Marrakech, Morocco May 19-22, 2016

Marrakech, Morocco

 my birthday adventure!

Population: 1,063,415 (2014)

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Marrakech - Marrakesh - مراكش - Meṛṛakec - Murrākuš  

So many ways to write its name just as there are so many different sides to this vibrant city founded in 1062! 

It was so incredible I don't know where to start! It was our first time to set foot on the continent of Africa. I had this idea in my head of what it would be like and it certainly lived up to my expectations. Prepare yourself because we took nearly 1500 pictures on this trip to Marrakech and Madrid, so it was so hard to narrow it down, there were so many great memories!

We arrived and felt the heat hit us as we walked off the plane and across the tarmac towards the terminal. The excitement hit me immediately and it was a pleasant surprise when everything went smoothly - the hotel driver was there waiting for us and he pointed out the sites on our way to our riad (hotel). He drove us as far as he could before the streets narrowed too much for a car to pass and that is where Nicolas met us with another man who took our luggage in a cart and they walked us through the maze to the riad.

Walls of the city

A riad, for those of you who have never heard of this (I hadn't before talking with my friend Stephanie a couple of years ago after she visited Marrakech), is a traditional Moroccan house or palace with an interior garden or courtyard. Our riad was called Riad Camilia located in the medina (densely packed, walled medieval city dating back to the Berber Empire). Our riad was located just a couple minutes walk to the souks (marketplaces) where we were like rats in a maze of the narrow, crowded streets with people selling traditional textiles, pottery, jewelry, lamps, leather goods, etc. We were also only about 10 minutes from the famous Djemaa el-Fna (a square where snake charmers, musicians, monkey handlers and food stands come alive - especially at night).

Riad Camilia was amazing! It truly lived up to my expectations and was an oasis from the chaos of the city. It was heavenly, truly it was and I am SO happy to have been able to experience this unique type of hotel. Nicolas, the Manager there, was outstanding! THE best customer service I have ever experienced.One unique thing you experience in a Muslim country is the call to prayer and our riad seemed to be SUPER close to the loud speaker... the 5 am call to prayer felt like the guy was right in our room, followed by the rooster doing his thing!

The fabulous Nicolas at the Riad

I don't know how to describe it, other than to show you many pictures and to say that it was so tranquil with many corridors and staircases leading to different areas of the very large boutique hotel. I loved all the nooks and crannies, places to relax, curl up and read a book, sip on mint tea or whatever brings you peace. Worth a thousand words as they say.....

Our room - #6 - at the top of a narrow staircase

The only thing I was not at first comfortable with is the door to our room. As you can see, there is just a slide "lock". One on the inside for when we are in the room and one on the outside, which really serves no purpose other than to look nice. So what that meant is we had no key of any kind for this door (nor did anyone else for theirs - only 6 rooms in this riad) and when we were not in the room it was completely accessible to anyone within the riad. I quickly got over the idea of the room not being "secure". There was no key to enter the riad either... we rang a buzzer and someone would come to the door to let us in. At least we didn't have to be concerned about losing a key!

one reading nook

View of the "dining room" from the rooftop patio

Another view of the dining room area used when weather is bad and you cannot eat outside on the rooftop.

One of the amazing doorways in the dining room.

Hats, blankets, towels and magazines provided for the patio

Lounge area

The colours of Marrakech

This is the "front desk" area which flows into courtyard

Ahhh... it brings me joy just looking at the pictures of this riad. Love it!

 

View of courtyard at night from the rooftop patio

Rooftop patio area where we ate breakfast and one dinner.

 

Can't get enough of these doorways...can I make these in my home in Canada?? lol

Ok, this looks kinda scary, but really it's not...it's the little passageway to our riad believe it or not!

Again, looks scary, it's the doorway of the riad. NEVER would find it if they hadn't walked us to the door that first day!

This one's for you Aunt Judy.... the little kitty cats who greeted us every time we left the riad.

 Ok, enough pictures of the riad, but seriously, it is the most interesting place we have ever stayed at!

Nut seller - love how they stand in the middle of it - quite practical!

The colourful market area

This was the sandal shop I TRIED to buy some sandals at, but when Craig said they were too tight the seller got mad at us and basically dismissed us, so we walked out... this shot was taken while he was off trying to find my size somewhere nearby.

One of the MANY areas where they sell these lamps that we eventually did buy!

Lamp shop... it IS as tiny as it looks.

Market area at night

Love this shot of the olive guy

Many Southern African people selling their wares on the street and the poor monkeys being used to get money from tourists. Another unpleasant thing we witnessed while in Marrakech was a mother beating on her young son (about 6 years old)... she was slapping him on his face and he was cowering away from her. Very sad to see.

A strange carnival game of the ring and the bottle played in the Jemaa El Fnaa square.When Craig took this picture, a man approached him and wanted money for taking the picture (any way to make a buck I suppose), but Craig refused and said "look, I'm deleting it"... obviously he didn't!

View of the spice market square from Nomad (restaurant) roof top patio

Same square as above

Spices are sold everywhere, love the stands, so colourful!

If I knew what to do with these tassels I would have bought some, they were so nice!

Amazing, traditional babouches leather slippers of Marrakech (internet photo)

Not sure what some of these things are, but it's cool! lol

Chickens on a moped... sadly some of them were still, sort of, kind of, alive, but I have a feeling they weren't for long. All part of the experience, but it still makes me sad seeing this kind of thing and how hard the poor donkeys and horses work in the heat.

Goat head anyone?

The Ben Youssef Madrasa (Medersa) founded in the 14th century (and apparently rebuilt by Canadians in the 16th century) was an Islamic college in Marrakech. It was closed down as a school in 1960 and was refurbished and then reopened as a historical site in 1982. As required by Islam, the carvings within the school do not have anything representing a human or animal form and instead consist entirely of inscriptions and geometric patterns.

