Last day in Morocco. Saying good bye

After painting the town red with my friend last night, I woke up tried and hungry. She promised that she will show me how the Moroccans eat thier breakfast. I would have to meet up with her at the restaurant. Which finding the place was my next task.

A Moroccan breakfast photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

Of course, I got lost. Had to ask a few locals to find the restaurant. When I got there, my friend already ordered and told the waiters hold off on servicing. The moment I sat down, a waiter was already there with my plate.

As seen in the picture above, Moroccans love to eat bread in the morning. My plate had 6 different types of bread with a pancake at the end. The sauces were honey, butter and a peanut butter made with Moroccan argan oil. It was amazing, every bite tasted with a hit of familiarity and a dash of foreign flavors.

A cat and the goat ramming into the wall photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

After eating our breakfast, my friend wanted to show me her neighborhood. We went around in a taxi and got the local price. Trust me, it’s always good to have a local friend. Paid for a third of the normal price.

As we pulled up to her childhood surroundings, we passed by one of the royal family’s vacation homes. I wanted to take a photo but, she suggested not to. I could be mistaken as a journalist. That could cause problems for the both of us.

The view Tangier’s coastline photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

As the taxi was going around, we eventually ended up on a hill. From what my friend translated to me, the taxi driver suggested I see the view from this hill. We got out and I was stunned. I was reminded that this was not France. A random goat showed up to see the view with us. It’s hard to see goats out in the open in Western countries, especially in metropolitan areas. The goat kept running into the wall. Not sure what enjoyment that creature getting from self harm.

Local boat docking station photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

The view was out of this world, it felt like California. As if, I was looking at the hills just outside of San Francisco. It gave me a warm feeling in my heart. It was so nostalgic.

The Atlantic ocean meets the mediterranean sea photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

After about half an hour passed, it was time for me to head for the airport. We dropped off my friend at her parents’ home. I offered to pay because she got the taxi driver to pay the local price. Which was about 7 USA dollars all together.

Eventually, I made it to the Tangier airport. My adventures in this North African country was ending. Learned a lot here and made some awesome friends. Definitely a country I will have to visit again. Good bye Morocco, until we meet again.

Stay safe everyone and remember to wash your hands!

Check out our eBook “How to Travel for Dirt Cheap” by Hugo Morel for ways to make your dreams of traveling come true without breaking the bank. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07M848M47?ref_=pe_3052080_276849420&fbclid=IwAR0_mRF-eE9tODIshljVr7CQ8h6vKT6hHn_8gZfJ94DySY1ylPO2Itu2Qe

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June 3, 2020 15

Exploring Tangier, Morocco At Night

Once the sunset passed, I was about go to sleep and write a little more on this blog. I was still trying to get used to the local time zone. Of course, that wasn’t what the course of events’ planned for me. I got a message on whatsapp, it was my local friend. She let me know that she was done with work and could show me around Tangier. I was a little suspicious of about meeting someone at night for the first time. However, she suggested we met up in a public location and she was a recommendation from another trusted friend. So, I agreed to meet up.

Outside of where I was staying in tangier photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

Tangier at night has a different feel to it. It feels like a party town. This city is like Morocco’s Miami. Beaches and parties, that is what most locals and tourist do. Always a big event happening here. With the atlantic ocean near by, it not hard to confuse this with any city in the americas.

Tangier’s city center at night photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

My friend and I started in the city’s center. We walked around and I wanted to know what locals do for fun. She suggested we go and rent a pool table. Me, not knowing a thing about the game of pool I agreed. From what she told, Moroccans love playing pool. They have intense competitions held monthly in Tangier. Although my friend didn’t get far in the competitions, she was extremely good. Learned how to play pool that night. Proud of myself for not poking a hole in the table. Also, if we would had betted money, I would had lost an arm and a leg.

French food photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

After playing pool for a few hours, we decided to go eat somewhere. I wanted some local food; however, all the local restaurants were far from our location. By the time we would get there, the restaurant would be closed. In the end, we ended up eating at a French Moroccan restaurant. Where they serve French food with a small Moroccan taste. It was the best we could do at finding a local cuisine. She did warned me it was fancy. Despite of that, the bill was no more than 40 dollars. Which we split even. I wasn’t mad because 20 dollars in New York City gets you a burger with fries or 4 tacos with a soda.

