Day 2 - Sightseeing!

Pictures on Flickr, not all from that day are up yet.

In the morning we met the SO contact, Said (pronounced Sah-eed) and a driver, who took us sightseeing essentially for the day. First, he took us to Chellah, the ruins of a Roman city that was initially build long before Rabat. Inside the high stone walls of the old city, storks and heron were everywhere. There was a woman who spent her day caring for cats, 48 of them, and to everyone who came to take pictures she asked for a bit of money, in order to help pay for the cat food. Afterwards, we went into downtown Rabat and stopped by a cafe for tea, as it was close to noon. This was our first introduction to mint tea, which was surprisingly good considering I don't normally drink tea. It was much sweeter than what's usually had in the US (in terms of green tea, of course sweet tea is different). We also received some instructions on how much to pay and tip for various items and services. Afterwards, we were taken to the Hassan Tower & Mausoleum of Mohammed V. The Tower and columns next to it were the beginnings of a large mosque a king once started to build, but then he died and it was never finished. So today, it's not in ruins, just an unfinished state.

We then went to the Rue de Consule, where traditional Moroccan things are sold, scarves, leather wares, pottery, shoes, spices, etc... Whitney bought some scarves. Walked down length of that street, came out near 'la plage de Rabat' (the beach), stopped by an art galery, and then walked out along the jetty. More pictures of the Atlantic. Next, the driver took us to the 'Marché Central', more shops,these selling a lot of imported Asian goods cheap. Interestingly, the majority of Moroccans come to this market, while tourists are often found in the previously mentioned Rue de Consule. I tried some salted almonds, which ignited my quest for finding good almonds (I have two .5 kilo bags sitting in my room right now). We then went to lunch at a restaurant that Said said he goes to for most meals, and had brouchettes, which were small pieces of meat cooked on skewers over a box of coals. Very good food, I can understand why he goes there most everyday. We then were dropped off at the hotel around 3:30.

Later that night we took a taxi into town and went back to Marché Central at night, which was bustling with people. The people come at out at night, between 7-10pm. Bought a few things, including a bag of almonds, some apricots, $1 DVDs (illegal, of course), also bought a Swiss Swatch for only $5 - fake of course. Turtles & chameleons being sold on street, and butchers had cuts of meat hanging in the open along the front of their shops (see pics), along with cow brains too. For dinner we bought sandwiches from a street vendor, we went to one first but he was cooking liver and meat fat on skewers, so we settled on bread stuffed with hamburger meat, onions, and pico. Tomorrow we will go to the SO headquarters and figure out what athlete we'll do a story on.