September 22, 2017
After an incredible wedding in Santorini, Greece, we stopped over in Paris and caught a flight to Morocco. Over the next two weeks we would travel by car across much of the country. First stop, Tangier. We chose Morocco b/c it was different from any other country we have visited thus far. A friend of a friend used to live in Morocco and provided us with an awesome itinerary for us to follow even including restaurants and accommodations. Tangier was a nice introduction to Morocco allowing us to ease ourselves into the country.
Tangier is the oldest city of Morocco and sits on the North African coast on the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. Here we were introduced to the typical structure of a Moroccan city with the medina (old town) being the center of the hustle and bustle. Our friend suggested staying in accommodation within the medina at Albarnous Maison D'hôtes, which meant being dropped off outside the medina and walking in since the streets within the medina are far too narrow for cars to enter. Our guest house was a multi floor building with beautiful rooms that were simple but comfortable and we were served breakfast on the rooftop that had a view of the surrounding medina from above.
Staying inside the medina makes it easy to walk around and explore without worrying about the traffic of cars. Walking thru the narrow streets the buildings seem to tower above you. Because of the summer heats in Morocco, these narrow streets also served well to create shade and cool off the residents. They also sometimes serve as a crazy maze where its easy to get lost. At first this was very intimidating, but once we relaxed a bit and were not in a rush, it was fun to explore and take in such a different city.
