fes. You know... where the hats come from. Soon we'll head out to a fancy dinner in a converted traditional riad (home with a central coutyard and fountain). I should also explain the title of this post a bit. You see there are 10 women on this trip... and one male tour leader. Thus, the Harem. It's ok John, you'll get over the shock some day.