By Norma Hopcraft
Morocco is magnifique! Let the architecture, carving, and tilework you see here inspire you with an interior design project, or an inlaid wooden box you've imagined making, or a quilt.
We spent a night in the Sahara -- you'll see those pictures next -- but first explored beautiful Moorish buildings on the edge of the desert.
Even though we weren't officially yet in the desert, it exerts a powerful presence. The soil was painfully dry as far as the eye could see. Dust puffed out from under our shoes with each footstep and coated our shoes.
We enjoyed Malhoun music the night before we took the bus right to the Sahara's edge. Here is the lead singer of the Jorf Malhoun Band. I'll Spotify them when I get home. They were excellent.
Near the Sahara we met Ali. Behind him you can see The Gate of the Sahara.
He's wearing a bubu, which is the Berber word for a djellabah, the floor-length garment worn by men and women all over Morocco. His is blue, and so his turban, created by a very long scarf. He is one of the hommes bleus, blue men, from the Berber's Tuareg tribe. More pics about this next time.
Morocco is bustling with tractor trailers carrying goods -- and with other modes of transportation. Getting around by foot is still big. I often saw people walking out in the middle of nowhere.
We weren't allowed, as non-Muslims, to enter any mosque except one in Casablanca, which is a national monument. I took this shot from the doorway, in a hurry, that's why it's crooked, with people waiting behind me for their shot. But the mosaic work, carving, and stained glass are super, no? Moorish arches have always delighted my eyes.
Ali and a carved door at the mosque.
A detail of the carved door.
A lovely courtyard with mosaics, a shallow fountain, and light.
Look at the incredible amount of beautiful work!
Ali gives us some history and insights into the desert culture.
Families still live off of this alleyway that light never penetrates.
Ali took us here to show us desert walled communities. They're made of big mud bricks strengthened with straw, and they last for generations.
No comments:
Post a Comment