Monday, Oct 7th, Evora, Portugal

Greetings!

Today, we drove east, out where the cork trees grow.  Out where three rivers flow, and where 7,000 years ago the Celtic tribes learned to sow the ground with wheat and barley.  The sun and moon and the earth were alive,  and controlled everything.  And all raised stones in tribute to them.

On the way into Evora, we stopped to visit a large standing stone (menhir) and a nearby stone circle (Almendres Cromlech).  We plan on returning to the area tomorrow, but we wanted to get a glimpse of what we'd see.  We were really glad we did, as the memories of a trip long ago to Spain and France came flowing back to us.  The places we hiked to can take you to another world.

Checking into our beautiful two-story apartment, built inside an old Roman aqueduct, we walked through the walled city to the central plaza.  A tall Roman-columned ruin stands across from a large 16th century church and convent.

At the end of a long walking day, we enjoyed a large Sangria in the square and planned our travels tomorrow.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on: Monday, Oct 7th, Evora, Portugal.

Sunday, Oct 6th, Lisbon, Portugal

Greetings!

Having agreed to use a taxi to return to our mountain-high with many steps and winding street Lisbon home, we decided to hike down to the base of our hill and explore the Lisbon bus system today.

Our goal goal was the Museo Nacionale Azulejos.  It is dedicated to displaying and describing the uniquely Portuguese tradition which produced tiles and tableaus displayed on walls in the facades of homes and churches.  The Moors took the techniques and designs from the Persians, and eventually the Catholics used them to herald religious themes.

However, looking through my photographs taken in the museum, I only found one (of a stairway) which hardly shows the work's beauty, complexity, or usefulness.  Instead, I was fascinated with the huge collection of paintings being displayed in the museum (previously a convent).  Many of the Azulejos were drawn from the subjects of the paintings.

Heading home after a great lunch at the museum, we walked back to a large square we saw from the bus on the way here.  We decided we had energy for that distance, and it could save a little on the taxi fare.  Terriero do Paco (Yard of the Palace) was the site of a royal palace, built from 250 years of Indian spice and Brazilian gold brought back from 1498 to 1755 by the Portuguese shipping trade.  The palace, and most of the city were destroyed in the great earthquake, tsunami, and fire of 1755.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on: Sunday, Oct 6th, Lisbon, Portugal.

Saturday, Oct 5th, Lisbon, Portugal

Greetings!

Don't come to Lisbon's popular southside neighborhoods if you're not prepared to walk the hills.  The streets are too narrow to drive easily, and they are filled with busses, taxis, and residents who have gated off many of the high streets for their parking.

If you haven't discovered yet, we like old buildings.  And they tend to be on the tops of hills.  Sometimes, they are clustered together, so we get a break, but Lisbon seems to have plenty of hilly old churches, fortresses, monasteries, and other architecturally-significant structures spaced high up.  We're thinking of adding taxis to our toolkit.

Those of us who love in the San Francisco Bay Area are more aware of earthquakes than most Americans.  We're waiting for the big one, with vivid memories of the power of our 1906 earthquake and subsequent fire.  Lisbon had an even larger earthquake in 1755 that leveled buildings as far away as Morocco and France.  We visited one in town today that has become a center for the study of architecture and the history of Portugal.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on: Saturday, Oct 5th, Lisbon, Portugal.

Friday, Oct 4th, Lisbon, Portugal

Greetings!

A short flight from Casablanca is Lisbon, Portugal.  With tall Catholic church steeples on every skyline, and red tiled roofs on white-washed housing walls, it can't be mistaken for Marrakech.

There is a very popular neighborhood in the hills above the port on the southern edge of Lisbon called Largo das Porta's do Sol.  Tucked deep down a long flight of stairs, past a garage where our car was driven into an elevator container which placed it somewhere underground (and spit out a card for us to use to retrieve it), is our apartment.

