White-Washed Essouria

From Marrakech we took a three hour bus to Essaouira, a small town fortified behind tall ramparts built by the French. The town has a bustling fishing industry, soaring seagulls, small souqs, and picturesque doorways. It was also a one-time home to Jimi Hendrix who wrote 'Castles Made of Sand' about one of its off-shore crumbling fortifications.



We wandered the cavernous white-washed alleys and photographed many of the doorways. There a whole set of these in the album.



Wandering past the fish souq we picked up on the strong smell and got a closer look. Here you could buy everything from sardines to sharks to eels and have them cook it up for you right there. The cats in this area were especially fat and lazy.



The town was very picturesque, but had limited sights or attractions to speak of. We basically just took in the views and wander the alleys for a day until we headed back to Marrakech.



The other forte of Essouiria are the restaurants, with Elizir and Cafe Des Alizes delivering some of the best meals we've had in months. Our last treat was a rather hidden bar where we savored some of Morocco's hard-to-find beers.

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