Moroccan Cuisine – A Foodie’s Delight

Cooked Moroccan tajine
Cooked Moroccan tajine – ready to eat. Photo courtesy of Catherine Lee

During the first 12 days of our two-week tour of Morocco, we sampled a flavorful array of Moroccan cuisine.

From the historic cities of Casablanca, Fes and Meknes, across the vast desert of the Sahara, to the villages of the Middle and High Atlas Mountains, we ate local specialties at each stop.

The main ingredients in Moroccan cooking are surprisingly simple:

Flour, vegetables, meat or fish. Sometimes cheese or butter, often olives. Occasionally dates or raisins. And, once in a while, a surprising sweetness where our Western palate would expect a savory taste.

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Galungan-Kuningan: A feast for the eyes in Bali

Penjors line the street in Bali Indonesia
Penjors line the street in Bali Indonesia during the Galungan-Kuningan holiday

BALI, INDONESIA – Galungan gets underway this week here in Bali.

A major holiday celebrated by Balinese Hindu people, Galungan marks the victory of dharma (righteousness) over adharma (unrighteousness). It’s a time when the spirits of the ancestors return to the Earth and are present among the living.

The ancestral spirits will return to the afterlife on Kuningan day, at the end of the 10-day holiday period.

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Happy Meal: Why is my morning toast smiling at me?

smiley face on toasted bread
My morning toast is smiling at me – AI art generated by MidJourney

BALI, INDONESIA – We recently moved into an unfurnished villa after several years of traveling around the world and staying in fully furnished apartments, condos, hostels, hotels and Air BnBs.

Every one of those places was outfitted with all the standard trappings. Not necessarily lavish, but we rarely lacked any of the necessities for daily living.

The villa where we stayed for the past year was totally furnished – OVER-FURNISHED, to be honest.

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Looking for Langurs on Son Tra Peninsula

An adult male red-shanked douc Langur sits in the leafy jungle canopy on Vietnam's Son Tra Peninsula
An adult male red-shanked douc Langur peers out from the wild jungle canopy on Vietnam’s Son Tra Peninsula

DANANG, VIETNAM – We’ve crawled out of bed before dawn plenty of times to catch an international flight. But getting up at 5 a.m. to drive less than 10 kilometers up the road? That seemed a bit much.

With most international borders still closed, our near-term travel plans now feature so-called ‘staycations’ and short trips to places closer to home. Last week we joined a few expat friends to do just that.

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Three Years On The Road Now – And Counting…

Melanie gets ready to hit the highway in a vintage motorcycle sidecar
Melanie’s ready to hit the highway in a vintage motorcycle sidecar in Phong Nha, Vietnam

DANANG, VIETNAM – This month marks a milestone for us on our world travels. Three years ago, on June 15, 2017, we bid farewell to our home of 25 years in Western Washington state and set off with one-way tickets to Edinburgh, Scotland intending to travel around the UK for a couple months.

Ten weeks later we hopped back across the water to the U.S. to visit friends and family on the East Coast and the Midwest. Then, after two months in the Seattle area wrapping up some final loose ends, we flew off to Asia.

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