Kittens

 we had a late start this morning. we didn't leave out hotel until 11:30. Alastair and I skipped breakfast and slept in instead. we woke up around 11 and then headed out. The first thing we did was walking through the Madina and looking at all of the shops. The town were staying in is called chefchaouen. At the center of the town there is a main square with restaurants and venders and then from the town square every street has vendors selling food clothes but mostly people are weaving and selling blankets. The best part of chefchaouen is the cats. there are so many cats. after we walked around the shops for a bit we explored the old casbah which is basically an old military base that is typically in the center of the city. farther from the center of the city is a old masque that is called the Spanish masque. we walked the thirty minutes to the masque and had a great view of the beautiful blue city. when the Spanish evaded Morrocco they built this masque for the locals to worship hence the name Spanish masque. once we walked back down to the city we found a small restaurant. it wasnt out favorite but still it was pretty good. we then came back to our hotel and took naps and just had some down time. we then headed back out to a Italian place that was really very good. running around under all the tables were the cutest kittens. we gave them all names and watched them play while we ate. tommorow we go to a larger city called fez but mostly well just be driving. thanks for reading

dagny 

From Casablanca to Chefchaouen

We started the day with an early breakfast and hit the road by 7:30 AM.  We had a long morning on the road, stopping to see the Kasbah in Tangier.  Compared to Casablanca, Tangier is much prettier and cleaner. We toured the Kasbah with our city guide, Sayeed, who grew up in the area and was very knowledgeable. He showed us a few places captured by Matisse in his paintings and the homes owned by wealthy Americans back in the day. 

La Marabout

Another long van ride in the afternoon found us briefly on the roadside when the van broke down. Luckily we were not too far from Chefchouen and a backup vehicle came to rescue us. After checking in to our hotel, we ventured into the Medina for dinner and a short walk around as the shops were starting to close down. We have a layover tomorrow, so we will be able to explore this town a lot more. Stay tuned for more adventures and, ideally a van that doesn’t leave us stranded again. 

Casablanca and the start of adventure #1

The McLains are on the road, and planes, and vans, so far. We left Denver at 4pm on Saturday and arrived at our hotel in Casablanca at 7pm on Sunday. Long, but relatively easy travel. We were pretty hungry and tired upon arrival so happy to get to bed night one. 

Today we had the kids up at 8 for breakfast at our hotel. We all really like the self-serve Nespresso machine and the kids voted this crepe/tortilla type breakfast bread as the most delicious item offered. 

We walked for several miles through town on our way to the Hassan II Mosque, the third largest mosque in the world and constructed from 1987-1993 at a cost of 800 million. Twenty thousand men and 5,000 women can worship inside. We all really enjoyed our tour and the mosque was beautiful.

We walked through a mall for fun. It is always interesting to see what is the same and what is different. Typical food court, and layout, but most of the stores were unfamiliar. Our favorite was named, “Don’t call me Jennyfer”. Pretty funny.

We explored the beachfront and the Medina and had a relaxing lunch at a French restaurant near the mosque. It was delicious and a good opportunity to relax. We were all a little jet lagged today so after our long walk home we all caught afternoon naps.

Tonight we met the fellow travelers on our tour. For the next 14 days we are with 8 other travelers from Canada, Switzerland, Italy, and Massachusetts. They are mostly women about my age but also 2 young men in their 20s. So far everyone is really kind and multi-lingual. We have a guide and a driver so we are in good hands.

We had a tradition Moroccan dinner of tangine, cous cous, and pastille. All of it was delicious and we all tried something new. Dagny is loving the traditional mint tea. I think she will have it everyday.

Magnolia and I love seeing all the cats. Much like Rome and lots of other cities I have visited, Casablanca has tons of street cats. We promise not to touch any, but they sure are cute. 

We are working on being traffic aware. Much busier intersections than we are used to. Adelaide got extra close to a slowish moving motorcycle in the Medina. She’s fine. It was mostly funny.

We are tucked in tight in our very comfy rooms for a 7:30am start tomorrow to Tangier. We are already learning a lot and appreciate our time together so much. 

Happy Memorial Day back home!

Jll

It’s almost go time!

48 hours to go. We are putting the finishing touches on work and school, packing, travel visas, and saying our goodbyes. We are excited and busy! Thank you all for the well wishes. We are excited to get on the road!