Fruit Dessert photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

The food was awesome, didn’t expect it to be so good. With french hip hop playing in the background, she told me the local life. Life is not that great for locals. She works at a tour agency translating French and Arabic for English speaking tourists. She has to sell her own custom made t-shirts to tourists to help her little brother. For the average Moroccan, she still lives extremely well. Her own apartment and studying in school, she is a hustler. To be honest, I was expecting her to try to sell me some shirts or items. To my surprise, nothing of that sorts occurred. Glad to meet and see the entrepreneurial spirt of the Moroccan people.

Stay safe everyone and remember to wash your hands!

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For my underwater photos, I use the gopro hero 7 white.

May 27, 2020 11

Tangier, the Spanish speaking part of morocco

Three hours after leaving Casablanca, I was in Tangier. This city was at the northern part of Morocco. Close to the Mediterranean Sea, this city has such a strong Spanish influence. Some of the buildings have Spanish architecture. This area’s history with Spain goes back several hundreds to thousands of years. It almost looked like I was in Latin America.

The view from the airbnb apartment photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

Got to my Airbnb apartment, it was near the beach. This looks a like an awesome place to visit during the summer time. The cold breeze with the beautiful beaches confused me. I felt I like running downstairs to jump into the water. What stopped me was the need to have my winter coat with me. It was like a very cold Miami without the heat.

View of the beach photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

Some of the people here speak Spanish. You can tell where someone is from originally because of how they speak Spanish. The history this place has with Spain is interesting. When the Spanish Jews and Moors got kicked out of Spain, they had to settle in different parts of North Africa. Others converted to Christianity and left for the Spanish colonies in the Americas. So, the Spanish Moors and Jews that went back to Morocco settled in this region of the country. The Jews settled more in the “Blue city” or Chefchaouen that’s about an hour away by car.

Another view of the beach photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

Went to a mall near my accommodation. I wanted to eat out and try some Moroccan food. To my disappointment, all the food was American globalization flavored. I did have a conversation with a local that spoke Spanish. He couldn’t speak English and my skills towards this country’s governmental languages are horrible. Spanish was our common language. My new friend let me know that he learned Spanish from his parents. He even spoke Spanish with a Spaniard accent but he looked Latin American. It was surreal to experience this. I felt like the biggest history nerd knowing this guy has roots to the Moors and/or the sephardic jew. Spanish is taught at home by being passed down generationally. Same goes with judaism.

The beach with the hill in the background photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

Came back near the apartment I rented, I was a little annoyed. I went to Morocco to eat hamburgers and french fries. There’s a French joke here, but I’m not going to touch it. Anyways, I wanted to eat Moroccan food. Sadly, I started to noticed that local food is hard to come by when you are staying in the touristy areas.

Stay safe everyone and remember to wash your hands!

Sorry for posting on Thursday. Had a wild day yesterday.

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For my underwater photos, I use the gopro hero 7 white.

May 7, 2020 13

My short time in Casablanca, Morocco

Once we arrived to Casablanca, my new friend show me where to buy the high-speed tickets. Knowing this helped me save 3 hours on my next trip. Which would had been 6 hours. Half the time saved meant more to spend in my next location.

A view of casablanca photo courtesy of hugo morel

The next morning, I woke up cold. It was winter time here. Casablanca is a lot colder than Marrakech. It actually felt like December up here. Had to wear all my winter clothes like I never left New York City. Hard to believe because most of my first impressions of North Africa was the heat. However, it was almost freezing.

views of the road with the sun photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

another of the sun photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

Left the room I rented on air bnb to head towards the Casablanca’s train station. I wanted to see a little bit of this city. I was going to head up north soon. There wasn’t much time for me to explore the business capital of Morocco.

A view Casa Voyageurs photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

Started wandering around the Casa Voyageurs train station. I was slowly noticing a lot of American businesses like Starbucks around. It’s crazy to think the center of hipsterville (starbucks) was in Morocco. Yes, this is definitely not the Africa the media likes to portrays. Even saw hipster Moroccans, which is something that I’m still trying to process.

