Back up, we forgot to cover Casablanca

Our blog wouldn't be complete without our Casablanca coverage. Sorry about messing up the order. There wasn't a lot to see in Casablanca but we did make it to the most important attraction - the Hassan II Mosque. This mosque is out of this world. It's located right along the water and has a retractable roof (please don't picture a sports stadium roof, this roof has intricate designs all over the inside of it). It's the third largest mosque in the world and can hold up to 25,000 people.

Here is a description from wikipedia (don't worry, they are the same facts our tour guide told us):

"Built on reclaimed land, almost half of the surface of the mosque lies over the Atlantic water. This was inspired by the verse of the Qur'an that states "the throne of God was built on water." Part of the floor of this facility is glass so worshippers can kneel directly over the sea; above, spotlights shine at night from the top of the minaret toward Mecca. These features were specifically requested by King Hassan II, who declared, "I want to build this mosque on the water, because God's throne is on the water. Therefore, the faithful who go there to pray, to praise the Creator on firm soil, can contemplate God's sky and ocean." It also includes a number of modern touches: it was built to withstand earthquakes and has a heated floor, electric doors, and a sliding roof."

Location:Calle de Arlabán,Madrid,Spain

It's all about the Alhambra - Granada

We took a three hour train ride to Granada to see the Alhambra, Spain's most visited monument. Our guide book says that it is perhaps the most refined and exquisite example of Islamic art in the world. The Alhambra was a fortress-palace constructed in the 13-14th century.

We toured the Palacio Nazaries and gardens. We were told over and over again that we needed to be at the entrance to the palace at the specified time on our ticket. If not, we wouldn't be allowed to enter. Well, we showed up a few minutes early just to make sure we were there on time. The specified time came and went and we were still standing there in the blazing sun (over 100 degrees). In fact, we stood there for a least a half hour until they let us in the palace. You could tell our patience was running thin when people started butting in line and Sara started complaining and then John said, "Don't worry, they will burn in Hell for that". Suddenly everything was ok.

Turn on the AC - Seville

After the craziness of Morocco it was nice to spend a few days in the charming town of Seville. We fully embraced the traditional siestas and wished America would adopt this wondering habit of napping during the day. Our favorite part might have been going to the cinema during the day to escape the sun. Maybe, just maybe we went and saw Eclipse one night. Let's just say that our ticket, popcorn, fountain soda, and candy bar cost less than a movie ticket in NYC. We were in heaven!!!

We did muster up enough strength to see the sights. We went to the cathedral and Giralda. It's an old cathedral where Christopher Columbus is supposedly buried (although some say he is buried in the Dominican Republic). There used to be a mosque here but the Christians eventually tore it all down, except for the Giralda. The Giralda is the minaret from the original mosque. We climbed the Giralda's 35 floors for a spectacular view of the city.

We also went to the Alcazar. The Alcazar was originally a fort but over time it was used for different things. The buildings were beautiful but the gardens were incredible. John spent most of his time on an audio guided tour of the buildings and Sara spent most of her time in the gardens. Sara could have spent all day there watching these cute little boys feed the peacocks, baby peacocks, and ducks. The only thing that could have been better is if she would have brought her own bread so she could have gotten in on the action.

Seville is splendid but we suggest coming when it isn't quite so hot!

PS - hotels in Spain don't seem to understand the concept of AC. They think a tiny stream of cold air cuts it. NO, it doesn't. We went out and bought our own fan so we could cool down enough to sleep.

Making World Cup History - Seville

We must be good luck charms because whenever the team of the country we are currently visiting plays a game in the World Cup, they win!!! We gathered with thousands of Spaniards in Seville to watch the championship game (Spain v Holland). The streets were packed with people covered in red and yellow. The flag was everywhere you looked and people were chanting everywhere you turned. We watched part of the game in a huge crowd surrounding a tiny tv outside a little restaurant. They hung a flat screen tv outside the restaurant window and threw an extended cable cord from an apartment above out the window in order to watch the game. It was hilarious. The second half of the game we sat at a little outdoor restaurant. They were having problems getting their tv up and running (hooked up the same way as the other place) so we were able to snag a seat. Luckily, they were able to get the tv working so we didn't miss out on too much of the exciting game. When Spain scored the crowd went wild! When Spain was finally declared the winner the crowd went wild again. Cheering, singing, crying, dancing, bottles breaking. It was an unbelievable night.

Guided Tour - Fez

Our train ride from Marrakesh to Fez was HOT! We were supposedly in an air conditioned car but you would have never known. There was a tiny bit of cold air coming from the vent so we took turns fanning each other the whole way. Oh, did we mention the train ride was seven hours long!!!

We beelined it for the taxi stand as soon as we arrived (12:30am). As we were loading our luggage into the first two cars a fight was breaking out between two drivers. Apparently the driver of the first car had butted in line. Why they chose to fight about it when we arrived was a mystery to us. The car had been parked there well before we arrived. The fight became so heated that one man had his hands around the other man's throat. We quickly unloaded our stuff and put it in the next car in line. What a lovely welcome to Fez!

The taxi dropped us off in the middle of one of the main squares. We had written directions on how to walk to the hotel from the square. A teenage boy came up to us and asked us if we needed a guide to our hotel (of course for a fee). We took him up on his offer since there are over 9,000 unmarked dead end streets in the Fez Medina. By the time the boy walked us to our hotel, about eight other teenagers were following us around trying to offer their assistance. Our patience was wearing thin so we were happy once we made it to our hotel!

