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I suppose the real miracle is that I am finally adding content to the blog, but that’s not what this entry is about.  I just returned from 10 glorious days in Morocco – my first international travel in well over a year!   Just over a month ago I posted the desire for bright colors and wonderful scents on Facebook and my friend Tanya responded with yee ha and off we went.  The miracle is how we actually managed (after 10 years not seeing each other) to agree on where to go, book tickets, get on planes and actually have similar enough travel styles to have a successful trip!  This can not be underestimated.  She and I live in different states, have very different jobs and of course would have different ideas and comfort levels.  Not that I thought any of this through up front – all I could think was “excellent, we’re going to Morocco!”  Tanya and I picked up like no time had passed since seeing each other and off we went on our adventure.

No surprise, but I am very laissez-faire when it comes to travel/being on vacation.  I love waking up in the morning and just doing what the day has ahead for me – with plenty of time to smell cooking fires, avoid getting hit by motorcycles, eat French pastries, walk as far as my legs will carry me, and watch a slow sunset.  Morocco had all of that and went way beyond any expectations.  I can go on and on about Morocco, but really I’m most amazed by how great Tanya and I traveled together!  Just one example, in Casablanca we walked from the Hassan II Mosque along the seafront, through a wasteland with people picking through the rubbish heaps, to the finest restaurant in Casablanca for dinner.  A) We were most definitely the only patrons to ever arrive via that route (and possibly on foot), and B) Who other than Tanya would also take that route?  We got past the seafront, looked at the wasteland ahead, thought oh crap, looked at each other, looked back at how far we would have to walk back to walk around to a “better” route, looked at the wasteland, looked at each other, and went ahead. Let me tell you, there just ain’t many out there who would do that.

Alright, but on to details of Morocco.  To frame it up, we arrived in Casablanca, took the train to Marrakesh, spent 3 nights in Marrakesh, took to the Atlas mountains for 3 nights, returned to Marrakesh for a night, and then spent our last day and night in Casablanca.  There is plenty to tell.  Right away I can tell you my highlights were the mosque in Casablanca and the mountains.  Hands down I would bear the 24 hour trip (darn the connections) just to go back to the mountains and exactly to where we stayed.  Marrakesh was great, too, but I was blown away by the others.

You can check out my photos and I’ll add updates to an upcoming blog with the juicy details.