Casablanca & Fes, Morocco

We rented a car, with full insurance, from Hertz at the airport in Casablanca so we could make our own plans and have the flexibility to pick up my niece (Glen's daughter) Teresa from the airport on April 5th. On our first full day we decided to get away from Casablanca and make our way to Fez for the day.

DAY TRIP TO FEZ
Fez is about 250km from Casablanca but the roads are excellent and the nominal tolls make it very worthwhile. Fes is a remarkable city; the medina is the largest medieval Islamic city in the world and a place where getting lost is an absolute certainty. GPS on the phone was no good and there are very few open spots to try and get your bearings. On our way into town we pulled into a parking spot but we quickly met a guy on a motorbike who encouraged us to follow him if we wanted to see the medina. He led the way and we followed him to a lookout point where his 'brother' emerged to offer us a tour of the city - we only had a few hours so we listed the things we wanted to see, he added some other stuff to the mix and off we went with our guide, Adine, in the backseat barking out directions. He kept saying 'right' instead of 'left' but we made our way around the new city streets to a ceramic factory for a quick stop, then to a parking spot on the edge of the medina, the old city, where the fun began.

Glen, Adine & I overlooking Fez

The medina is enormous and the layout means that it's incredibly easy to get lost and/or separated from people. At various points we lost Adine, his girlfriend Susana who came along for the ride, and another helper who we never formally met but acted like a spotter, calling out from up ahead, pointing down this alley or that, warning of steps, donkey dung, donkey's etc. As is custom in places like this we were directed to various shops but we never felt pressured to buy anything. The carpet store was absolutely enormous and so were their prices but our main goal for the day was to get Fez hat. Our lucky salesman was insistent that Glen and I dress up for a photograph which made for some good light hearted banter. With hats successfully purchased we meandered through the maze, watching the locals go about their business, avoiding the animals taking lots of photographs.

Fez from inside the medina

We were on a time crunch because we had to be back at Casablanca airport to pick up Teresa who was due to land at 9:30pm that evening. As it turned out we were an hour late thanks to a combination of a late departure time from Fez and some conservative driving on my part as we drove into the setting sun with a dirty windshield and poor wiper blades. By 11pm we were having a delicious dinner at a Moroccan tapas place and enjoying a difficult to find local beer.

CASABLANCA
We stayed at a place called Jnane Sherazade in the Habbous district of Casablanca about 15 minutes drive from the King Hassan II Mosque. The mosque is the largest in Morocco, the third largest in the world, and has the tallest minaret. It's setting on an outcrop looking over the North Atlantic is stunning but the area surrounding is dirty, muddy and not well maintained. We parked and wandered around the grounds, Teresa had her hands painted with henna and we soaked up the atmosphere. Each time we'd parked our car somebody always seemed to appear out of nowhere to help guide you in or out of the parking space. Presumably looking for a tip, but not obvious about it, I never asked for help so I never gave any money. It was one of those curious things where maybe I misread their hospitable gesture.

King Hassan II Mosque

King Hassan II Mosque

MOROCCO QUICK GUIDE
Capital: Rabat
Currency: Moroccan Dirham (USD$1 = Dh8)
Language: Arabic/French
Drive on the Right
Beer of choice: Casablanca

Lisbon, Portugal

The first day of the Europe/Africa leg of the vacation went better than expected. Exciting things happen when my brother is around and today he didn't disappoint. Glen tracked me down at the OneWorld lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 3 and woke me up while I was taking a power nap after the overnight flight from Dallas. Ten minutes later we bump into an old work friend of his from New Zealand and half an hour later we're taking selfies with Tiki Tane on our way to our gate. (FYI Tiki Tane is a New Zealand musician). Quick flight to Lisbon, pickup a rental car and we head straight to the too trendy Hilton DoubleTree for our two night stay.

Monument to the Discoveries

After a number of weeks in the Caribbean where Christopher Columbus features heavily, our time in Portugal was all Magellan this and Vasco de Gama that. The weather threatened to ruin things slightly but for the most part we had clear skies and only a little bit of rain on and off. The main reason for the stop in Portugal is to enjoy a few creature comforts before heading further south into Africa.

The Rue Augusta arch

On our only full day in Lisbon we spent the morning at the castle and the afternoon in Belem at the Belem Tower, the 500 year anniversary of discoveries monument and the impressive Jeronimo Monastery. By a weird coincidence the world rally championship was racing next to the monastery in the early evening so we stuck around to watch the top guys race at the end of the day.

Entrance to the Castle of St Jorge

Peacocks at the Castle (for Lily)

The Belem Tower was a pleasant surprise. Built on a small island near the shore of the Tagus river in the 16th century, it was originally a defense system but is now more of a ceremonial entrance into Lisbon from the sea. It, along with Jerónimos Monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage site because of the significant role it played in the Portuguese discoveries during what they call the Age of Discoveries.

Belem Tower

Jerónimos Monastery

The cloisters inside the courtyard at Jerónimos Monastery

Back at the hotel another unplanned surprise - the hotel was celebrating 6 months as part of the Hilton family of hotels - free drinks, food and mimes taking random photographs. We were the only two people in shorts but we didn't care and even though the drinks were free we snuck out for a late night port before turning in.

Welcome party at the Hilton