post

From Morocco to Spain and back, via Fes

 

When is Morocco not Morocco? About the same time that the Mediterranean isn’t the Mediterranean. Confused? Don’t worry, all will be revealed, but first – bring on the horses.

Fantasias are traditional Berber horse-riding festivals and we were lucky enough to happen upon one as we made our way northwards toward Fes. There must have been more than a hundred horses and riders – with both man and beast decked out in their finest. The main event showcases the riders skill in keeping the horses in close formation while standing high in the stirrups and galloping the length of the field, before blasting off a round of musket-fire. It was quite a show!

Straighten that line up, fellas

Straighten that line up, fellas

Not just muskets, but also scimitars

Not just muskets, but also scimitars

Check out those boots

Check out those boots

Is that a musket in your saddle or ……

Is that a musket in your saddle or ……

After charging the field, the riders return to regroup

After charging the field, the riders return to regroup

Horsing around

Horsing around

Don't turn around

Don’t turn around

The Berber tradition goes back generations. Equally ancient are the Roman ruins not far from Fes, known as Volubilis. It is no Pompeii, but still a place of calm atop a green hill and looking down into a valley that has probably barely changed since the legions lived there

Volubilis ruins

Volubilis ruins

Geoff feeling triumphal

Geoff feeling triumphal

Volubilis mosiac floor

Volubilis mosiac floor

Volubilis column decoration

Volubilis column decoration

Volubilis archways, looking back toward Moulay Idriss

Volubilis archways, looking back toward Moulay Idriss

View from Volubilis across the valley floor

View from Volubilis across the valley floor

Volubilis storks are the only watchkeeps now

Volubilis storks are the only watchkeeps now

 

Close to Volubilis is the sacred city of Moulay Idriss. Spanning two hills, it is considered to be the most important religious place in Morocco and until recently non-Muslims were not allowed to pass the night there. To be honest, we weren’t wowed and were quite happy to just pass through.

The holy city of Moulay Idriss

The holy city of Moulay Idriss

 

Finally we made it to Fes. People of Fes – Fassis as they are known – think Fes is the best  city in Morocco. It certainly looks dramatic, spread across the hillside and the medina, winding its way up, down and around the hillside is a much quieter affair than Marrakech.

Ancient medina meets modern media

Ancient medina meets modern media

The tanneries are famous for the leather goods and infamous for the smell.

The man on the right is taking cleaned skins from the tanneries in Fes, ready for dyeing

The man on the right is taking cleaned skins from the tanneries in Fes, ready for dyeing

 

Fes boast the Kairaouine university, attached to the Mosque, is the oldest in the world. A huge restoration job is underway for the Mosque.

The minaret of Kairaouine mosque in Fes under repair

The minaret of Kairaouine mosque in Fes under repair

Repairs to the Kairaouine mosque exterior

Repairs to the Kairaouine mosque exterior

Fes medina has hundreds of public fountains

Fes medina has hundreds of public fountains

 

One of the things that makes Fes medina so much easier to walk around, is that there is no traffic. No mopeds and trolleys dashing past, skimming up against you in the narrow alleys. Only donkeys are allowed into the outer edges of the medina….

 

Donkeys are the only traffic allowed in the Fes medina

Donkeys are the only traffic allowed in the Fes medina

 

But once you move into the heart of the old town, even old faithful is barred.

Donkeys aren't allowed everywhere in the medina

Donkeys aren’t allowed everywhere in the medina

Donkey bars across the alleyways stop traders from bringing loaded animals into the narrowest parts of the city

Donkey bars across the alleyways stop traders from bringing loaded animals into the narrowest parts of the city

 

In Fes we camped by a riverbank, which was lovely. Kingfishers flitted by at high speed; ducks, moorhens and even water rats plied the waters. But we got the most pleasure from the daily appearance of a groups of terrapins, sunning themselves on the warm rocks in the morning, and then floating upstream mid afternoon. His little face says it all!

Pure bliss is a dry rock in the sunshine

Pure bliss is a dry rock in the sunshine

Did someone say turtle's rock?

Did someone say turtle’s rock?

How cool am I?

How cool am I?

 

We left the riverbank and heading for the hills once more as we journeyed even further north. This time we planned to cross the Rif Mountains.

The Rif is famous for being the heatland of Berber resistance to any and all comers over the centuries, but perhaps more recently has becoming equally notorious for being the centre of marijuana production. They call it kif in the Rif and depending which figure you read, they produce anywhere between 45-65% of the world’s supply of hash. That’s really quite an industry.

Spring flowers light up the Rif mountain fields

Spring flowers light up the Rif mountain fields

The Rif Mountains are a patchwork of fields, those out of sight produce around half the world's marijuana harvest

The Rif Mountains are a patchwork of fields, those out of sight produce around half the world’s marijuana harvest

The Rif mountains

The Rif mountains

The rippling Rif Mountains

The rippling Rif Mountains

As we drove over the mountains, which are pretty, but don’t have the same raw beauty of the High Atlas, we were flashed by every second car at one point, the not-so-secret signal it would appear, that they have something to sell. There were also police checkpoints on the road and even more along the coast – where the mountain harvest makes its way out of Morocco by the ton.

