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Canada's Beautifu Yukon
Norm Goldman, Editor of the travel site, www.sketchandtravel.com interviews an expert on the Yukon.
Norm Goldman, Editor of sketchandtravel.com is pleased to have as our guest, Genevieve Grant of Yukon Wild Marketing. Good day...
Spain´s Beaches - You´re Spoilt For Choice
Spain offers the visitor over 4,000 kms of coastline where s/he can enjoy shining sun and sapphire seas in wonderful settings. And what a choice of sands! Golden sands, white sands, grainy sands, powdery sands, and even the black sands of the...
Tahoe Vacations - Prepare For The Fun
When people think about Tahoe vacations, they are usually
thinking about a skiing trip. That is because Tahoe is a great
place to ski for people at all skill levels. From the beginner
to the expert, you can find ski slopes that seem to have...
Visit Boca Raton Florida
The city of Boca Raton, Florida, with it's more than five miles
of publicly owned beachfront property and it's approximately
1,080 acres of parks is situated in Palm Beach County, almost
midway between the cities of Palm Beach and Fort...
Visit San Francisco
The 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed most of San Francisco, so what you see today is all relatively 'new'. The climate is more like that of England than Southern California, but expect more sunshine! Everyone's favourite, San Francisco has much...
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Castles in the Sand
Jimi Hendrix wrote his song, "Castles in the Sand" in 1967,and
that was two years before he actually visited Morocco. The site
of "Castles in the Sand" was the then small town and fishing
village of Essaouira on Morocco's Atlantic Coast. The town has
grown a lot in the intervening 35 years. It is relatively close
to the capital Casablanca, built around a busy fishing port.
Ironically Essaouira was one of only two ports in Morocco that
were entitled to trade with Europe, and so in the past it had
held a much more important role in Moroccan affairs than it does
today. As a trading port founded by the Portuguese in the
eighteenth century it lured business and business people to come
and work within its confines. In fact the British held an
important foothold there. However, with the growth of the French
protectorate, Casablanca was favored and in the early twentieth
century, and Essaouira fell into disrepair.
Today the fishing port is surrounded by whitewashed two storied
buildings with traditional blue shutters. Its sandy beaches are
uncluttered and for the most part empty of high-density
tourist traffic. Beyond the beaches are row upon row of rolling
dunes. These dunes provide ideal shelter because Essaouira is a
windy place and that is part of its charm! Because this town,
which the Portuguese named Mogador is a wind surfer's
paradise,
so much so that I plays host to several international
windsurfing competitions. But there's more, if there's wind
there is generally surf as well. Yes, Essaouira is also a
surfer's heaven, and they come from all around and even further
afield to catch rides on some big breakers. Another feature of
this remarkable Moroccan town is the Gnawas Festival, which is
probably the event that attracted Jimi Hendrix to the region.
The Gnawas comprise a traditional group of singers and
musicians. They are black because they come from a slave
heritage and this has greatly influenced their music that has a
heavy trance-inducing beat. The Gnawas Festival takes place in
June each year and draws people from all over the world.
Essaouira offers a grand selection of hotels and guest houses to
cater for all pockets and tastes. For example for something
rather different, "Dar Liouba" is a gem of a place. This small
guest house is a former Imam's residence which has been
re-designed by a Russian Furnisher and a French Chinese Jewelry
designer to be come a sophisticated hostelry filled with lush
green plants and traditional carved cedar wood, but if that's
not to your taste there is a lot more accommodation to choose
from.
Interested in this subject? Try this link for more of the same
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