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Showing posts from December, 2007

The Palace Museum of Oudaia Kasbah and the Andalucian Garden - Rabat

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The Andalucian garden was beautiful, i felt like i was in Granada, strangely. This is what i love about Morocco it always offers you a different experience wherever you go and so varied. I noticed a number of beautiful doors. The museum has beautiful treasures from times gone by. The colours were very different from those in Marrakech and the gardens seemed more lush. This was the last of our sites before heading off down the coast to Azzemour . I loved Rabat and will definitely be back for longer with my husband who has never been, it was truly a wonderful city. I don't think many people realise what it has to offer. Historical sites, the coast, shopping and fabulous restaurants. It is a very noble city.

The Villa Mandarine - Rabat

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The wonderfully eclectic Villa Mandarin in Rabat. The bedrooms were comfortable and full of modern comforts including slippers. The most amazing thing was the wonderfully well established gardens. The service was impeccable and most of all friendly. The restaurant was also superb although a little pricey. After a longish day driving to Rabat, with stops. (Although this journey could be done in about 3 hours without stopping for a gastronomic sea food lunch) A hot shower, glass of wine and dinner was perfect in this lovely boutique hotel. The hotel is a crazy mix of Moroccan art, old pieces of furniture and vibrant colours. A floor tile design in the main bedroom area. Granny enjoying dinner in the cosy restaurant. The larger salon. The hotel was easy to get lost in at first as it's full of nooks and crannies, which is also part of it's charm. Each section of the hotel is very different to the next.

Voyage to Rabat - Historic sights

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My parents have come to stay with us to get some sunshine. My father would only agree to come for a decent amount of time if i organised some trips. The morning after they arrived we set off to do a partial tour of the coast. We left Marrakech and took the new excellent motorway to Casablanca. At Casablanca we took the ring road and followed the coast road, which was very pretty to Rabat. En route we stopped at a restaurant and had a lovely fish lunch, after we walked for a bit and collected shells on the vast expanse of beach. I loved Rabat, i have not visited for 10 years and even then it was a drive through visit. It had a very different feel to Marrakech and felt very regal. It felt much more Andalusian which of course it is, but surprisingly so. The lovely river and hilly countryside added to the magic of the place. Below you can see a photo of the Chellah wall, one of the major historic sights. The Chellah is on top of the hill and freshwater springs flow out of the hill.

The Rose Marble Bathroom - creating an eco-conscious riad

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The first finishes have started at last. It seemed as if we were never going to get past the first stage of changing shapes, electrics, plumbing all of which seem to go on and on. There's so much stopping and starting because of religious festivals. The first marble has gone in! It has gone into the down stairs suite. We are only buying Moroccan Marble not imported. We are trying to support the local industries as much as possible. We have two bathrooms with baths and this is one of them. It has two little marble seats in it so that one can relax in the essence of Jasmin, sipping a glass of wine after a hard days shopping in the souk. I'm rather pleased with the outcome as you never know if you are going to be happy with the work done. Marcus is now watching everything like a hawk so that it's done correctly, i think this is the only way to try and get your finishes to an acceptable standard, which believe me is incredibly hard. Luckily Marcus is a perfectionist so i kn

The magnificent olive harvest

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The family went to help Ahmed with his olive harvest. Ahmed has become a great friend and has helped us enormously with organising the riad work and helping us to find materials. I loved the olive harvest there was a real sense of community and it reminded me of something we so often forget. Just helping each other out. You can get so caught up in the daily grind of life and getting things done. I had a real moment when i stood up and looking around at the beautiful ancient olive trees, I thought this is the lifestyle change i was after and this is the sort of integration with the Moroccan country folk that is so important. It's so easy to swan in here buy a lovely villa eat at lovely restaurants and actually have little to do with the Moroccan culture and way of life. I recommend olive harvest to everyone who needs to re-generate their energy, feel a sense of harmony and occomplishment and to bond once more with the earth. Enough of the hippy lecture! We also collected

Working Our Socks Off!

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Well everyone has been working their socks off, but still progress is slow. A new plaster man has started and is starting to finish off the shapes in the riad ready for tadelakt, so it is just starting to look a bit neater. Below are some of the great Moroccan architectural styles. These photos are of ceiling shapes, mainly in the bathrooms. The photo on the far right is the ceiling in the master suite bathroom. The gorgeous little arch is the entrance to the grand domed shower. You can see far right the beginning of a plaster dome. Everything is done by hand with very few tools available. A tape measure is a rare commodity!