Pretty standard Rabat day. Headed into 7AY to do some work. During the course of the day an impromptu side trip to Tangier popped up so I got a little distracted working on planning that for a departure the following day. Which meant heading over to the train station and having a labored multi-language conversation to try and buy train tickets in advance. Afterwards I popped into what I thought was a by the slice pizza place for dinner, Pizza n’ Pasta. Not exactly a quick bite but it was surprisingly good for just being a little store front.
Author: Nomad
Day 139 | October 12
A typically low key Rabat day. Just headed over to 7AY to work but was driven off my haunt on the roof by the rain. Got distracted with some side projects so I wasn’t even that productive with my real work either. But we did cap off the day with some birthday celebrating here at 7AY in the evening.
Day 138 | October 11
Pretty unproductive day today as well. Went over to 7AY and worked there all day. In the evening I went over to Le Bistro du Pietri which is the restaurant/bar in the Pietri Hotel here. This turned out to be a rather cool place with live music, good food, reasonable prices and at one point an improv show… I think. It was in french obviously so I just had to pretend like I was following what was happening.
Day 137 | October 10
Pretty simple update today; I did nothing. Went to 7AY attempted to work but mostly just succeeded in procrastinating all day.
Day 136 | October 9
Casablanca is just a short train ride down the coast from Rabat so I thought I’d head down there for the day and check things out. I turned up without much of a plan but it didn’t take long to discover that there is an actual Rick’s Cafe in Casablanca.
Turns out a former American diplomat set the place up and designed it after the one in the movie Casablanca. So important to note, the Cafe is based on the movie not the other way around. Judging by the busloads of tourists unloading outside I have to say that this could be one of the best business decisions anyone has ever made. Set that aside, though, and Rick’s has actually become a real version of the thing that it started out imitating.
When thinking about traveling I always have this stereotypical image in my mind of these bars where all the ex-pats hang out and reminisce about home. Generally speaking, I’ve not encountered that anywhere but being such a tourist draw has made Rick’s that kind of place. It was fun sitting at the bar talking to the folks around me who had come from just about every point on the globe.
Moving on from there I just strolled around the rest of the town, down over to the Parc de La Ligue Arabe and on. I tried to go have dinner at the Four Seasons but turns out I was too early so I had to settle for just having some drinks out on their great patio.
As a backup I went up the road to Le Cabestan for dinner. This place has an incredible view of the ocean as well as good food. It’s expensive, even by American standards. It is nicely decorated but it also has exactly the feel that you’d expect from a place that still describes itself as a “social club” un-ironically.
Day 135 | October 8
I set out in the morning to try and get another one of the excellent brunches that I had at TyPotes the first day I was in Rabat. For some reason I literally cannot figure out what this place’s hours are, though! Naturally, they were closed when I arrived so I missed out on that. I walked to nearby Pietri Palace which is one of several cafes in kind of a sunken down amphitheater like area that’s rather nice. Not nearly as good as TyPotes but it was decent food and the setting is good. I headed over to 7AY to finish some actual work as well as do some side trip planning for both Morocco and Spain. In the evening I had dinner at Sa Caleta which is a tapas place. It was good but not nearly as good as the online reviews suggested so I was a little disappointed.
Day 134 | October 7
Another morning in Rabat and I started out at Cafe Assalama on the recommendation of some of our predecessors. It was ok but I do give them high marks for their speedy service, which is almost non-existent in this town. Then it was off to 7AY to work for the rest of the day. Motivation was sorely lacking, though, so I didn’t get much done. In the evening, looking for an escape from some of the Rabat craziness some of us went to dinner in the Sofitel at the Golden Fish. It was good but the real attraction was the garden and grounds that the hotel sit on which were gorgeous.
Day 133 | October 6
Had more success getting out for breakfast this morning and went to Paul which is apparently a french cafe chain. It was a nice setting but the food was average, the service was harried and the WiFi may as well not have existed. It’s a nice space, though. On the way there I drove by a bakery called Amoud so afterwards I walked down there to scope that out. It’s not a place to hang out as there’s no place to sit but it’s massive, gorgeous and the lemon tart I had did not disappoint. After that it was off to 7AY to work for the rest of the day. In the evening a group of us went to Ya Mal Cham for dinner. This place is always packed and I’ve been meaning to try it. Service was typically non-existent but the food was excellent and the price was ridiculously low, like… five dollars for dinner. I can see why it’s always packed.
Day 132 | October 5
We had a series of meetings at 7AY this morning that I nearly forgot about so when I woke I headed right there for business development, town hall etc. Just worked there for the rest of the day… although motivation was sorely lacking. I was oddly tired, don’t think I slept well the night before. In the evening we had our welcome party where we had rented out a bowling alley in a (*the) Rabat mall. It was kind of funny to go to a Moroccan mall if only because it was exactly what you’d get in America. Unfortunately, right as I sat down to eat my food court pizza I had some work related things come up that I had to tend to so I had to bail and head back to work on those. Ended up being the right call as more stuff came up on my way back as well. So, I ended up just working for the rest of the evening.
Day 131 | October 4
A miscommunication with my driver in the morning meant that I didn’t get to experience anywhere new for breakfast and instead ended up at 7AY early. However, sitting up on their great roof early in the morning and having coffee before most folks are around is not a bad way to start the day either. I spent all day at the work space and had some of the great catered lunch that they do every day. In the evening some of us went to Restaurant Dinarjat in the Medina which is so hard to find that they literally send a guy out with a lantern to locate you and lead you back to the restaurant. They strive to be a very traditional Moroccan place and as such it seems to attract a tourist oriented crowd but the food was good, the price was right and it was an overall very fun experience.