Rabat, Morocco.

What weather! Really blue skies and sun all day . This is more like it! Low 30’s during the day and low 20’s at night,  Just my cup of tea.  We had a day to recover our body clocks and chill out.  Then we set about exploring Rabat. Our first trip was though the souk (market) . A warren of tiny lanes for pedestrians which were packed with tiny shops . Some had a cooker and were preparing and serving food, Others had live chickens and were selling both chickens and eggs. Fish , herbs spices fruit veg , absolutely , everything.
Next we  tried looking for a tourist office - Ha! they didn’t have one but we were sent to the National Office of Tourism a (pretty major taxi ride) where the lady behind the desk told us that  the tourist office had been moved and kindly wrote the address down for us,  Another  taxi drive and we found that although it was called a tourist office it was just a desk.  At this point all we wanted was a map and the main tourist attractions.  She went to her cupboard and ooops no town  maps and no information-all she could offer was a map of Morocco-which we  took with a big smile. Hey ho back to the boat and after sorting the wi-fi  we printed our own  with the biggest attractions.
I was not happy about finding mixed information on the Lonely planets website.  At least 3 of the 20 attractions were to be found in Rabat (Malta!)

Next day we cycled to The Kasbah de Oudaias where we were lucky to be caught by an English speaking guide.  His name was Hassan and it was his day off school. He informed us that the whitewash and blue colours were symbolic of the Koran.  He took us round and pointed out the door knockers which had the occupation of the inhabitant depicted or a lucky hand.   It was tranquil and cool wandering around the oldest part of Rabat .  We had our picnic in the Andalusian Gardens.