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Africa » Morocco » Marrakech-Tensift-El Haouz » Marrakech
February 17th 2010
Published: February 17th 2010
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At 20 to 5 Tuesday morning we were up and ready to head out to the bus terminal for our 5am bus trip to Barcelona. While I’ve grown somewhat accustomed to these 5am bus trips, this one was particularly uncomfortable. A bit after 8 we were at El Prat and by 8:30 all checked in and ready for our 11:00am flight to Marrakesh. The weather was looking very dreary and rainy, and the forecast for Marrakesh predicted rain every single day - perfect. Nonetheless after some breakfast and reading at the airport we were on our way.

The Vueling flight was painless, though a bit on the warm side. We arrived just a bit early and had no issue with customs or getting Chris’ luggage. Once in the waiting area we saw our hotel’s driver, Mustafa, with a little card with my name on it. I’ve always wanted to be one of those important-seeming people, lol. Walking outside we could see that while it had definitely rained the weather was warm with clear blue skies. A 15-minute ride later we were at our Riad in the Medina.

During the ride it occurred to me how much I’d forgotten how different Morocco really was in many respects and how very “un-Western” the whole marketplace atmosphere can seem -men walking around with handfuls of dead rabbits, chickens, and even a turkey; seemingly lawless traffic with motorcycles, donkey wagons, and cars zipping around in every possible direction on the dirt roads. For the first day I was entirely overwhelmed, but by day two I was used to it.

Our Riad is located slightly off the beaten path, but within the Medina and walking distance to all the sites in Marrakesh. Like most Islamic structures, the beauty of the Riad is all within - from the outside its just a door in a clay wall, but once you walk it you see the beautiful 2-level courtyard with tropical plants, a fountain, and seating. In addition to the five or so guest rooms there is the kitchen, living room, dining room, and a beautiful rooftop terrace. Given how little we are paying it is truly spectacular.

Once settled we headed out into the tiny, narrow and winding streets of the city. Practically the entire Medina is a marketplace selling clothing, meats, pottery, jewelery, shoes…whatever you can think of. The aggressiveness of the shopkeepers is somewhat annoying…well, very annoying, but if you give a strong enough “no” in whatever language or just ignore them you can pass through without problem.

The first stops on our list was the Museum of Marrakesh, a 19th century former palace now housing both modern and traditional art. While the interior art wasn’t anything spectacular, the building structure was absolutely gorgeous. Next door we headed to the Medersa Ben Youssef, a 15th century Koranic school once housing some 900 students of Islam. It is incredible how walking through a rather non-descript doorway can transport you to an entirely different world with incredibly ornate architecture and décor. The last step during this three part package was the Koubba Ba’Adiyn, Mararkesh’s only remaining structure from the Almoravid dynasty that ruled Morocco before the Almohads eradicated most of what they had built when they assumed power. The 12th century structure is unimposing but displays the Hispano-Moorish architecture typical of Southern Spain.

We next continued exploring the Medina, finally finding our way to Djemaa El Fna, Marrakesh’s sprawling central marketplace. Starving, we stopped for a late lunch of a beef tajine with prunes and onions as well as a chicken and vegetable couscous. Delicious. We felt like we had been walking around for hours and hours but really it was only around 5pm when we finished. A nap back at the Riad was definitely in order.

Once thorugh with our nap we ventured back into Djemaa El Fna, first being taken around the Souks (shops) by a vendor who just didn’t seem to get the hint as he showed us jewelery, shoes, tea pots, and spices. We finally gave in with the spices and bought some Moroccan curry as well as some Berber Whiskey, which is actually a blend of green and mint tea used to brew the absolutely incredible Moroccan mint tea.

Back in the marketplace I began to see why people considered the place somewhat magical. The smoke from the food stalls combined with the yellowness of the lights reflecting off the buildings was really a sight to be seen. There were men playing traditional Moroccan instruments, others with monkeys they wanted tourist to take pictures with, and storytellers attracting crowds of Arabic and non-Arabic speakers.

I couldn’t resist a bowl of snails for 10Dirhams (about one Euro) so we had a seat while Christopher watched me eat. Christopher wanted something on a skewer but we were so put off by the food vendors yelling at us to come to their various stalls we settled for something sweet and delicious on the edge of the stalls. For less than a Euro each we had an incredible fresh brewed tea with cardamom and other spices. This tea was sweet but also legitimately spicey - it was an incredible mix of flavors. To accompany this we had…I don’t even know how to describe it - basically they were clumps of a sweet, somewhat chocolate-y and grainy substance scraped off what looked kind of like a giant pile of dung. I’m really sorry I can’t make it sound appetizing, haha, but it was really tasty!

Once satisfied we continued on our way back through the marketplace and eventually back to our Riad where we enjoyed some mint tea and cookies before reading for a bit and calling it a night.



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17th February 2010

So why don't you just give in and buy me some jewelry already???!!!
18th February 2010

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh M'agradaria tant poser anar a visitar la ciutat!!! mai he anat!!!! boniques fotos!!!! jo aci en la neu... el fred... i lios de departament!!!! que enveja!!!! :)
18th February 2010

Easter Dollar Game
Maybe a cheap trinket or two would make the Easter dollar game more interesting....but definitely no snails!

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