We landed in Marrakech but left immediately for Essaouira, and spent most of the drive taking pictures out of the windows and trying to nail down the pronunciation of Essaouira. It’s hard to avoid metathesis leading to pronouncing it “Ess-OW-ree-uh.” It’s actually Ess-uh-WEER-uh. I narrowly avoided titling this post “It’s-a-where-a?” so that’s about all of the restraint I have to spare today. Pictures: (click through for more/commentary).

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During the three-hour drive from the Marrakech airport to Essaouira, we watched the landscape change.

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These are argan nut trees.

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This is the real-life place where goats climb into trees. A meme come to reality. Unfortunately, we didn't see any goats.

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One cloud just hanging out

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I learned that a Riad is a hotel that's built around a courtyard. Ours was really lovely.

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Looking up

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Essaouira is on the West coast of Morocco.

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This part of the harbor was very fragrant.

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Boats and ramparts

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Why is it that in hot places, dogs and cats are much more docile but seagulls are seriously aggressive?

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Looking into the old medina

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The streets of the medina

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Narrow alleys

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Many, many cats

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My eyes read this as a zebra rather than a horse or a goat (which it seems it might be, given the horns). Negative space between cutleries = stripes!

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Baskets for sale

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Kittens!

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Different view of fortress walls

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Lunch view

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Sunset over Mogador Island

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