|
Our first stop was a complex of buildings that included the Mosque Ahl Fes, sometimes known as the "royal mosque," because the king himself recites Friday prayers there.
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Day 14! We had a very enjoyable drive up Morocco's Atlantic coast in our journey from Casablanca back to Tangier.
Rabat, Morocco's capital, was a photo stop and it presented us with a series of memorable sights. The city has a rich--albeit sometimes dark--history. It was home port for the most dreaded of barbary pirates. They sailed from a community (known as "Sale" that is just across the river from Rabat. The Sallee corsairs terrorized coastal cities in the Mediterranean and along the Atlantic. The local tour guides don't say much about the barbary pirates.
|
||
|
Our first stop was a complex of buildings that included the Mosque Ahl Fes, sometimes known as the "royal mosque," because the king himself recites Friday prayers there.
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
The Royal Palace is a walled area that may be viewed only from the outside. A series of beautiful arches gives a visitor the impression of an "infinite regress" into the royal complex--like peering at images in adjacent mirrors.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rabat is one of the few Moroccan localities where tourists are permitted to take pictures of soldiers, guards, police, and other uniformed public servants. This friendly, and crisply attired, police officer was indeed very photogenic.
|
|
|
|
| The same can't be said of some other personnel. Despite colorful garb, other palace guards had a slouchy and distinctly non-military bearing. And this was at the royal palace itself! (Maybe there is good reason why the government generally doesn't want its uniformed personnel to be photographed.) |
|
 |
|
Continue to the next page.
|