We’d had enough after the Marrakechian chaos. And, to some extent, all the things that people
find so fascinating about Moroccan cities were old news at this point. While we do love the walls of the medinas and
the busy stalls, at some point they all kind of seem the same. A souk is a souk, and the tourist kitsch gets
really old. (Really? Snake charmers?) But Essaouira is beachy and relaxed, and I’m
planning to buy my vacation villa there. After I’ve become incredibly wealthy
and successful, of course.
The medina al-kadima is relatively small and houses just a
few streets of souks, which have some pretty cool Berber trinkets. Plenty of restaurants and food stands provide
a mix of Moroccan and international food (even real burgers! *gasp*). There
are beautiful views over the water and out toward the island of Mogador. The
beaches are gorgeous, though the whole oceanfront is incredibly windy. But most Essaouirans take it in stride, and love
the wind and waves for kitesurfing (windsurfing meets parasailing).
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| Spices aren't sold like this in any other city we've been to |
We took the opportunity to chow down on pizza and crepes
while in Essaouira, where they are both plentiful and cheap. Crepes: amazing. Pizza: terrible. There are enough European tourists here to keep
a crepe place on every corner, all around 15 dh for your choice of sweet or
savory. I can personally recommend the
banana-nutella and the egg-cheese-tomato crepes. But pizza is another story. We had incredible
burgers from a British place called La Cantina and thought we’d try more
non-Moroccan fare while we were away from host families. (We love tajin and couscous, but it gets
monotonous.) But Moroccans don’t exactly
‘do’ pizza the way we do pizza. When it
actually is pizza, by our definition, (see below for the other kind of Moroccan
pizza), the crust, the sauce, the cheese – it’s all just wrong. Don’t. Do. It.
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| "Pirate shake" |
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| La Cantina burger |
Essaouira also harbors a fleet that provides plenty of fresh
seafood. Though I can’t say I really
enjoyed dealing with the heads on my fish or their five billion tiny bones. (But
in light of Eid, I may have bigger issues with my food than that.) And I will admit to being profoundly unnerved
the first morning there, when thousands of screaming gulls descended onto
fishermen’s old scraps at 4:30 in the morning.
Welcome to the ocean.
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| Nothing like the sound of screaming animals to get you up in time for sunrise |
Essaouira has been inhabited as a shipping port since 500
BC (it belonged to the Carthaginians back then), and has been under Berber, Tyrian,
Roman, Portuguese, Alaouite, and French influence since then. So it has an extensive history and some interesting landmarks. You
can even go out and get up close and personal with the old Borj el Baroud ruins
near Diabat.
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| this guy was meditating or something at the top of the ruins... |
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| me at Borj al Baroud |
Essaouira is also where Jimi Hendrix (allegedly) hung out in
the late 1960s, and the city clings to that eclectic, chill vibe. While we’re on the subject, it might be important
to note that Morocco has been one of the largest world producers of hashish for
many years, and Essaouira was essentially a hippie hangout in the 1960s and
70s.
Story Time: Some guy
actually tried to sell us “hashish” cookies on the beach. He walked up and
asked if we’d like to buy cookies (there are dozens of vendors that do the same
thing throughout the city). And when we
tried our “laa, shoukran” and waved him away, he leaned in and said sneakily “oh
but hashsish cookies.” Because we look like we’d be dumb enough to buy
illicit substances, in public, from some random guy, in a foreign country. Right.
What could go wrong. But some
people must be, since he informed us that “shouma is good for business,” in
response to our theatrical gasps and admonishments of “Shouma!” (Shame!). He also turned right around and tried to sell
the exact same cookies (without advertising any secret ingredients) to a woman’s
toddlers, so I’m not sure I’d put stock into the ‘authenticity’ of his product…
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