Souks

We started our day after breakfast as always with a hike back out of the warren of lanes to board our bus.

On our way out and about the city, we drove past “the royal palace.” Although obviously it is one of (number corrected) 22 locations.  It occupies a rather large chunk of real estate.  This was followed by walking, way too much time spent taking pictures of themselves & others by the group and more walking.
Next up was walk through the old Jewish Quarter.  There had been extensive renovations, much funded through UNESCO .  Perhaps 90% of the Moroccan Jewish population made Aliyah mostly in the 1950s-60s.  This did not mean giving up ownership of their property which is pretty much rented out.
And then it was ride & hike through the souks. If you have been in the souks in old Jerusalem, Istanbul, Jordan, Oman, Bahrain – they are pretty much the same. Dark, narrow covered passageways crowded with small shops selling while customers push through and haggle for daily supplies as well as the occasional treat. Notice that I left out the new locations in the Emirates & Dubai which can feature wide lanes, glass skylights, fancy internal shops with display cases definitely oriented toward those with money.
We had lunch off a small passageway which led down to a lovely covered courtyard.

Then there were more souks to traverse with a stop at a tannery in business for about 11 centuries. Yes, you read that correctly. Little had changed except for plumbing instead of hauling buckets of water.

We wove through even more crowded spaces late in the afternoon on our way to the bus.  Tonight’s dinner was a home hosted meal. Since I am still coughing, I skipped it.

We have an excellent guide (local, well educated with degrees in linguistics & tourism. Additionally, there is a local guide who joins us to provide information unique to that area.)

 

 

 

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About Holly

fiber person - knitter, spinner, weaver who spent 33 years being a military officer to fund the above. And home. And family. Sewing and quilting projects are also in the stash. After living again in Heidelberg after retiring (finally) from the U.S. Army May 2011, we moved to the US ~ Dec 2015. Something about being over 65 and access to health care. It also might have had to do with finding a buyer for our house. Allegedly this will provide me a home base in the same country as our four adult children, all of whom I adore, so that I can drive them totally insane. Considerations of time to knit down the stash…(right, and if you believe that…) and spin and .... There is now actually enough time to do a bit of consulting, editing. Even more amazing - we have only one household again. As long as everyone understands that I still, 40 years into our marriage, don't do kitchens or bathrooms. For that matter, not being a golden retriever, I don't do slippers or newspapers either. I don’t miss either the military or full-time clinical practice. Limiting my public health/travel med/consulting and lecturing to “when I feel like it” has let me happily spend my pension cruising, stash enhancing (oops), arguing with the DH about where we are going to travel next and book buying. Life is good!
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