Blogs from Marrakech, Marrakech-Tensift-El Haouz, Morocco, Africa - page 2

We settled into a routine most mornings and caught the shuttle bus into the city. The first day in the city was a bit of a culture shock, but we knew now to avoid any contacts with the touts who waited near the bus stop at Freedom Square. Avoid eye contact and look purposeful. It was a steady walk up towards the main mosque and the huge Jemaa El Fnaa Square. The Hotel de Ville or Town Hall is on your left. We always booked the return at 12:30, which gave us enough time and allowed us to return before the suns rays caused the temperature to climb. In the earlier hours, there were much less people on the street and thus less hassle. The locals and indeed many tourists, were wrapped up in a variety ... read more

How to grow old? I am reading a book of the same name, lounging on a Arabic sunbed in a resort on the outskirts of Marrakech. It is a long way from from my usual holiday haunts. The delights of wandering round an Eastern European city in pursuit of lower league football will not be savoured this week. The end results are often a pleasant surprise, as much to myself as anybody else. The Other Half waxes lyrical about her trip to Lviv in Ukraine, even though she had to endure 2 appalling football games of tedium. I am the first to admit they were not the best, but she fortunately saw the compensations in a world of cafes, cakes shops and temperatures in the Indian summer category. My last solo jaunt with the Man in ... read more

Three days in Marrakesch. The blog has been all over the place, I know. Tangier to Algeciras made sure of that. I'm doubling back to Marrakesch because it wasn't given full cover, apart from our lovely riad..... Our guest mansion (Riad Tizwa) was perfectly located. Selecting accommodation online isn’t the easiest thing to do, there are so many options available all glowingly described. It takes plenty fact-checking plus imagining what the facts could translate to in reality. I looked for a place where we could walk at will to some of the city’s major attractions, getting there without taxis or transport, free to move when and where we wanted. Tizwa was that. The #1 attraction in Marrakesch is the thousand year old Medina, a UNESCO World Heritage site. madīnah al-qadīmah "the old city" lies within high ... read more

Breakfast for one today. Lee is not terrific and decided to stay in bed. Without sounding too heartless breakfast was still very good. I could just about live on the fresh juices and mint drinks here. Apart from that cucumber concoction I mentioned yesterday I have not tasted one that is t delightful. Even now I’m by the retreat pool sipping a lime/lemon/mint and soda drink that is very refreshing and most welcome. At Jemaa el-Fna I had one of the mixed fruit drinks that are spruiked everywhere and again it was delicious, quite filling but very nice. Despite thinking I could live on juice I still managed muesli, yogurt (very good here), fruit, cheese, smoked salmon and a couple of pastries. Thinking that was enough to fortify me for the market I set out for ... read more

Another Moroccan breakfast. Some bizarre juice, pink and a slight grapefruit flavour and no sign of the pomegranate that we bought and asked for breakfast but some olives (?), jams, goat cheese (very nice and very light), honey, yoghurt and some fairly good pastries make a more than adequate substitute. It was on the sun balcony as usual and Rabat showed us another cloudless, blue sky morning with the little breeze we have become accustomed to. A leisurely pace still saw at the station with plenty of time to spare so Lee managed one of glorious fruit cocktail drinks she has had her eye on for a while. I think she’ll line up for an avocado based one soon but it may have been a bit heavy so soon after breakfast and so soon before our ... read more