essaouira

essaouira is like chefchaouen except on the beach instead of the mountains. nicole, lindsey, and i left right after work on friday, nearly missing our train. the trip takes 8 hours, a 5 hour train ride to marrakech and then a 3 hour bus ride to essaouira. the driver managed not to hit anything. we arrived late at night and managed to negotiate the windy streets of the medina to find our hotel. the next morning we woke up to have breakfast on the terrace on the hotel roof. it was clear that a storm was brewing when the crazy gusts of wind pushed a potted 4 foot cactus onto my arm. attack cactus!

we went out to wander the streets before the storm broke. found some great shopping, mostly jewelery and managed to get some lunch. then we decided to go back to the hotel when it started pouring buckets.

all of us headed up to the roof to watch the storm from the covered porch on the roof. i made some very nice british friends with rum and we spent the afternoon watching the torrential downpour. for about 2 minutes around sunset the rain stopped and the sun came out.



then it started raining again and we went to dinner. some of the best seafood i've ever had.


the next morning we woke up early hoping to see some more of the city. luckily the weather was good and we walked around the walls of the city by the ocean.






we had a beautiful walk on the beach, ate breakfast, and went home.

all in all, a relaxing weekend with some nice shopping and a nice walk by the beach. i'd love to go back some weekend when its not raining!