Prince Turnip

One great thing about Morocco is that it has such a long coastline (mostly on the Atlantic and a little on the Mediterranean, for you geography flunkies.)  Along said coastline are various cities and towns, some being real gems.  One gem is a village in the south called Mirleft.  'Mir' comes from emir, meaning prince, and left means turnip.  Now, I'm not sure if a turnip prince ever existed in the area, but I'm pretty sure there isn't one now because Mirleft does not evoke images of royalty, nor does it boast a very good vegetable market.  But, what it does boast is a pristine beach and dramatic ocean views.
     A couple of years ago the husband and I were looking for a weekend getaway destination and we had a British owned bed and breakfast in Mirleft recommended to us.  Little did we know that the B and B would become an annual pilgrimage site for us, but this year is the third year we've stayed there and this time we brought my mom.  It is, for us anyway, the star of Mirleft.
        Sally's, named after the owner, is a yellow villa that sits atop a cliff overlooking the town's main beach.  It has a beautiful living room with a large terrace on the first floor, and a large deck on the roof, all with ocean views.  This was the first time we stayed in the second floor suite, and we can't figure out why we didn't do it before.  The suite has a large sitting room with attached kitchen and breakfast bar, a small bathroom, a bedroom with fireplace and two windows overlooking the ocean, and a large private terrace with grill and ocean views all around.  When I say ocean views I mean pure, unobstructed ocean views that make you think you're on a cruise ship as opposed to dry land.  Here is the view from the bedroom window:

 

      Naturally, with views like this our desire to leave our room was next to nil.  When it came time for us to get food I felt annoyance rather than my usual pleasure at the thought of going out to eat.  This is partly due to the lackluster dining options that Mirleft has to offer (last year there was a great Italian restaurant owned by real Italians, but they'd since packed up and moved on,) but it was largely due to the fact that we had the best views in town.  Luckily, the husband was kind enough to go scrounge something up and bring it back to me and my mom.  Breakfasts were one of the best times of the day because two lovely Moroccan ladies brought a full spread of breakfast delights to our terrace.

Breakfast on the terrace

        In addition to the fantastic views, Sally's has cozy decor.  The rooms and public areas are an eclectic mix of Moroccan and British, with a naughty horse cartoon in every room.  Our room had a nautical feel with navy and white striped curtains and navy accent walls.  My mom's room was done up in a surprisingly tasteful combination of red, blue, and yellow.    

      The place is fairly big for a bed and breakfast.  There are two or three rooms with a glimpse of the ocean from the window (you have to stand just so), a first floor room with a great view of the ocean, our suite, and the room where my mom stayed which had no ocean view at all but was conveniently located on the same floor as our suite. 
       When we were there there were also a couple of British women and their kids.  The permanent residents are the owner, her small dog Moogy, and her blue macaw named Bella.  We'd met Moogy the previous times, but this was the first time we met Bella.  She has a large walk-in cage on the second floor, but spends the night in the owner's room.  Sally told us that Bella gets in her bed and lies on her back so Sally can pet her yellow tummy.  We got a chance to pet her and she is truly an affectionate bird.

Bella was more interested in showing off her smooth moves than her feathers.

     We had planned on staying just one night but ended up staying two.  Had it not been for the husband's work and the cost of the suite, about $125 a night, we would've stayed much longer.  My mom was trying to figure out how long she could live there if she retired and I was calculating how much it would cost a month if we stayed there every weekend.  Needless to say, we'll be back!