Author: Rudy

Today was supposed to be a reasonably ‘easy’ day of travel. If everything worked out the way we’d planned it, we would leave Casablanca mid-morning, arrive in Montreal early afternoon, have a 2-hour layover before flying to Toronto. Another 2-hour layover before our final flight into Winnipeg. Scheduled to land at around 9:00PM.

Well the first leg of the trip went more-or-less as planned. The hotel shuttle left every 30 minutes, and the ride to the airport was about 3 minutes! So we were in the Air Canada line-up with plenty of time. We checked two bags all the way through to Winnipeg, and then went through customs and waited for boarding to begin. The plane ended up leaving about 30 minutes late, but the pilots stepped on the gas and made up 20 of those minutes. We had a meal onboard and then they darkened the windows so it FELT like it was nighttime and we should have a little snooze even though it was high noon. About 7 hours into the flight the windows gradually went clear so it felt like morning as we ate a calzone for ‘lunch’.

In Montreal we had to pick up our checked bags and go through customs again. But now our best-laid plans went awry. There was a big blizzard in Toronto, and it was wreaking havoc with the schedules. So our flight out of Montreal was now showing that we would arrive in Toronto about 20 minutes AFTER our Toronto-Winnipeg flight was scheduled to depart. There was ONE MORE flight to Winnipeg — and if we couldn’t get on that one we’d be overnighting in Toronto. As we re-checked our bags we also managed to change our Winnipeg flight. Whew! We parked ourselves in the departure lounge. We had time to kill. We got some Thai food. Delicious.

The Montreal-Toronto flight kept getting delayed more and more. So instead of leaving at around 4:00PM we eventually boarded the plane just before 7:00PM. Although we should have ‘gained’ time because we were heading west, we were losing it way faster than the world was spinning. 

The Toronto airport was a zoo. So many flights had been cancelled or delayed because of the storm. Thankfully that storm was abating — maybe we’d be lucky and still get home before midnight. That way we could still get a good night’s sleep — and not be totally zonked at the birthday party for our friend MaryAnn on Saturday night.

But our Toronto flight would NOT be leaving on time. I kept getting Air Canada text messages apologizing for another delay. When we finally DID board the plane it was 11:00pm, meaning we’d be arriving in Winnipeg after midnight. Oh well. At least we’ll be sleeping in a bed and not on a row of airport lounge chairs.

We were comfortably(?) settled in our seats on the plane, ready to push off and get going, when an exasperated-sounding pilot announced there would be a delay. The catering trucks were stuck in the snow and couldn’t load the catering containers onto the plane. Sorry for the delay. Hopefully they will have it resolved in half an hour or so. Oh boy.

So we’re all sitting on the plane, super tired, waiting for the catering to be loaded — and actually, I don’t think anyone cares if we don’t get pretzels and ginger ale on the 3-hour flight to Winnipeg! Finally the P.A. system comes on again. Yes, they have managed to get the catering containers loaded. But now the ground crew has been called away to push another plane out from the terminal. It’s almost 40 minutes until the pilot finally announces the ground crew is back and we’ll be pushing off shortly. He sounds as tired as we feel.

Three hours later we’ve had our pretzels and ginger ale and we’re pulling up to the terminal gate in good old Winnipeg. I head down to the baggage carousel while Naomi checks to see if we catch an Uber to take us home. I watch the carousel for a while — nope, our bags are not here. Then I spot someone rolling their baggage cart to the back wall behind the carousel where there is a long row of suitcases and boxes. Ah, I spot my maroon suitcase! and there’s Naomi’s big backpack. I guess our bags made it onto the earlier Winnipeg flight. Hmm… maybe we could’ve made it on that flight too?? Oh well. We’re here now.

It’s a short Uber ride to Valour Road. Naomi unlocks the door and we go inside. Plop our luggage down right there in the entrance. It’s warm inside. Naomi does a quick walk around, admiring the familiar, smiling happily. It’s 3:00AM. We made it. We’re home. It’s been a mostly enjoyable month in Morocco. But it’s good to be home.

After another very fine sleep, we were a little slow getting out of bed this morning. We knew we had a leisurely morning ahead, so we took advantage of it. No rush. We’d done a load of laundry yesterday morning which was hanging on a fold-away rack in our kitchen. We took our time folding the clean clothes and packing them into our suitcases. Some of those clothes were now wrapped around bags of Naomi’s souvenirs and other ‘treasures’ in order to protect them from ‘shipping damage’.

