Tag Archives: Morocco

Cities, Travel, Videos, Views

Travel: A Tour Of The Old Medina In Fes, Morocco

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Tawada Films (May 12, 2023) – Fes is a northeastern Moroccan city often referred to as the country’s cultural capital. It’s primarily known for its Fes El Bali walled medina, with medieval Marinid architecture, vibrant souks and old-world atmosphere. The medina is home to religious schools such as the 14th-century Bou Inania and Al Attarine, both decorated with elaborate cedar carvings and ornate tile work. 

Fez was founded in 789 by Idris, the Arab ruler responsible for founding the Idrisid dynasty. Since then, it has earned itself a reputation as an important center of trade and learning. It has served as Morocco’s capital on several different occasions, and experienced its own Golden Age under the rule of the Marinids, the dynasty that presided over Fez during the 13th and 14th centuries. Many of the medina’s most iconic monuments (including its Islamic colleges, palaces, and mosques) date from this glorious period of the city’s history.

Adventure, Documentaries, Tours, Travel, Videos, Views

Adventures: An Epic 53-Day Road Trip In Morocco

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Lucas T. Jahn Films (April 29, 2023) – From sweeping sand dunes to desolate highways of emptiness, bustling cities, and snow-covered peaks, we explored Morocco from north to south and east to west. Driving more than 10,000 km in eight weeks, our roadtrip included many unforgettable adventures.

Video timeline: 00:00 Intro 01:19 Arrival 01:30 Chefchaouen 02:45 Talassemtane National Park 04:12 Mediterranean Coastline 06:40 Into the Sahara Desert 08:20 Seclusion of the desert 10:24 Towards Iche 11:20 No Drones allowed 11:52 Desert Cauliflower 12:25 Figuig 13:34 Snow in the desert 14:35 The importance of water 15:16 Rheris Gorge 16:20 Khettara aka Foggara 17:17 Gara Medouar 18:00 Erg Chebbi 24:06 Taouz to M’hamid 24:38 Lost City 25:39 Arabian Camels 27:30 Taouz to M’hamid 29:25 Erg Lehoudi 30:40 Erg Zaher 33:00 Dust-Topia 33:55 Erg Chegaga 35:58 Donkeys 37:05 Rock formations near Foum-Zguid 38:01 Cleaning the air filter 38:35 Rock Carvings of Aït Ouazik 39:46 Jbel Saghro 41:40 Barbary Ground Squirrels 41:58 Todgha Gorge 42:30 Akhiamm Rock Arch 43:03 Dadès Gorge 44:12 Valley of Roses 45:22 Rammed earth architecture 45:50 Desert rain 46:33 Western Sahara 48:33 Dhakla 48:54 Border to Mauritania 50:05 Assalama Shipwreck 50:31 Khenfiss National Park 51:46 Ksar Tafnidilt 52:18 Plage Blanche 4×4 Trail 57:54 Argan Tree 58:25 Amtoudi 58:57 Anti-Atlas 59:24 Painted Rocks of Tafraout 01:00:24 Souss-Massa National Park 01:01:37 Essaouria 01:03:10 La Sultana Oualidia 01:05:26 Hammam Treatment 01:06:00 Lagoon of Oualidia 01:06:48 Marrakesh 01:07:30 Djemaa el Fna 01:09:10 Bahia Palace 01:09:42 La Sultana Marrakesh 01:11:13 Saadian Tombs 01:11:42 Storks 01:12:26 Climbing Mount Toubkal 01:16:55 Tizi’n’Test Mountain Pass & High Atlas 01:18:19 Aït-Ben-Haddou 01:19:28 Ouzoud Falls 01:20:00 Aguelmam Azegza National Park 01:20:17 Morocco’s Trash Problem 01:20:51 Barbary Macaques 01:22:03 Fès 01:22:27 Tanneries of Fès 01:25:12 Volubulis 01:26:43 Rabat 01:28:07 Outro

Watch as we explore remote landscapes, climb high peaks, battle breath-taking dust-topias (double pun, yeah!), and navigate the hectic bustle of Morocco’s major cities.

Adventure, Tourism, Tours, Travel, Videos, Views

Adventure: Hiking Mount Toubkal In Morocco

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKjBxjkkXCY

The Times and The Sunday Times (April 21, 2023) – A century on from the first ascent of Morocco’s highest peak, Mount Toubkal, our writer takes on the extraordinary hike for himself.

Mount Toubkal, mountain peak that is the highest point (13,665 feet [4,165 metres]) in Morocco and in the Atlas Mountains. The peak is situated 40 miles (60 km) south of Marrakech in the High Atlas (Haut Atlas). Juniper forests covering the mountain’s higher slopes are succeeded by alpine meadows, whereas the lower slopes have been extensively overgrazed. 

Architecture, Buildings, Tours, Travel, Videos, Views

Tours: Hassan II Mosque In Casablanca, Morocco (4K)

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Travel HDefinition (April 1, 2023) – The Hassan II Mosque or Grande Mosquée Hassan II in Casablanca is the largest mosque in Morocco. It is also the 7th largest mosque in the world.

Video timeline: 0:00 Minaret & Outside 0:50 Prayer hall 4:39 Minaret & Outside

This mosque was completed in 1993 and was named after the previous king of Morocco, King Hassan II (1929-1999). As the largest mosque in Morocco, it has the capacity to allow 105,000 worshippers to gather together for prayer. Among those, 25,000 people can gather inside the interior of the mosque, while the remaining 80,000 can gather in the mosque’s outer courtyard. 

