Unlicked Envelope: Mintastic

The older I get, the more grateful I am to have the kind of family that loves to explore, to tell ridiculous self-deprecating stories (and do the things required to have such stories), and - a prerequisite for the others - to spend time together. I can't recall which family trip was most recent, but it might have been the few days we spent at the ice hotel in Canada 5-10 years ago. Since most of that trip was spent imitating ice sculptures, hot tubbing until we were wrinkly, and endlessly teasing my mother, I suspected that my sister and I would spend the next two weeks cracking up while my mother grumbled good-naturedly. Our first 24 hours have confirmed my suspicions.

We arrived in Casablanca, where we all lamented not rewatching the eponymous movie before our trip. My father was disappointed to find out Rick's Cafe didn't open until noon, though I doubt we would appreciate the full effect of a piano bar at 9 am off a red-eye. Instead, we piled into our van with Ahmed and Mohamed, our drive and guide, respectively, and drove to Rabat. The countryside we passed was a lush green, and crop fields spread out around us. That area of the country grows the majority of the cereal grains for the surrounding regions, and we appreciated the view after a night of airports, tarmac, and monochrome airplane interiors.

We soon reached Rabat, the capital of Morocco. Multiple authors have called Morocco an "assault on the senses", and it was - in the best way possible. Modern arteries wind through the city with traffic and jaywalking and nonsensical intersections. Small alleys are bursting with entrepreneurial enthusiasm, with each salesman vying for your gaze, your ear, and your foot traffic. With each shop measuring only 8-10 feet wide, there's a lot of competition for the attention and dirhams of locals and tourists alike.

As we adjusted to our surroundings, we started somewhere far more peaceful: the mausoleum of King Mohammed V.

The mausoleum of Mohammed V in the background, with the pillars of the former mosque and an octagonal star fountain in the foreground.

The mausoleum is located at the site of the former Hasan Mosque, now reduced to a field of pillars and the square Hasan Tower. The mosque was built in the 1100s to be the second-largest mosque in the Muslim world (after one in Iraq) and fit 16,000-17,000 people in its heyday. In the 1700s, it crumbled, leaving only its ribs reaching skyward. Over the years, the floor of the mosque was built up, leaving only stubby pillar protrusions and making the Hasan Tower relatively squat compared to the graceful rise of other minarets. But when you stop and realize that all of this was built nearly a millenium ago, without our modern tools, as a place where tens of thousands could gather and share their faith five times a day, it feels a little bit magical. Its one of those think-of-the-feet-that-trod-here moments.

A few other things we learned about Islamic architecture:
- Minarets are the tallest buildings in the city, largely so they can fulfill their function. Before speaker systems, the call to prayer was an unaided human voice from the minarets and had to carry long distances. As a result, these slender pillars punctuate the skyline in every direction. They're a pretty good landmark if you get lost (and can tell them apart). We also learned that minarets in Morocco are typically square rather than round; round minarets are built in places that were part of the Ottoman Empire, but Morocco never was and therefore retains architectural influences from the Romans. Those squares.
- The old city and mosque walls are made out of pizzi (?), a mixture of earth, clay, bricks, and stones. Like other cultures that used earthen walls, the walls absorb heat during the hot parts of the day and radiate the heat back out as the weather cools, providing a weather in the often sweltering Moroccan summer.
- Many architectural elements, including pillars and fountains, are built in octagonal shapes. The eight points represent the eight entrances to paradise according to Islam.
- Pretty sure I mentioned this in my blogging about Istanbul, but Islamic art doesn't contain representations of figures. Instead, it relies on gorgeous geometric patterns (either painted tiles or intricate mosaic-work) and Arabic script. In Istanbul, the words were often gilded, while in Morocco thus far the words have been more subtly incorporated into the patterns.

After our exploring, we headed to our hotel, where we enjoyed hot mint tea with a tooth-decaying amount of sugar. Our hotel is fancy Moroccan house called a a riad, which means "paradise" and is a very fitting name. Riads are distinguished by the presence of a central garden and fountain, which provides evaporative cooling that makes the riad an oasis from the hot, dry, dusty streets. We sat drinking tea while learning about our guide and driver, both of whom are Berbers. They also taught us important tips, like how to drink the hot Moroccan tea from the handle-less glass cups. You have to pinch the cup between two fingers placed on the top rim and the thick bottom glass, bypassing the expansive of third-degree burn-inducing glass in the middle.

Proper tea-drinking technique

Why would you want to drink your tea while it's that hot?, you might ask. Apparently Moroccans have heat-resistant throats. We had to be a bit more cautious.

When all of our tea had been consumed, we ventured out to lunch at a local dar.

Washing our hands on entering the dar for lunch

Dars, in contrast to riads, are more typical houses. This restaurant appeared to be two dars that had been combined and dedicated to use as a restaurant, including a large, shaded top deck where we sat. We enjoyed tagines, the traditional Moroccan entrees served in the iconic dishes consisting of a bottom platter covered with a sort of ceramic traffic cone-type lid.

My sister and I have been thrilled by the prospect of prunes in our meals (rather than relegated to dietary supplements for the elderly, as in the United States). Sadly, there were few prunes in this meal, but we hold out hope for the future.

While Rabat quieted for its siesta, we spent the afternoon wandering, particularly along the waterfront. Rabat has both a riverfront and an oceanfront, which made for seemingly endless views. We first walked through the Oudaya, a fortified section of Rabat with tiny streets meant for wandering.

The Oudaya has distinctive blue and white walls; the blue is apparently thought to repel mosquitoes.

(Maybe the Blue Man Group is on to something!) The Oudaya had gorgeous gardens where locals lounged and read books, and where we learned that he inside of a banana peel is like the Moroccan Windex cure-all - rub it on bug bites or pretty much anything. We stopped for more tea as well as a variety of nut-based cookies (almond paste, pistachio flavor, etc), beating the post-3rd-prayer rush.

Then it was off to mosey, stopping to admire the hand of Fatima on doorways (Fatima was the daughter of the Prophet and is seen as a protector against evil; Fatima is a popular girl's name here as a result) or watch young children shriek with glee as their soccer ball ricocheted off the alley walls.

We ended with a walk along the oceanfront, where I learned that Rabat has a surfing culture and also where young couples seemed to escape for (relative) privacy.

I also met this excited pup!

In the final hours of daylight and before dinner, I wandered through the street markets, sidestepping around locals haggling with vendors over kaftans and abayas as well as the latest Spanx-type underwear. Since there's no place to try things on, grandmothers stretched shirts across daughters' backs, checking the shoulder width, or held up a cloth to someone's face to check if the color would flatter their complexion. Besides some soda for my sister, who has been battling stomach upset, I managed to restrict myself to window(less) shopping. Just getting a sense of the merchandise for now.

Our family ended the day with dinner at the riad, enjoying fresh fish, tagines, vegetables roasted into a bread-scoopable pulp, and a fruit salad that could feed a village. Of course, after lingering for dinner for 3-4 hours, we finished nearly everything.

Spotted:
Amazing street art!