We showered and dressed before going down one floor to join the Driedgers for breakfast. We also brought them leftovers and stuff from our fridge.

After another breakfast of coffee and chocolate croissants and yogurt, we went back to our room to finish packing. By 11:00am we were ready to leave the room so the cleaning person could get it ready for the next guests. We took our suitcases and backpacks down to the Driedgers’ apartment where we hung out until it was time for us to leave. We had one last relaxing visit with them. It had been a very fun trip; the G-tour we shared with 10 other travellers, but also the 2 weeks post-tour after the guided tour ended. The Driedgers were staying for another 5 days here in Casablanca, but all of us were looking forward to going home. We said our goodbyes and went downstairs with all our luggage to meet the Uber that Naomi booked.

The Uber was a large luxurious black Mercedes — MAN, after all the miles we covered in a crowded van and not super comfortable buses, we finally ride in style on our last day!

The ride was about 30 minutes to our airport hotel. We checked in, only to find that my booking had been ‘cancelled’. But the receptionist says, “No problem! Just book it again, online, and you’ll get it for a better price.” How about that!

Our room is on the 3rd floor and it’s a very suitable room. Nothing fancy, but it’s just what we need. And, good news, the restaurant is open, and so is the bar! The afternoon sun is shining into the big windows in the bar and making it nice and warm. There are comfortable chairs and couches and even a selection of left-behind books. Naomi reads her kindle and I finish the crossword puzzle I started this morning while we each enjoy a cold beer.

We ended up sitting in the bar until around 6:00. Then we moved to a table in the dining hall where we thought we would order dinner from the menu before retiring for the evening. But our attentive waiters who had looked after us so well all afternoon seemed to have disappeared. We finally flagged one over and asked if we could order dinner. Ah, sorry ma’m, we are only serving the Ramadan buffet. And how much is the buffet? Three-hundred MAD per person. That’s almost ninety bucks for the two of us, and no glass of wine! We thought it over, and neither of us was really interested in eating a big buffet meal tonight. But what were our options? Not much around here. I guess we could take the hotel shuttle bus to the airport and see what we could find to eat there. But wait; Google Maps show a restaurant that’s about a 20-minute walk from here. Okay, it’s a “garage” restaurant, but the reviews said it was pretty good. So that’s what we did.

It wasn’t dark when we started our walk, but it got dark shortly after we arrived at the service station ‘restaurant’. The restaurant was quite nice — it was big, and featured cool furnishings and a chandelier — and there were a lot of people eating there. In fact, the highway in front of the garage was jammed full of cars, parked there while their owners (and often their families) had dinner. Here too, the menu featured three different dinners, all of them ‘Ramadan’ meals. But the waiter explained that the women working the barbecues outside could make us a few ‘regular’ options. We ordered chicken skewers and orange juice. When our plates arrived we were surprised how ‘complete’ the deal was. Three barbecued chicken kebabs, french fries, coleslaw, and steamed carrots and green beans. Perfect! Tasty and under $35. And a nice walk to get there and back.

Back at the hotel we set our alarm for tomorrow morning and I queued up an episode of “The Pitt” on my computer. Then it was time to write this post before turning out the lights and calling it a night.

Woke up after a very good sleep in what may be the most comfortable bed we’ve had on this trip. Google Maps told me that a nearby coffee shop would be open at 7:30am, but when we met the Driedgers to go for breakfast at 8:00 it turned out that Google was wrong. No restaurant was open for breakfast at 8:00. It’s Ramadan and these people take it seriously. If no one can eat between sunrise and sunset, there’s no point in opening up your restaurant during daylight hours. We wandered around for a few minutes and finally opted to go to a nearby small grocery store and pick up stuff to take back to our hotel for breakfast. The last baguette, some cheese and yogurt and fruit, and a small box of Nespresso coffee pods. Thank goodness that we’d salvaged our peanut butter and Nutella from our apartment in Agadir! The four of us had a nice little breakfast in the Driedgers’ hotel room.

After breakfast Naomi went for a long walk. She was hoping to find a few souvenirs in the Casablanca Medina, which is about a mile from our hotel. I stayed back in the room and read all the news and watched all the late night talk shows. Around noon I was starting to get hungry so I texted Naomi — she was already on her way back. When she came in the door she looked defeated. Shopping had been a bust. All she had found in the Medina was stinky food and soccer jerseys. Frustrated and disappointed. We went out to pick up some sandwich fixings. Along the way we stopped in at a bakery and found some delicious baked goods. Google said there was a liquor store just a little farther up the road, but when we got there it was all closed up — again, because of Ramadan. Good thing I’d hauled a dozen cans of beer that I bought in Agadir with me in my backpack!

