In Fes, we were in awe at men in tanning vats wearing heavy, protective rubber boots (in photo above) as well as those who wore nothing at all on their feet as they traversed the pits or sank into caustic dye to color their leather pelts.
All in a day’s work, we suppose.

But enter the stalls of Marrakech or Tangier, and you may be amazed as we were at rows and rows of babouche slippers (usually worn by men) piled into bins or arranged on the walls.

For women and children, the color spectrum opened up as slippers came adorned or plain and ready for trying on.

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance. The wise man grows it under his feet.

James Oppenheim

But it was the men who worked with no shoes who truly made us stop and stare. With only their bare feet, they powered up their homemade lathes to turn spindles, shape wooden pieces for toys, or craft mementos for tourists to take home.

One craftsman especially caught our attention not only for his continual work in cramped conditions but also for his congenial, contented nature. He sat cross-legged (each day, every day he told us) in a small, alcove of a workshop. Using only his feet and hands, he crafted some of the most artful combs we’d ever seen out of pieces of horn.

Let your dreams outgrow the shoes of your expectations.

Ryunosuke Satoro

In India, we lined up for a long-awaited view of the Taj Mahal. But one thing caught our attention. Those who wanted to tour the grounds around the building were required to remove their shoes. And so, in that sea of footwear, were details of the crowds that day — from sizes to shapes to textures and price. Oh, the stories these shoes could tell!

Outside a restaurant in Jaipur, two men made a living charming cobras right beside their feet — and we were happy to keep our distance while watching!

A woman can carry a bag, but it is the shoe that carries the woman.

Christian Louboutin

And finally, back in the States, a woman in Asheville, North Carolina, pushes a baby in a buggy up a steep sidewalk in — what else? — red high-heeled shoes! After all, style’s important!

For more entries in this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, head to Ann-Christine’s post to check out shoes and feet from around the world.

In the meantime, watch where you’re walking. And take steps that get you where you want to be.

Rusha & Bert

Hidden within the architecture of material existence are the geometric forms, the building blocks which make life possible as we know it.

Simply stated, geometry is everywhere. So finding examples for Patti’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge this week meant that searching wasn’t the difficult thing . . . it was selecting. Everywhere we looked, there was geometry — in some form or fashion.

First, circles and lines dominate the front of this cabin in Elkmont, a once-glorious summer resort in the Great Smoky Mountains where families reunited year after year.

Second, shopping for rugs in Morocco meant looking for geometry below our feet as well as along the walls. From the tiniest details to the largest shapes, geometry dominated the market and the rug industry as a whole.

Temples, too, feature geometric shapes as tiny, colorful pieces of ceramic form intricate designs.

In addition, quilts rely on geometry as tiny shapes combine to form various patterns and eye-catching designs.

Finally, sunrise looks even more dramatic coming through the dramatic geometric lines of the Pawleys Island Pier.

Where there is matter, there is geometry.

Johannes Kepler

For more examples of geometry enhancing life, check out Patti’s blog and click on the entries uploaded at the end. Then keep your eyes open — geometry is all around.

Travel linear,

Rusha & Bert

At the resort in Ourika Valley, we watched as Joanne, a familiar guest and visitor, washed her hands in preparation for bread baking.

Then she surprised everyone as she donned native attire and jumped into the role of Moroccan teacher and baker.

Staff members provided individual bowls, flour, and a few additional ingredients (yeast, water, salt and sugar). Then they provided tips and instruction on how to make a well, put the additional ingredients in the center, add water, and knead. The final step? Add a signature top so you could find your loaf among the many in the kiln.

When done, the loaves were placed on a wooden peel and thrust into the wood fire, a process that ensured a toasted exterior and a warm, but soft, interior for each round loaf. The loaves puffed up, about three inches each. And the crust turned a soft, toasty brown.

You can probably guess what happened next. We spent a few moments showing off our loaves to others and texting pictures home.

But then, we were ready for a warm, savory bite of the simple, crusty rounds of handmade Traditional Moroccan Bread!

If you are sheltering at home during the coronavirus, you, too, may have found the joy of combining simple ingredients for a special baked treat for your family. Here’s to each of you dealing with the pandemic and a wish for safety and good health from our house to yours.

