"Are we in Essaouira?"

That was Hazel's question as we arrived at the edge of the Atlantic in Rabat -- where the Oued Bou Regreg empties into the ocean. This view is from the Kasbah des Oudaïa, perched cliffside -- fortification that dates from Almohad times (mid 12th century), but is named for the Arab tribe that settled here in the late 17th century.


Lots of people come to watch the water, the sun, the surfers way down below, each other --


The surfers, dots way down below on the left, plus requisite nationalist nod


Hazel, happy if there's sand (or very small rocks)


Behind us on the exterior wall of a closed carpet artisinat, a stenciled parade marches through dry grasses in the waning sun


The view south, towards the light house, Casablanca, Essaouira, other southern coastal cities


Are we in Essaouira? Inside the Oudaïa, all is blue and white...


Or blue and blue and blue and white. Photography, it would seem, is all timing and luck.


The Oudaïa's Rue Jamaa Number 18


Hazel eats some (delicious) street meat (as we used to say in New York, of the Central Park hot dog vendors)


Looking out from Café Maure, not serving anymore by the time we arrived, across the Bou Regreg at Salé, city across the river from Rabat, still in the sun


Having left the Oudaïa, we're now back outside the kasbah walls, looking up the hill at Bab Oudaïa, one of the more famous doors to Rabat's medina. As noted above, built in the mid 12th century.