Day 1 - Agadir

Hello and welcome everybody to Chapter 10 of Gin and Travel! It’s out 10th trip away together since we started Interrailing and to celebrate, we have a brand new website and are vlogging as well as blogging. How times have changed.

Our Chapter 10 travels are taking us to Morocco this time, flying first into Agadir and then travelling around the rest of the country for over 2 weeks. Our original 9am flight was postponed until 9pm, giving us a day in Dublin to get all our essential items we may have forgotten to pack.

Despite the problems with airport security in Dublin, we scampered through security relatively fast, however my bags were randomly checked, as was Aoife’s, and even her shoes were sent back for an x-ray! Did we mention that Aoife is joining us for the first few days of our trip - you may remember her from Chapter 1!

Full of happy travellers, we finally found a seat in the airport to get some expensive airport food before discovering that our flight was delayed a further 90mins. Despite the bad news, our spirits were high and we were entertained by a game of cards and the goings on of a ‘rough’ Dublin family off on their holiday. Who needs Love Island when you have that?

Fun fact, back in 2018, Morocco changed their Daylight Saving Time and so they are currently the same time as back home! Very convenient. It did mean we arrived in Agadir at 2.15am and were in bed by 4am, almost 2hrs later than we had intended!

Travel day behind us, we woke up at 8am in Hotel Tildi for an interesting breakfast - the normal bread and boiled eggs were joined by lentils, rice, potatoes and tagine, although the highlight was the live and personal omelette making by the chef.

It wouldn’t be an Anna and Louis adventure without some disappointment and closed attractions, and today was no different. Today was a feast day, the equivalent to a Sunday back home (we think) but taken much more seriously here. Everything was closed. Our plan was to walk all of Agadir and take in the sights but it wasn’t meant to be. Though we did successfully buy some water and get Moroccan Dirhams out.

Whilst walking, we were intercepted by a guy who claimed he worked in the restaurant beside our hotel and recognised us. Coincidently, his son lives in Dublin and he offered to show us the shops that were open. Now, I’ve read that this happens to tourists all the time and that they look for money after helping you but did that deter me? “Of course, that would be great thanks” I said. He showed us the tea shop and an Argan oil shop which he told us was good for my skin ‘and my wife’s hair’. He didn’t ask for money when we eventually told him no thanks and her hair is perfect as it is, so maybe he was genuine afterall. He left the 3 of us to walk on and visit the marina, Anna and Aoife even fitted in a visit to Zara. When in Morocco…

When we booked our first night, we decided to book a cheap hotel to ensure an airport transfer when we arrived, as well as decent wifi so we could book our next stop in Essaouria, which we successfully did. This hotel also came with a pool so plan B today was to return to the hotel to sunbathe and swim. However, my patience ran thin towards lunch as I was hungry myself, but being feasted upon by flies, who seemed to have taken a liking to my legs…

With no luck finding a proper local cafe/restaurant and the sheer Moroccan heat removing most of our appetites, the three of us settled on salads before exploring - what local tour groups call - ‘the best gondola ride in the world’. The Gondola, opened in 2016, takes worshippers and tourists up to the hilltop mosque for prayer and good scenic shots. Just our luck, it was closed for renovation this July. Back to the pool it is.

After a quick swim, a drink, some travel planning and an outfit change for dinner, we walked and walked and walked around Agadir for something for dinner - sure wouldn’t it be boring if we decided on the first place we saw.

Despite the cheap price of pizza and the number of westernised restaurants and food outlets, we found a small and authentic Moroccon restaurant by the promenade where we enjoyed our first Moroccan meal of Couscous, Tagine and the famous Moroccan tea - poured from a colossal height of course!

When looking out at the promenade, you would be forgiven to think you were in the South of France. It was a carbon copy of what you would find in Nice and Marseille, and the menu and common language mainly in French would certainly back this up. Although I knew some history about the French colonisation of Morocco, it was still to my surprise how French it was. Luckily our GCSE French is still on point.

After a few snaps of the beach and bustling promenade, we retired to the hotel to pack and sleep for an early start. Welcome to Morocco 🇲🇦