this is a page for

Category: Blogging

Nine Big “Don’ts” on Solo Travel That Make a Difference

After each solo adventure I catalog the great tips, new ideas and helpful suggestions that I’ve picked up or been gifted with from other travelers. So here are a few from my most recent Moroccan adventure: Don’t Overthink it. Solo travel is not a rite of passage. You can’t fail it. Some trips are better than others. Understand that once you’ve done your planning, booked your flights and hotels and …

A World Famous Designer’s Art-Deco Treasure: Visit Majorelle Gardens

Come with me to the gardens of Yves and Pierre… The Garden, located in the city of Marrakech and restored by Yves Saint Laurent and his partner, Pierre Berge in 1922, is one of the most enchanting and mystical gardens in Morocco. Created in the space of forty years, it is surrounded by walls and is a labyrinth of intersecting alleys. Gorgeous. Intertwining levels and Moorish Art Deco style buildings in …

My Expert Guide to the Perfect Moroccan Hammam Experience

This is a “must” in Morocco. It’s sheer bliss, inexpensive compared to any spa experience in the US and an utterly amazing sensual delight. First, what is a hammam? “For every tourist coming to Morocco, visiting a traditional Moroccan hammam and experiencing the wide range of benefits is undoubtedly on their bucket list. Moroccan hammams take their inspiration from the first original bathhouses created by the Roman empire more than 2000 years ago, …

Smoking Tajines and Savory Spices: How to Cook Authentic Moroccan Food

One of the best ways to learn the intimacies of foreign cuisines (and sample the goods!) is to take a cooking class when you travel. I had this amazing experience at Dar Rhizlane Palais and Table D’Hotes one recent morning in Marrakech. The word tajine refers to both the conical-shaped dish and the food that’s cooked inside it, which is usually a blend of delicious sweet and savoury flavours. Traditionally …

Lords of the High Atlas, How to Ride a Camel and a Saharan Night Under the Stars

Morocco is alternately overwhelming, delicious, friendly and vicious. It offers a constant assault on the senses, enhanced by true tales of its barely believable past. And everywhere, there are children. Boys mostly but occasionally a young girl with her mother close by, begging. I asked permission to take her picture and bought trinkets from these women alongside the road where we stopped to take a “panoramic picture.” First, the ride …

Visit Impressive Volubilus and Eat Couscous in Fes

We left the grandeur of Rabat in the morning just as the King was arriving. Street crews spent the night trimming, sweeping, and spit-shining every inch of the capital city in preparations as we headed east to visit the 2nd and 3rd century Roman ruins of Volubilis, proceeding then to Meknes and ending the day at the Riad Salam in Fes. Tired and then astonished by this grand gem, hidden …