Style and Classic Forever

Located 50 km from the Mediterranean coast and near the mountains of Beni-Snassen, Oujda is a crossroads of civilization between Europe and North Africa.

Persecuted by the Romans and the Visigoths in the early Christian era, many Jews settled in the region. From 682, Oujda is occupied by the Arabs.

Oujda is dominated in turn by the Umayyad dynasty, the Almoravids, the Almohads, the Zianides, Merinid and Saadian before being occupied by the Ottomans in 1790, and in 1907 by the French that were installed five years later a protectorate over all the Kingdom of Morocco .

Oujda retains many monuments that really deserve the attention of tourists such as the Medina which covers an area of ​​25 hectares.

Starting the visit of the medina of Oujda we will look first to its doors as the Bab Sidi Abdelouahab, the “Gateway to the heads” when the Makhzen was hang the heads of the enemies of the city, the Bab Oulad Amran overlooking the street of Marrakech , Bab Ahl Jamel overlooking the Boulevard Mohammed V and the Bab Gharbi.

Inside the Medina protected by its walls you will discover the Kasbah, the souks, the Dar Al Makhzen, Dar Al Bacha, mosques Djamaâ El Kebir, and Djamaâ Heddada Djamaa Sidi Okba, the ancient Medersa Oujda was built in 1335, synagogues and many gardens surrounding these buildings.

Al Jamaa Al Kabir or Djamaâ El Kebir, the Great Mosque, is one of the main monuments of the city of Oujda, built by Sultan Abu Merinid Yaâcoub Yussuf in 1298. Near the Great Mosque admire the Three Fountains.

Near the Medina you will discover the Park Lalla Aïcha an area of ​​20 hectares. Created in 1935, is a place to relax and meet the people of Oujda.

One of the places most frequented by the inhabitants of Oujda is the oasis of Sidi Yahya with his sources that supply blood to the gardens of Medina, palm trees and oleanders, and the mausoleum of the Marabout Sidi Yahya Benyounès, revered by Muslims and Jews.

Oujda is known for the healing qualities of its thermal waters and we will discover many sources such as the oasis of Sidi Yahya Benyounès or Benkachour source located inside the city, or the source of Al Aagreb 12 km west of Taourirt, the source Fezouane north of the mountains or the Blessed Snassen Source Zaouiat near Sidi Hamza Jerada.

All these sources are known for treating skin diseases, rheumatism and even liver and kidney diseases as is the case for the source Fezouane.

Your stay in Oujda you can bring back some memories from locola crafts such as rugs, blankets, djellabas, caftans and dresses Oujdi.

Tourists can go to Oujda from Europe by landing on Oujda International Airport – Angads located 10 km north of the city.

The city of Oujda in Morocco is twinned with several French cities, Aix-en-Provence, Jouy-le-Moutier, Lille and Sevran, and the Belgian city of Molenbeek.

Kairouan is one of the most beautiful city in Morocco . This is also the first Muslim holy city of the Maghreb and the fourth in the world after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem.

The Great Mosque of Kairouan, north-east of Medina, is one of the most important monuments of North Africa, who built the first on the African continent in 671 by the Arab general Oqba Ibn Nafaa.

In memory of its founder the Great Mosque of Kairouan is sometimes called

Mosque or Mosque of Sidi Okba Oqba Ibn Nafaa. But shortly after its construction the building was destroyed in 690 by the Berbers and rebuilt a second time in 703 by Hassan Ibn Numan.

Kairouan is translated into Arabic as “qarwane”, a term that is the origin of the word “caravan”. Kairouan was thus from its inception a very important relay in the Maghreb and the town grew rapidly. Work was therefore undertaken to enlarge the city and the mosque was destroyed to be rebuilt a third time in 772.

In the 9th century Kairouan was at its peak and 836 Ziadet Allah I decided to rebuild the mosque for the fourth and final time. All work to be done by following the will to enlarge and embellish it.

Great Mosque of Kairouan resembles a fortress with exterior walls of nearly 2 meters thick. Unlike most other mosques dimensions are not regular. It forms an irregular quadrilateral with two longer sides of 138 and 128 meters, while the shorter sides measure 77 and 71 meters.

the courtyard of the Grand Mosque is accessible by six lateral porticos. This courtyard paved with 60 x 40 meters is surrounded by magnificent galleries supported by columns made with different materials such as marble, granite and porphyry.