Another view of Casa Voyageurs photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

Casablanca felt like a normal European city; yet, mixed with it’s own culture. The time I spent in the taxi to get to Casa Voyageurs, I saw how differnt Casablanca was to Marrakech. For those who don’t know, Casa Voyageurs is Casablanca’s main train station. Marrakech actually felt and looked like a tropical french metropolitan built similar to Paris. However, Casablanca was like I was really in Paris at times. In parts, you didn’t feel like you were in Africa. It just felt so European. I literally thought the eiffel tower was just around the corner. To my dislike, my time here was ending and it was time for me to leave. This is a place, I have to visit again and explore. However, I was going further north, closer to spain. Let’s see what more Morocco had to offer.

Stay safe everyone and remember to wash your hands!

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For my underwater photos, I use the gopro hero 7 white.

April 29, 2020 6

Riding a train from Marrakech to Casablanca

Finally, it was my time to board the train. It felt like 10 hours of waiting. Something funny happened to me while waiting. This lady that was sitting next time told me in arabic, “watch over my bags while I go to the bathroom.” I had no idea what she was saying. However, she thought I was Moroccan. After about 15 minutes, she came back. Grabbed her bags and thanked me in Arabic. Replied with the little arabic I know, “shukraan” meaning thanks. She found out that I obviously didn’t speak arabic. She told what she asked in English. We laughed and I made a new friend. That’s what life is about. Meeting people and making memories.

On the platform waiting for the train photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

Once on-board the train, I went to the first class section. There was like a 7 dollar difference from the main cabin to the first class seats. It was a no brainer. Sat on my seat, I was surprised to see how beautiful the trains were. The west gives bad media attention towards africa. Trust me people, it’s not as backwards as you all think.

When the train arrived photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

My cabin mates for this journey came and got to their seats. After about ten minutes, the train was in motivation. The crew operating the train came to check out tickets. He had to look at my ticket twice because it had the wrong date on it. The worker at the Marrakech station printed out the wrong ticket. I didn’t noticed because my mind was elsewhere. Reluctantly, I had to buy the ticket again. All this because I missed my frist train. Moral of the story, always google the current time when in a forgien country.

The train company is called Atlas Photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

One of my cabin mates spoke English. He understood what happened and explained to me that I can get a refund at the Casablanca station. We ended speaking about the current affairs of Morocco. He told me this french and Arabic speaking country has Africa’s first high-speed train.

The further the train went into Morocco, the deeper my new friend and I had conversations about entrepreneurship went. He owns a few businesses and a travel agency. Found out he was going to Casablanca too. Sadly, there were two Scandinavian girls were killed.

A photo of murdered Danish student Louisa Vesterager Jespersen (L) and Nowegian Maren Ueland placed on top of flowers as Moroccans pay tribute to the victims. Photo: Fadel Senna/AFP

My new friend showed his anger towards the terrorists that committed murder. He explained that terrorism is not Islam. This is something I already knew from my travels to Egypt. He let me know that terrorist groups create chaos to prevent progress. Morocco has just built their high-speed trains and opended up thier country more for tourism. This makes the extremist groups furious. It almost a reminder of my views towards the average muslim. They just want peace.

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For my underwater photos, I use the gopro hero 7 white.

April 22, 2020 13

Waiting like a kid and missing my train at the Marrakesh station

After eating that wonderful ice cream, I went back into the station. I was so excited to be able to do this. Since I was a kid, I told my father that I will do a long train travel in Africa. Here I am as an adult, about to do what I claimed I would more than a decade ago. Hopefully in the future, I will do more than one country on a train! You get to see more of the countryside than being on flight.

Kfc In morocco photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

I was excited to see Morocco by train. Starting off at Marrakesh with a stop in Casablanca, this train journey will end up in Tangier. Tangier is almost across the sea from Spain. It’s on the very tip of northwest morocco. So, I was almost seeing the whole country on train. My face had the brightest smile. You can’t say dreams don’t come true. For at that moment, I was living in one.