Happy hour was at 3:00 back at the Driedger’s apartment, one floor below us. Chips, cheese, and beer. We arranged that we’d meet again at 7:00 and go out for dinner together.

When I got back to the room I lay down on the couch and settled in to watch a 60 Minutes report on my computer. Didn’t get much out of it because I fell asleep almost right away. I had a nice nap, and when I woke up it was almost time to go out for supper.

The Driedgers were waiting for us downstairs in the lobby. Cool and a light rain. We headed down the road, checking a few restaurants, some of which were closed, or empty, or serving only the ‘special Moroccan Ramadan’ meal. Even the “Gourmet Burger” place was serving the Ramadan dinner, and no burgers. We ended up in a Korean restaurant where the server offered to let us order from the ‘after 8:00’ menu even though it was 7:30. And the food there hit the spot.

After dinner we decided to stop in at a nearby cafe which looked like a good place to have dessert. When we entered we noticed a table full of board games near the front. So while Naomi picked a game and set it up on our table, MaryLou and I went to the pastry shelf and picked out a couple of lovely chocolatey desserts to go with our coffees. Naomi did her best to teach her unenthusiastic companions how to play “Set”. When the game was finished, so were we.

We walked back to the apartment and arranged to meet at the Driedgers again tomorrow morning at 8:30 for breakfast. Back in our room, Naomi read the news while I wrote the blog post for today. Since I’d had a little nap in the afternoon, I thought I might stay up to watch the Jets hockey game, which starts at 12:30am. So I’m not sure if I watched the game and I’m not sure who won the game. Guess you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out. See you then.

So that’s that! After a cold night in not very comfortable conditions, this morning it was time to analyze the situation and see if we could figure out a solution. I had looked at some better lodging options in Essaouira, and found some available places. But I really was ‘done’ with Essaouira and ready to move on. Dave had booked a pretty nice place back in Casablanca for the days after Naomi and I would be on our way home. And a nice(r) place in Casablanca sounded like a good option to me. So instead of taking a 6-hour bus ride to Casablanca on our second-LAST day in Morocco, why not leave Essaouira TODAY, and have 3 nights and 3 days to ENJOY Casablanca before we head home!

I looked at some options on the Airbnb app — and Dave showed me which area of the city he had booked. Dave managed to add 3 nights to the beginning of his original booking. I found a couple of options in the same neighbourhood and quickly booked the next 3 nights in one of them. When the bookings were done, the four of us went out for a walk. We needed to book our bus tickets to Casablanca, and Dave was quite sure there was a good breakfast place right close to the CTM bus ticket office. And Dave was right. So while the women got a table at the restaurant, Dave and I went next door and bought bus tickets, leaving for Casablanca at 11:45am. And then we joined the women for a VERY delicious breakfast.

We so enjoyed our breakfast that before we knew it, it was 10:30. We had better hurry back to our apartment and back our bags and get back here to the bus station! Which we did.

Although the bus we rode was the same company, the same ‘quality’, the same kind of bus we’d been on yesterday, it turned out that there was VERY LITTLE in common between the two journeys. Today’s ride was just over 6 hours. A couple of SHORT stops along the way (we never got out of our seats at any of the stops today). The bus was not even half full, and the passengers sat quietly in their seats. The driver drove the bus SAFELY, never taking chances to overtake vehicles when the road ahead wasn’t visibly clear. Today’s ride was enjoyable. And the scenery was most interesting:

We got into Casablanca and I was following the route the bus was going on Google Maps. The bus made a stop at a CTM ticket office and many of the people on the bus got off there rather than at the big bus depot about 10 minutes ahead. I looked at the map and saw that if we got off at this point we’d be virtually the same distance from our apartment as if we’d go all the way to the bus depot. So we hurriedly grabbed our bags and got off the bus. We were getting ready to walk to our place, or hail a taxi to take us, when a kind young man who worked at this bus station asked us where we were from and where we wanted to go. In no time he’d asked a ‘friend of his’ to drive his car to our side of the road so we could load our baggage into the car and he would take us to our apartment! Which we did, and which the driver did. So that was pretty slick. Saved us the extra time to get to the end of the ride plus hailing a taxi to take us a few miles BACK.

