Tetouan

MILANO BLANCO
James Blackburn
Fri 31 Dec 2010 18:30

Friday 31 December 2010          35:34.54N         5:21.55W         

 

As a teenager, I was fascinated by Dali’s painting, and always remembered his ‘Battle of Tetouan’ with Moorish horsemen in the sky etc. We had alternated New Year’s Eve parties with our friends the Frosts between Surrey and Putney, then Sherborne after we moved, for years, and this time it was our turn.  So why not Tetouan instead of Sherborne? I soon found what seemed to be the ideal place on the internet, Riad El Reducto. Owned by Ruth (Spanish) and Brahim (Local), this charming couple gave us the best evening in a long time. After a four hour tour of the World Heritage Site Medina, including a big lunch, we returned to the Riad for dinner and a wonderful evening.  There was a good local band playing sub-saharan contemporary music, and a group of youths playing six foot long trumpets and drums. The Riad only has five rooms, but there must have been at least 60 people at the dinner, all that ate there, apart from us, were Spanish/Moroccan friends of the owners. We got to bed at 3.00am.  Fortunately, being out of season, we were never really bothered as we strolled around the streets, particularly whilst we were with our guide, an essential companion to ensure we didn’t remain wandering around in the Medina unable to find our way back out.