In the hills far above, we used the waning hours of today to watch the sun set from the walls of the Castle.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on: Friday, Oct 4th, Lisbon, Portugal.

Thursday, Oct 3rd, Casablanca, Morocco

Greetings!

Last full day in Morocco was memorable for a visit to two famous places: the Hassan II Mosque and Rick's Cafe.

With the opening in May of this year of the Great Mosque of Algeria, there is some dispute as to which mosque is the largest in Africa, but clearly this city's major tourist feature is huge.

It's 200 meter mineret towers over everything, and the capacity of the square and prayer hall is staggering.  Built by the sea (as the Koran dictates), it's titanium walls and retractable ceiling are very impressive (and expensive).

Next, we walked through Casablanca's old Medina, and found fish and meat butchers for everything you can imagine.  We tried to ignore the horses, and learned the names and looks of lots of fish.

After lunch at a garden restaurant near the Medina wall, we headed back to le Casablanca Hotel for a few hours free time.  Planning to consume the wine we bought long ago, but haven't been able to consume before dinner tonight, a fellow traveler and I decided to try to get into the bar at Rick's Cafe.

Three-day advance reservations are required for a table, but walk-ins are allowed at 6:30 to the bar.  Michael and I made full use of their generosity to wonder upstairs and down to take some photos.  We raised a glass of beer to the memory of a friend of mine, and to the adventure we were finishing.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on: Thursday, Oct 3rd, Casablanca, Morocco.

Wednesday, Oct 2nd, Casablanca, Morocco

Greetings!

Our last long driving day, we returned to Casablanca.  Mohammed took us up a coastal route, and we passed through many small towns surrounded by olive orchards.

Usually, the olives are ripe by now, and pressing their oil is in full swing everywhere.  But, like Argan oil, the dry season has been brutal on olives.  Fortunately for us, one small olive pressing operation was taking a chance with their first press when we showed up in the town.  We got to step right into their processing, observe the machines and workers, and even buy some end product (probably the first of the season).

At one happy place stop (anywhere we can use the restroom for a small coin), we hiked over the sand dunes to the low tide pools and breaking waves.  My surfing/coastal activist soul was only partially nourished, but the ice cream we had at the cafe helped us all with childhood memories.

The next two days are our last on the tour portion of our trip.  On Friday, we fly to Lisbon, Portugal.  We'll pick up a car, and drive to a private home for three days to begin our exploration of that country.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on: Wednesday, Oct 2nd, Casablanca, Morocco.

Tuesday, Oct 1st, Essaouira, Morocco

Greetings!

Today was mostly an optional field trip to the investigate Argan oil production.  And to visit a winery.

But first, we visited a small village made popular by a visit from Jimi Hendrix in 1969.  A cafe at the entrance to the town announces the occurance, and contains photos, paintings, and murals in tribute to him.

Earlier in the trip, I criticized a practice whereby some tourists we're led to trees alongside the road in which goats had been tied to the branches.  There really are goats in trees in the process of making Argan oil.  But you need to find them yourself in the 2 million hectares of Argan trees in southern Morocco, and not be satisfied with photographing goats tied up in trees close by your hotels.

Our drive south of town reminded me of an African safari where the guides keep saying "I'll find you a cheeta, don't worry".  There has been so little rain this year, and thus so few Argan nuts on the trees.  The shepherds and goat herds are so hard to find.

Yes, the goats exist.  In early September (in a normal year), they climb the Argan trees, eat the ripe nuts, and the softer skinless inside ends up in a stomach pouch which is then regurgitated.  The results can then be gathered up by the women of the village, and taken to their co-operative.  The process of the elimination the husk, cracking the nut, crushing the seed, and obtaing the oil is done by hand by the women of the co-operative.  You can contact them through their website at www.arganouz.com

Afterward, we had lunch at Val d' Argan Winery, a really gorgeous little place with a wide selection of wine from local grapes.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Tuesday, Oct 1st, Essaouira, Morocco.