We checked in with the security at the entrance, filled in our names and passport numbers on his forms, and off we went to our respective apartments. We got in and were quite happy with our room. I took a quick shower and then we went to knock on the Driedgers door. From there the four of us walked the short 5-minute walk to a nearby Thai restaurant. Excellent! Very nice food and a lovely place. It had been a long time since we’d had breakfast, our last meal, and so a shower, change of clothes, and a plate of delicious food went a long way to make us feel so much better than how we’d felt last night or even this morning.

Yesterday Dave and MaryLou went looking for a bakery. We were out of bread, and we would need some for today’s breakfast and lunch. Today is our last full day here in Agadir. Tomorrow we take the bus to Essaouira, but we need bread for lunch sandwiches today and breakfast tomorrow. There are no bakeries near our place and the big supermarket is a LONG walk from here. But yesterday Dave and MaryLou found a marvellous bakery about 10 minutes from our place and came home with delicious pastries.

This morning Dave and I drank the last of our Nespresso coffees. Then Naomi used the 4 eggs we had left in the fridge to make very nice breakfast sandwiches for the four of us. But we really needed more coffee. It was looking like a nice sunny day out there so we decided to go for a walk to that bakery. And what a find! Too bad we didn’t discover it when we first arrived at the beginning of the week.

We picked out some croissaints and cookies, enough for a ‘snack’ today and breakfast tomorrow. Then we went to the restaurant next to the bakery where we’d spotted people sitting and drinking coffee. The coffee looked good, but the menu had an ‘Express’ feature which included coffee, pastry, and orange juice for nearly the same price as just a coffee! A Mennonite knows a good deal when he sees one 😉  We probably sat at our table for an hour or more, eating our ‘second breakfast’ and enjoying the conversation.

After our walk back to the apartment Naomi decided it was time for another ‘beach walk’ while the rest of us made ourselves busy in the apartment. Here’s a few of her photos:

Dave and I made ourselves busy doing the crossword puzzle, looking up Paul Simon YouTube videos, watching curling on TV, reading the news, and talking about the good old days. I got a very cool video of my grandson Max performing a song and dance number for the ‘musical theatre class’ in the Southeast Manitoba Festival, which made my day, big-time.

At around 4:00pm Naomi got back from her walk just as Dave was making G&Ts from the last of our gin. We drank them down and munched on some of the nice cookies from the bakery. Then we dispersed to the various corners of our apartment for a while to have some ‘quiet time’. A little after 6:30pm the sun set and evening began. Here in Morocco that means that folks will be breaking their fast. Most will do that in their home, but many will be making their way to the restaurants, too.

We are in the latter group. It’s a beautiful evening — maybe the best one yet. We walked back to the area where we had breakfast this morning. Not just to the ‘area’ — we walked back to the SAME restaurant we were at this morning. We got seated inside — nice chairs, nice ambience. The waiter took our order after we’d had a few minutes to study the menu. I ordered a beer, knowing full well that the restaurant didn’t serve alcohol. The waiter smiled and apologized. Next? Dave ordered a beer. Same.

The menu offerings LOOKED delicious. This morning’s breakfast deal WAS delicious. The dishes set before us were a disappointment. Naomi’s seafood gratin was piping hot. Not so the rest of the dishes. Oh well, we had a nice visit and a lovely walk back to the apartment.

Dave and I sat in the living room watching some curling, waiting for the Jets game which began at midnight. We watched the first period and then headed off to bed. Vancouver was up one nothing. The Jets would have to fight back without the two of us to cheer them on. Goodnight.

Well, we’ve booked our next stay: 4 nights in Essaouira, a town that just might be our favourite place in Morocco. It’s just up the coast, about 3 hours. After our inDrive ride here, the poor souls who were squished into the back seat were keen to try another mode of transportation. So we decided to take a bus. The downside is that we need to also have transportation TO the bus station, and also FROM the bus station to our Airbnb in Essaouira. So how far is the bus station here in Agadir? To find out would be this morning’s activity. And what a great opportunity for us to experience local transit!

So after breakfast we headed out. We crossed the street and tried to align ourselves to where Google Maps showed our bus stop. No sign, no bus shelter, no bench. But after a bus slowed down in front of us and then promptly took off, I determined that we probably need to WAVE the bus down.

Both Dave and I were using Google Maps to help us choose the right bus. No direct bus, so we’d also need to transfer to a second bus. So when we finally jumped on a bus that stopped, it was a matter of watching our progress on the phone so we’d know when to get off.

Although the buses diverged from the path Google was suggesting, in the end we got off at a stop that was directly next to the bus depot. But was it? Google said we were right next to it, but the real world didn’t jive with that. After running around for a few minutes, Naomi thought she spotted a bus parking lot back behind the buildings along the street. And that’s how we found the bus station.