Rusha & Bert

This post is one of a series of one-word prompts for April 2020 called Discover Prompts by WordPress. Enjoy!

The way we communicate with others and with ourselves ultimately determines the quality of our lives.

We weren’t expecting satellite dishes in Fes, Morocco. But there they were. Filling the rooftop landscape one round white dish at a time. Forming spherical connections atop layers of centuries-old buildings. Reaching out to the world and accepting what the world sent in.

They dominated whatever tiny, squeezed-in, hard-to-fit-in space to which they were relegated. But no one cared. After all, the link to the outside world, to cyberspace, to others who were out there was far more important than preserving the view.

For “the way we communicate with others and with ourselves ultimately determines the quality of our lives” is true now more than ever. Stay safe. Stay home.

Rusha Sams

Full disclosure: We initially contracted a trip arranged by a travel advisor because we knew the agent — our goddaughter, Lauren Medley Gunnels, owner of Ortelius Travel Advisors. Her unique ideas for what we could see in our allotted time coupled with her willingness to work within our budget has made the conversion from planning trips totally on our own to a collaborative effort matching our ideas and her expertise for memorable vacations. Although we haven’t completely ditched “on-our-own travel,” we’re currently using her services exclusively for global excursions. Here are seven reasons you just may want to let a seasoned planner advise you on your next trip.

2. Background info — First-time travelers often want to know the history of the sites they’re visiting or interesting facts about places and people. A good travel advisor can include notes on each site on the itinerary so you can focus on your selected sites and process information pertinent to your visit. Recently, this info came in handy. Even though I’d taken a course in Greek Archaeology in college (many years ago!), I didn’t remember the finer details of the site I longed to see in person: Mycenae. With notes included on the itinerary about the Lion Gate, we were able to understand more about the times, the people, and the findings of this fabulous place in the Peloponnese.

3. Unique experiences – Yes, most of us know the not-to-be-missed sites in just about any locale. (Who doesn’t want to see The Colosseum in Rome, the tannery in Fes, or Paris’s Eiffel Tower lit at night?) But a travel advisor can put you in touch with new places and different experiences that you might not have considered. Like a bike trip in Cambodia — pre-arranged with bikes, guides and touring route. Or a wine tasting in Athens, Greece, where a local sommelier discusses wines of the region and pairs them with foodie delights. During the last few years of agent–planned trips, we’ve enjoyed a bamboo box supper while cruising the Mekong River at sundown, wandered through Carrieres de Lumieres in Les Baux-de-Provence, and ridden camels in the Sahara — all at the suggestion of our travel advisor who had read positive reviews from previous tourists and added the experiences to our itinerary.

4. Customization — A good travel advisor listens and listens well — to know what you like to do and see. But an astute advisor also knows how long you want to spend on all that seeing and doing. If most tours of famous buildings usually take three hours but you’re just not into modern art, for example, an advisor can customize your experience, working with the guide to allow for more time looking at what you hoped to see on your own. In Romania, for example, we hummed through our tour of Bran Castle and, with the help of the guide and the flexibility of our pre-arranged schedule, we were able to add a serendipitous drive through the countryside enjoying a relaxed afternoon of pastoral scenery.

5. Pricing — It may be hard to believe that hiring a travel advisor can actually be good for your budget. But, in many ways, it can be. Because travel advisors have access to special deals on airline flights, cruises, hotels, and train travel, they pass the savings along to you. Our travel advisor, Lauren Gunnels, has come back several times to us with a lower-priced flight than we could find online through aggregate sites like Expedia or TripAdvisor or airline direct booking sites.

In addition, Lauren knows our preferences for lodging (boutique hotels rather than chic resorts) and restaurants (locally owned mom-and-pop’s rather than notable high-end affairs). If you talk openly and honestly with your travel advisor, she’ll get to know your travel style. And if saving money is a priority, be sure to speak up. Pricing options abound even if you’re a luxury travel enthusiast, and she has found many hotels that offer value as well as comfort, service, and proximity to sites we wanted to see. As Lauren explained to us, “The bottom line is that the travel I plan is client-driven, based upon clients’ preferences and budget.”

