Morocco: I Miss You! (Part 3)

Best ice cream of Africa

My 2nd day in Marrakesh began with sleeping in till the last possible minute before the hotel breakfast buffet closed at 10.  Glad I woke up though! The breakfast selection was much better than any cold continental, Hampton-Inn type buffet, this was: multiple platters of warms meats and vegetables, a cooking station for my favorite Msemen, a cold food area with dried apricots, dates, and nuts, all topped with fresh squeezed OJ or mint tea to wash it all down.  After sufficiently stuffing myself, Yuri and I digested for a bit in the room before doing a full Ab workout in preparation for lookin our best at the pool!  After donning my armor of sunscreen, we headed out for a relaxing few hours of reading, sleeping, swimming, tanning and talking.  While we relaxed Mrs. Protzuk and Rashida (Yuri’s Aunt) went to one of his grandfather’s condos nearby and did a few loads of laundry, so nice of them!  Upon their return we went to an exquisite ice cream parlor, that Rashida claimed is the best in all of Africa.  Boy was it good, I think Rashida’s claim may be accurate.  

Check for the Bucket List

After showering we returned to the Jemma el Fna for another evening of festivities, on the drive there we passed a carnival were I was able to take a loop riding a camel.  Riding a camel in Africa…. Cross that one of the bucket list!  We returned at early evening at the hotel where I took advantage of the high speed internet to upload most of the photos we had taken to facebook and watched the first three episodes of House of Lies a new Showtime comedy series which I would definitely recommend. 

View from my Hotel Room

After waking up, hitting the breakfast buffet, and checking out of the hotel we started on the road for Agadir, a beautiful beach town with waves comparable to San Diego, but the sand and warm waters of the Caribbean.  Unfortunately I had woken up with a mild headache, which throughout the day turned into a major headache with chills and a loss of appetite!  I tried my best not to let the sudden illness affect me, but it definitely took its toll on what should have been a splendid day.  Regardless, the couple of hour drive went by pretty quick and I was thrilled when we arrived at our 5 star resort (Check out: Sofitel Agadir for more pics!).  We were greeted with hand towels soaked with rose water and check-in took place with clipboards while lounging on large outdoor sofas inside the huge opened ceiling atrium.  The rooms were decked out with a great pool view and extra comfy down pillows, pads, and comforters… the lavish life of luxury!  We grabbed a table in a ground-recessed, square stone patio, where the recessed walls had pillows and there was a table at each of the four corners.  

The effect was unique as when you were seated your eyes were at ground level looking out towards the ocean, unfortunately for me my headache and chills were at their peak so I needed to wrap up in a towel and laydown even though it was balmy for everyone else.  Mrs. Protzuk ordered me a special soup of blended mixed vegtables and spices which made me feel much healthier.

Appetizers at the Reasturant (Yummy Mixed Veggies for me)

In an attempt to feel better, after lunch I went back to the room and huddled in my comfy bed for a warm nap before returning outside to a giant outdoor lounge bed with pillows where Yuri and I soaked up the last sun of the day.  After returning to the room we prepared for a late, multiple course meal at the night lounge restaurant.  For my main course I decided on a Lamb and Prune Tagine, served still sizzling in its traditional clay cookware.  With a mixture of sweet prunes, crunchy almonds and savory, fall-of-the-bone-lamb, it was deliciously-exquisite!


As a way to digest Yuri, Mrs. Prozuk, and I took a long walk along the wide boardwalk were we soaked in the ocean smells and lapsing, evening waves.  We passed a variety of couples, kids, and families all wearing a bright smile clearly enjoying themselves as much as we were, Agadir is truly a wonderful town.  Returning to my room, I found myself quickly sinking into the heavenly bed were happy dreams soon enveloped my consciousness.


I was pleased when awoken to find the headache and chills gone, and keen to make the most out of my second (and last) day in Agadir!  We quickly met up with the driver, Mrs. Protzuk, and Rashida and drove to a nice café a ways down the boardwalk to have a light breakfast with a view of the ocean.  Following breakfast Mrs. Protzuk and Rashida went to an open market while Yuri and I went to the Moroccan equivalent of Walmart to purchase “beverages” for the planned evening at the resorts night club.  Returning to the resort we hit the gym followed by a protein packed Asian lunch which we finished with an exotic fruit platter.  While the sun was still high in the sky we seized the opportunity to go bodysurfing, I passed on some of my knowledge gained from my San Diego trips to Yuri, and had a blast catching wave after wave.  

For King, County, and God (View from our dinner)

We grabbed dinner at an upscale restaurant in the Agadir Marina, where we enjoyed calamari for an appetizer (we shared quite a bit with an adorable stray cat) and I had a seafood risotto with muscles, calamari, scallops, and white fish all of which had been pulled in earlier that day.  We were seated outside, right inside the docks with a view of both the ocean and the mountain side that had a large lit up Arabic phrase.  Next on the list was some pregaming which included room-mixed drinks down by the pool while smoking some hookah (Only other time I have smoked hookah was in turkey so I figured I’d add Morocco to the list as well) while we highly anticipated one of the “Top 3 Nightclubs in Agadir” according to our research online.  To our dismay, even though it was past midnight on a Friday evening with a live DJ there was maybe all of 15 people there with an average age in the mid 35s.  So after Yuri had a Red-Bull and Vodka ($19!!) and we waited another 25mins or so we before calling it a night.  The evening was sort of a letdown, but we still had a fun time just catching… at least we gave it a shot.

The Aquarium in the Casablanca Mall

Between finishing my kindle-book Hawke and beginning the 4th book of the Game of Thrones series (The first 2 books have already been made into a very popular HBO series I plan to watch later this summer) on my ipod touch, the 5.5 hour drive to Casablanca flew by.  We were staying in one of Yuri’s grandparent’s two condos for the evening and after moving our stuff in, 2 of Yuri’s cousins came by to take us to the Largest Mall in Africa. The mall is incredible, we are talking 3 floors of high-end shops, complete with an indoor aquarium, children amusement park, and state-of-the-art Imax theater.  I coupled the last of my Moroccan dirhams with my credit card to purchase a replacement pair of Ray-Bans for the ones I lost my first week in England. (Maybe not the most practical decision considering England is cloud covered about 90% of the time).  After perusing the 20+ restaurants in the food court I decided on Thai of all things for my last dinner in Morocco.

Good 'ol cloudy Derby

The next day was all pretty cookie cutter, sleep, airport, British Airways Direct to Heathrow, underground to Kings Cross, walk to St. Pancras train station… 1.5 hour wait at St. Pancras, Train to Derby, Taxi to townhouse, asleep by 12:30AM, up by 6:45AM to start the work week.

Clouds over the Moroccan Atlas Mountatins... I Miss You!

Overall I had a better trip then I could have ever anticipated, the hospitality and generosity that I received and the splendor of Morocco completely “wowed” me.  It’s a country I would definitely recommend to prospective tourists to visit and one that I hope to return to.