9 December, from Casamblanca to Meknes, 244klm, 3h

 Yesterday we decided that our next stop will be Meknes. 

We would do most of the road and we are just next to Fes, which we will visit next day. 

We get up early because the guy with the car would come at 9 o clock. 

After a really big breakfast, we take our luggage and go to the reception at 9 - 9.30 

The same guy as yesterday tells us he will call the guys with the car. They will take 20 minutes to get there. No we can't wait, we need to get on the road! After a little bit of hesitation, we got out in the rain. Oh yes! it is raining! What a lovely adventure hi hi hi! My friend google had told me there is a car rental agency not far away and whey are very trust worthy.

We leave the receptionist and the no hot water hotel and walk to the agency. The rain has stopped thanks to our good star above. 

We arrive at the agency, it is on the ninth floor of a huge building and guess what? The elevator does not work. There is an old Moroccan guy at the entrance and he calls them. They don't have any cars available. The old guy gets his tip and this is a tip well spent because he really helped us. 

Plan B for your travellers. Hertz is global, no fear of getting scammed, it's just around the corner and we try our chance. A nice lady tells us there is a small car available, the price for 5 days is ok and the terms of rental lucrative. After an hour of paperwork and many pre-rental photos, we take the road. 

Moroccans drive like crazy. I'm not even thinking of getting out my camera and filming. I am so stressed! 

The road to Meknes is easy, mostly big highways like in Europe. 

We arrived to our hotel which was outside the city. (Hotel Plaisance in case you wanna check it out) There is a private parking so we feel safe leaving the car there. 

Once we are settled we leave the luggage and off we go to explore the Imperial City of Meknes, one of the Unesco World Heritage. 

For just 2 euros we can take a taxi to the center and not worry about crazy moroccan driving.

Wanna see how they drive? Here is a small sample, better understood with the sound on. 

Meknes is a two part city. The new city built by the French and the old city, with all the traditional Moroccan colours. 

We walked trough the big walls, elaborate gates, palaces and the medina labyrith of course.

Walking the streets of Meknes, one big suprise. Flocks of storks residing everywhere on the ancient walls of the city! Storks and swallows come to Greece in Spring and they leave in Automn. Where do they go? In Morocco! Oh my god I love seeing them here! 

After walking around it's time to eat! We try to find a nice moroccan restaurant, but in vain, the only thing we find is Pizza and snacks and touristic places that we don't like. 

My friend Google is not available (see below) but we remember we saw a restaurant while walking. Our instict was right. Nice food - couscous and tajine - at a nice price at "Palais Salma".

Internet

At this point I would like to make a parenthesis. Since we left Casablanca with the car I have limited internet connection. My Greek provider does not work and my French provider charged me 60 euros for half a giga. 

The rental car lady told me to get a moroccan sim card to get internet. 

It was tempting but K. told me it's ok, we could do without and I played along, thinking it would be a nice experience not to have internet sometimes.

The car we rented did not have a GPS, so it would require anticipation as far as the GPS was concerned, register a road on google maps when you have internet and mister google will take you there without internet, it keeps your destination in its' memory. 

We also had an application called Maps.me which is a GPS that works off line and includes hotels and restaurants. We were safe in my opinion. 

However, being the control freak that I am, eveytime I saw a small shop for moblile phones, I said, I'll get a sim card. Everytime K. said don't, we don't need it. So I didn't.

The day was over, we returned to the hotel for a nice sleep.