The Rif Mountains run down to the sea

The Rif Mountains run down to the sea

 

Once the mountains meet the sea, they also meet Spain. Melilla is a tiny Spanish protectorate jutting out into the sea. The ownership of the land is disputed between Spain and Morocco in a similar way that Gibraltar is wrangled over between the UK and Spain. What Melilla has that makes it worth the tedious, chaotic border crossing, is the most amazing and little-known architectural treasure.

Melilla's name is not well known, but it should be

Melilla’s name is not well known, but it should be

At the turn of the 20th century a young student of Gaudi’s decided to break out and make his own mark. Enrique Neito found himself in Melilla and set about transforming this 12 square kilometers into a Modernist mecca. There are more than 900 buildings of note on this handkerchief sized patch of land, from Classical, Modernisme, Aerodynamic and Art Deco.

Melilla's modernisme is inspired by the curves of nature, but all the trees are square

Melilla’s modernisme is inspired by the curves of nature, but all the trees are square

Melilla's fascinating architectural mash-up

Melilla’s fascinating architectural mash-up

Melilla square and church - modernisme and classic combined

Melilla square and church – modernisme and classic combined

Melilla mansion houses

Melilla mansion houses

Melilla fort/palace and now prison

Melilla fort/palace and now prison

Melilla architecture is beautiful

Melilla architecture is beautiful

Enrique Nieto - the Gaudi student who taught Melilla how to build beauty

Enrique Nieto – the Gaudi student who taught Melilla how to build beauty

 

One of the slightly less notable constructions is the Osbourne Bull – so you can be left in no doubt that this is Spain!

Just so it's clear that this is Spain - Osbourne the bull makes an appearance

Just so it’s clear that this is Spain – Osbourne the bull makes an appearance

 

A little further down the coast is another part of the Spanish Empire.

Moroccan coastline - apart from those three Spanish islands right on the beach!

Moroccan coastline – apart from those three Spanish islands right on the beach!

Three islands, two uninhabited and only 20 metres from shore and the third, a fortified garrison with a terrifying 60 soldiers on stand-by (in bathers if you look closely at the photo), are declared Spanish territory. Never has a claim looked more ridiculous.

Spain - as seen from Morocco

Spain – as seen from Morocco

Spain - if you look closely you will see they even have a canon, as well as soldiers in shorts - tough gig defending the empire

Spain – if you look closely you will see they even have a canon, as well as soldiers in shorts – tough gig defending the empire

The beach in the foreground is Morocco, the hump about twenty metres away is Spain

The beach in the foreground is Morocco, the hump about twenty metres away is Spain

 

Empire building is a funny business

Empire building is a funny business

Keep Out. Yep, that should do it

Keep Out. Yep, that should do it

 

This little part of Spain is set in the Mediterranean – well, not really. The waters of northern Morocco (or very southerly Spain, if you insist!) are called the Alboran Sea and are the conduit between the Mediterranean and Atlantic. The waters are home to species from both, including dolphins and turtles.

 

The Alboran Sea off northern Morocco

The Alboran Sea off northern Morocco

The Alboran Sea viewed from the bay of Al Hoceima

The Alboran Sea viewed from the bay of Al Hoceima

The Alboran Sea(gull)

The Alboran Sea(gull)

 

Until last week we had never heard of the Alboran Sea, never knew that Spain was really in Morocco and that is just a tiny fraction of what we have learned in the last few months. Soon we will be in Italy and who knows what we will discover there. But first we head to Chefchaouen – apparently the most photographed medina in the whole of Morocco – stand by for more photos!

post

Our halo moon

No one sees that same halo moon – the refraction and reflection of the ice crystals that form the ring display differently depending on where you are viewing it from, so if you saw one  last night – it was truly yours alone.

To the left of the moon, you can see a tiny white dot, which is Jupiter.

It is claimed they herald storms because they are indicative of cloud forming higher than 20,000ft, but that hasn’t happened so far. We are keeping out fingers crossed.

This is one of the delights of out-of-the-way travelling we have been lucky enough to enjoy  – the wonders of the sky at night when you can leave the big city lights behind. Heading out to remote fields, hills and casitas is highly recommended, and stand by for star trail experiments once the full moon wanes!

 

post

Our casita couldn’t be sweeter

We are back in Spain again! We are staying in a little casita, or cottage, in the Sierra del Alhama region, with wonderful views of the hills across the valley.

The closest town – Zafarraya – is about a kilometer away and we are about an hour west of Granada and north of Malaga.

From our deck we can watch the sheep trundle through the turnip fields which have been left to rot as their winter feed and the goats on the high hill munching on the trees and bushes. There is almost no noise at all, except the dull clang of the sheep and goat bells, which we discovered sounds eerily similar to the sound of ice clunking in a large G&T. We are now wondering what those goats are really up to in the dark.

