Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Morocco 2015 Trip Day 1

Morocco 2015 Trip Day 1

I am going to stray from my usual format of showing what's on my easel or sketch book to a description of my wonderful trip to Morocco --September 25 - Oct 6....I had brought my sketchbook and pencils hoping that I would have time to do some on spot sketches... what a dream that was.... Everyday day was so packed that I hardly had time to breathe let alone sketch.. many times arriving at the hotel just in time for the dinner. I did take loads of photos  with my regular Canon G11 and my new smartphone Meizu Note2 which has a marvelous camera. The trip was integrated with daily Yoga class in the mornings. My daughter was the instructor.

At first I thought I would make some sketches from the photos... how to choose which one..there are so many and each day there were 3 -4 different experiences. I have yet to process the photos, I shoot mostly in RAW,  so I decided to make some compositions using 2- or more photos.... I did a course with some online friends of the book by Katrin Eismann  Photoshop Masking & Compositing so it will be a good chance to brush up on my Photoshop skills. So this will be more like my travel diary.

Day 1 was a long and tedious day traveling with about 3-4 hours left of daylight after processing our passports at Mohammad V airport in Casablanca. First an explanation.. I was part of a group tour from Israel to Morocco. Since Morocco does not have diplomatic relations with Israel  the visa process was long almost 3 hours since they had to process 6 large groups from Israel with only 2 clerks.

Waiting
Yael relaxing with a head stand!!!
That's me in the reflection!!!

After finally leaving the airport we headed to the Grand Mosque Hassan II.  It then really hit me. Here I was in a Muslim country..I was  greatly impressed with the wide open spaces, the patterns, the people and the beautiful day!!! I have uploaded a group on my Flickr account. Its minaret is the world's tallest at 210 metres (689 ft). Wikipedia

The main tower, the plaza, family groups
Mosaics and tiles

With not much time left we headed over to one the popular Boulevard de la Corniche and the Miami Plage for some refreshment before heading  to Marakech... 2 -3 hours away.  

Yael had coffee
I had ice cream on a waffle!!!

On the way we stopped for --rest rooms- and some refreshments at a gas station on the main toll road... like  "Yellow" in Israel... Moroccan style!!! 

On the way to Marrakesh










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