Essouria is a city people visit for lots of reasons, for me it was reading about it as a laid back seaside resort, and I thought it would be lovely to spend some time at a smaller place before going on to the bigger cities.

I will end my time in Morocco in Marrakesh, so am appreciating the calm of this little city. As I mentioned in my last post, it is very quiet compared to Agadir, and very small. I walked from the medina to the other end of the beach, almost at the edge of the city, in about 45 minutes the other day.

The medina is also a good one for novice explorers to Morocco, as it is small and easy to navigate, being more of a grid layout than others. I remember getting very lost in the one in Marrakesh when I visited 13 years ago, whereas this is easy to find your way around, probably as the medina is right next to the port. You know you can’t go wrong if you follow the seagulls! There are lots of open areas and gardens, showing the French influence on the architecture.

As I mentioned in my last post, the medina is surrounded by high walls, which have been restored, with gates or Babs. Most have their cannons still situated with them, from when Essouria, or Mogador as it was formerly known, had to defend itself.

I went down to the port area one day, the fish market is really fascinating to see, so many varieties caught locally. There is also the fortified tower with Spanish guns, used against the French in the late 1700s, and the wall ramparts which have been used in the Game of Thrones series.

As well as the seagulls hoping for scraps from the fish market, there are lots of cats. I know people often worry about stray animals in Morocco, but the ones that I have seen here in the cities look very well fed and healthy, lots seem to live at shops or in restaurants. This little cat was having a lovely sleep in the sun in the medina yesterday.

There are lots of tourist shops and stalls in the medina, but also just lots of ordinary market areas, particularly at the back where I am staying, which is a less touristy area. There is so much fresh fruit here, and loads of lovely bread and sweet things. I have been very good and resisted the temptation to buy any textiles, although there are some gorgeous bags. There are also beautiful ceramics, and lots of leather items.

I have allowed myself unlimited photos of doors, and windows, though, as they take up no space in the luggage 😉 As in Cyprus last year, blue is the top choice of door colour here.

The area that I am staying in is the textile district, and there are still some traditional weavers here in the street where the dar is. They stretch their threads along the length of the street, which is really interesting to watch.

I was very excited today as, diverting off to take another door photo, I found an embroidery shop! I managed to have a conversation with the owner in French and he explained that these are rayon threads used in machine embroidery. I had to buy three in my favourite colours and have plans for another Moroccan inspired stitchery for Katy. It was hard to chose from all the gorgeousness here.

The part of the medina at the back, nearest the ramparts is undergoing extensive renovation, they are demolishing many of the old buildings so it will be interesting to see what replaces them. I met my host yesterday morning, Paolo, the owner of Dar 91, and we had a really interesting talk about Essouria as a tourist resort.

He told me that government are helping with renovation, hoping to bring more tourists into the town, which links with what I said in the last post. The house next door will be renovated soon, and the local owner has moved out while that is done, but she will move back into her house afterwards.

Fun fact about Morocco, most of the, I assume phone towers, have been decorated to look like palm trees. I noticed this firstly in Agadir, and here are some right outside the medina.

I am spending time every day writing my novel as well, I am determined to finish it this year. It will have taken three years, but I have been really enjoying the research and the writing courses that I have taken in that time as well. I am in no real hurry but I have so many ideas for more books, I need to get this one done before I can move on. I am loving having the intellectual challenge, especially as this half of the book has involved much more research about unknown topics.

I am off to Casablanca tomorrow, which will be very different. Another bus ride ahead, this time for 6 hours, so am really looking forward to that. So I will see you in a few days. Have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.