Our landlords –Alan and Lynn – live close by, but you would not know it. Only the regular visits from their four dogs give away that we have neighbours at all.

This is just a quick post. A writing job (that pays!) is taking up blog writing time, so there will be a short delay in posting of stories of our final Portuguese adventures and the latest Spanish ones for a little while, so please be patient…. they are on their way. Meanwhile – here’s our room with a view.

post

A tale of two cities

 

What often happens when religion and architecture come together?  You can get the most stunning creations and at the same time, you can also get the worst possible behaviour..

Perhaps the history of two of Southern Spain’s most significant buildings can be summed up with the opening line of Charles Dickens’s novel “Tale of Two Cities” – “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness….” Our two cities are Cordoba and Seville. Both are home to UNESCO World Heritage sites – one celebrates its Arabic origins and trumpets the culture that built such an incredible place and the other, quite literally attempted to bury many of the signs of its Arabic history. Cordoba in the 10th century was the most populous city in the world – between 500,000 to a million souls. The Moors, who had overrun the Christians, who had overrun the Romans (stop me if this is sounding all too familiar in these times!) had developed the city into a centre of learning, culture, economics and politics, with the world’s biggest library, holding up to a million texts. In the city centre had stood the christian Church of St Vincent. The Moors bought half the church from the Christians and proceeded to develop and extend the site into what was to become one of the most important examples of Arabic architecture in the world – the Great Mosque of Cordoba. Centuries later, when the Christian armies over-ran the city they naturally reclaimed the Mosque at the same time. It seems that victory wasn’t, and apparently still isn’t enough. Even as we toured the building all these centuries later, official guides could be heard earnestly telling the tourists that this really is a Christian place – not Muslim at all. The Islamic Council of Spain has even asked the Vatican for permission to jointly worship there and has been repeatedly refused. There were 856 columns in the original mosque, carved from jasper, marble, onyx and granite. Today you can see where newer columns were literally built against them in plain stone to subsume the original.

Contrast this with the inscriptions above the entrance archway of the Reales Alcazar, or Royal Palace, in Seville. While one announces in Spanish that the building’s creator was ‘the very high, noble and conquering Don Pedro, by the grace of God king of Castila and León,’ another proclaims repeatedly in Arabic that ‘there is no conqueror but Allah.’ Now the oldest royal palace still in use, it was originally built as a Moorish fort in 913. It too has been extended and altered over the centuries by a myriad of Christian kings and noblemen, but its Muslim heritage is preserved and celebrated. Both have done a fine job in creating one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen. And it is dripping in history. From the Maiden’s Courtyard, through to the The Admiral’s Hall was where Ferdinand Magellan, Amerigo Vespucci and Juan Sebastian Elcano planned their world trips and cartographer Juan de la Cosa crafted the first world map. Down the hallway was the site of Columbus’s meeting with the king and queen having returned from the “newly discovered” lands – depicted in paintings that still hang on the ancient walls. It is a celebration of all history, not a distortion of its parts and that makes it all the more beautiful.

post

Strength, valour, sharks and rice

We have been travelling for three months now and have seen many and varied things – old, new, weird and wonderful – and all of it has been great fun. After leaving Mallorca, the next leg on our journey of discovery took us through some of the ancient cities of southern Spain – Valencia, Cordoba and Seville. This is the first of three short blogs we’ll be posting in the coming days about our visits to each of them. Their histories are fascinating, although they all have a recurring theme of being great Moorish cities and districts; centres of learning, excellence, art and culture… until various christian kings of Spain came along and literally in some case, wrecked it all. We took the ferry from Mallorca to Valencia. It was a bright and sunny 250km sail that we were able to part-share with Geoff’s sister 17,000km away in Australia, thanks to the wonders of wifi and Skype!

Melbourne, Melbourne, this is Mallorca calling

Melbourne, Melbourne, this is Mallorca calling

Valencia is the largest commercial port in the Med, and the third largest city in Spain.

Valencia harbour

Valencia harbour

It is also credited as the birthplace of paella.

The home of paella

The home of paella

Steeped in history, Valencia’s Roman name of “Valentia” means “strength” or “valour” and has one of the largest “historical districts” of any Spanish town. Maybe we are getting spoiled or complacent about happenings in centuries past, but we decided to spend the bulk of our one day in Valencia exploring the modern, not the ancient. But we aren’t just being contrary. If you do a Google Images search on Valencia it is the more recent spectacular architecture which dominates the results – the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències or City of Arts and Sciences. The complex of modern architecture, spaces, bridges and gardens ribbons its way along the dry riverbed of the city’s Turia River and includes the science museum, landscaped walkways, an opera house, a planetarium and the oceanographic park. We spent a lot of our time in the shark house, watched as Foucault’s Pendulum progressed through space and admired our own internal workings in the Science Museum, so we really did go back to ancient times after all – as much as 400 million years back to be precise! Enjoy our modern take on an old master: