This morning we only plan to be out for a little while to visit a couple places we missed the day before but we end up spending the entire day out before meeting our tour in the evening.
Our first stop is at the old Post Office to view the art deco interior.
Our next stop is at food market at the Central Market where you can see fishmonger, butchers, produce markets, and olive sellers try to sell their inventory. Surrounding the area are food stands where I learn will prepare any fish that you purchase at the market.
We walk by a garment like district where black plastic bags of clothes are delivered in the morning to store front after store front. We watch some get unloaded to add to the daily frocks available for sale. We find ourselves dodging bags of clothes that pile on the sidewalk.
We revisit the Church of Notre Dame of Lourdes to view it since there is now no service. The amazing stain glass windows cast beautiful colors along the sides of the church.
I light a candle for my mom as I tend to do.
We then plan to walk back to the old Medina to view all the shops but it has us walk through the expensive neighborhood in town. We see the royal palace off in the distance.
We exit the Medina and end up in the old neighborhood. The streets are alive with action and commerce. We are not in a tourist spot right now.
We are hungry though so we turn back around to get a snack at a cafe on the other side of the Medina. The pizza isn’t the best but it is nice to rest after walking all day. We people watch for while.
The city courthouse is not open to visitors but we try to sneak some pictures as close as we can go and are stopped by the guard. The doors are supposed to be very pretty when they are closed.
We also walk by a district full of the smell of grilled meats, the aroma of rotisserie chicken fills the street air.
We have to meet our tour group in a couple hours so we go back towards our hotel ending up on streets that are new to us. Today we have walked through some many varying parts of town, getting a really good feel of everyday life here even though today is a school holiday.
Our last stop is at the walk around the Arab Nations Park then back to the hotel.
We meet our group and have a nice dinner getting acquainted. The next few days we will travel all around different parts of the country and learning many things. So far the group and tour guide seem really nice.
Growing With Leala 