Michael Toler This post has no purpose other than showing pretty pictures. The first, thanks to a visit to the Legation garden by Europa Nostra. Europa Nostra is a Netherlands – based group dedicated to the preservation of historic buildings. As you can see in the background, we have plenty of restoration work to do at our … Read more Cherry Blossoms and Clivia, Washington and Tangier
Have I become accustomed to living in historic landmarks? En route to a week in Washington for meetings, I have decided to set up shop at DACOR Bacon House, one of Foggy Bottom's few remaining historic homes, now the home of DACOR, which organizes a lively calendar of activities for foreign affairs professionals. I've stayed … Read more Open for Business, In Tangier and Washington
People often ask "what is a legation?" So I provide the above photo of a page from a dictionary that was published when countries still had legations. And ministers, the people (well, at the time, the men) who headed them. Wikipedia has a limited or stub page on legations. In Tangier, the American Legation and … Read more Le-ga’tion, Defined
Okay, folks, I think we have solved the mystery of the American flag carpet, or at least placed it in time. First, the link to our plea to readers for photo interpretation of this picture: Now, analysis provided by Mark Smith, architect and former Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco (and former resident of the American … Read more History Detected, Flag Restored
Engineer and Commercial Director of the Moroccan government chartered company SAPT Hassan Mzerma opened Day Two of the 2011 April Seminar, with the focus on the SAPT project of the conversion of Tangier's city port. We thank SAPT chief Abdelouafi Laftit and Mr. Mzerma, probably two of the busiest people in Morocco, for their valuable … Read more Tangier’s New Port: Let the Water Flow
Note: Marking its 10th edition in 2011, TALIM’s April Seminars have attracted audiences from Tangier, the rest of Morocco, and beyond. This year, with the theme of Tangier’s Ports: Circles of Impact, we piggybacked on the US Trade Mission which participated in the Med-Log (logistics, with a focus on foreign investment) Conference. – – – … Read more Live Blogging The 2011 TALIM April Seminar
A very interesting meeting took place last week in Paris between Moroccan and French industry groups. MEDEF, the French employers association, welcomed its Moroccan counterpart CGEM for a round table under the rubric of "Reforms and Growth: Where Does Morocco Stand?" Six Moroccan ministers attented. But what was especially interesting for readers in Tangier was … Read more Your Choice: Electricity, Food, or Shelter
WeatherOnline gives a great description of Tangier's crazy wind called the chergui. Crazy, in that it blows in over the waters of the Strait of Gibraltar, laden with desert sand. Figure that one out. Crazy, in that sometimes, like yesterday, it blew low towards the west, while up above the wind from the Atlantic Ocean … Read more Blame It On the Chergui
Wildlife in the medina of Tangier Actually, the French Consulate General isn't in the medina any longer (the old French Legation was in a historic building – Dar al Niyaba – that once housed the Sultan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the International Zone era). Now it's at the center of the modern city, la … Read more Legation Lions & Les Oies du Consulat
For years, it has been hanging in the courtyard of the American Legation in Tangier. The red, white, and blue are now faded, dirty. Poor Old Glory. The courtyard is, after all, subject to the desert dust of the chergui as the Moroccans call the East wind off the Sahara. When it's the Atlantic wind, … Read more Moroccan-American Relations: Photo Interpretation, Please
