The Perfect Weekend Break in Morocco

Asilah is one of those beautiful places in Morocco that often gets overlooked by visitors. However, a new website (AsilahInfo.com) has been set up to promote the town and hopefully lure a lot more people to a place that has everything for a perfect weekend. This is what they have to say...

Need an escape? Why not spend the weekend in Asilah, a quite seaside town located on the beautiful Atlantic coast just 40 minutes south of Tangier? Whether you fancy getting lost in the meandering streets of the medina, escaping to the beach or trying a delicious fish tagine, Asilah has something for everyone.

A great way to start your stay in Asilah is with a visit to the hammam. A vigorous scrub and massage will help you relax in to the town’s laidback atmosphere. Then head to the medina to discover its thriving arts scene.

Ever since the first The Cultural Moussem of Asilah in 1978, artists have been invited to paint murals on the white-washed houses of the medina. These brightly coloured works of art help to distinguish Asilah from the other Andalucian style towns in Morocco, such as Chefchaouen and Essaouria. As well as seeing the works of visiting artists, you can visit the small galleries of Moroccan and European artists who have made Asilah their home.

The medina is protected from the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean by ramparts which form part of the wall built by the Portuguese in the 17th Century. In the evening walk out onto the Krikia, a stone pier on the south side of the medina, to enjoy a dazzling sunset over the horizon.

There are a handful of quality guesthouses in Asilah, all located in or close to the medina. One of the most established is Patio de la Luna; situated in front of the medina wall, it offers a comfortable stay in its rustic-chic rooms. Alternatively, you can rent a house in the medina. In recent years many of the old, dilapidated medina homes have been beautifully restored and are now available for holiday rental.

If you choose a self-catering holiday, visit the harbour in the evening to get your hands on the fresh catch of the day. There is usually wide range of fish and seafood to choose from including crab, sword fish and sole. Otherwise dine at one of the great fish restaurants located on the promenade, such as Le Place or El Espigon. Ask for the waiter’s recommendation and enjoy it with a chilled glass of Moroccan wine.

Rmilate Beach (also known as Paradise Beach) 7 km south of Asilah

During the day, most visitors escape to one of the area’s stunning beaches. The most well-known beach is Rmilate (Paradise Beach). Located 7km to the south of Asilah, the most recommended way to travel there is by horse and cart (150 Dh return). This rustic form of transport will allow you to take in the surrounding countryside (TIP: to avoid a sore bum, take a cushion!) The beach is in a long and sandy bay, lined with chiringuitos which serve grilled sardines, calamari and fish tagines.

Asilah train station is located 2 km from the town center. Trains travel to all major cities, including Tangier (40 mins), Meknes (3 hrs), Rabat (3.5 hrs), Fez (4 hrs), Casablanca (4.5 hrs) and Marrakesh (9 hrs) – night sleeper train available.

More information about restaurants, accommodation, activities and events can be found at AsilahInfo.com. Read the reviews of past visitors and leave your own comments to help others enjoy a weekend in Asilah.

Text and photos: Carin Cowell

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Moroccan Wine - A Thriving Industry

John Mariani, writing for Bloomberg, has an interesting article about the fact that the Moroccan wine industry is thriving in face of all kinds of challenges.

It’s easy enough to say “When in Rome drink as the Romans do,” but what’s a wine lover to do in Marrakesh?

For starters, Morocco is predominantly Muslim, and consumption of alcohol is forbidden in Islam, (though oddly enough, the word “alcohol” derives from the Arabic word “al-kohl”). Its production is allowed, and historically overseen by Christians and Jews.

When Morocco became a protectorate of France in 1912, the French found its fertile soil, especially in the Meknes region of the Middle Atlas Mountains, an ideal spot in which to build a formidable wine industry. By the time of Morocco’s independence in 1956, 55,000 hectares (135,905 acres) were under cultivation.

With the departure of the French, Moroccan vineyards grew fallow. In 1967, the European Economic Community (now the European Union) froze most Moroccan wines out of its market. The few remaining vineyards fell under strict government control.