6. Information and traveling tips -With the experience of many agencies at their disposal, a travel advisor can give you tips on a variety of subjects — all to help you travel like a local. Most often, you’ll receive info on passports and visas, travel insurance, currency of the country you plan to visit, weather concerns, adapters for the electricity available, tipping suggestions (in country as well as for drivers and guides), phone calls and internet access, and where to meet your guides. If you have mobility issues, your advisor can discuss alternative routes or other means of travel when you’re faced with quaint towns with steep stairways or long walks to museums, etc. Quality pre-planning and a plethora of good information means you’ll have a safe and efficient trip — leaving the enjoyment totally up to you.

7. Troubleshooting — Lauren reported to us that she has fielded numerous calls from clients wanting to cancel or re-route their trips due to outbreaks of the coronavirus. And understandably so. Her time spent altering itineraries and even whole trips has paid off for customers who have litle or no experience dealing with trip insurance or changes in airline, hotel, and cruise ship arrangements. If you want or need an expert in times like these, a travel advisor can be an invaluable asset.

With so many choices in travel today, an advisor just may be your ticket to a safe, happy experience!

Happy travels,

Rusha and Bert Sams

A balcony vantage point allowed us to see the whole operation at the Fez tannery we visited.

Moroccan leather doesn’t just happen to be colorful, soft, and naturally dyed.  That’s just how we, the consumers, find it.  The real process of softening/dyeing/drying is labor-intensive, to say the least.  But thanks to the families who continue to do the work, tanneries like Chouara Tannery in the Fez medina continue to produce highly prized leather goods sold around the world.

At the end of the tour of the tannery, beautiful leather purses await their buyers.

All the tourist guides we read offered a warning:  Beware the rank odors.  Well, odorous it was in Fez the day we visited, but we were so mesmerized by the work in century-old tiled pits that we put down the sprig of mint offered to us for our noses so we could take pictures of a production we’re not likely to see again in our lifetimes.

Welcoming us to the showroom where leather goods occupied the shelves on all several floors.

From our balcony vantage point, the open space filled with circular pits resembled a child’s paint set — without the brushes, of course.

Two parts of a Fez tannery: white side for softening; colored pits for dyeing.

White pits offered one component of the process — cleaning and softening.  After skins are brought by donkey to the tannery, they are dipped into a mixture of that includes cow urine, pigeon poop, salt and quicklime.

Worker in white pits of Fez tannery.

The colorful dye pits use poppy seed, saffron, henna, and indigo as color agents for the leather which is soaked then lifted out for drying.

Workers are mostly born into the job, and the work is organized as old guilds would have done with men mastering and maintaining specific skills.

A worker rests on the side of dye pit in Fez.

It takes two: Fez tannery

Perched on a dye pit: Fez tannery

The entire tanning process is not without drawbacks, of course, as laborers standing in chemicals all day report frequent health problems.

Utilizing natural dyes of henna, indigo, saffron and poppy, workers add color to softened hides.

So, should you visit the tanneries in Morocco?  We say MOST DEFINITELY. If you’re interested in practices handed down through generations since medieval times and seeing how Moroccan leather gets — and deserves — its reputation for being the finest in the world, then, by all means, “Get thee to a tannery!”  (Hold your nose, if you have to.)

Man outside the tannery in Fez signaled his OK for our visit.

For more information:

Chouara Tannery located in Fes el Bali, the oldest part of the medina.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chouara_Tannery

For more pictueres of Fez, Morocco, click on our Flickr account.

And for more posts, check out Marvelous Morocco.

Remnants of a home in Volubilis, Morocco

Even if you’ve never heard of Volubilis, it’s a place we’d put on anyone’s must-see list for Morocco.

Rolling hills and green pastures: Volubilis, Morocco

With an idyllic setting akin to fields of green, Volubilis is a place to breathe deeply and listen carefully to sounds of gentle breezes, harvesters gathering wheat, and low-voiced scholars marveling at the mosaics in this city built by Romans in the second century, considered the ancient capital of the kingdom of Mauretania.

Roaming the remains of structures in Volubilis, Morocco

From this hill town, you can gaze at Meknes not so far away . . .

View of Meknes from the hilltop vantage point of Volubilis

and watch as country settings worthy of paintings unfold before you.

A farmer with his donkey moves cuttings along a country road.

