Bobbe's trip to Morocco, part 9: the Roman ruins at Volubilis

Here is another post from Bobbe's trip to Morocco.

Like all countries that border the Mediterranean Sea, Morocco was once part of the Roman Empire. As you may remember, I have previously visited impressive Roman ruins in Italy and Turkey (and Benny has blogged about a Roman amphitheater in Jordan). Today, I'm going to tell you about my trip to see the remains of Volubilis, which was once the most important city in Roman Morocco.

Bobbe's trip to Morocco, part 8: the Sahara Desert

Here is the eighth part of Bobbe's report on her trip to Morocco.

From Marrakech, I headed out on a long expedition into the Sahara Desert. The Sahara is the largest desert in the world. It stretches all the way from Morocco and Mauritania near the Atlantic Ocean to Egypt and Sudan on the east side of Africa. Along the way, it contains some of the driest, hottest, most barren, most inhospitable places in the entire world. But the desert is also a really beautiful place.

Bobbe's trip to Morocco, part 7: Marrakech

This is the seventh post in Bobbe's series about her trip to Morocco.

Remember how, in my posts about Fez and Meknes, I wrote that those were two of Morocco's three great imperial capitals? I recently visited the third city in this group: Marrakech. Marrakech is quite a ways south of the part of Morocco where I usually live, so I had to take a long train ride to get there. Marrakech is actually the most popular destination for tourists to Morocco because it has such a lively town center with so much going on. I certainly had a great time there!

Bobbe's trip to Morocco, part 6: Bobbe hits the beach

Here is part 6 of Bobbe's report from Morocco:

Last weekend, I decided to relax by going to the beach. Morocco has a very long coastline, so it has lots of beaches. If you look at a map, you will see that it borders two different bodies of water: the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic coastline is longer, but both are very nice. Looking at a map, can you find the name of the strait that connects the Mediterranean and the Atlantic? That strait separates Morocco from Spain, but the bit of land on the Spanish side is actually owned by the United Kingdom. That bit of land has the same name as the strait. Can you find it?

Bobbe's trip to Morocco, part 5: eating Moroccan breakfast

Bobbe tells us about what she eats for breakfast in Morocco:

Living in Morocco has been wonderful so far. One of my favorite parts is getting to eat the Moroccan food. In my previous posts, I showed you my lunch of chicken with couscous and vegetables as well as another lunch I had of pastilla. But rather than just tell you about what I have eaten for lunch and dinner, I think you might be interested to know what I usually eat for breakfast. So here are some pictures of my Moroccan breakfast!

Bobbe's trip to Morocco, part 4: Meknes

Here is the fourth installment of Bobbe's narrative of her trip to Morocco.

As I said in one of my previous posts, Fez is one of three traditional Moroccan capital cities. Today, I'm going to tell you about Meknes, which is one of the others. Meknes was made the capital of Morocco by a ruler named Moulay Ismail, who reigned from 1672 until 1727. Moulay Ismail was very powerful, but he was also kind of cruel. His patronage transformed the city of Meknes; today, everywhere you go in Meknes, you hear all about Moulay Ismail.

Bobbe's trip to Morocco, part 3: around the Fez medina

Bobbe continues telling us about her trip to Fez.

In my last post, I told you about Al-Karaouine University and its associated mosque, two buildings which are right at the heart of the old city in Fez. Today, I'm going to tell you about the other parts of the Fez medina that I enjoyed on my trip to Fez.

Bobbe's trip to Morocco, part 2: Al-Karaouine University in Fez

Here is Bobbe's second post about Morocco.

Hello again from Morocco! I want to tell you about a fantastic trip I took to the city of Fez. Fez is one of three great imperial capitals of Morocco, along with Meknes and Marrakesh. The heart of Fez is a wonderful thousand-year-old walled old city (called a "medina" in Arabic). The city has lots of narrow walkways that twist and turn and wind about. If you don't know your way around, you can get lost really fast. I'll tell you more about the medina in my next post, but in this one I want to focus on the building at the heart of the city of Fez: Al-Karaouine University.

Bobbe's trip to Morocco, part 1: Ifrane

Bobbe is spending this spring living at a university in Morocco. This is the first in a series of posts about what she has seen, done, and experienced there. As for me, I'm traveling in Southeast Asia at the moment. I will hope to have my first of several posts from there very soon. --Benny

Greetings from Morocco! I am now living in a town called Ifrane high in the Atlas Mountains. Ifrane is just a little town, but it is a very beautiful place. The high altitude means that it gets snow several times every winter. Lots of people come to Ifrane to go skiing in the nearby mountains. Some people even call it the "Switzerland of Morocco." Who could ask for a more pleasant place to make my home this spring?

Ifrane is home to a university called Al Akhawayn University. "Al Akhawayn" means "the two brothers." In this case, the two brothers in question are the former king of Morocco and the former king of Saudi Arabia. They weren't literally brothers, but they were close friends so they called each other brothers. In 1993, there was an oil spill off the coast of Morocco. The king of Saudi Arabia decided to give $50 million to the king of Morocco to clean up the oil. As soon as the king of Morocco received the money, the wind shifted and the oil all washed away from the coast. With $50 million in his pocket and no oil spill to deal with, the king of Morocco decided he needed a new project--so he founded a university.