Overland to Morocco.
Winter 2014-2015
El Jadida – Waiting for the Rain!
As we heard about the ‘Flash Floods’ that have happened around Morocco in various places which have so far claimed the lives of 32 people the BBC Online Weather site reported 2 days ago that ‘Everything was getting back to normal and quietening down’ while another online weather channel reports ‘More rain to come’ and that forecast is covering the next 4 days then as I put this together the light ‘Pitter Patter’ of the promised rain on the roof of the ‘TinTent’ has just started again…...
Still at least we managed to have a very pleasant day in El Jadida the results of which are below….
City crest….
View up the main road through the city….
The start of the shopping and market area…
With the small Mosque near the entrance….
Re-construction of one of the buildings in the street while it was interesting to see that instead of Steel Supports between floor and ceiling, a significant use is made of Tree Branches, a bit like ‘Pit Props’ in the coal mines but much longer and thinner….
Then moving deeper into the market we see….
As the man in the Baseball Cap sells his Sardines which have been caught today….
Then from the Market we make our way over to the old Walled Portuguese City…..
On the way over we pass this chap having ‘40 Winks’ in the nice warm sunshine…
While through one of the entrance gates we see inside.…
As I spot a boy carrying a metal tray with a large cloth open over the top and a young girl carrying a flat wicker tray also with a large cloth covering it, from our previous visits I know it is bread going to be cooked in a central bake house, so I discreetly follow while a man tells me there are 3 community bakeries in the Portuguese City which are used by all the inhabitants to get their bread cooked….
As I put my head in the doorway, one of the two bakers invites us in and the first thing he shows us as the second baker is getting the 3 Meter Deep Oven ready is a tray of Biscuits waiting to go into the oven which is wood fired…
Then he explains that each family identifies their bread by the different coloured cloth covering their tray or bowl, which their bread is returned to from the oven when it is cooked…..
Then back outside we see some of the fancy architecture from the Portuguese builders when the city was built in the doorways and windows…..
With a view out across the harbour with the tide out…..
While on the far side are the small and larger fishing boats that have come back from their respective fishing trip at sea….
As their catches are sold in the port which you are allowed to go into and buy some fish if you want….
As we look along the seawall side of the Portuguese City….
Then back in one of the streets we see the City Portuguese Pharmacy….
On the outside of the Portuguese City we see that the Boat building and repair is still in business….
While this rather nice building is being re-furbished outside and in….
As we find a Café for some lunch with an upstairs to watch some of the ‘driving skills’ as vehicles drive around the traffic island in front of the Post Office, the ‘Guardien’ in the middle at the bottom of the picture who looks after your vehicle while you are away from it, likes nothing more than to blow his whistle and wave his big stick for no apparent reason….
The ‘Lunch’ arrives which consists of, although not all the food was on the table when the picture was taken and it was for 4 of us….
8 Small loaves of bread
2 Whole grilled chickens cut into halves
4 small dishes of chicken stock and cooked onions
1 Large portion of ‘Fries’ (Chips)
1 Small Pizza which the waitress gave us in error and by the time the Manager came some of it had been consumed!
1 Plate containing salad, cooked meat, Fries & a chicken wrap
As a result we made a couple of ‘Doggy Bags’ up at the end into which 4 loaves and 2 chicken pieces went which supplied us with a small dinner this eveing again for the 4 of us….
After that rather filling lunch we strolled back to the campsite and on our way passed these rather nice children’s battery powered vehicles which sadly none of us could have a go with!
With a last look back at the City Portuguese.
We found a place for a quick coffee as we then sat through a passing shower, after which we made our way back to the campsite as we watched the darker clouds gather and the wind die away then the ‘Pitter Patter’ of the rain started followed by a long roll of Thunder as the rain increased in intensity making conversation virtually impossible for the next hour and a half…
We had planned to move on tomorrow but…..
The weather forecast is Rain for the next 4 days so we might be better off staying put, we will see and decide in the morning….
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