Access to the Hall of Prayer “Beit es Salat” by one of the nine gates on the south side of the court. The hall has more than 400 marble columns which were reported in several ancient sites like Carthage. The mihrab (niche indicating the qibla, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca), is wearing a beautiful dome.

the minaret is a tower with a square base measuring 10.5 m square and consists of three levels decreasing, the latter being domed. The minaret of 31.5 m in height in the middle of the north face of the building. The stairs leading to the top of the minaret were built with headstones from cemeteries of ancient Roman cities. It is estimated that this is the oldest minaret in the world.

Chand Baori is a building that tourists can not miss visiting during their trip to India . Located in the city of Abhaneri near Jaipur in Rajasthan, this building dating from the 11th century is not the only one ever built in India, but it is one of the deepest and broadest in the country.

Chand Baori baoris is one of the first (or bâolis) that were built throughout the history of Rajasthan. This is not only a monument to the amazing architecture, but also a building that was designed to solve the problem of water shortage in the region.

In this land of Rajasthan where the rains seem to be a gift from the Hindu Gods, these men have dug deep wells to ensure a supply of water for long periods of drought.

As can be seen, baoris have a form of inverted cone and along the walls of many terraces were built, all united by staircases.

In reality, Chand Baori is composed of 13 levels, of about 3500 stairs and has a depth of thirty meters. On one side we will discover the ceremonial temples which show that these wells were constructed both for practical reasons than religious.

According to legend, Chand Baori was built in one night and he is so deep that nobody could get a coin that will fall to the bottom.

Travelers can discover other degrees as well at the beautiful Rani ki Wav Patan (Gujarat) from the same time that Chand Baori, the Raniji ki Baori Bundi (the city where Rudyard Kipling wrote his novel The Book of the jungle), also located in the State of Rajasthan.

Raniji ki Baori was built during the reign of Queen Nthavati Ji. With a depth of 46 meters its pillars are adorned with beautiful sculptures and has a place of worship to each of its floors.

La Tour Hassan is an unfinished minaret of a mosque in Rabat, the capital of Morocco . This tower is one of the most representative symbols of the city, as much by its height for what it represents.

Indeed, the Hassan Tower is the minaret of what was to be the largest mosque in the world. The construction of this monument began in 1196 and would also be the largest minaret in the world.

But in 1199 the sultan Yacoub al-Mansour, the Almohad dynasty, died and the construction of the mosque stopped, leaving the tower and some walls of the mosque that would degrade over time.

Hassan Tower has a height of 44 meters and can be seen from different places in Rabat. With its original architecture of the minaret would reach a height of 86 meters.

Near the minaret can discover the remains of the unfinished mosque with its ruined walls and close to 200 columns which were to support the roof of the building. But these columns were nearly all destroyed in the earthquake of 1755.

Hassan Tower is constructed with a red stone that gives it its characteristic style palaces and religious buildings of Morocco. Inside you will not find the stairs typical minarets but ramps to allow the muezzin to reach the summit on horseback to the call to prayer.

With its four facades carved in stone, each with a different ornamentation, the Hassan Tower resembles the minaret of the Koutoubia in Marrakech , or the Giralda in Seville, Spain .

Accommodation in Rabat

To better enjoy your stay in Rabat to the discovery of this monument, why not stay in luxurious hotel close to real places, La Tour Hassan.

Hassan Tower and a luxury hotel located near the minaret, the heart of the capital. This hotel built in 1914 in the Moorish style charm you with its architecture, comfort and taste of food served in restaurants.

The hotel has 140 rooms including 4 suites Consul, Ambassador 10 suites, 3 suites, 4 suites st Vizier Grand Vizier, appropriate names for a facility worthy of a palace of a thousand and one night.

La Tour Hassan also has a fitness center, outdoor pool, sauna, fitness center, a children’s pool and a full service spa.

Unlike many luxury hotels in France, breakfast is included in the room price, a price that is still very affordable as rates start at € 147 a night.

We’re paying more for fewer flights, but we’re better entertained on them. Seatback in-flight entertainment systems with live TV, pioneered by JetBlue in 1999 and Delta Song in 2003, have become the norm on several airlines.

We’re able to get online in the air now, too. The first true in-flight Internet service, Boeing’s Connexion, lost all its U.S. airline support after the 9/11 attacks. But by 2008, Gogo Inflight began to appear on American and Delta planes; now AirTran, Continental, Alaska Airlines, and US Airways offer Gogo Internet, as well.

We’re stuck on the ground for less time, thanks to new rules forbidding long tarmac delays that took effect in 2009. And if we’re bumped, the mandatory compensation also went up in 2009.

