Morocco

[GumbieBEN]

Anyone know if there's any skating at all in Morocco?

As a former French colony I'd guess there might be some influence there.

Going for a week to Marrakech in Feb, but considering other places, maybe finnishing in Casablanca.

[latviangirl]

What in the sand??? (i've seen pics of Morrocco and the only thing I remember is lots of sand!)

[Mentally Dull]

don't know about Morocco, but given that there's even a skating scene in Dakar I'd guess yes, there is...

[GumbieBEN]

Yeah, that freeskate video of Dakar is bloody inspirational.

[andyains]

Can't recall any skating in Marrakech from my trip a couple of years ago. Marrakech is split into two halves: the old Moroccan half, which is mainly small tight streets no good for skating and the regimented planning of the 'new' French half, which has pretty good roads which I suppose you could skate on.

Essouira on the coast due west of Marrakech has a road going along the sea front outside the walls of the town which might be skatable, but it gets really windy especially at that time of year.

We did see a few aggressive skaters in the French half of Fes mainly around the public squares and stairs as you'd expect. Fes is well worth a visit though. You can get the train from Marrakech for next to nothing and the medina is something else.

[GumbieBEN]

Fes is well worth a visit though. You can get the train from Marrakech for next to nothing and the medina is something else.

Cool.... was thinking of Fez. We're staying at a mates house in the Medina in Marrakech. Had possibly thought of a weekends skiing in the Atlas.

[andyains]

The Medina in Marrakech is by far the better of the two halves of the city: close to the Djema el Fna, which is fantastic at night when all the food stalls are set up. Sheep brains for tea anyone?

The Jardin Majorelle in the French half is also worth a visit. It's owned now by Yves St Laurent and is a great place to chill out and get away from the general nuttiness of Marrakech.

Don't know much about the skiing, but I hear the slopes on Mt Toubkal are supposed to be good.

[LHDQ]

On 16th January, there is a "marathon of rollers" in Marrakech!

http://www.marathon-marrakech.com/

As I can remember (2 1/2 years ago), the roads where quite good...

[GumbieBEN]

Wow. gues sthat means there must be some sort of scene... though REALLY don't want to spend my holiday with the Lycra Abusers.

Hell, seeing Stretchy Van Erp last night, RIGHT put me off my Burger!

[Adam B(GMF)]

if you don't take your skates you'll regret it
maybe not today
maybe not tomorrow
but soon and for the rest of your life

[Davey_Speedstar]

I once worked with an old guy who rarely took holidays, and just before his retirement his wife took him off to Morocco.
When he got back to work we asked him if he enjoyed it. His best reply was
“I was sent there in the war – it hasn’t improved much since then”

[GumbieBEN]

“I was sent there in the war – it hasn’t improved much since then”

SOunds JUST like my kinda place. All those soldiers, demob happy and looking for action.

Plus the dopes supposed to be amazing!!!!!

[Caz]

Cool.... was thinking of Fez. We're staying at a mates house in the Medina in Marrakech. Had possibly thought of a weekends skiing in the Atlas.

yeah but then you ruined it by thinking of casa' . Its a complete pit, but the mosque is amazing (second largest in the world i seem to recall, and a great flay area to skate on around it). Fez is amazing (not in terms of skating tho), and the old city is much better than that of marrakech. Marakkech is v touristy, djeem el fna or whatever is skateable. while there, be sure to eat at El Marakkechi, as it provided one of the best meals i had while i was there, and the decor etc was top notch. the food in fna is also pretty good. theres a sleeper train to Fez from marrakech and they provide comfortable clean facilities.

Ignore all spelling and punctuation in this post. I know I have.

[GumbieBEN]

yeah but then you ruined it by thinking of casa' .

No I hadn't. I'd dismissed Casa' very early on.

Just two weeks till my mates move there... I'm almost more excited than them. (Okay, thats not true!)

[Caz]

ok.. just saw:

but considering other places, maybe finnishing in Casablanca.

Plus the dopes supposed to be amazing!!!!!

in the atlas yeah you can go for it, but unless your friends have reliable contacts it can be dicy buying it. I've heard many tales of people being sold draw and then getting stopped by police, relieved of their valuables if they can't pay the hefty fine, and then turfed out. generally the guy selling gets a sizeable part of the fine.

many of the people selling herbs and mint tea etc seem to stock 'herbal tea for making you sleep' (opium) and 'herbs to start the day' (khat.. you chew it. mild amphetamine). risks as above.

met an arabic language student who'd been living in fez who'd made friends there.. they offered to get him some so he gave them about a 5er. they gave him a cabbage sized bundle!

[Inno]

flight check
passport check
serpentine road check - has anyone skated in Morocco it seems yes .
ok then .. I will take my skates .. even if I skate for 30 mins .
it's worth it

[magichow]

We were there in April and did indeed spot a skater in the main square. He was quite good, too.

Don't eat where the tourists do and you'll be fine :D

[jast4c]

I've been skating in Casablanca in August this year. The streets are ok for skating but be carefull with the traffic.
I didn't found a good place for slaloming and i didn't saw any other skater. That doesn't mean that there aren't any of course.
I also want to add that the asphalt was very hot and my wheels were worn fast.

[Inno]

I was in the resort of Agadir that has a 1.5 km walk by the beach and is perfect for skating .
I skated 2 days , one around the town on some dodgy areas to take pictures of locals , but the surfaces were good .
I was in Marakech but I did not skate as I can' t really see a way of skating around them small streets markets .
In short : if going to Agadir skates are a must !