random reflections

Winter Scavenger Hunt: Morocco Part 3

This is the final post of scavenger hunt photos from Morocco. I have two more photos to post, but I took both of them in Chicago before we left. I'm planning to put all the photos from the hunt in a SmugMug album as I usually do. I don't feel any need to choose just one photo for a prompt, but like to see how many different ways I've managed to capture them. 

Number 18 was "A Signpost." This is probably the lowest quality photo that I kept of the trip because it was taken out of the bus window. Actually I took some really fine photos out the window with my iPhone, but try as I might, I could not seem to get a signpost in clear focus.

"Detail," prompt #20, was photographed over and over. I loved the detail in the stucco work, the mosaics, and many of the crafts. So here are several. 

Here a craftsman is carving a marble headstone.

A close-up of one of the bronze doors in the King's Palace in Fes.

A closer look. This one could also work for the next prompt:  "Handles"

Here you see stucco work, mosaics, and calligraphy---all are hallmarks of Moroccan architecture.

The beautiful woodworking on a minbar in Marrakesh. The minbar is the pulpit in a mosque where the iman stands to deliver the sermon. (This one was showcased in a room in a kasbah in Marrakesh.) 

Number 21 is "Handles," and I found a lot of those I liked as well. The first ones show my interest in worn and ancient doors and handles.

Although hardly new, this one shows a little less wear and tear.

Although "Symmetry" (#22) is also a hallmark of Moroccan design, it was most apparent in the beautiful mosaic fountains. Almost every riad in the medinas had a beautiful fountain.

Number 24 was "Steam or smoke." I have one for steam and one for smoke. 

Mint tea being poured after our lunch at the Governor's House in Salé. We were told that it is traditionally (and almost always in our daily experience) poured from a height so that a foam head appears on the top of the tea. If no head appears, it means you are being served old tea. Mint tea is a symbol of hospitality, and it is considered rude to refuse it. In my reading before the trip, it was noted that it is usually quite sweet, but we were always offered mint tea, with or without sugar. The beautiful glasses were almost always filled with fresh mint before the tea was poured. I became quite fond of it. At some hotels we were greeted with trays of mint tea, and in both of the rug cooperatives we visited, tea was served prior to a talk on the rugs.

Here spices are being roasted in a souk in Marrakesh.

The last prompt (#25) was "a peek inside." Until we reached Casablanca, a peek inside was all we could see of a mosque. Unlike Istanbul, where all the mosques were open to non-Muslims during times when there was no worship service, in Morocco, only the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca is open to non-Muslims.

One of the most beautiful mosques we peeked into. This one was in Rissani, Morocco.

A peek into a room in a ksar in Rissani. A ksar was (is) a fortified castle, and many ancient ones exist in Morocco. Most are in a state of disrepair, and there are very few Moroccans living in one. This one was in terrible condition except for a very few rooms. One family was still living here. A woman opened the door to one of the rooms, and two goats stuck their heads out!

Someone commented that the scavenger hunt seemed made for my trip to Morocco, and indeed it did. There are a few more photos to share, perhaps, but these scavenger hunt finds give a good flavor of what we experienced on our tour. 

Take Three Thursday: WSH Heart

I'm joining Mary-Lou for her Take Three Thursday meme with three choices for #23:  "A Heart," all found on our trip to Morocco.

Tracy spotted this one on a tomb in the Fes Mellah (Jewish Quarter). Notice the French rather than Arabic. The French held a protectorate in Morocco from 1912-1955. They are responsible for building much of the modern parts of the main cities in Morocco, and French is still spoken by many Moroccans. The French influence is still felt throughout the country. In addition to the public schools, there are both French and American schools. These are private and lessons are taught in French or English, respectively. The two official languages in Morocco are Arabic and Berber. The Berbers represent nearly a third of Moroccans, but their language did not become one of Morocco's official languages until 2016.

This was one of the walls in the restaurant in Fes where we stayed, and had one of the best meals on the tour---a sea bass tagine.

I took several photos of these two storks in their nest, and truthfully, didn't notice that their heads formed a heart until I uploaded the photo.

I still have six more prompts for the Winter Scavenger Hunt to share, and will be back with those in the next day or two.

 

Winter Scavenger Hunt: Morocco Part 2

In the Making, prompt #9, was also an easy one to find in Morocco. In the medinas of Fes and Marrakesh we saw many, many craftsmen and women in the process of making. Here are a few:

This woman was making sheets of phyllo. She'd spoon a bit of the dough on the hot griddle, pat it flat with her bare hands, and place it on the pile to the right.

Hand painting pottery in Fes.

The brush being used here is fascinating.

Hand hammering copper pots.

Polishing the copper ware.

Weaving with agave silk. They strip the leaves of the agave plant, die the "threads" and weave it into scarves, tablecloths, and other linens.

The women in this shop embroider without a pattern, "from their imagination," the owner told us. The underside of their work is as perfect as the top.

The photo for Having Fun, the tenth prompt, happened in the weaving shop. Without being asked, both Tracy and I were wrapped in turbans, as well as a third member of our group. All of the wraps were different, and used for different purposes.

Stationery was the twelfth prompt. I snapped a photo of the stationery folder at our hotel in Fes.

I posted photos for "A line of . . ." here. Although I've also posted some photos of Volubilis for the February 5 in 5 meme, here are a couple more that work for both "Stones" (#14) and a "Sense of History" (#16).