We decided Fez would be best explored by a tour guide. This turned out to be the best decision we could have ever made. Our tour guide, Isham, was not only a friendly and intelligent tour guide but also a local football celebrity too. He took us to the following places: Royal Palace, Jewish Quarters, Jewish Synagogue, Medersa, tannery, spice shop, and a ceramic studio. We ended the day watching Spain beat Germany at a local hotel. John was devastated but was quickly consoled when he realized we would be watching the world cup final in Spain!

Ladies in the house - Fez

Hammams are all the rage in Morocco. Everyone was talking about them so Melanie, Sara, and Lizzy had to get out there and try it. Below is a brief description of a hammam from the Fodor's guidebook:

"A hammam is a wonderful place to retreat from the hubbub of the souk and the ardors of shopping or to refresh yourself after hours of walking or trekking. If you go to the public variety, you'll have the rare opportunity to meet locals and participate in an important ritual. All public hammams are very clean, as they are checked constantly."

We had a much different experience than the one mentioned above. From the moment we walked through the door we were in an utter state of confusion. First, we were told that women wore their underwear while there..... well this is semi-true. Many were just letting it all hang out there. It was quite a sight to behold. We, the conservative Americans, wore swimming suits. I'm sure the locals thought we were crazy.

We paid for a tayeba to scrub us down. She took our money, started walking away, and motioned for us to follow her. We followed her through three different rooms. Each room was a different temperature but all were extremely hot. Everywhere we looked there were women sitting on the marble floors throwing water on themselves and scrubbing their skin. She left us standing in the hottest room and didn't return for a long time. We just stood there with "deer in the headlights" expressions on our faces while sweat dripped down us. Everyone was staring at us and a few people even tried to explain to us through charades what we were supposed to do. Finally the lady came back and took us to a room and had us sit on the dirty floor (think hostel bathrooms). Once we sat down she disappeared again. We were almost ready to walk out when she came back and started scrubbing us down. Once she was finished scrubbing (which was painful) she dumped a few buckets of water on us and walked away. We assumed she was finished and walked out as fast as possible.

In summary, it was a traumatic, hilarious, eye-opening experience. Who would have thought that in a Muslim country we would be feeling uncomfortable by the local women's modesty. This was truly an experience we will never forget. Below is a picture taken after we returned from the Hamman. We tried to recreate the expressions on our face when we first entered in bathing area.

Bargaining it up in the Medina - Marrakesh

Happy birthday America! We celebrated the Fourth of July as we traveled through the desert. We sang patriotic songs in the car (don't worry, the two Saras provided firework sound effects) and ate some watermelon for dinner. We had a great Fourth!

We arrived in Marrakesh around 8pm and the streets were filled with cars, motorcycles, people, animals, garbage, etc. Sara thought she was back in India for a moment. We spent a half hour driving around the outskirts of town trying to find a working ATM. We tried three different ones and they were either broken or out of money. Incredible.

Once we had paid our driver we ventured into the Old Medina. Momo, the manager of the riad we were staying at, met us at the car and helped us navigate the crazy streets. Riads are restored houses in the medina that are turned into guest houses. We were blown away by our riad. It was gorgeous and felt like a spa. There was soothing music playing, a water fountain, and candles everywhere. The center of the riad was outside so you have a courtyard in the middle of your house. Our riad had three floors. First floor had a living room, bedroom, and kitchen. Second floor was just bedrooms and the third was a beautiful terrace. We loved Momo and the riad so much that we decided we are going to buy a riad in Marrakesh and hire Momo to take care of it. Don't worry, we even started looking for potential properties.

We had a hard time wanting to venture out from our peaceful riad into the crazy medina but we finally mustered enough strength to face the chaos. Our first day was spent wandering through the Djemaa el Fna (main square filled the famous snake charmers) and Souks (labyrinth of narrow streets filled with small shops). We had a great time bargaining with the shop owners. We came away with amazing bowls, plates, rings, games, shoes, etc. It was a shoppers paradise!

The next day we got up early to see the sights before it got too hot. Our first stop was El Badi Palace. As our guide book would say, "it's a romantic set of sandstone ruins, policed by nesting storks". The mosaic walls and ceilings were amazing. Then we ventured over to the Saadian Tombs. Here we saw the burial ground for several prominent Saadians.

Our next stop was supposed to be the Ali ben Youssef Medersa (16th century Koranic school) but a few people on the street told us that it was closed for cleaning and that we should go to the Festival of Colors instead. A man took it upon himself to lead us there ensuring that "no guide, no money". Later we found out they were feeding us a bunch of lies. The Festival of Colors turned out to be the disgusting tanneries. The tanneries smelled so bad that they handed us a handful of mint leaves to smell as we walked around. Trust us, the mint didn't even come close to helping with the smell. They wanted us to enter via a doorway that had a bunch of animal hides semi-blocking the entry (yes, long hairy fur still attached). We refused and they took us to another entrance. Still disgusting but a little more bearable. They gave us a quick explanation on the tanneries and then we were free to leave. As we were leaving the man leading us to the festival asked us for money. Hmm, remember when he said "no guide, no money". We just walked away without saying a word.

As we were walking back to the main square we stumbled upon the Medersa and guess what, it was open! Imagine that! We took a quick tour and then headed out to find lunch. As we were walking back people kept coming up to us and telling us to go to the tanneries. Lizzy, after being sick of being fed lies and tired of being hot and sweaty said, "if you talk to me about tanneries one more time I'm going to punch you in the face". Amen sister! Overall we loved Marrakesh. We would just suggest you hire a guide in order to avoid being fed lies!