Essaouira - Cat Heaven

(Be warned - this post is about cats and lots of them.  If you're not into them, wait for the next post.)
There are cats all over Morocco, but the cats in Essaouira were some of the healthiest we'd seen.  They don't seem to belong to anyone in particular, but the ample fish in the garbage seems to keep them robust.  The following images were just some of the cats we saw.  There were more.

And on the stop between Essaouira and Marrakesh, we saw these cuties...

Oh Essaouira!

We've been in Essaouira for the past five days, and it's been fantastic.  Not only is the weather milder than it was in Marrakesh - between 20 - 25C with strong sun and cool breeze - but the entire vibe is different.  People seem friendlier and more relaxed.  Even the medina is less aggressive when it comes to the sales pitches although once you're in a shop, good luck extracting yourself without making a purchase.  We've been pretty lucky with our shopping experiences (yes, multiple ones) although the guy who wanted us to buy the camel leather bag thought we were cheap.  Needless to say, we don't own a camel leather bag.

On our first day, we walked along this beach.

I ran along it today.  I'm talking heaven.

A demonstration of the strong wind.

Our first two nights were spent in the Ryad Lyon-Mogador, in the centre of the medina.  We had a great room (the Saffron Room), which was really nice - a little sitting area with a loft bed above it.  They also served a great breakfast every morning on the terrace.  We would definitely stay there again.

You'll notice a lot of scarves - both of us are suffering from a need for a haircut.

Some patternwork for Karen