We have clouds. It is in the mid-50’s. The air has a chill about it, the way fall mornings do. We have a wind from the north, 20 to 35 mph. Everything is blowing, even the tallest branches on the backyard oak trees. So many trees are bare now and more will drop their leaves in today’s wind. Winter is on the doorstep.

When I travel, I try not to have too many expectations. I have learned that serendipity is around the next corner. When I was in Marrakesh, I walked through the souks, some days taking lefts and other days rights. One day a small boy asked me if I wanted to eat. I said yes. He led me through a furniture and rug store to the back where there was a restaurant. It was open to a garden filled with flowers. The floor and building around the garden were white. It was a lovely stop. I had Moroccan food which always included a dish of chopped tomatoes to scoop with bread. I had an amazing meal. It was so unexpected behind a furniture store. Also in Marrakesh, I was wandering through the Mellah, the Jewish quarter, when a man stopped and asked if I wanted to see the synagogue, the Lazama Synagogue. When I got there, a caretaker unlocked the door so I could walk inside. I was so thankful I had said yes to the man who found me wandering.

I have eaten food which had no pedigree, meaning I didn’t know what I was eating. Sometimes I had to point at pictures that looked good. Potatoes were easy to recognize, not so much the meat. I just took a chance. I did eat reindeer in Finland and Guinea pig in Ecuador. In Iceland I ate Icelandic game. I did recognize some sort of fowl but the rest was unknown. I just ate. It was delicious. In Ghana, during my live-in with a Ghanaian family, I was served meat in a sort of stew into which I dipped a gelatinous mixture using my hands, no utensils provided. The meat was fatty and bony. It tasted fine, but I was curious as to the sort of meat. Come to find out, it was goat. T-zed, tuo zaffi, the most commonly eaten food in the far north where I was staying, was the gelatinous mixture. I was not a big fan though I did eat it often. It was because I loved all the stews served with it.

I plan a broad outline before I travel to places I have never been before, but those plans tend to be fluid. I leave plenty of room for the unexpected, for serendipity. That adds richness to my travels. It expands my palate. It fills my memory drawers. It is the best part of traveling.

This entry was posted on October 20, 2026 at 12:36 pm and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.