Tagines, Prunes and Dunes; Morocco! ESSAOURIA

Essaouria (21st - 22nd April)

We arrived into Essaouria from Casablanca to very heavy rain and cloudy skies, however the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful day to wander the beautiful Medina and port. We could see the bright blue skies from the open roof of our traditional Moroccan Riad, and enjoyed being welcomed with a traditional Moroccan mint tea!  (We only stayed in Casablanca for one night, and are happy we did this – there was not much to see in this city).

 

 

Riad Sidi Magdoul - Essaouria

Sweet and refreshing Moroccan mint tea

 

 

The Medina has beautiful streets with window decorations, coloured front doors and shops filled with fresh food, souvenirs and clothing. It would be extremely easy to get lost in the many narrow streets throughout the medina!

 

Beautiful seaside blue wooden doors and windows

 

 

An old building in the old medina

 

 

A typical Moroccan restaurant down a quiet street

 

 

The beautiful sunshine brightly coming through and reflecting off the building

 

 

A local selling mint to people in the street (for mint tea maybe?)

 

 

Spices ready for sale!

 

 

A local butcher

 

 

Beautifully presented olives and preserved lemons

 

Blushing olives garnished with tangy preserved lemons

 

The narrow, winding streets in the old medina

 

 

An orange juice stall, decorated with hanging orange peels

 

 

When exiting the Medina, the view of the sea against the buildings looked beautiful and you could spend hours here watching people and the day go by.

 
 

 
 

The fish market area of the port was lively and full of fishermen selling their catch of the day.

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Catching Zzzzzzz's instead of fish?

 

While in Essaouria, we tried a very traditional tagine from a restaurant in the backstreets of the medina.  The tagine was cooked on a single burner atop a gas cylinder. 

 

 

 

 

We wandered along the sea side in the beautiful warm weather we had on our last day, it was 22 degrees and bright blue skies! The sand stretches for miles and there were people playing frisbee, soccer and relaxing on the beach.

 

 

A Soccer pitch mapped out in the sand

 

A local man transporting his kids in his trailer

 

 

 

Essaouria was a lovely seaside city that we enjoyed staying in for a couple of days.  With the beautiful warm weather, you can see why tourists would flock to the city for the long sandy beach and quaint medina.

 

 

 

From the mountains to the sea; Turkey!! ANTALYA

Antalya (7th - 9th April)

 

 

 

 

 

Our first seaside adventure on the trip! Antalya is rich with character, history and charm. We loved walking through the small streets filled with beautiful homes, hotels and shops.

 

 

A beautifully decorated Pension

We loved the character of this home, the beautiful trailing vines and the tile house number

 

 

 

The beautiful Umbrella Street, lined with restaurants

We passed Hadrian's gate, built in 130AD for Emperor Hadrian and Hidirlik Tower (a mausoleum built in the 1^st or 2^nd century).

 

 

Hadrian's Gate

 

Hidirlik Tower

 

The Marina is a gorgeous place to watch the world go by, and the weather was gorgeous when we were here. We took a 45 minute boat ride which went past a grotto, a waterfall and out into the deep Mediterranean. We only paid 10TL ($5AUD) per person (the captain initially tried to charge 50TL ($25AUD) per person but came down eventually!

The stunning Marina

 

Seating area at the Marina

Crystal clear ocean, viewed from a seating area at the marina

The beautiful mountains against the coast

The waterfalls viewed from the boat tour

 

The backdrop of this place is amazing, the mountains are extremely high and snow peaked, and seem to go on forever.

The view of the water, mosque and mountains at dawn

 

The beautiful mountains, now a lot clearer in the early morning sunshine

 

 

The coast is bordered by beautiful manicured gardens and various view points, all of which can be reached from different streets or roads in the city. There are many sculptures, parks, garden beds and cafe's in these areas, so you can spend hours just wandering the city and watching the world go by.

 

 

A sculpture of a man wearing a traditional tea serving contraption

 

The main shopping strips are lined with many cafe's, clothing stores, makeup and cosmetic stores and street sellers selling sunglasses, fake clothing and bags. We enjoyed having a drink and sweet here watching people go by. 

 

Muratpasa Tram station

 

 

Antalya Shopping centre

Fountain lit up at night, on the main shopping street

 

 

 

We absolutely loved Antalya.  It was a great mix of both traditional and modern Turkey with stunning coast lines, beautiful clean streets and fantastic food.