"RABAT: A Truly Captivating City" a Rabat Travel Page by Krystynn

Welcome to one of my favorite cities on planet Earth - beautiful RABAT, the capital of Morocco.

If you grow up watching those cool Disney cartoons, surely coming here will stir up your childhood fantasies of flying carpets... magic lamps.... evil wizards and sultans... hidden treasures and... Ali Baba. Well, sorry to put a damper on your rising enthusiasm but Rabat is really too cosmopolitanized to satisfy our hidden fantasies! :-)

Its French boulevards and modern architecture, verdant green parks and modern offices will appeal to first-time visitors/ tourists who can get a taste of Arabic culture and history from the morsels of medieval Rabat that remain... It's like Morocco 101, Africa for beginners - a prelude to the main course, ya know?

The first thing when you arrive in this city, hop onto a cab or take a leisurely stroll down to the... yes, Medina - a sprawling Souk filled with evocative odors and charm, colorful and crowded stalls selling EVERYTHING from traditional Moroccan leather goods to carpets... brass work... Arabian perfumes (hm!)... and on-the-hoof snacks.

In Marrakesh, the constant pestering of gangs of little kids, the attention of roving-eyed Moroccan men and the hard sell of the eagle-eyed stallholders were too overwhelming for me.

Ah, but in Rabat they really don't bother. So, enjoy it while you get a chance. Agitation-free shopping is a pleasant novelty in Africa and unrivalled in Morocco.

In short, Rabat is basically a commercial and industrial city where tourism is just a by-line.

I hope you'd enjoy your stay in this city just as much as I did.



"If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears."
- Glenn Clark

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Copyright (c) Krystynn 2003
Please do not take my personal pics without prior permission.
Thanks.