The mosque’s 210m high minaret and was designed by French architect Michel Pinseau. There is a laser installed at the top of the minaret which directs its light towards Mecca.

Culture, Magazines, Opinion, Politics, Previews, Reviews, Society

Culture: New York Times Magazine – April 2, 2023

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The New York Times Magazine – April 2, 2023: In this week’s issue: Jeneen Interlandi on the necessity of tallying every birth and death for a country’s public health, Jaeah Lee on the adults caring for both their parents and children, Devin Gordon on the fate of umpires under baseball’s new rules and more.

It’s a Really Weird Time to Be an Umpire

A photo illustratio of an umpire with sweat beads coming out of his face and a camera facing him in the background.
Credit…Photo illustrations by Rui Pu

With replay cameras watching every call, it has become an increasingly stressful job — and baseball’s new rules will just make it harder.

Can the U.S. See the Truth About China?

Just like relationships between people, relationships between countries can all too easily be built on a foundation of unintentional misunderstandings, faulty assumptions and predigested truths. In her forthcoming, at times provocative and disquieting book, “The New China Playbook,” Keyu Jin, a professor at the London School of Economics and a board member at Credit Suisse, is trying to rework the foundation of what she sees as the West’s deeply flawed understanding of China’s economy, its economic ambitions and its attitude toward global competition.

The Agony of Putting Your Life on Hold to Care for Your Parents

Randi Schofield is the sole provider for an ailing father and, at the same time, for her own children — a situation now common among Americans in their 30s and 40s.

Culture, Magazines, Opinion, Politics, Previews, Reviews, Society

Culture: New York Times Magazine – March 26, 2023

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The New York Times Magazine – March 26, 2023:

The Age-Old Food Fight That Beats an Italian Town to a Pulp

A color photograph of screaming men dressed in chess-themed uniforms. Orange pulp and blood is scattered on their faces and shirts.
The orange throwers are organized into nine teams, each with a different flag, logo, captain and uniform.

Every winter, Ivrea erupts into a ferocious three-day festival where its citizens pelt one another with 900 tons of oranges. (Yes, oranges.)

The orange throwers are organized into nine teams, each with a different flag, logo, captain and uniform.

I Went on a Package Trip for Lonely Millennials. It Was Exhausting.

Rosie Marks for The New York Times

On traveling to Morocco with a group-travel company that promised to build “meaningful friendships” among its youngish clientele.

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I’m Lost All the Time. So I Went on a Labyrinth Vacation.

A color photograph of a hedge maze arch.
The Parc del Laberint d’Horta, in Barcelona.Credit…Joakim Eskildsen for The New York Times

The dizzying joys of maze tourism, in Barcelona, Paris and Chenonceaux.

The Parc del Laberint d’Horta, in Barcelona.Credit…Joakim Eskildsen for The New York Times

Seeking the Spirited, Mystical Jamaica Tourists Don’t See

A photographer’s journey through her native spiritual landscape of Jamaica, where Christian and Afro-centric traditions blend.

Cities, Travel, Videos, Views

Travel: A Walking Tour Of Larache, North Morocco

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Uploaded on March 22, 2023: Larache, Arabic Al-ʿArāʾīsh, Atlantic port city, northern Morocco, at the mouth of the Loukkos (Lucus) River. The ruins of ancient Lixus, successively a Phoenician, Carthaginian, and Roman settlement, are 2 miles (3 km) northeast on the river’s north bank. Larache was under Spanish rule from 1610 to 1689 and from 1912 to 1956.

The old walled city rises in terraces to two forts that dominate it on the north and south. The ancient Kebibat fortress (now a hospital) rises out of the sea; the fort of La Cigogne (c. 1700) was built by the Spaniards. The modern quarter stretches from the port across the coastal plateau, with gardens and orchards bordering the river. Larache is a busy agricultural and fishing centre, exporting produce, timber, and wool. 

Filmed and edited by: Tawada

Arts, Culture, Reviews, Society, Travel, Videos, Views

African Culture: Women’s Voices & Arts In Morocco

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FRANCE 24 (March 17, 2023) – Morocco is often hailed for its stability, its position as a regional leader in women’s rights and for having a rich cultural history. But it’s still a largely male-dominated society. So what does that mean for women in the arts?

Eve Jackson meets three female creatives in and around Morocco’s frenetic commercial hub Casablanca, who are making space for themselves in their craft by using their art to protect and celebrate their heritage, while at the same time creating constructive conversations about subjects sometimes considered sensitive in the kingdom.

Arts & Literature, Books, Newspapers, Previews, Reviews

Books: The New York Times Book Review – Jan 1, 2023

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The New York Times Book Review – January 1, 2023:

What a 1985 Novel Can Tell Us About Life in the 2020s: Almost Everything

Don DeLillo’s book “White Noise,” newly adapted for the screen by Noah Baumbach, precisely diagnosed the modern condition, Dana Spiotta writes.

Read Your Way Through Tangier

Tangier’s many facets have long inspired writers. Here, the Moroccan-born novelist Laila Lalami introduces readers to the books and writers that, to her, best capture the city.

The Sound of Sonny

Aidan Levy has written a revealing, comprehensive biography of the improviser-hero Sonny Rollins.