We began the morning touring the 3rd largest mosque in the world - Hassan II Mosque. It was built in the early eighties and took 5 years and 30,000 labourers to build. Many modern day technologies including a high tech speaker system, sliding roof to let in light and air, and heated marble floors. The titanium doors weigh several tons and open electronically. At 200meters high, the minaret is the highest in the world. Apart from the Italian chandeliers, all the materials are Moroccan. Inside the mosque, I was overwhelmed with the sheer size of it - able to hold 80,000 people! I couldn't help but wonder what would you do if you really needed to go to the loo!? It truly was an amazing sight with it's polished marble floors and intricate hand made tile work.
Afterwards we got the train to Rabat, the Capitol city of Morocco, where we toured the Market and the centuries old Medina before moving on to Meknes, a 10th century city founded by the Berber tribe of the Meknassis. We arrived in time to eat dinner and get to our hotel to sleep before spending the day there.
The first stop was the Hari es-Souani, the granaries that the King built for his 12,000 horses over a thousand years ago. It is basically in ruins except for the first few vaults which have been restored. I find it fascinating that they could control temperature, direct and regulate the flow of water in these massive buildings so long ago without any technology and using the power of animals and rudimentary tools. After that we walked to the mausoleum of Moulay Ismail. Beautiful and peaceful.
Another wander through a very large, very busy, and very colourful market where I bought some frankincense and amber. The meat section was interesting and made me swear off meat until lunchtime where I ate a camel burger. When in Rome....as they say!
After lunch, which was delicious by the way, we took a bus to the Roman ruins on the way to our next stop, Fez. It is hard to fathom seeing floor tiles in intricate patterns that have been uncovered after 2000 years. Only a third of the ancient city has been unearthed and restored (started in the 1920's) but there are plans to uncover and rebuild the rest of it in time. Truly amazing.
The food in Morocco is sensational. The Moroccans really know what they're doing with spices. The tangines are fragrant with spices, tender meat and often cooked with figs, vegetables and couscous. A highlight today was eating a fresh pomegranate.
Just heading out to eat dinner. I'm told that lambs head is on the menu.....!
