“Storch, Storch Guter, bring mir einen Bruder, Storch, Storch Bester, bring mir eine Schwester!” An old Children’s rhyme I remember from way back then. And today we saw so many Storchs and Storch nests on the way from Casablanca north to Rabat, the capital of Morocco. It was an interesting ride, almost no traffic, and as soon as we entered Rabat, everything was super clean and neat! A welcomed side effect to being the capital I guess.

Our tour guides showed us around to the unfinished tower of the Hassan mosque, that was built from 1191-1199, until Yacoub El Mansour, the initiator, passed away in 1199 and his predecessor didn’t have the resources and the intention to finish it. It was intended to be the biggest religious building of its time, with a minaret of 88 meters in height. It is just 44 meters now and it was forgotten, the 1755 earthquake of Lisbon gave it the rest. Then it was used as a quarry for many buildings throughout town until it’s restoration. 1956, Mohammed V read the Declaration of Independence from this tower, saying that Morocco is no longer under French protectorate any longer. A major step in the history of this country!

Another interesting stop we had at the Kasbah des Oudaïa, a fortress to protect against Berber tribes, Osmanians or Spanish invaders. Its protective wall around, along with a massive gate are very impressive!

Finally we arrived at our riad for tonight, a lovely place inside the Medina – my favorite location! Ted’s friend David picked us up, we floated around the busy streets, where street vendors try to praise their goods, where people try to negotiate prices and where a handful of tourists try to hold on to their belongings, always nervous, always afraid…

With David we went to a very nice restaurant on board of an old sailboat, that was brought from India. We sat on deck, had a very tasty late lunch / early dinner before heading back to our Riad. Another fabulous day! Thank you David!