I followed some backpackers from Germany to a ticket booth. They recommended the CTM bus line which they had used before. I bought 4 tickets, leaving Sunday at 11:30am. And that was that. We have tickets and we know where the bus station is. What next?

MaryLou had expressed interest in visiting an art gallery, and it turned out there was one on our route back to our apartment. So now that we are ‘experts’ at using the transit system here, we bussed to the art gallery. The Agadir Art Museum has an interesting combination of contemporary art pieces and heritage craft (jewellery and textiles). Our visit there turned out to be a highlight. Well worth the stop.

We decided to walk home from the gallery. Along the way we saw major new construction projects, including a HUGE new theatre. We also passed an impressive large tennis complex. And a truck full of oranges, and date palms along the roadside.

Back at the apartment it was time for lunch. Leftovers from yesterday. Delicious. And then I had a nap. All that exercise…

It was almost bowling time when we organized ourselves and went out for supper. We walked across the road to the beach and had supper at one of the many restaurants that line the promenade. And then it was time to go BOWLING! After a couple of false starts, today looked to be our lucky day. The bowling alley was open, two of the four lanes were open, and the guy at the ticket counter already recognized us as “from Canada”, and was happy to take our money. This was going to be GREAT!

Well, not so fast. We started on lane 1. The order was Dave, Rudy, Naomi, MaryLou. Dave rolled his first ball down the lane. Then the machine that resets the pins came down — and STAYED down! The scoreboard said “an error is detected”. We signalled the manager. Just wait a minute. More customers come in and he gets all busy taking their money — and I think he’s forgotten about us! The man who is bowling in lane 2 yells at the manager, to switch us over to Lane 3 which is empty. More delays. Finally our names come up on Lane 4 scoreboard. We continue the game. Until MaryLou rolls a ball down the lane and the pin-resetter-thing stays down. We ask for help. None coming. Dave and I take a walk to the other end of the lane, and check the machine that isn’t resetting the pins. Hmmm… Don’t know how to fix it. But seeing us snooping in the back of the alley gets the manager guy’s notice. He comes running over, and switches us over to Lane 3. Okay. MaryLou gets a couple of ‘do-overs’. We manage a few more frames before Lane 3 shuts down. This is RIDICULOUS! I take the receipt and walk over to the ticket counter. I want a refund and we’ll get outta here. But no, here comes the supervisor, the guy who ‘likes Canadians’, and he insists we will bowl some more. There remains one working lane, and there are other groups who have bought tickets and are waiting to bowl. But now WE are going to bowl on Lane 2, and possibly finish our game. Which we do. Looks like Naomi, who was VERY hesitant and unenthusiastic about going bowling, really found her game!

After all that activity, it was time for an ice cream. We went back to the same restaurant where we’ve had little cups of ice cream the last few nights. It was a fine way to end our evening.

So after waking up every morning to another bright sunshiny day, today the weather app was correct. Rain. All day. All night. What are we going to do now?

Luckily, we are staying in a lovely apartment and there is room and comfort for all four of us. So we get up, shower, join the Driedgers in the living room where those early-risers have already accomplished much. Breakfast is granola and yogurt and bread with peanut butter and Nutella. That little Nespresso machine in the kitchen only puts out little espressos, but Dave has figured out a way to turn that little puddle of caffeine into a full-size coffee, complete with an impressive pour of Baileys to top it off.

Yep, the app still shows rain for today and tomorrow, but there appears to be a break from 11:00 to 1:00. Well, let’s watch a movie. Our big LG TV with IPTV has just under a million movies available, so I pick “The Forgiven”, starring Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain. The setting for the movie is Morocco, and the Driedgers watched it just before the trip, but they’re okay watching it again. It’s a pretty good way to make lemonade out of lemons — and for the next 2 hours we see a lot of things that are now familiar to us.

And just like that it’s lunchtime. Sandwiches all around. I was a bit too enthusiastic at the beer store the other day, and unless I start putting in a little more effort, we may not finish that ‘twenty-four’ by the time we leave here at the end of the week. I tried to set an example at lunch but the others were not interested.

By the time the table was cleared so had the sky! This was our chance to go out. We decided to take the 20-minute walk to the cable car station, from where we could take a ride up to the top of the mountain that is just north of the city. At the top of that mountain is the Kasbah of Agadir Oufella, a fortress which is one of the most iconic landmarks in Agadir. On the side of the mountain, visible from the beach and lit up brightly at night, is the Arabic inscription — “God, Motherland, King”.

