Another World!

I went to Morocco this past weekend on a tour. Lesson number one; no more tours! I decided to go with the tour because being a woman alone, Morocco is not the place you want to go on your own. Over all it was a good introduction to the country but there would be so much more to experience without being tied to a time schedule and limited areas to explore.

We were primarily in the North of North Africa in three different areas; Tetuan, Tanger and Chef-Chaouen. The weather was beautiful and the country amazing in so many ways; the color, the people and just a different way of looking at the world. Nothing like anyplace I've ever been to. In Tetan, we went to some traditional markets where the locals hang out and shop. We were a large group and no doubt stood out but we didn't see many other tourist in this area.

We were given "free time" to shop and taken to this amazing carpet store where they just sat us down (and maybe locked the door, I'm not sure but that was the feel) and started putting out a ton of rugs and they were all smiles and happy until they started taking us aside in the little corners of the shop and giving us outrageous prices and then the smiles vanished when hardly anyone would buy.

We were then taken to a "traditional" Moroccan meal that was not the best...not really even good! We were very disappointed to say the least.

The next day was my favorite day. We drove up into the mountain to Chef-Chaouen. This was a truly magical place with incredible mountain views and the areas we walked and shopped were so colorful and simply magical! Once again we got taken to a "special" shop and I think everyone was much more prepared. We found out that the same item could be purchased down the way for about a third of the price(apparently the guides get a percentage....imagine that! You learn fast in Morocco about shopping.

We had a very long day that day as we heading back down the mountain and then to the ferry and had about a 3 1/2 hour drive back to Granada.

It has been a busy week, finishing up Spanish classes and getting ready to move on to Seville tomorrow. I've had a great time in Granada and really feel like I've had the opportunity to truly get to know one area in Spain. I'm ready to experience more!
To view the photos go to: www.picasaweb.google.com/tonibodeau/Morocco