"Many" (#17) was also easy to find in the souks of the medinas.

The copper souk near the craftsmen shown above for "In the Making."

Leather shoes. I bought a red pair for about $10 which I intend to use as slippers when I visit friends who prefer you to leave your shoes at the door.

Lanterns of all types and sizes.

And although out of order, I'll finish for today with #19, "A pair of . . ."

See above.

This board with pairs of Moroccan shoes (babouches) was hanging in the lobby of our hotel in Marrakesh.

 

 

 

 

Winter Scavenger Hunt: Photos from Morocco

Today is the first post to share the photos I found for the Winter Scavenger Hunt while we were in Morocco. There are multiples for some prompts, but I thought it would be a good way to share some of our trip.

Men at Work is the first prompt. We saw many, many men at work, but the most arduous jobs, in my opinion, were those in the tannery in Fes. These men work hour after hour, day after day, in very unpleasant working conditions. When we were in Fes, it was quite cold, and most of us were bundled up. These men were standing in huge vats of dyes, and working out in the open.

The second prompt is Luggage. One advantage of being on a tour is that our large suitcases were taken from our rooms to the bus. We took care of hand luggage (in our case, backpacks). Nothing was loaded on the bus until you arrived and indicated that all your luggage had arrived.

Domestic Trivia is the next prompt. On our way to the dunes to see the sunset, we stopped at a nomads' camp in the desert. I felt like it was intrusive to take photographs, but our guide said we should feel free as he provides them with some income in exchange for our visit. One of the women was making a rug on a loom. Many of the rugs are used by the nomads themselves, but others are sold to rug cooperatives, two of which we visited while we were in Morocco. 

A Winter's Tale is prompt #3. When we were leaving Fes to travel south to Erfoud, there had been an unusual amount of snow. The night before it was uncertain whether any of the passes over the Atlas Mountains would be open. In the end, one of the two roads was open. When we got about halfway to the pass, we were stopped and had to join a caravan of vehicles waiting to go over the mountain. The plows were clearing the road, and the road was not wide enough for the plows and the larger vehicles, like our bus.

Prompt #5, Passengers, was an easy one. I could have taken any number of photos in the airports or on our bus. 

I failed to get a photo from our trip for #6, Wrapping Paper, but I have one that I'll post at the end of the hunt. Number 7 is On the Water. Although both Rabat and Casablanca are on the Atlantic Ocean, it wasn't until our last day of the trip that I saw enough of the ocean to get a good photo. We had lunch on the harbor on our last day.

Prompt #8 is Silver, and again, there were many opportunities to take photos, and I have many. This one is a set of perfume holders in the governor's home in Salé where we had lunch on our first day in Rabat. We saw similar silver vessels used other times to sprinkle rose water on your hands as a way of greeting.

I've divided up the prompts into three posts, so I'll be back soon with the next installment.

 

Take Three Thursday and Winter Scavenger Hunt

When we left for Morocco, I thought I would try to find each item on the Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt on our trip. In fact, I did find every one of them, but failed to take a picture of one---wrapping paper. I bought a dress for Hannah in a wonderful shop in Marrakesh run by disabled Moroccan women who use their profits to provide health care and preschool education for their children. Their handmade clothing and home accessories were beautiful, and they wrapped Hannah's gift and tied it with a bow (another item on the list.) I gave the gift to Hannah, however, without taking a photo of the package.

Over the next few days, I'll be posting the photos for the scavenger hunt that I found in Morocco since the end of the hunt is coming soon. For today, I have three photos to link to Mary-Lou's Take Three Thursday meme. All were taken on the day of our trek to the  Sahara Desert and are for item #13 A line of . . . Camels!

(This photo took the most courage. I was on one of these camels, and had to let go of the reins long enough to extract my phone from my pocket!)

 

 

 

Take Three Thursday: Storks

We're home. It was a fabulous trip, and it far exceeded our expectations. Morocco is a country of great contrasts in geography, and incredibly rich in history and culture. I'm just beginning to sort through the 1500 photos I took over two weeks time. Granted many are duplicates, and many are easily tossed, but it's going to take awhile to pare them down to a reasonable number to keep and print. I aim for about 100-150, although I'll keep more than that for memories sake.

I thought I might use Mary-Lou's meme, Take Three Thursday, to share a few isolated photos over the next few weeks. When I was growing up, one of my favorite books was The Wheel on the School.  When I read that storks were frequently seen in Morocco, I was hoping to see one. It didn't take long. Our very first day in Rabat we visited the Chellah Kasbah, and there they were. 

It rained most of the day in Rabat, but it didn't diminish our enjoyment. It made for pretty dull looking skies in the photos, however. 

Five in five on the 5th

Greetings from Fez, Morocco! We’re here for a two week tour. Today was our third day here, and we spent the morning at Volubilis, the largest of the Romans’ 17 colonies established in Morocco between the first century BCE and the 2nd century CE. It poured rain on our drive from Rabat, but the sun began to shine just as we arrived at the site. The French excavated the ruins here, rebuilding several of the ruins piece by piece, during the early 20th century.

The Basilica 

 

There are more photos to share, but not taken within 5 minutes. Internet here is slow, my keyboard for the iPad isn’t working, and this post has taken forever, so I’ll save the commentary for later. Linking up with Sandie at Itchifingers for her monthly 5 in 5 meme.