It was cool outside, but now the sun was shining. We bought our tickets and managed to get a car for just the four of us. Nice ride up. Great views of the city, the beach, the marina, the ocean, and the parking lots and green space below.

The rain held off for our entire visit, but there were threatening clouds coming in from the Atlantic. We rode the cable car down and walked back to our apartment. Made it just in time. More rain. At around 5:15 we headed back out, this time to go bowling before going out for dinner. Just in case, each of us wore or brought with us a raincoat. We had read that the bowling alley would open at 4:30, but when we got there the sign informed us that because of Ramadan it would open at 8:30 and stay open until 2:00am. Now what! Well, let’s have an early dinner.

We walked all the way down along the beach, Naomi walking on the sand right next to the sea; the rest of us on the waterfront promenade. The ‘Fusion Kitchen’ restaurant was recommended to us by our Airbnb host. The walk there was about 30 minutes. When we got there we were informed that they were serving only a ‘set Moroccon-style dinner’, not cheap, and not really what we were hungry for. So we stood outside on the umbrella-covered patios and discussed what other options we might have. And then it poured. POURED. Sheets of rain. Although we were wearing rain jackets, our feet were soon soaked with puddle water.

We hopped our way around puddles to the McDonalds sign we saw nearby. But the puddles were too deep and we ended up circumventing McDonalds and took shelter in a large, and very busy, Restaurant Le Nil Bleu. The patio was closed in and they had the heaters going next to some of the tables. We ordered soup and sandwiches and a calzone pizza — and a hamburger and fries that never came — as we waited out the rain.

Naomi went out to take a photo of the sunset at 6:38pm, and that’s when the waiters huddled down at tables next to ours and ‘broke fast’ together. It must be hard to run around serving platters of food to the infidels when you are a Muslim waiter and haven’t had a bite since before sunrise. But in this case, watching all the waiters ‘take a break’ to eat their dinner and my table-mates chowing down on theirs, while I sit there waiting for my friggin’ hamburger didn’t evoke a whole lot of empathy in me.

It was a quick walk back to our apartment. The air was cold but the rain had stopped. Before today, we really hadn’t had a “RAIN DAY” on the entire trip. Today was something different. We were happy to have a warm place waiting for us.

Woke up at 7:00AM. Dave was texting me. There’s a problem with the transportation he’d booked for today. The van that was supposed to take us from Marrakesh to Agadir had ‘cancelled’ our reservation. So I went online with the ‘inDrive’ app — where you put in your destination and invite drivers to ‘bid’ on your ride. A minute or two later I had 5 drivers offering to take us to our next destination. Mohamed offered to drive us in his black Dacia, a car built in Morocco. I thought I was getting a roomy car, since I’d asked for a car that could take FIVE passengers, even though there were just 4 of us. But we all have luggage, and the prospect of sitting in the middle of the back seat, squeezed in between two others, didn’t seem like a pleasant way to spend 3 hours on the road. Although Mohamed had bid on driving us for 479 MAD, once I connected with him the price went up to 700 MAD (about $100CAD). Highway tolls, he said. Okay, I said.

So after breakfast at our hotel, we went back to our room and packed our bags. Man, we are looking forward to sitting in one place for a week straight without having to pack and repack. At around 11:00 Mohamed was at our hotel. He texts me to ask if we can meet him at the BACK door of the hotel. Okay, we can do that. We haul our backpacks and suitcases out to the sidewalk. Now where is that black Dacia car?? Well, there’s a dirty black car parked right here on the road. Now my WhatsApp starts beeping. The driver is not in the car, but he’s telling me that the black car is not locked — we should just get in the car. Now the trunk pops open. We start to pile our luggage into the trunk. The driver shows up and tells us to jump into the car and he does the same. And off we go.

Apparently inDrive (and Uber) are illegal in Morocco, and there were a couple of taxis on the road next to his car, hoping that we needed a taxi. And if they’d seen us getting into the car they would have reported the driver and he’d get a big fine and have his car taken away for 3 days. But then the taxis left, so it was okay for us to get in the car. And now we are IN the car, and the driver assures us that now it’s no problem. Once we’re on the toll road we can make good time and not worry about getting stopped by police.

