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Published: August 6th 2007
Veiled Canucks!
Travelling Canucks go Nomad in Souks!Salam waylaykoom !
Marrakech is amazing! The sounds, smells and chaos abound and can be overwhelming, but addictive all the same!
Our Riad L' Orangeraie is a calm oasis where we retreat after bargaining in the souks and visiting the Islamic sights of the city. We have enjoyed wonderful cuisine, both Moroccan and French influenced at our riad and at Villa Flore, a riad owned by a couple from Paris. We are not so brave as to sample sheeps head, pigeon and other such delicacies cooked in the food stalls!
Snake charmers, storytellers, acrobats, musicians and dancers fill the Djemaa el Fna Square, which also has orange juice stalls, Berber water sellers, and food stalls that move into the square in the late afternoon. The Square is an incredible experience throughout the night and early morning hours.
Inclandestine photography is the key, otherwise it costs you! While Papa Canuck tried his best, the snake handlers caught him in the act and the rest is history! Did I mention that Papa Canuck fears snakes? No matter, he survived!
The Koutoubia Mosque and other mosques in our neighbourhood call to prayer the Muslims that live in the Medina
Snake Charmers Get the Best of Us!
In a shocking twist, Papa Canuck drops ties for snakes! and wake us up every morning at 5am followed by the sounds of birds that crow, chirp and coo at sunrise. Unfortunately, conversion is a requirement before we can enter the mosques that dot the medina, so we only can see the doors to mosques and hear the call to prayer 5 times a day!
Our first day was spent with our guide, Youssef, who toured us around the medina for a half day and showed us a communal bakery, artisan souks where we watched dyers, weavers, embroiderers, tailors, metal and woodworkers, leather workers making slippers, a fondouk, which are ancient camel caravan hotels where trade took place, the spectacular Ben Youssef Medersa with its stucco, zellij tilework and carved cedarwood, the Almosravid koubba, which dates back to the original city, including a water cistern and city fountain. The rest of the day was spent trying to retrace our steps around the souks and experiencing the wonderful sights and surprises around every corner.
On our second day, Marrakech was warm and sunny so we headed off to Yves Saint Laurent's Jardins Majorelle, which offered shade and a feast for the eyes, after walking around the medina in the
morning! Gorgeous gardens and spectacular cacti were enjoyed although the taxi ride from the cafe in the Nouvelle Ville, where we enjoyed lunch, to the gardens was something else!
Next, we take the train to Fez to visit the first Imperial city of Morocco. It is sure to be a further step back in time as Fez is considered to be a more traditional Arabic city than Marrakech.
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