An American real estate company photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

Per-ordered my train tickets from a local agency. It was a little more expensive buying them in person. In Morocco, you can’t buy train tickets online with a foreign card. If you are using a foreign card, you have to buy everything in person. That’s why I used a local agency, they assure to buy your tickets ahead of time. Most of the extra money went to a good cause. The agency helps with local troubled youth, so I wasn’t mad.

A bird’s eye view of the train station photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

Waiting to board the train was dreadful. It’s like a kid waiting in line to go to Disneyland. Every ten minutes, I would look at my watch. Wondering when I will board. With very little public WiFi spots, I had to find something to pass my time. Pulled out a book to read; however, I put it back in fear of losing track of time. It was one of those moments, where you were frustrated going back and fourth on what to do.

The entrance of the train station photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

Of course, that’s what happened even without reading my book. I missed calculated the time difference and apparently my phone did too. I missed my train and had to take another one, two hours later. Which means more waiting like that kid in line at the Disneyland entrance. This was just the start to something more complicated. However, that didn’t stop me from having a good time.

Hey, everyone!! I’m sorry I haven’t responded to your comments and not making a post yesterday. It’s been a rough three weeks for me. Lost two close people recently. Also, on Monday I just lost an uncle to the virus. It’s very hard for me and everyone lately. I”m terribly sorry once again. I promise to reply to every comment by this weekend. Please stay safe everyone. Wash your hands!! Safe travels and much love!

For videos about cultures of the world and to see our travels, subscribe to our youtube channel!

For my underwater photos, I use the gopro hero 7 white.

April 15, 2020 11

Hello…. Morocco you are kind of French

Morocco, a country I always wanted to visit. A place with lots of history and culture. I couldn’t wait to explore this French and Arabic speaking country. I heard there were parts of Morocco that had tons of green grass. I wanted to see that in person. I’m sure like most people, when they think about North Africa sand, and endless deserts comes to mind.

Marrakesh airport photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

I arrived at the Marrakesh airport. I was somewhat in a hurry because my accommodation was in Casablanca. Didn’t really get to explore Marrakesh like most tourists. Plus, I wanted to go across country in a short time. Only had a few days, no time to explore like usual. Which means, I will most likely visit morocco again!

Outside of the Marrakesh train station photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

I just wandered around the city’s train station. Just from going around, you noticed the difference between Egypt and Morocco. Egypt felt like an African country mixed with the Middle East. Morocco is very different. In Egypt, the Arab culture is a lot more integrated in the culture and buildings. People were more conservative. However, Morocco is different. There were a lot of women without hijabs here. In Egypt, they had this too. But, in Egypt those without hijabs were mainly Christians or women from a high class family.

Sitting at the table waiting for my ice cream photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

Morocco felt more like I was in a tropical part of Paris. Maybe it was the French street signs that threw me off. You can even see the roads having a European look. It’s a reminder that Morocco was once a French colony. Egypt was not like this. The roads in Egypt, were more middle eastern looking. Although Morocco is a Muslim majority country, it’s very liberal compared to most countries in the Arab world. Also, there is a movement going on in North Africa to get rid of being called Arab. Some even letting go of the Muslim faith. Morocco is actually at the center of that movement. However, that’s a story for another post.

classic Marrakesh art photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

Found an awesome restaurant to eat chocolate ice cream. From what the waiter told me, the chocolate was French style. The dessert had such an interesting taste. It wasn’t overly sugared like American or Swizz chocolate. You can taste the cocoa more than the sugar. Never had chocolate like this. It remind me of Mexican hot chocolate without the spicy kick. Next time when I’m in France, I will make sure to snack on their chocolate.

My chocolate ice cream photo courtesy of Hugo Morel

After eating, I head back into the train station. Going to get on my train with any problems or issues. Of course, Murphy’s law had played into this. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Let’s just say, nothing went my way. Yet, I still had a great time. My time in Morocco was exciting and a wake up call to be more prepared for the unexpected. Regardless, I still love this country. I truly suggest you all to visit. It will change your mind about North Africa.

Much love and safe travels! Please keep clean everyone!! Wash your hands!!

For videos about cultures of the world and to see our travels, subscribe to our youtube channel!

For my underwater photos, I use the gopro hero 7 white.