I had been to Sevilla, Spain briefly once before and enjoyed it. I wanted to experience some more of Spain. I also had plans about 17 years prior to visit Marrakesh, Morocco. Those plans fell through, but I was still interested in Morocco. So, when a logistical issue with another trip I had planned caused me to cancel, I decided to revise my plans and visit Spain with a little side trip to Morocco.

I mostly focused my visit to Spain around Madrid, with a couple days in Zaragoza. I also looked at some options for day trips, and settled on a tour to Salamanca and Avila. I planned a three day trip to Marrakesh in the middle. I would have preferred to go to Fez, as what research I did indicated Marrakesh had become very touristy, but flights from Madrid to Fez were 2-4 times as expensive and took most of a day each way due to the connections, so I settled on Marrakesh.

I flew straight to Madrid and then took the train straight to Zaragoza. This made for a long experience getting there, but I was trying to avoid a lot of time backtracking.

I really enjoyed Zaragoza. The downtown area where most of the sights are is pretty compact and walkable, and Zaragoza overall had a relaxed feel. I was not driving, but traffic didn’t seem too bad for a fairly large city, I believe around three-quarters of a million inhabitants. I spent about 2 and 1/2 days here. For seeing the main sights, I found that was about the right amount of time.

Hotel Sauce, where I stayed, was very conveniently located downtown near the main sights. My room was small, but clean and comfortable, and the staff were friendly and helpful. There is a cafe and bakery on the ground floor that is good for coffee, breakfast, or a snack. Highly recommended.

Basilica de Nuestro Señora de Pilar, located just south of the Ebro River on the Plaza de Nuestra Señora de Pilar. This basilica is stunning both inside and out.

The Plaza also houses this fountain in the shape of much of the area of Central and South America that was colonized by the Spanish. It is worth a look as you pass by.

The other major cathedral in Zaragoza is the Catedral del Salvador de Zaragoza (generally called La Seo). It is roughly across the street from the Basilica. It is also impressive on the inside and outside, though signs requested no photography on the inside. There is a tower tour that you can buy at the same time you get admission to La Seo, but I didn’t find the view all that stunning, and I recommend passing on it. It only adds 2 euros to the cost.

Aljaferia Palace is a Moorish palace currently in use by the government of the autonomous community of Aragon. Various websites comment on the importance of scheduling your visit in advance, but at the time I tried to schedule my visit the website for doing this was down. I walked up to the Palace and bought a ticket with no difficulty. I find Moorish architecture, tile work, and other art forms beautiful, and so my time at the palace was well spent.

The Goya Museum and the Museum of Zaragoza were both closed at the time of my visit, but their collections (or at least part of them) had been relocated to Aljaferia Palace and La Loncha, respectively. I have a hard time enjoying western art prior to the Impressionist era, so the works of Goya were a little lost on me, but the Asian collection from the Museum of Zaragoza was among the best I have seen.

There are also four Roman ruins in Zaragoza (called Caesaraugustus during Roman times), including Roman baths, a port, a forum, and a theater. The theater was the most interesting to me, but you can get a ticket for all four for 7 Euros. Many of the signs explaining exhibits are only in Spanish. I can read and speak Spanish well enough that this was fine for me, but make your own decision how it will affect your appreciation.

The Puente de Piedra crosses the River Ebro. It is close to the Basilica and La Seo, and is worth a stop.

After Zaragoza, I made a brief stop in Madrid to transition to Marrakesh, but planned to do most of my exploration of Madrid after returning from Morocco.

After landing in Marrakesh and riding to the hotel via a transfer arranged by the hotel, my first stop was Jemaa el Fnaa, the main square in Marrakesh.

At no point during my visit was I ever able to feel any excitement for this square or its crowds of snake charmers and people selling fake sunglasses or t-shirts. I found that the farther I stayed away from the square the more I enjoyed Marrakesh. I was only there during the daytime and I read some information indicating the scene at night might be better, but I did not care to give it a try.

Koutoubia Mosque is just off the square. Non-muslims can only view it from the outside. This is true of most other mosques in Marrakesh as well.

After a night of rest, I set out for a day of sightseeing the next morning.

First stop, Bahia Palace

The entrance to the Saadian Tombs were a little hard to find, but worth while.

The Secret Gardens are located in a restored Riad, and are worth a stop. There are several other gardens in the city that were recommended, but it seemed I would need a taxi to get there, and I chose to focus on other things.

Mederasa Ben Youssef. By this time, for all its splendor, the tilework and other art was starting to look repetitive. Nevertheless, each of these were impressive and beautiful in their own right.

The Museum of Marrakesh also housed a collection of decorated pottery and other artifacts that were beautiful.

Each sight cost either 100 or 50 dirhams, about $6 – $12 when I was there.

The day’s successes aside, there is a common scam in Morocco involving fake guides and the tanneries, which I fell victim to. Unfortunately I did not do research on specific scams in Morocco in advance, and so was not aware of it. Google search it and you will have no trouble finding all the details. For me I just lost a few dollars (about $15) and wasted some time, and felt a bit annoyed with myself for the rest of the day. I had ignored or deflected a handful of people probably trying similar but less complicated scams earlier in the day, but for whatever reason I did not brush off the person who approached me. Perhaps weariness and distraction. I have been around long enough I should have known better.

For the second day I was supposed to take a group tour to Ouarzazat but the tour operator never showed. When I inquired they said the authorities had closed tourist access to the site for the day. I was offered the opportunity to reschedule to the next day but since I was leaving Marrakesh that day I declined and took a refund.

Regarding communication in general, you can get by with English in Marrakesh for the most part. French is far more useful. I speak some Modern Standard Arabic, but the Moroccan dialect is very different. In general, the people I spoke to in Arabic could understand me, but always responded in the Moroccan dialect or French, and I don’t speak either of those with any skill. From what I understand speaking Modern Standards Arabic has roughly the same effect as speaking Shakespearian English in America…it sounds out of place and even pretentious, and it not something people normally do except in specific situations.

On my now unscheduled second day, I visited El Badi Palace and spent some time walking through the souks.

There isn’t a whole lot left of the palace except the walls, and what is left is in a considerable state of disrepair. There are a couple small museum exhibits inside. Storks nest on the walls and make a loud clacking sound with their beaks.

I am looking forward to returning to see some other parts of Morocco. Some of the palaces and other sights were beautiful, but overall Marrakesh fell flat with me. After seeing the main sights, the overall experience there is not appealing enough to me to make me want to visit again.

I felt a bit relieved to get back to Madrid. The main focus of my time in Madrid was seeing the Golden Triangle of art museums, the Prado National Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, and the Reina Sofía Museum. I covered these museums over two days.

Other stops included Plaza Mayor.

Retiro Park…I guess as urban parks go, this one is okay.

The botanical gardens right next to Retiro Park are worthwhile as well.

Catedral de Almudena

And the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) of Madrid. I didn’t go in here because the line was long and I was tired from walking all day and wanted to go back to the hotel and rest a bit. From the outside, it is awe-inspiring.

My Salamanca/Avila tour was cancelled, and the operator offered me the opportunity to go on a tour of Segovia and Toledo. It turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip.

A few shots of Segovia.

And Toledo

I closed out my trip to Spain with a very enjoyable flamenco show at the Centro Cultural Flamenco de Madrid and flew home the next morning. I really enjoyed my second visit to Spain and was a little sad I didn’t have 2 or 3 more days there. I am already looking forward to planning my next trip there, likely to see either the Basque country or a bit more of Andalucia.