Winter Scavenger Hunt: Morocco Part 3

This is the final post of scavenger hunt photos from Morocco. I have two more photos to post, but I took both of them in Chicago before we left. I’m planning to put all the photos from the hunt in a SmugMug album as I usually do. I don’t feel any need to choose just one photo for a prompt, but like to see how many different ways I’ve managed to capture them. 

Number 18 was “A Signpost.” This is probably the lowest quality photo that I kept of the trip because it was taken out of the bus window. Actually I took some really fine photos out the window with my iPhone, but try as I might, I could not seem to get a signpost in clear focus.

“Detail,” prompt #20, was photographed over and over. I loved the detail in the stucco work, the mosaics, and many of the crafts. So here are several. 

Here a craftsman is carving a marble headstone.

A close-up of one of the bronze doors in the King’s Palace in Fes.

A closer look. This one could also work for the next prompt:  “Handles”

Here you see stucco work, mosaics, and calligraphy—all are hallmarks of Moroccan architecture.

The beautiful woodworking on a minbar in Marrakesh. The minbar is the pulpit in a mosque where the iman stands to deliver the sermon. (This one was showcased in a room in a kasbah in Marrakesh.) 

Number 21 is “Handles,” and I found a lot of those I liked as well. The first ones show my interest in worn and ancient doors and handles.

Although hardly new, this one shows a little less wear and tear.

Although “Symmetry” (#22) is also a hallmark of Moroccan design, it was most apparent in the beautiful mosaic fountains. Almost every riad in the medinas had a beautiful fountain.

Number 24 was “Steam or smoke.” I have one for steam and one for smoke. 

Mint tea being poured after our lunch at the Governor’s House in Salé. We were told that it is traditionally (and almost always in our daily experience) poured from a height so that a foam head appears on the top of the tea. If no head appears, it means you are being served old tea. Mint tea is a symbol of hospitality, and it is considered rude to refuse it. In my reading before the trip, it was noted that it is usually quite sweet, but we were always offered mint tea, with or without sugar. The beautiful glasses were almost always filled with fresh mint before the tea was poured. I became quite fond of it. At some hotels we were greeted with trays of mint tea, and in both of the rug cooperatives we visited, tea was served prior to a talk on the rugs.

Here spices are being roasted in a souk in Marrakesh.

The last prompt (#25) was “a peek inside.” Until we reached Casablanca, a peek inside was all we could see of a mosque. Unlike Istanbul, where all the mosques were open to non-Muslims during times when there was no worship service, in Morocco, only the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca is open to non-Muslims.

One of the most beautiful mosques we peeked into. This one was in Rissani, Morocco.

A peek into a room in a ksar in Rissani. A ksar was (is) a fortified castle, and many ancient ones exist in Morocco. Most are in a state of disrepair, and there are very few Moroccans living in one. This one was in terrible condition except for a very few rooms. One family was still living here. A woman opened the door to one of the rooms, and two goats stuck their heads out!

Someone commented that the scavenger hunt seemed made for my trip to Morocco, and indeed it did. There are a few more photos to share, perhaps, but these scavenger hunt finds give a good flavor of what we experienced on our tour.