Sometimes you need to dig a bit to find treasure, and the same is true of travel.

Agadir was not a place I immediately warmed to. It seemed somehow less Moroccan and more generic holiday destination, boasting Nightclubs, Casinos and the like – not something I consider a drawcard. Leaving Essaouira for Agadir probably didn’t do it any favours either by way of comparison.

Agadir was rebuilt following a devastating earthquake in 1960. 80% of the buildings were destroyed, so it lacks the historic architecture of many Moroccan cities. Cheap airfares have also meant that infrastructure for quick holiday packages is abundant, to the detriment of the atmosphere, in my opinion.

Its at times like this, when you are struggling to find the authentic, you need to get to the market, or, in this case the Souk.

The fragrance of fresh, ripe fruit greeted us. Beautiful quality and a mind boggling variety. Friendly vendors were happy to talk with us, and even provided samples of some of their offerings. Grapes, strawberries, the ubiquitous oranges all found their way into our bags, but to our delight , pineapples – great pyramids of them.

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Naturally, spices and dried fruits were also featured, with a nice range of cookies and other sweet offerings.

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Like all good markets, stalls preparing delicious meals from the produce sold were also doing a great business. The stalls each had a hawker, shouting the specials to the passing clientele, each stall numbered….”beautiful seafood!! Come to eat at No. 11…”. Paper sheets covered the communal tables. It was fun to cast an eye over the meals being eaten, to choose our lunch. The stall we eventually chose had a young man hard at work over the fryer, delivering hot deep fried seafood, served with harissa soup and freshly made flat bread. A fish tagine completed our meal.

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We felt that we had found “the real” after this visit, spoke with some local folk – supported their businesses and took away some lovely produce and even better memories.

Still hungry for markets?

https://atomic-temporary-139695148.wpcomstaging.com/2019/04/24/a-market-in-ljubljana-slovenia/

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