The walking tour of Marrakech took us to the Mosque of Koutoubia Minaret, originally built in the 11th century. Next was a walk pass the Royal Palace and then the tombs of Saadiens ( the royal family from the 16th century).
After that we visited the Bahia Palace, the residence of the Prime minister at some point. A visit to a Berber pharmacy and a few purchases was followed by a slow meander around the Medina.
After a break we drove for two and a half hours to the Atlantic Ocean to Essaouira. A pleasant change in temperature (only 30C compared to 41C in Marrakech).
Our hotel is opposite the beach and we have a balcony to appreciate the view.
Essaouira reminds us of a Northern NSW beach area, except the beach area is protected by an island and a breakwater. The old Medina was once a Portuguese fortress and later a Spanish stronghold.
Essaouira also has some contemporary history. There are some myths about Jimi Hendrix, including that he lived here for a long time, slept with half the female population, bought up property, wrote the song "Castles in the sand(released in 1967!)", etc... From research it seems he spent 3 nights here in 1969. Recently it was used as the setting for the city of Astapor in the TV series, The Game of Thrones.
We first went for a walk along the beach (and got our feet wet!) to the harbour. The fishing boats were selling their catches of the day.
We then wandered around the Medina and reached the city walls, ramparts and the Portuguese cannons. We had a drinks break at a lovely cafe (Il Mare) overlooking the ramparts.
Back at the hotel we sat on the balcony and watched the sunset over the town and the Atlantic.
We dined at a restaurant that we passed on the way back to the hotel called Taros. As with a lot of our experiences on this trip, by chance we had a great night meeting new people.
When we sat down next to a table of three ladies, one of them (Kelly) picked up on our Aussie accent straight away). Kelly is originally from Perth and has been living in New York City for the last 12 years. Kelly was travelling with 2 friends from the USA, Meaggan and Kacy. We had a really enjoyable evening discussing our travels and they were great company.
The people you meet travelling are fantastic!
Cheers,
A & K.
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