Adventures with Deb and Brad

Since being married, Zach and I have lived over 4000 miles on average from our parents and families, and if you knew my family, you'd say that is about 3999 miles too many. If it was my choice and didn't have 10 siblings to contend with, I would handcuff myself to my mom and throw away the key. Luckily, we keep choosing awesome places to live, and they keep coming to visit. We'll see what their real motivations are when we move to Siberia next year. Until then, this was our epic Morocco trip 2013... Can we get a sequel? 

After they spent a week in Spain, we met them at the port in Tangier. We then had 10 days to pack in an ambitious trip around Morocco and a year of not seeing each other again. They were confident/brave and left all planning up to us. The time would have been well spent simply sitting on rooftops, cafes, or in our house to catch up, but we had the time we needed on top of camels, squished in old taxis, sitting on the ground, and winding through old medinas. This was our itinerary: Tangier - Chefchaouen - Moulay Idriss - Sidi Slimane - Fes - Merzouga - Ait benHaddou - Marrakech. 

(If you are planning a trip, contact me and I can give you details on the transport/lodging we used.)

Highlights included: The dreamy blue city of Chefchaouen, swooning at every indigo pained door and watching the sunset from an old mosque. Visiting the old Roman outpost and getting candy (and heat exhaustion) in Moulay Idriss. Our customary flat tire in the grand taxi ride on the way there. Spending a couple nights in our house and getting whisked away by people anxious to meet the parents. Spending the day eating, eating, eating and cooking bread in a mud oven. Convincing people that they legitimately could not change their plans to stay a month here with them. Meeting our first host family in Fes. Learning the complexities of the sandal/shoes rules. Making couscous and giving gifts. Mad bargaining in the Fes medina. Brad getting sick. Swimming pool in the Sahara! Riding on camels and spending the night in the desert. Zach getting sick. Gorgeous Ait benHaddou and a newly friended rug artisan. Traveling through the Tichka Pass and checking off one of the 500 drives of a lifetime with rest stops to eat cactus fruit. A very cute hotel in Marrakech and entertainment at the Jemaa el Fna. Finishing with an always sad airport goodbye.     

That is only the bare bones, but I could fill pages. Whether it was fearing for their lives in a crazy grand taxi, sitting patiently not understanding a word at the bargaining or dinner table, trying snails, navigating cheek kissing, eating until their stomachs hurt, etc. etc. they saw a part of Morocco and our lives here that most people don't get to see. 

I don't even take my camera out of the bag when Brad comes. He is the official photo documenter. All of the photos below are his, and the rest can be found at this link.