And we DO speed along. The driver doesn’t slow down even when it seems the lane is not wide enough for us. After about 2 hours of driving we stop for a short coffee and bathroom break. About 45 minutes from the finish line the driver takes an exit off the freeway, drives through the unattended toll gate, then does a quick 180 turn and flashes his RF toll device and we’re back on the freeway. He explains that this is a little ‘trick’ whereby he can ‘save’ a little money and ‘eat better’. I deduce that there was no one to collect the toll for the first 3/4 of the trip, and he’ll only pay for the last quarter.

Along the way Mohamed and I chat. He is friendly, speaks pretty good English, and doesn’t mind ‘visiting’. He is proud of his country, has been and inDrive driver for 2 year, is saving money so he can go to a ‘non-Morrocan’ university so he can brush up on his degree in finance, which doesn’t meet international standards and prevents Mohamed from working in finance.

We arrive in Agadir. Mohamed offers to make a pit stop at a liquor store where foreigners can buy booze. We have to show our passports before entering, to prove that we are not Moroccan citizens who SHOULD be fasting and ‘celebrating’ Ramadan. We clamour back into the car and 5 minutes later we’re at our very new apartment complex. We gather up our luggage and beer and head into the complex. The security guard in the gate office wants to see our passports and copies the info into his ledger. He leads us to entrance ‘K’, up to the 4th floor, apartment number 16. We enter and are met by the local caretaker of the unit. She is lovely. She proceeds to answer our questions as she gives us a tour of the apartment. The place is brand new, and it’s very nice. The Driedgers take the room with 2 single beds, and Naomi and I get the bigger bedroom with the ensuite. The living room is spacious and well furnished, as is the kitchen. Dave does a load of laundry.

At around 5:00PM we head out. There’s not much happening on the big street that separates us from the beach. We cross the street and find a wide, well-lit concrete and stone ‘boardwalk’ that we can follow along the shoreline. It’s not busy, at least not yet. We go for a walk. Yes, there are quite a few restaurants. No, most of them are not open — yet. It’s Ramadan and most restaurants don’t open until folks can break their daily fast, just after sunset. But there are a few restaurants. I suggest we go to the one that advertised wood-fired pizzas. We do that. The women order humongous salads, while Dave and I each order a pizza. And we share.

It’s cold out. The breeze coming off the Atlantic is not a warm one. We go back to our beautiful apartment and sit around until 9:00PM. The Jets are playing San Jose at 1:00PM Pacific time, which is 9:00PM here. I can get the game on my computer but I can’t seem to AirPlay it to the big LG TV on the wall. So Dave and I sit on the couch and peer into my laptop screen. Then, halfway through the third period, I start fiddling with the ‘IPTV’ app on the TV and whadayouknow! I can get all our Canadian channels, including TSN, on TV!

I guess I should have left well-enough alone. The Jets were leading 1-0 until I put them on the big screen — and they couldn’t handle that. Quickly the Sharks tied it up, and quickly they won the game in overtime. Okay, it’s midnight and time for bed. See you tomorrow.

Well, this probably isn’t the right thing to say, but MAN, it sure feels good to know that we won’t be seeing that dented white minivan again. We are in Marrakesh, the last stop on this tour. After unloading our luggage yesterday, we handed our driver Abdul some tip money and said goodbye. And then, to make our joy complete, upon checking into our hotel, the manager informed us that “the bar is open”!  It’s been a while…

We and the Driedgers both booked an additional 2 nights at the Marrakesh Oudaya Hotel to the two that were already booked for us by the tour. Might have been a mistake. The hotel is rated 3.2 on google and I’d say that is generous. But it is so great to finally be able to leave the suitcase open for more than one night before having to repack and load it into the van. So we’re hanging out here until Sunday. Last night Naomi and Dave ‘shopped’ Airbnb and booked a place down in Agadir for a week, beginning Sunday. Looking forward to that.

That sore and swollen ankle of mine hasn’t really improved very much in the 2 weeks since Casablanca. So today I’m sitting in bed with my leg raised up on a pillow, hoping that staying off it a bit will help.

Well, if a guy doesn’t DO anything all day, there will be precious few photos to post. Naomi got a text from the Aussies who were back from their early morning balloon ride, inviting her to join them for an afternoon of shopping. So off she went. I read the New York Times, did Wordle and all the rest of the puzzles,  and watched a few Youtube video highlights of the late night talk shows. Then I went out for a walk around the neighbourhood. There’s a big beautiful cinema just around the corner from us — we’ll have to go see a show one evening. I had a coffee at the hotel cafe. Back in the room to do a couple of crosswords. Dave texts me: Time for a beer? We meet at the hotel bar. MaryLou joins us. Naomi comes through, home from shopping, off to the room for a shower. Hey, look who’s sitting two tables down! It’s Mia, the woman who left the tour a few days ago.

