El Jadida and Essaouira

This weekend we hit the roads south down the Atlantic coast.  Our first stop, El Jadida.  El Jadida is a small town, with the biggest attraction being the Citerne Portugaise.  It was built in 1514 by the Portuguese as an underground arsenal but is now used as a cistern only.  The columns, vaulted ceilings and well letting in daylight make it a mysterious sight.

          The old town (originally named Mazagan) was built by the Portuguese, who settled here in 1502.  In 1769, the sultan Sidi Mohammed expelled the Portuguese and renamed the city El Jadida (The New One).   The high walls around the old city provide a beautiful panoramic view of the old town.                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Take it for what it's worth...

We took a walk along the beach and found soccer games set up for miles!  Jamil was itching to get out and join one of the games!

On the rooftop of the riad, the boys made a mad dash for these sunhats.  They were nicely placed on the patio lounge chairs for guests... adult guests, I'm sure.  The mosque was right outside the riad, so we heard the beautiful call to prayer many times a day.  When we first arrived, we saw the men overflowing from the mosque doors trying to find a place to kneel and pray collectively.

We ate dinner here in the riad courtyard where the friendly owner cooked a fabulous fish meal.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  In an attempt to keep ourselves and the other riad guests sane, we have found two things that help keep our children quiet and content for somewhat long stretches; the dvd player and the shower... obviously not together.  We've managed to keep the dvd player tucked away during car rides, but I'm sure that desperate day will make its way into our future.  We'll see... :) 

The drive along the Atlantic coast from El Jadida to Essaouira was quite lovely.  I often thought of how remarkable it was that we spent the last 6 years living right on the other side of that same ocean.

This narrow road led to our riad in the medina.  It was the least expensive place that we'd stayed at so far, and you can see that it was still as charming as can be. 

The streets were more crowded than any city we had visited.  Taking the stoller down some of these streets was not ideal, but it was nice to have once the streets opened up to the wide ocean view.  Also, finding a highchair at a restaurant is impossible, so the stroller comes in extra handy when attempting to feed a wiggly little one and yourself.  I should take a picture of how filthy it has gotten since we've been here!  I'll be amazed if it's in one piece after the next two years.

We ate breakfast on the rooftop before our early departure for home.   Again, it was not disappointing, and look... they even had a highchair!  All it takes is a nice pac- n-play and a highchair these days for my 5 star rating!

There are tolls on the highways, which keep the highways nice.  They even provide a few stops that actually have toilets, instead of holes in the ground, and maybe even a playground if the boys are lucky!

Thank God our car has air conditioning!  See you next weekend!  Inshallah (God willing)!