That tarmac delay rule has changed how airlines cancel flights, as well. They now typically cancel flights further in advance rather than waiting for the last minute, as they did during the horrible summer of 1999 when thousands of people were trapped in airports and on sweltering planes.

That’s controversial; some airline experts argue it means more flights get cancelled because of weather than there used to be. But I think it’s been a good thing overall, as people aren’t as frequently stuck in the airport or on planes waiting to take off.

Now What?

We may be safer and better protected, but we aren’t happier. The University of Michigan’s American Consumer Satsifaction Index has been tracking Americans’ opinions of airlines since 1995, and the industry as a whole has held steady in the mid-60s for the past ten years. Looking at individual airlines, the majors take big dips the year after they merge (because mergers are an awful mess) but the only standout is Southwest, whose score of 81 is much higher than other major airlines.

The culprit, I’d say, is the overwhelming sense of dehumanization that’s come over air travel in the past ten years. Maybe the TSA is more efficient than the old security system, but it turns travelers into objects to be virtually and literally strip-searched. On board, planes are more crowded, seats are often smaller, flight attendants crabby, and little amenities have been taken away. And when we add up all the fees, we aren’t paying less for this than we did in the late ’90s, either.

We’ve spent the past ten years in airports staring back at 9/11, figuring out what we could do not to repeat it. How about we spend the next decade figuring out how to balance safety with making flying feel more human again.

Ten years after 9/11, it’s both harder and safer to fly. We have fewer airline and flight choices, we pay less for tickets but more in fees, and airport security can be really, really annoying. But airport security is a lot more professional than it used to be, and it’s possible to surf the Internet on planes.

Is that a better experience? Before you anoint flying in 2011 the “worst year ever,” remember the epic delays of the summer of 1999 when thousands of people were stuck in airports for days. And remember that back before 2001, airport security was widely considered a farce — there just wasn’t one big agency for people to target. Planes are crowded and security lines are miserable nowadays, but it isn’t all bad.

Hate The TSA? You Have A Short Memory

Shortly after 9/11, there were three big changes in airline security: pilots got guns, cockpit doors were locked and reinforced, and the TSA replaced the private contractors running airport security around the country. A few years later, airports finally started screening all checked baggage for explosives (something which had been demanded since the Lockerbie bombing in 1988).

The TSA has come under a lot of criticism for being reactive, less efficient than foreign airport security systems, and for being “security theater.” TSA officers occasionally do epically stupid things like patting down babies and disconnecting people’s urostomy bags. But you have to remember how abysmally bad our airport security system was before the TSA came about.

In 2001, airport security paid less than the starting salaries at airport fast-food restaurants. In 1987, security screeners allowed 20% of dangerous objects to pass through checkpoints, and their performance had actually gotten worse by 2001, General Accounting Office official Gerald Dillingham said then.

Argenbright Security, which ran screening operations at 46 of the nation’s busiest airports in 2001, had been convicted in federal court of hiring felons as security screeners; that year, the DOT found it still employed 37 people with outstanding arrest warrants. According to the TSA, federalizing airport security has lowered worker turnover from 125% per year to 6.4%.

While the TSA professionalized things, it also created somewhat-humiliating and time-consuming new procedures following the discovery of new threats. One failed shoe-bomber in late 2001 means that ten years later, we all still have to walk barefoot through security. A failed plot in 2006 involving liquid explosives now means we all have to throw out our water bottles, and has led to absurd, Talmudic discursions on what constitutes a “gel.” And a failed “underwear bombing” plot in 2009 led to the new “nude-o-scan” machines, scanners which try to see under peoples’ clothes.

Does any of this make us safer? Maybe, maybe not. It’s definitely worth debating the line between security, comfort and privacy. But it’s certainly not worse than the incompetent, corrupt airport security regime we had before the TSA came into being.

There are a few hopeful signs out there right now. The TSA seems to be coming to its senses on screening children, and is running a pilot program by which frequent travelers can zip more easily through security. The public definitely has to keep up the scrutiny and pressure, but that’s another advantage of security being run by the government: the public can keep up pressure in a way it couldn’t when security was run by anonymous, lowball-bidding rent-a-goons.

Fewer Choices, Higher Prices

September 11 led to a sharp, brief drop in air travel, followed by a federal bailout of the major airlines. But it had one much bigger long-term effect on airfares. The war in Iraq, among other things, led to dramatically higher fuel prices.

