Rabat & Salé

Rabat is about an hour and a half north of Casablanca and is where the actual Embassy is located.  I went up with Max yesterday and was able to meet up with a few friends from church who live in the area.  They were so sweet to take me to some of the souks and we drove around parts of the city.  It's really beautiful.  There are a lot more tourist sights in Rabat and certainly a lot more green space.

Rabat is separated from its sister city Salé by the BouRegreg river.  Salé is, evidently, the place where Robinson Crusoe was shipwrecked.  ...but I didn't know that from actually reading the book like I should have in 10th grade AP European History.  Wikipedia.  I'll have more to say about Rabat and Salé when we visit them in a earnest sometime, but here a few pictures from my short visit.

We went to a rug shop in Salé - rugs are a big deal in Morocco.  I'll tell you more when I know more :)

We also visited a ceramic shop where they sold the ubiquitous tagine - it's both the name of the dish and the food that is made in it. 

At first I didn't like this picture because of the giant crane, but it's actually perfect.  There is a lot of construction around Morocco - right amongst the ruins.  You can see the Kasbah walls and the white/blue houses within it.  Off to the right is the ocean.