We happened to be in Rabat on Christmas Day, just another day in the predominantly Muslim city.
Rabat is across the river from Sale so after a wonderful breakfast of yogurt, breads, cheese, jam, honey, coffee, juice, and tomato puree, we headed off in the rain to catch a boat.
Following the instructions from the owner of the riad, we set off in the direction of the river. We could see many boats beside the river but no people. Despite this appearance of desertion, we made for the jetty, our umbrellas high over our heads.
As we got to the jetty, we noticed two men in a boat. We called down to one of them about passage and he beckoned us forward. We joined the trays of fish on the bottom of the boat, the fishing nets with small dead fish in them. Thankfully, we were able to stay standing on the boat, even with the addition of another man who had been sheltering under the jetty.
The boat quickly made its way across the river and got close to the jetty on the other side. The man from under the jetty confidently hopped out while my friends and I discussed the wisdom of trying to climb out of the boat given the gap between it and the jetty. Seeing our reluctance to brave it, the owner worked to get closer. I climbed over the hull of the boat to get out before the boat drifted again. It might help you grasp the situation if I mention that the boat was held in place by two young men on the jetty. They were no competition for the current and the boat drifted after I climbed out. I called out encouragement to my friends after the third docking at which point they clamoured out of the boat. All that excitement and the exploration of Rabat hadn’t even begun.
We walked to the kasbah; avoiding the largest puddles meant walking with cars in the busy street. My feet were already wet inside my sneakers but I was hoping to escape becoming drenched.
The kasbah in Rabat is beautiful in it’s white and blue decor. Many doors have an upside down hand for the knocker. I hypothesized that this has some significance but never found out. As we were about to turn back to the medina, a man encouraged us forward to see panoramic views so we followed his advice.
The views of Sale, the Atlantic, the river and the kasbah were beautiful. We stayed at the viewpoint for a few minutes, enjoying the view before heading to the medina.
The Rabat medina seemed less crazy than in Fes and the bargaining was less hectic. I bought a runner carpet and some spices. We spent about an hour shopping before grabbing cheap sandwiches (mine was the most expensive at 15 MAD) to eat in the taxi on the way back to our riad in Sale Medina. We had about an hour to get a taxi to the Sale station, buy tickets and catch the train to Marrakesh.
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