Major airlines were already merging before 9/11; American bought TWA in January 2001, shutting down TWA’s independent operations by the end of that year. But since 2003 when the U.S. invaded Iraq, oil prices have been much higher than previously; according to InflationData.com, oil prices averaged $65.94/barrel between 2004-2010, more than double 2001′s price of $29.23.

So we’ve watched airlines merge and fees grow by leaps and bounds. US Airways and America West combined, then Delta and Northwest, United and Continental, and finally Southwest and AirTran. In 2008, many airlines started charging for all checked bags. Free food in coach class finally ended in 2010 when Continental, the last holdout, gave up. Now, even major airlines like American are starting to charge extra for aisle and window seats.

Airlines are slashing routes, too. While flights at some hub airports such as JFK and Atlanta are up over the past ten years, many mid-sized cities such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and St. Louis have seen major declines in flights. Delta announced this year that it’s cutting off service entirely to 24 smaller airports.

Whether you’re headed off to the beach, into the mountains or over to the big city, let our handy cheat sheet help you pack for any weekend getaway.

By the Sea

Soaking up a little mood-boosting sunshine and going for long walks along the shore? Bring these essentials.

Canvas tote. A sturdy bag can hold magazines, snacks, sunscreen and a towel. Post-trip, repurpose your beach bag into a chic shopper for trips to the farmers market.

Strappy sandals. These haute soles are great for the beach, boardwalk and the bars. An embellished, metallic pair easily goes from day-to-night.

Sun-shielding hat. Channel bathing beauties of yore and save your skin from the sun with a wide-brimmed hat. Colored hair will benefit from this coverage too.

Swimsuit. Invest in a swimsuit that’s well-made and will last longer than one season. Look for tight stitching and sturdy material (it should contain at least 15 percent spandex). If you have a larger chest, thick straps will offer you the most support and comfort. Seek out bikini tops sized like bras and feature molded cups for better support. Smaller women can try halter and bandeau tops.

Oversized dress. Get an easy-breezy look with a flowy caftan or maxi-dress you can throw on over your suit for dinner on the deck. Bring a simple solid (think classic navy, tan-enhancing taupe or deep rose pink) in lightweight jersey. Then, pick one in ethnic prints and breezy cottons at the beachside shops.

Into the Woods

Nothing like fresh, clean air and the serenity of the forest to recharge your mind and reinvigorate your senses. Be prepared, so roughing it won’t be rough at all.

Backpack. This grade school essential is back in style; utilitarian-cool backpacks have been all over the runways. Choose one that will hold your necessities but is of a manageable size so you can use it when you get back to civilization. Look for water-resistant, coated nylon fabrics in unexpected neutrals, like burgundy and deep green.

Long-sleeve shirt. The foot of the mountain may be hot, but the peak can be surprisingly chilly. Pack a light long-sleeved waffle tee for layering so you’re comfortable at any altitude.

Water bottle. A stainless steel water bottle will not only help the environment, it will also help your wallet. Choose one in your favorite color and up your hydration quotient every day to stay healthy and keep your skin smooth.

Digital watch. Keep track of when the sun goes down with a sporty chic watch that’s as functional as it is fashionable. Pick a timepiece with a compass feature to keep you on the right path.

Sunscreen. The sun is still strong, even in the shade. Reapply a broad-spectrum sunblock every few hours. A sweat-resistant formula won’t clog pores as you traverse the trails.

Hot in the City

Big cities glitter even more when the sun is shining. Explore new shops and museums on this urban adventure that’ll leave you fully inspired.

Jeans. These days, you can get away with wearing nice jeans in places where you never could before, like fancy restaurants and cocktail parties. Trouser styles in deep washes are always acceptable, or opt for a slim-fitting straight-leg style. Lightweight denim will be more comfortable in the city heat.

LBD. A little black dress always looks chic. Belt it for an afternoon of shopping, and add sky-high heels and statement jewelry at night. Cottons are cool, jersey dresses are easy to pack, and wrap styles are universally flattering.

Lightweight wrap. Bright cottons and summer-weight cashmere wraps add oomph to any outfit and protect your shoulders from arctic air-conditioning.

Go-everywhere handbag. A sleek, midsize bag can easily go from day to night. Make sure it’s lightweight and has a thick strap for all-day carrying comfort. Look for one that closes well and has an outside pocket so you can easily reach for your phone, camera and map.

Oversized glasses. While city dwellers seem to be decked in head-to-toe designer duds, a pair of upscale shades will give instant cred to your look at a fraction of the cost. Try an ultra-glam Jackie O style.