Adventures in Morocco: General Admonitions

So instead of doing one epic journal of a recent trip to Morocco, I'm going to do this in phases. First, general thoughts as to the trip.

Arrival. We took the ferry from Algeciras, in Spain, to Tangier. I'm a big boat fan, so I would definitely recommend the arrival-by-ferry approach. It's a quick one hour trip, you get to cruise by Gibraltar, and the boat is a big catamaran with snackbar, etc. That said, there is pretty much nothing to recommend Algeciras, where we spent the night before taking the boat.

On a somewhat unrelated point, I flew via Gibraltar (from Luton on Monarch Air). I'm now a fan of Luton airport and a growing fan of the low budget UK carriers. Luton had a lovely Marks & Spencer food store and a coffee shop - really all you need when waiting for a plane. Monarch Air had the requisite kitsch factor ("flying is so fun!") and they took buying drinks and snacks to a whole other level: they would chill a bottle of champagne for you during the flight, and you could then take it with you to enjoy upon arrival.

As for arrival in Gibraltar, it's one of those great, small one room airports, complete with observation deck where your family can wave to you as you disembark. No Placencia, Belize, the smallest airport I can recall, but still pretty funny. Crossing the border into Spain involves exiting the airport, walking one block down the street through the more or less unstaffed border crossing and then hailing a cab. Total time plane to Spain: 7 minutes.

Transportation. Our plans for Road Trip Morocco were thwarted by my gainful employment, so we instead took a planes, trains and automobiles approach. Our major legs were taxi from Tangier to Fes (5 hours, hot, not so recommended); train from Fes to Marrakech (cheap, air conditioned, snack trolley, decent seats, brilliant, definitely pay the extra $5 or whatever for first class); car from Marrakech to Imlil in the Atlas Mountains (really the only choice, very scenic, only about an hour). Lesson: if your schedule can handle it, take the train. That said, I think roadtripping would have been completely doable.

Lodging. Definitely stay in a riad. These are words to live by. Back in the day, westerners could only stay in the "new cities", outside the medinas, the traditional old cities. Now, enterprising Moroccans and a healthy dose of foreigners have purchased traditional courtyard homes (known as riads) and converted them into small hotels. These riads are tucked into the alleyways of the medina and are incredibly charming. Some are a little themey - heavy on lanterns and such and some are chic and sparse. If you're lucky, there will be a roof terrace and a little pool in the courtyard. They'll serve you breakfast in the morning and, on request, cook you dinner.

Food. Okay, so here's the thing: Moroccan food is not so interesting. There's really no restaurant culture, so basically what you're looking at is home cooking made for tourists. While this sounds good in theory, in practice it means a fair amount of baked chicken over the course of two weeks. Sure, they call it tagine. Sure, it's with couscous. Sure, every 4th night it might be lamb. But in the end, it's just a lot of baked chicken. That aside, a highlight of Moroccan cuisine is that they make decent bread (both of the french-influenced variety and ksra - the round, chewy native variety). Most folks will tell you to eat in your riad, as that's how you'll get "real" Moroccan home cooking. Fair, and I wouldn't disagree, but you'll be happy if you mix it up a little.

A personal favorite dish was pastilla (or b'stilla) - ground meat (traditionally pigeon) encased in a pastry dusted with sugar and cinnamon. Nice salty and sweet combination, although too heavy to eat every day. Le Foundouk, in Marrakech, did a brilliant one.

We also did a little venturing into street food, but honestly Morocco has nothing on Thailand and its kin. We enjoyed a little kefta sandwich in Fes (good spices), but that was the highlight. Okay, not entirely true, there fresh squeezed orange juice stands everywhere (including twenty or so in Djemma el Fna in Marrakech). Mike was a fan.

In Marrakech, which is crawling with hipster Parisians these days, there are food choices beyond the traditional, but they are heavily form over substance. Still, after three nights of chicken tagine, "thai-moroccan" cuisine, house music, and lots of draped fabric is a welcome change. See Bo-Zin, outside of Marrakech. A less successful venture was Le Comptoir, which sure felt like Morocco Land at Disney World. The bar is a better bet. Best food of the trip was Le Foundouk, also in Marrakech. Still hipster, but actually decent food and light on gimmicks.

Beverages. Right, so one of the standard shticks is when people offer you "moroccan whiskey." this points out a drawback to travelling in a muslim country: moroccan whiskey is mint tea. Not so much with the alcohol in Morocco. There are a few local wines - I would say the most palatable is the President Rose. But really you should bring your own. Only restaurants that serve westerners will have any alcohol, but most riads are happy to let you bring your own for dinner or to drink on the terrace, etc. The good news is you can now bring duty free liquids on the plane, so I'd suggest buying during your layover on your way in.

Attire. Although there were definitely western women, and teenage moroccans, in revealing clothing, I would say it's just less stressful to cover up. I did long sleeve cotton shirts or tshirts and a cardigan or wrap and linen pants or long linen skirts. Mid calf was fine. Sandals are great, although the streets of the medinas are super yucky (lots of mules, need I say more), so closed shoes have their advantages. At the hipster spots in Marrakech, you saw a little more trendy dressing, but overall a pretty conservative scene. The good news is there are oodles of cotton caftans and skirts for sale everywhere, so you can just buy while there if you've miscalculated. Or if you want to bring home beach coverups.