Then, at the urging of King Hassan II and his successor Mohammed VI in the 1990s, French wine companies returned to lease vineyards and replant European varietals. By the beginning of this century, cultivation had recovered to 50,000 hectares.

Thanks to the influx of tourism, the sale of alcohol and wine is widespread in Morocco’s major cities, though in many areas it is still forbidden, especially during Muslim holy days.

Moroccan Martini

So, on a recent trip to Morocco, I found little problem ordering beer, wine, or even martinis at hotels and restaurants I frequented, including those run by Muslims.

Frankly, I didn’t expect any of it to be all that good. Still, my first few bottles of merely pleasant white wines were much enhanced when paired with the gloriously fresh seafood on offer at open-air French brasseries along Atlantic coastal cities like Casablanca, Safi, and Essaouira.

But it wasn’t until I got inland to Marrakesh, where well- spiced meat-based dishes like couscous and the slow-cooked tagine stews demand to be consumed with a hearty red wine that I began to be impressed. Especially after a memorable tasting with Manuel Schott, the Alsatian-born sommelier at the magnificent La Mamounia Hotel, which stocks more than two dozen Moroccan wines among the 400 labels in its cellars.

“One of the problems in Morocco is that, after April, it is so hot,” said Schott, “so that just shipping the wines can compromise them. I ask for the wines to be delivered either in early morning or after 7 p.m.”

Soaring Temperatures

It’s not just soaring temperatures that pose a challenge. “In August and September the desert winds are so harsh that they can destroy 30 to 40 percent of the harvest,” he said.

Most of the new wineries are French-owned, including El Mogador, Morocco’s first organic producer in Provence Essaouira. Its delicious El Mogador Gris, is made by a vigneron from the Rhone Valley named Charles Melia.

Called “Gris” (gray, in French) because of its color that falls between white and rose, it was very fresh and well made, at 12.5 percent alcohol, with a lingering flavor and aroma of raspberries.

Even more enticing was a blend of 80 percent chardonnay and 20 percent viognier, at 13 percent alcohol, called Odyssee La Ferme Rouge. This was a very lush wine whose rich chardonnay flavor took on the spicy scent of the viognier in impressive balance.

Rich Chardonnay

S de Siroua by Domaine des Ouled Thaleb in the Rommani district is 100 percent chardonnay, with a bold 14 percent alcohol and a full body from aging in new barriques that give it a vanilla caramel undertone.

Volubilia 2008 was 100 percent cabernet sauvignon, a varietal that can take some heat, and it showed well at a moderate 13.5 percent alcohol, with good tannins and acid. Its relative lightness derived from its spending no time in oak barrels.

Schott says that at least 60 percent of La Mamounia’s guests order Moroccan wines, compared with a decade ago when few did so. Wise investment in production and a more progressive attitude toward alcohol have quickly improved the wines, which, if difficult to find abroad, are well worth drinking when in Marrakesh.


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Doves released on first anniversary of Marrakech bombing

With tears in their eyes friends and families of the victims of the Marrakech bombing said they "condemn hatred" and called for the "fight against this barbarity to continue", at a memorial ceremony held yesterday.

To mark the first anniversary yesterday of the terrorist bombing that killed seventeen people in Café Argana, in Marrakech’s Jmaa el Fna square, a dove was released for each of the deceased; eight French tourists, two Canadians, two Moroccans, one Briton, one Dutchman, a Portuguese, Russian and Swiss national.

The ceremony began with a distribution of roses and John Lennon's song ‘Imagine’ as background music. A monument with the names of those killed at the Argana and a freshly planted olive tree will remember the 17 victims. Moroccan Interior Minister Mustapha Ramid read a message from King Mohammed VI, who "firmly condemned appalling terrorism... which is opposed to the values of tolerance taught by Islam".

The April 28, 2011 bombing was the first such attack in Morocco in eight years and deeply affected the country's tourist industry.

On March 9 a Moroccan appeal court confirmed the death sentence against Adil Al-Atmani, the mastermind of the attack that killed 17 people, and handed a death sentence to his chief accomplice Hakim Dah, one of the others convicted.


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