A Ramble through Rabat

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Today is going to be slightly different here on the blog, because Mr Saasdia Travel Gid (MTH) is taking over for a post. He travels a lot for work and this year has visited Germany, Belgium, Australia, Singapore, Romania, Portugal, Turkey and Morocco. Where they are European countries, I normally join him for a weekend and share my own blog posts on the destination, but I didn’t manage to make it to Morocco….so today he is going to take over the reins and take you on his ramble through Rabat.


There is one thing about my wife which often drives me to distraction: her INCESSANT need for jaunts, trips out, exploration and adventures. I am MTH, but I am often a reluctant and moaning MTH. Around every corner she snaps photos, we get nowhere very slowly, I spend endless hours on benches as she bends down over puddles trying to take arty photos….and I can never just eat a meal as soon as it arrives, I have to make sure I capture it from every angle first.

But I must admit she’s rubbed off on me over the last few years. So when I went to Morocco with work I was straight out ready to explore….and of course to take photos of my food.


I stayed in a lovely hotel, The Sofitel, just outside of Rabat. Historically I would never have ventured further than the pool, but this time I decided to head in to Rabat and explore.

Within minutes I wished I hadn’t.

My lovely balcony view

My taxi ride was hideous, the worst of my life in fact. My taxi was a death trap, They don’t do seat belts, the traffic is horrendous. It was noisy and awful and quite frankly I wish I’d stayed by the pool. I somehow survived and decided I may as well plough on with my plans.

My ‘taxi’

My impression of Rabat, besides advising you should never get in a taxi there, was that it is very busy and hectic, yet also very clean. The architecture is beautiful and there were a lot of nice doors. Hannah likes a good door so I took lots of photos of them.

I may quite like doors, but as a general rule I don’t really like people. Not personally, I mean just big crowds of people. Hannah’s not afraid to tell people to jog on when needed, but I am too nice and end up siphoned off in to every shop being sold hats, sunglasses and faded postcards. It’s a talent of mine. So the Medina was an interesting and very stressful place for me, but I managed to see it and get a sense of it without actually buying anything. Quite the achievement.

After exploring the Medina, I took a stroll through the old town, which was actually very beautiful and I particularly liked the white washed walls. I also saw the impressive Mausoleum of Mohammed V and the Hassan Tower which is actually an unfinished mosque – there’s even a wall with lots of holes where the floor boards were meant to go. There were also lots of gardens everywhere so I took some photos of those.

Unfinished mosque wall

As another general rule, I really don’t like the heat. Hannah’s a little sun baby but I have normally drenched through a T-shirt and am unable to breathe after about 3 minutes. So the temperature wasn’t ideal for a long walk – again though I sweatily persisted and headed to the coast to get a bit of a breeze as I struggled on to the Royal Palace.

To conclude my stroll, I also visited the Chellah, which is a walled garden on the site of an ancient citadel featuring Roman ruins & royal tombstones. The Romans really did get about a bit, and I found myself feeling sorry for the poor soldiers who ended up in cold Britain rather than here in the sunshine; it must have been real pot luck.

Beautiful walled city

Now I may have moaned quite a lot in this post, and I haven’t even mentioned the fact that this trip resulted in a nice bout of COVID for me. But in actual fact I enjoyed my little jaunt round Rabat. 10 years ago I’d never have done it – this time I moaned to myself for most of it but am glad I did it. I discovered that Rabat is hot, it’s busy, its people are so welcoming, there are lots of nice doors, don’t get in a taxi, don’t go for a walk without sun cream on and don’t get too close to people and catch COVID.

Oh and the food was great. I took photos of it from every angle.


Stay safe and happy travelling – MTH.

29 responses to “A Ramble through Rabat”

  1. Loved this amusing post, doors and all and so pleased you strayed away from the pool long enough to show us Rabat, a place I’m yet to visit! Sorry you caught COVID whilst there though.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Glad you enjoyed the post Marion – he was chuckling as he wrote it haha!

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Wow, what a lovely place! It’s quite amazing how despite the country’s sometimes turbulent history, most of its artistic heritage has survived until today. I’ve been to Morocco once and was in awe of its architecture and design elements. Thanks for sharing and have a good day 🙂 Aiva xx

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I can’t wait to go one day, hopefully the husband will have to go there again for work next year and I can tag along 🙂 Thanks for reading Aiva xx

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Oh I love that this post is written by Mr. Saasdia Travel Gid! Such a nice idea to share his thoughts on this destination! I have never been to Morocco but it seems to be just as I imagine it: hot and crowded, though being a sun baby myself too, I would looove to visit!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hehe I think he might make the occasional guest post! 🙂 I am putting it top of my list to go with him next year, as it looks like such an interesting city and like you say – sunshiiiiine

      Liked by 1 person

  4. ThingsHelenLoves

    Brilliant post, a lovely glimpse of Rabat that also made me chuckle. Bad luck about the Covid, hope it didn’t keep Mr TH down for too long.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hehe thanks Helen. No he wasn’t out for long with COVID, just had a cold for 2 days and then back to normal!

