37. Rabat

What a delightful surprise!!

We were both pleasantly surprised at our lovely ride in to the city yesterday….so I was looking forward to a long walk today.

And it is a truly beautiful city!! Stunningly so! Clean, well looked after….and has to be in the running to be the most beautiful city in Africa.

I really had no expectations when we arrived…and it is not high on the list of places to visit in Morocco…but it really should be! Far more beautiful than Marrakech…far cleaner than anywhere else…greener….with hardly a blemish (and every city has its blemishes!). (And I should add here that we have both been delightfully surprised about how clean Morocco is…how little garbage lies around…leaves many European cities/countries for dead).

Rabat…simply…is a delight!! 

Pictures never tell the whole story…but hopefully they will provide a little explanation of my enthusiasm!! Sorry…probably far too many…:

In the order of my walk:

The new town and its gardens

Hassan Tower and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V (died in 1961), and its surrounding gardens and views across to the Northern side of the city…

….including the new National Theatre

On the way around the Medina to the Kasbah des Oudayas

In the Kasbah and views from the top….

There is even a surf beach….!

And then back in the Medina itself..so much less chaotic than Marrakech (& far fewer tourists).

I even found a pair of boxer shorts!!

I just loved it!