People flock to Volubilis for its ruins — remnants of fine town homes with intricate mosaic floors still miraculously intact even after earthquakes in the 18th century rocked the foundations and looters carried off stones for the building of Meknes just over the hill.

Remains of the Arch of Caracalla at Volubilis stand tall against the sky.

Now, as a World Heritage Site, Volubilis commands the respect it deserves, and photographers, historians, and architects roam the grounds seeking insight into the past life of this olive-growing community nestled in the countryside.

But for all its remaining grandeur and historic lure, historic Volubilis lost out the day we were there to another sight, an unexpected one:  a rather large stork’s nest perched atop a marble column, home to a mother and little ones.

And unexpected sight:
a stork’s nest prominently perched on a column near the Basilica

In fact, most people that day were staring at the storks.

Sitting by the storks at Volubilis and taking it all in!

No matter how much the tourists wanted to look more closely at the mosaics or have their pictures taken as they posed in the archways of the Basilica, their attention just couldn’t — or wouldn’t — veer from that fascinating family of storks.

Some posing for pictures, some staring at storks at the archway in Volubilis

And when in Volubilis . . . well, we did the same.  After all, stork sightings are rare for us.  With the exception of a few in Romania, we can’t say we’ve seen these high-mounded nests anywhere else in the world, although we know they’re there.  We just hadn’t been fortunate enough to see them. Until this day.

Mother and babies — the storks of Volubilis

But here they were.  And here also was that family of storks.  Almost everyone in Volubilis that day did as we did:  We all watched for long periods of time, holding our cameras still, hoping to see that mama stork pop her head up and smile at the crowd between feedings!

The object of our affection at historic Volubilis

And so it was.  We went for the ruins and the history and the countryside at Volubilis . . .

Looking back at Volubilis, but remembering the storks!

but what left us breathless (yet smiling) were storks. (And, as if this one nest wasn’t enough, we noted a whole tower of nests as we approached the highway headed to Fes the next day!)

A tower of storks in Morocco

We’re adding Stork Staring to our list of must-do’s when in Morocco!

— Bert and Rusha Sams

You can find more of Marvelous Morocco under Travel Series in the heading of our blog.

A walk through Chefchaouen takes you past shopkeeper’s wares, through blue-painted arches, and over uneven cobblestone streets.

Chefchaouen, originally called Chaouen, meaning “peaks,” sits firmly among the peaks of the Rif mountains. In 1975, the town was renamed Chefchaouen (Look at the Peaks).  It’s a colorful white-and-blue montage of buildings that can be seen from a pull-out along the highway. And the doors, windows, flat roofs and scrunched-up living quarters make for a memorable view from the road.

From the highway going in to this city, this is the initial view of the colorful “Blue Pearl” of Morocco.

A little rock hut with a blue door of its own welcomes you along with the flag of Morocco.

An inset blue door surrounded by white welcomes visitors to this town that is now discovered and “on the map,” so to speak.

The town, founded in 1471, began to grow quickly with the arrival of Jewish and Muslim refugees from Granada in 1494 who bought up the smallish tile-roofed abodes that lend a Spanish look to Chefchaouen.

Dry pigment awaits buyers in Chefchouen. When mixed with a bit of water, it defines this little city known for colorful walls and doors.

But it’s the blue you want to see — sort of a watery wash of blue that pervades the town as if residents bought the color in powder form, used a little too much water, and slung the paint willy-nilly all over the walls and steps and doors.

Blue steps lead to a blue door at a residence in Chefchaouen.

No one cares much about detail.  It’s the blend of sea blue, sky blue, marine blue and baby blue with pure white that sets this town apart. And the doors provide details, varying in form and construction and history, making you wonder why did they select that style, who lives behind them, and what their story is.

Doorways invite you to climb the steps and pose for pictures as we did — often!

Perhaps a perfect place to pose for a picture:
under a blue arched doorway in Chefchouen.

But sometimes, we just stood still, watching residents going about their daily chores.

A man in Chefchaouen sweeps off the walkway in front of his door.

Some doors are almost obscured as goods (mostly for tourists to take home) frame the openings, making you wonder what’s inside.  And, as we can attest, if you walk in, you’ll probably walk out with more than you came with!