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Love this little post from MTH– obviously, my loyalty is to you, Hannah, but I love MTH’s humor and writing that I’d love to read more from him, haha! Never been to Rabat, but I’ve been to other cities in Morocco, and I can attest that it’s necessary to embrace the chaos– traffic, hagglers, pollution– in order to enjoy yourself. Glad MTH had a good time in Morocco!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hehe, I’m so glad you enjoyed it and it made you smile. I’m sure he’ll make a guest appearance from time to time. Embrace the chaos sounds like a good motto for sure 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  6. I enjoyed reading this post through the perspective (and camera) of Mr Saasdia Travel Gid. Despite the rough taxi ride, Rabat looks like a neat place to explore. And the food looks amazing! Sorry to hear that you caught COVID from this trip though.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks so much for reading – the food was definitely his highlight, and the COVID the not such a highlight but he didn’t suffer too much with it.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Love this, well done MTH! I must say Jon never took pictures of much before I came along and now I’ve created a monster ha!! Bummed to hear you got Covid but hopefully you are feeling better!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hahahaaa created a monster, that makes me laugh. He was totally fine with COVID, had a cold for 2 days and then was back to normal – he worked from home so didn’t even take a day off so was lucky really 🙂

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  8. Nice to meet you, MTH. When my husband writes about one of his trips on my blog, he calls it a “blog takeover,” so I guess you’ve just done one of those! Enjoyed reading about your time in Rabat. Thanks for exploring and sharing the results of your explorations – the good, the bad, and the ugly (taxi). So immensely jealous of all the places you get to go for your work!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I like that, it was definitely a blog takeover for sure. He’s so lucky to go to so many places for work – though Australia for 3 days earlier this year felt a lot of travel for not a lot of time there to me!!! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Ooh, that seems like a punishment more than a work trip. We’re going to Australia in 2024 for 3 days but we’re adding on 18 more. 😉

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I am soooo envious!

        Liked by 1 person

  9. Hahaha Yes, don’t forget your 📷 Aside from the taxis, Rabat looks and sounds like a nice destination, especially the coast and vintage architecture.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. He’s well trained now Phil, always got his camera and ready hehe. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful rest of your week 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  10. This post had me chuckling; very entertaining! Rabat looks very inviting, except for the taxis and COVID.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hehe glad you enjoyed something a bit different on the blog this week 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  11. How fun to see Morocco through your eyes MTH with your funny and informative commentary. I’m with you on crowds, heat, and getting sucked in to seller pitches. I would love to visit here one day and now I’ll be prepared to not get in a taxi and have my camera ready for beautiful doors 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Aw thanks Meg, I’m so glad you enjoyed the little tour around Rabat. Hehe that sounds like a good plan if you get to visit one day 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Such an amazing site we explored Morocco. Such a very historic site .Hopefully he was infected by Covid on His way home.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Oh Hannah, I’m so glad you ‘rubbed off’ on MTH, because what a lovely post with great photos! I had a good laugh when MTH complained about the heat but continued his exploration – that’s the spirit! MTH, you have done a great job – imagine, taking food pictures from every angle … I’m impressed!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hehe bless him, he takes some really good photos now and has really settled in to travelling. He’s probably more confident and better at it than me now!! Thank you so much for your support for MTH 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Anonymous

    So glad you got out of the hotel. Traveling gets pretty boring when all you see is the inside of a modern hotel! The feel of a place and exploring the culture is what it’s about. I was surprised to see that the Medina is quite newer looking. Enjoyed the photos around town and food. Hope the feedback from this blog will curb your complaining… 😊

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I agree with the Medina, I was surprised when I saw the photos too. And he will definitely be doing a few more guest blog appearances, that’s for sure 🙂

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About the author

Hi! My name is Hannah, I’m a travel blogger from the UK who fits travel around a full time (and full on) job. In this blog I share my adventures around the world and hopefully help you to find some inspiration for destinations, things to do or places to stay. Thanks for stopping by – stay safe and happy travelling.

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