The tour group ‘Last Supper’ is scheduled for 6:45; meet in the lobby at 6:30. Which we do. Some of the people are all dressed up fancy. Alex and Suzanne have opted NOT to join. But Mia WILL be joining us. And so we march off to a restaurant that’s about 3 blocks from the hotel. We’re in the big room upstairs, where the table is set for us. (It’s still okay for folks to smoke inside in a restaurant here in Morocco!) We have one smoker in our group, but the rest of us don’t really appreciate cigarette smoke wafting over our dinners.

Food is good. Service? not so much. Dave and MaryLou’s pizza arrives long after everyone is finished eating. Then Vikram stands up invites each of us to say something that we liked about the trip and our leader. We’ve already each passed our little bundles of ‘tip’ money down to Vikram, and after each of us has had a chance to tell about a highlight of the trip, he hands the packet of money to Malika, our tour guide.

So we’ll postpone movie night to tomorrow — our movie was to start at 9:00pm, and we were already 10 minutes past that time by the time we’d each spoken our piece.

Today we had a ‘free’ day in Essaouira, a port town on the Atlantic coast.

When we went to bed last night, Naomi was really quite ill. But we both slept very well, and Naomi woke up feeling MUCH better — even better than she expected. We went down to the hotel lobby and I had a nice omelette and two cups of good coffee. Quite a few people in our group opted to go for a Hammam Experience, a traditional, multi-step bathhouse ritual focusing on purification, deep exfoliation, and relaxation. (I copied that from our tour brochure — I actually have NO idea what half that stuff means, and it’s not something I’m at all interested in. But Naomi would have gone for it if she hadn’t gotten so sick.)

Instead, the two of us went for a walk after breakfast. We found a way out of our Medina, and out to a big sandy beach. There weren’t many swimmers or sunbathers out in the cold Atlantic waters this morning. But as Naomi walked along the sand, she came upon a beach littered with broken tile pieces. She began collecting tile pieces to take home.

After we left the beach we went for a walk within the Medina. Naomi began taking photos of the interesting doors. There were lots of brightly coloured shops selling leather shoes and purses, slippers, scarves, Moroccan lanterns, and mosaics…you name it.

Eventually we ended up back in ‘our’ neighbourhood. It was around 2:00pm and we were hungry. Naomi wasn’t 100% sure that she should be eating something — but man, those Nutella crepes (or ‘CREEPS’, as the sign said) looked (and were) SO delicious she couldn’t resist. Nutella, banana, and strawberries for her, Nutella and a sliced up Snickers bar for me. So good, but so filling. Probably shouldn’t have done that — likely spoiled our supper, which we were both really looking forward to.

Before going back to our hotel I stopped by to pick up our laundry, which I’d dropped off yesterday evening.

At 5:00pm the tour group gathered in the lobby of the hotel for a meeting. Our tour leader went over the plans for the next couple of days and then also talked about some of the challenges she’d had with our tour, mostly apologizing for times where her instructions or communication hadn’t been as clear as she’d wish they were. She also mentioned some of the serious issues that a couple of group members had caused her (and all of us). And yes, she admitted that it was her first time as a group leader, and thanked us for our patience, etc. Unfortunately, the person who had created a lot of the problems for her was the one person who decided NOT to attend the meeting.

We had plans to go out for a 7:00pm dinner together with the Driedgers and the ‘Aussies’ (Schillers) but since we still had an hour to kill, the six of us ventured upstairs to the rooftop of our hotel to watch the sunset.

Michael and his wife Lisa had been out for dinner the night before and one of them had had the ‘John Dory’ fish, which Michael said was the best he’d ever tasted. I didn’t know that John Dory was a fish, so I was very interested in trying it. So were MaryLou and Naomi. Michael had made reservations for us at a restaurant that served John Dory. And yes, the John Dory fish was SUPER delicious! The only thing missing from our evening dinner was that those beautiful wine glasses on our table would not have any wine in them. Our server apologized; he said he too would happily drink a glass of wine with the meal, but hey, it’s Ramadan, and there would be no alcohol served.

Back at our hotel, Naomi packed her bags. We have to get up very early tomorrow, have a quick breakfast, and then we’re off on a 3-hour drive back to Marrakesh, where we will be for the final 2 days of our group tour, and another 2 days for just the Driedgers and us — to have a break and decompress from our 15 days of go-go-go. It’s been a fun tour, but it’ll be great to just relax and do nothing for a few days.