Leather goods, perhaps made at the tannery in Fez, frame a doorway in Chefchaouen.

Just off the town square, Alcazaba, a fortress built in 1471, offers more glimpses into the architecture of this well-preserved building that’s now houses a museum.

Alcazaba, the kasbah in Chefchaouen, opens off the town square.

Of all the sites we saw in Morocco, the town of Chefchaouen  remains one of the most memorable — from its colorful blue walls, steep steps and simple, yet fairly complex doors.  “The Blue Pearl,” as it’s called in several guidebooks, is one town you don’t want to miss in this country that seems to have it all.

Best thing to do in Chefchaouen? Wander through the blue.

For more information:

We booked our trip to Chefchaouen and other towns in Morocco through Ortelius Travel.  Our agent, Lauren Gunnels, can recommend riads and restaurants — some of which even have blue doors! (We stayed at Lina Riad & Spa and dined at Auberge Dardara Restaurant, at the recommendation of our guide.)

For more Thursday Doors, click here.

For more about Morocco, go to Marvelous Morocco in the bar at the top of this blog.

If you’d told us six months ago that we’d be riding camels in the Sahara, we would have replied, “You’ve got the wrong people for that.”  After all, we had done just that at the Knoxville Zoo atop a mangy, reluctant beast who shuffled around a dirt ring with us and our granddaughter hanging on for dear life.  But when in the Sahara, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.  There’s only one way to see sundown in Morocco:  on a camel’s back.  And yes, you still may be hanging on for dear life.

After leaving Ourzazate, you drive half a day (at least) past oases, farm land, clusters of homes surrounding yet another beautiful mosque until you finally come to Merzouga, the place where you leave the comfort of your guided tour and hop into a jeep headed to the desert.  You travel along an unmarked road.  (Well, really there is no road.  And how the Jeep drivers know their way through sand was just one of the baffling realities of our trip to Morocco.)

We went past campsites of nomads, past tourists mounting camels, and into what seemed to be the end of the earth as we knew it.  But it was really just the edge of Erg Chebbi.  Now, an erg is a sea of dunes formed by wind-blown sand, but this erg is dotted with campsites the likes of which you may have never seen before.

Welcoming us with open arms and a pot of herb tea in a silver pitcher, our hosts for the evening guided us to a white tent worthy of Lawrence of Arabia.

And once inside, we were surprised by red velvet “walls” and down comforters — not like any tent camping we’d ever experienced.  On one side of the tent: a private shower.  On the other side: a private toilet.  Sinks, mirrors, and hot water, too:  all part of the standard luxury treatment.

But behind the tent was what we came to see: dunes piled high against an afternoon sky with camels sitting idly by, waiting for a sunset run with yet another batch of tourists.

Wrapped tightly in all white, our guide waited patiently for our party of six to arrive.  And then he shared secrets of successful mounting — some of which we understood, some of which we didn’t.

It was all good advice, we quickly learned, even if we didn’t fully comprehend:  “As the camel moves, you move in the opposite direction.  If he comes up, you bend down. If he dips down unexpectedly, you move upright.”  And we thought about that, not really knowing any more than when we started the journey.  But with a few flourishes and counter moves, we were up.

And then (even before we were ready) we were off!  The guide held the rope of the first camel which was tied to all the others, and the camels knew the drill.  (Take the tourists one careful step at a time: up and over and around those dunes!)

We dismounted once, as we were given the opportunity to climb to the highest mound of sand.  Some did. Some didn’t.  But all took in the afternoon glow as the sun began its descent.

By the time we re-mounted, we had only a few shaky camel steps downward before we all held tight to the reins with one hand and our cameras with the other to capture sundown in the Sahara.  Worth it.  Totally.

Meanwhile back in the camp, dinner was bountiful — Moroccan dishes, one after another.  And entertainment that got us up: bouncing, singing, clapping and cheering on the brave ones selected by the drummer to entertain the group.

After dinner the light show began. With nothing more than a fire pit for a soft glow, we sat around and pointed at stars, the moon, and the pitch black sky before turning in and putting our tired bodies to rest on those plush beds in the tents.

Morning began at 4:30 a.m. when we did as we were told the night before: “Put on your clothes and get outside.  You may only have one chance to see sunrise at the Sahara.” And the host was right.  Worth it again.

