I don’t think I had ever imagined that I would get to visit Morocco, so when the opportunity arose it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime type of trip. In the dreary, dark, and rainy December days, we welcomed the chance to escape for a sun holiday. Plus, everything in Ireland pretty much shuts down around Christmas time, and we were happy to get a bit of a break from the Christmas hubbub.
A four hour flight took us from Dublin to a totally different world! Aer Lingus (the Irish airline we usually fly) has a direct flight to the town of Agadir, which is on the west coast of Morocco on the Atlantic ocean. It’s pretty much a beach resort town with a long stretch of sandy beach and a hotel-lined promenade. Agadir actually suffered a devastating earthquake in the 1960s which destroyed much of the town, including most of the historical buildings. So it’s mainly a newly-built city where tourists go for a chilled out beach experience. Not much remains in the way of interesting architecture or cultural sites, with the exception of the old kasbah (fortress) on a hill overlooking the city. But we were fine with just relaxing by the pool at the hotel and soaking up some of the sun’s rays that were so sorely lacking in Dublin.
We arrived at our hotel, the Riu Tikida Palace, around 9 at night, with two exhausted, hungry, and crying boys. We were welcomed at reception and told that if we wanted to grab some dinner, it would be a good idea to do it right away since the buffet would be closing soon. The boys were eager to get up to our room and weren’t too keen on the idea of having dinner first (even though they were hungry), so we ate a quick meal and then made a hasty retreat to our room with our melting-down children. The grounds of the hotel were beautiful — built in a Moroccan style with courtyards, long open hallways, fountains, and lanterns made of delicate metal filigree. Our room had a lovely balcony overlooking the pool and with a view of the ocean. One of the days, Jeff and I took turns each going to the spa, which also had a very Moroccan design and included a hammam (a traditional steam room) — very relaxing!
It was interesting observing the other guests and the hotel staff. I didn’t quite know what to expect in a Muslim country in terms of how people at the hotel would be dressed and how they would interact. Among the hotel guests, there were women wearing hijab (and even some in full burkas) and then others in string bikinis…so you really had the full range! But in general, it seemed like a fairly modern/moderate/tolerant environment. The hotel actually served some pork, which I was pretty surprised about. And they had a Christmas tree in the lobby, which surprised me also. The staff were all very friendly and spoke SO many languages! I heard them switch seamlessly between Arabic, French, English, German, Spanish — it was amazing. They were all very friendly to the kids — sometimes even too much to the point where they were hugging and kissing the kids and overwhelming them a bit. But their intentions were good! Anyway, it was definitely an interesting component to be on vacation in such a different culture and to figure out what was appropriate in terms of how I should dress and act (but in general, it seemed that everyone felt comfortable to be themselves within the hotel…when we ventured into town, I made sure I was dressed modestly and tried not to offend).
We had never stayed in an all-inclusive hotel before, but this one had great reviews on TripAdvisor, so we decided to give it a shot. All meals and drinks were included, which was nice for when you didn’t feel like motivating (or more likely your kids don’t feel like motivating!) to leave the hotel for each meal. We also enjoyed being able to order a latte from the pool bar and juice for the boys whenever we wanted, as we lounged on cushy chaises next to the pool. The food, itself, was ok. Breakfasts were fresh, plentiful, and delicious, but we found the lunches and dinners a bit hit or miss, which is probably bound to be the case in a large buffet setting. There were also two specialty restaurants in the hotel (a Moroccan and a sort of modern seafood style) that we booked in for two of the nights, and those were decent. One of the nights, we ventured out of the hotel into town for dinner. We had a lovely walk along the promenade during sunset and arrived in the town’s harbor, where a bunch of nice restaurants and shops are located.
But in general, we pretty much hung out in the hotel and a little bit on the beach right behind the hotel. Our days consisted of swimming in the pool (there were several outside pools that were a little cold, but one inside that was quite warm and the boys loved it), reading and having drinks by the pool, frolicking around the hotel grounds, and playing in the hotel room. There was a kids’ club and a small playground, but the boys weren’t too interested in checking them out. Instead, we just spent time all together and had some really nice family time. The hotel rooms, themselves, didn’t have wifi signals (though the balcony and lobby and pool did), which I actually really liked. It really forced us to disconnect from technology and find other ways to entertain ourselves and connect with each other.
Our main “drama” of the trip was me slipping and falling the first full day we were there. I landed on my right shoulder and immediately was in tons of pain. I saw the hotel doctor but he didn’t think it was broken and didn’t do much for me. The whole week we were there, it hurt a lot but I powered through and distracted myself with the relaxing vacation. Back in Dublin, I had an x-Ray and they, again, didn’t see a break. Long story short, it’s only been this past week (4 weeks after the fact), that I had an MRI and it was discovered that I did have a fracture after all. So, unbeknownst to me, I went through our holiday with a broken arm! Luckily, it’s not too serious and is healing on its own (and I’ll start some physical therapy next week to continue helping it get better).
Anyway, in spite of my injury, our five days in Agadir were fun, beautiful, and sun-filled. Then, it was off to Marrakesh for our last 2 days, which was an incredible adventure as well! More on that in my next blog. In the meantime, here are some photos…
dublingers 