Essaouira
Well am in Morocco. Flew from Barcelona to Casablanca and then got a bus down here, on the south coast. Far from the romantic images that Casablanca may conjure up to you it appeared to be a hole. Mind you I did only see the rundown bits around the train station and bus depot. Was a little freaky getting into to Essaouira too, as it was late at night, I was bloody tired and I couldn't find a phone that would work to contact John's friend, Renzo. Eventually I did and I am now staying with some very nice Italians in a lovely place with a tiled courtyard in the heart of the medina.
Essaouria was initially a Portuguese outpost, but it its current form dates back to the 18th Century. Orson Welles spent some time here and famously shot bits of his version of Othello here. It is now a very laid back and touristy town, with a relaxed and bohemian feel. There are people from all over here. Tomorrow the Gnaoua Festival starts. So I should get a couple of days of great music in before I head back to Casa. The place is starting to fill up with more Europeans, and I have even noticed some Australians about. One woman I was talking to was a Sydney uni student! Of course the offers of hash have increased today as well!
The medina is full of life and colour. Children, stray cats, the disabled, and everyone else. There is great food to be had here (especially the seafood) and a mixture of music to be heard as I hang out - from Louis Armstrong to Bob Marley, hip hop, French pop, Arabic and African music, and of course American pop music. The stalls are full of great jewellery - especially for anyone interested in American Tribal Style Bellydance, great woodwork and clothing.
Mainly I have just been hanging out in the sun, drinking coffee, eating gelato and reading. I started Victor Serge's "Birth of Our Power" in Barcelona and finished it here. The first part of the novel is set in Barcelona during the failed workers uprising of 1917, and it finishes in St Petersburg - with the victorious Russian Revolution as a new hope. The novel was written in 1930. I love reading Serge as he has such empathy for the characters he creates - so that no matter how bleak the situations and personal loses, no matter how sombre the tone, there is always beauty and hope. Yesterday and today I read the book I picked up on him in San Francisco A life as a work of art. All of which is probably only of any interest to you if you are interested in the left and the revolutionary movements of the first half of the 20th Century. If so well worth reading as a way of understanding that rich vision that motivated so many.
Interestingly both Serge and Orwell did not care for the Sagrada Famila Cathedral either, I disovered on re-reading their books!
Today I picked up a novel by a Moroccan / French author, Tahar
Ben Jelloun. It's called This Blinding Absence of Light and is about imprisonment following a failed coup and attempt to assassinate the Moroccan king in 1971. Sounds cherie,eh? But just my kind of thing.
Essaouria was initially a Portuguese outpost, but it its current form dates back to the 18th Century. Orson Welles spent some time here and famously shot bits of his version of Othello here. It is now a very laid back and touristy town, with a relaxed and bohemian feel. There are people from all over here. Tomorrow the Gnaoua Festival starts. So I should get a couple of days of great music in before I head back to Casa. The place is starting to fill up with more Europeans, and I have even noticed some Australians about. One woman I was talking to was a Sydney uni student! Of course the offers of hash have increased today as well!
The medina is full of life and colour. Children, stray cats, the disabled, and everyone else. There is great food to be had here (especially the seafood) and a mixture of music to be heard as I hang out - from Louis Armstrong to Bob Marley, hip hop, French pop, Arabic and African music, and of course American pop music. The stalls are full of great jewellery - especially for anyone interested in American Tribal Style Bellydance, great woodwork and clothing.
Mainly I have just been hanging out in the sun, drinking coffee, eating gelato and reading. I started Victor Serge's "Birth of Our Power" in Barcelona and finished it here. The first part of the novel is set in Barcelona during the failed workers uprising of 1917, and it finishes in St Petersburg - with the victorious Russian Revolution as a new hope. The novel was written in 1930. I love reading Serge as he has such empathy for the characters he creates - so that no matter how bleak the situations and personal loses, no matter how sombre the tone, there is always beauty and hope. Yesterday and today I read the book I picked up on him in San Francisco A life as a work of art. All of which is probably only of any interest to you if you are interested in the left and the revolutionary movements of the first half of the 20th Century. If so well worth reading as a way of understanding that rich vision that motivated so many.
Interestingly both Serge and Orwell did not care for the Sagrada Famila Cathedral either, I disovered on re-reading their books!
Today I picked up a novel by a Moroccan / French author, Tahar
Ben Jelloun. It's called This Blinding Absence of Light and is about imprisonment following a failed coup and attempt to assassinate the Moroccan king in 1971. Sounds cherie,eh? But just my kind of thing.
posted by Ital Doctor at 10:48 AM
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