Once we had all made it back onto our coach (not couch!), Samir, our inimitable guide said, in a low voice with a fake French accent, "Come weeth me to zee Casbah." Almost everyone on the bus was familiar with that line from the 1937 movie, Algiers. What we didn't realize, at the time, was that we would either be rocking the casbah or it would be rocking us!
A casbah is a citadel or fortification originally for protection against invaders. Its entrances are generally small. It is in the oldest section of the city and is comprised of a rabbit warren of small, narrow streets and two- or three-story buildings. The narrow streets and multi-story buildings provide a degree of protection from the direct sun in the heat of the day where temperatures can reach into the mid- to upper-forties.