Saying good-bye was like parting after a week of camping — sweet but a little sad.  But back into the Jeep again — and on to the next adventure.  Morocco just may have it all — cities with medinas, vast stretches of fertile land and small farming communities, coastal towns, and sand.  Lots and lots of sand.  What a country!

For more information:

Contact your travel agent and ask for information on camping in the Sahara.  Or just Google “Camping in the Morocco desert.”  You’ll find prices, dates, and accommodations for just about every budget.  But, for sure: don’t mark it off your to-do list ’til you’ve done it!

Thanks for traveling to Morocco with us —

Bert and Rusha Sams

For more places to see in this fascinating country, click on Marvelous Morocco under Travel Series.

Ait Ben Haddou is the site of numerous films, making it part of the Hollywood of Morocco.

Touring Morocco isn’t just seeing mosques in the cities and sand dunes in the Sahara.  A day spent in Ouarzazate, the gateway to the desert to the east of Marrakech, will have you walking where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed and wondering what else you’ve seen that was probably made in Morocco.  Even our hotel, Ksar Ighnda, offered Hollywood luxury at the edge of the desert.

Looking like a movie set on its own, our hotel Ksar Ighnda was an oasis in the Moroccan desert.

For a first glimpse into movie making in Morocco, stop at the ksar (series of fortresses) of Ait Ben Haddou, not just for its role in cinema production but also to examine the unique mudbrick construction of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The mudbrick facade of Ait Ben Haddou has been used as a town backdrop for numerous movies.

With the High Atlas Mountains in the background, this series of six kasbahs joined into one city-like structure has been standing since the 1600s as home to hundreds of residents and temporary lodging for travelers along the caravan road.

Although Ait Ben Haddou is crumbling now, its construction of mud, straw, and sticks has served it well through the ages.  And wandering its rooms and hallways is nothing less than a step back in time.

Today, Ait Ben Haddou is known as a set where movies like The Mummy, Prince of Persia, and Kingdom of Heaven have been filmed.

For the movie Gladiator, townspeople stood on multiple levels to cheer on Russell Crowe in the arena built into the sand below.

At the base of the hill, a round depression is all that’s left of the arena used in Gladiator. Townspeople stood on the various levels of Ait Ben Haddou looking down at the action.

Sometimes new structures are built at Ait Ben Haddou to blend in with the old — like this stately entryway seen in Jewel of the Nile. (True movie making art: It’s hard to distinguish what’s new from what’s not.)

Gateway to the city in Jewel of the Nile

But no trip to Ouarzazate would be complete without a trip to Atlas Film Studios.  Tour guides reveal movie magic like how “weighty” boulders are just made of Styrofoam, and town markets are mere walls held up by scaffolding. You’re free to roam and experience being a movie star or an extra on the set.  You can even pretend you’re witnessing daily life in Biblical times.

For King Tut, Cleopatra, and Exodus, the Atlas team created grandiose scenes worthy of the grandeur of wealth and power.

Movie set for Cleopatra at Atlas Film Studio, Ouarzazate.

And, of course, some tourists wouldn’t be able to resist the opportunity to ride in a chariot or stand where Cleopatra waved to her subjects.

Feeling queenly in a chariot fit for Cleopatra!

Cleopatra (well, a wannabe) greets her subjects: Atlas Film Studio, Ouarzazate

We weren’t allowed to walk into the wide open spaces to view a set used in Game of Thrones, but we stopped to take a picture – just to say we’d been there, of course.

Game of Thrones movie set, Atlas Film Studio

After a day touring movie sets, you can dine where producers, directors and actors have all been — in Hotel le Berbere Palace.  According to our waiter, producers of each major film have been asked to leave something from their movie — a prop, for example —  for tourists to admire.  And the grounds are littered with movie memorabilia like Ben Hur’s famous chariot.

Chariot used in Ben Hur on display at Hotel Le Berbere Palace

If you’ve seen movies with a desert-like setting in a foreign place, you may have seen Ouarzazate from the comfort of your movie theater seat and not even known.  But if you’re visiting Morocco, it’s a place you’ll want to see for yourself.

For more posts from this fascinating county, check out Marvelous Morocco.