Amazing detail! (and amazing husband!)

Love this shaped doorway...I want a house in Canada with Moroccan architecture and design!

More gorgeous doorways!

The detail really is incredible.

Peek-a-boo shot

We believe these were small bedrooms off this courtyard

After we visited the school we nearly fell for a very typical tourist trap in Marrakech...this guy says something about the tannery having a special festival and that it was the last day, they would be closing and that we MUST see it and oh, "look, you're lucky, there's someone going there now, he can lead you there"! We started walking with him, but then Craig's spidy-senses tingled and he said "no thank you" to our "guide" and walked away. When we were back in the riad we asked Nicolas about this and he said, yes, it is a scam. Yes, they will lead you to the tannery - which is a bit far away - and you will be so lost, you will have to pay someone to find your way back. They also pressure you to buy products at the tannery or to pay a person for showing you around. Nicolas says that it is different in Marrakech than in Fez where they apparently now have a modern process for tanning the leather that is less toxic. In Marrakech, apparently they use such hard chemicals that the workers in the tannery rarely live past 40 years old because they work very hard and are submersed in these chemicals all day.
"Colorful leather goods are popular tourist souvenirs from traditional tanneries in Morocco. But workers must stand in toxic, chromium laden waters every day there to soften and dye the hides, and prolonged chrome exposure and lax disposal of waste tannery water can cause serious health and environmental problems. But as Amulya Shankar reports from Fez, modern tanning techniques can help mitigate these issues and maintain some of the old-world charm." (from living on earth Environmental News Magazine online)

Tannery in Fez

 
The Jardin Majorelle 
is a 12-acre botanical garden in Marrakech designed by the French artist Jacques Majorelle in the 1920's and 1930's. The bold cobalt blue colour used throughout the garden area is named after him - Majorelle blue. It's been open to the public since 1947. Since 1980, the garden has been owned by Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergé. After Yves died in 2008, his ashes were scattered in the garden and there is a memorial there to him. It's another beautiful escape from the chaos of the city.

Internet photo of the "Majorelle blue"

The way they pour mint tea in Morocco - this tea is so delicious!

Our little lunch at the garden cafe...so lovely despite the fact that I feel like I'm melting! lol

Nice little building within the gardens

dinner on the rooftop of Nomad restaurant. Here I'm enjoying my fresh orange, carrot, ginger juice

Say "cheese" Craig! You can see the contrast here of the beauty of the patio and market area, but the not-so-beautiful part surrounding us.

At the Kech Lamp shop we, after looking around for days, finally bought two lamps (at 10 pm)!

 

The 1st carpet store we went into didn't have the kind of rugs we were interested in. The 2nd large carpet shop we went to was WAY out of our price range and we knew this when his first price was 15,000 (which is about $2000 Cdn.) and he only came down to 8000. Once Craig told him our price, we were quickly escorted out of the shop!!! I kid you not! 

 We didn't have to search too long for our rugs though, thankfully. Here in the 3rd shop they are repairing a hole to our not-quite-new (I like to call it vintage) rug Craig expertly negotiated for. Negotiations started at 10,000 dirhams (1 Canadian dollar = 7.49 Moroccan dirhams), quickly got down to 2500 and finally they agreed on 1500, BUT, as all that was going on, I spotted another rug that was hanging high on the wall and thought it would be perfect for a wall hanging because it has little sparkly things on it! The guy had to climb up a staircase of rugs to get it as it was way up high. Craig absolutely LOVES when I find more stuff while he's negotiating! I believe the seller was giving a final price of 800, but all the cash Craig had left was 570, so for 2070 dirhams, we bought two rugs!

Our runner - love it - it's from an old Berber family - this rug design is no longer made

The rug we are going to hang...can you see the sparkly bits? They're lovely to look at, but walking on those sparkly things is another story! We had a carpet in our riad with these sparkles on it and they hurt to step on! This one is also from the same berber family - again, no longer made. Berber carpets are named for the traditional hand-woven carpets of the Berber people of North Africa.

 Palais Bahia
The Bahia Palace, built in the Alawi style is located in the medina of Marrakech along the Jewish quarter was completed in 1900. It covers nearly 8 hectares and was built by a father and son in two stages. The name means "brilliance" or "palace of the beautiful". It is said that it was built as a home for Ba Ahmed's official concubines. There are 160 different rooms. It is a gorgeous palace, again, a retreat from the chaos of the city.

I absolutely love the detail in the marble carvings and the tile work - gorgeous!

Lovely stained glass reflection on the floor

Your neck gets sore walking around these palaces because you have to look up so much to admire the incredible ceilings!

After the palace, we had a little difficulty finding the Saadian Tombs, but eventually got there after a little help and Craig's map reading skills!

The Saadian Tombs date back to the time of the Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur (1578 - 1603). They were discovered in 1917 and are now a major attraction in Marrakech. The mausoleum contains the remains of about 60 members of the Saadi Dynasty.

Looking up at the sign on the wall would have helped! lol

Meat on the street - lovely.

 From the internet - the room with the 12 columns - containing the most "important" remains.

 

After visiting the tombs we were very hot (39 degrees celcius) and hungry, so we had a rest and some lunch on the roof top patio at the Kasbah Café! Ahhh....

 

Lunch was unique and delicious

Craig fed this cat some chicken...he was very happy (both Craig and the cat)

Afterwards, we miraculously found our way back to the riad and along the way came across some beautiful things. Are those REAL fossils for sale on the street?

The tile is amazing here!

A beautiful entrance to a restaurant we were checking out for my birthday dinner

After a walk, taxi ride and then a "guided" walk, we finally found the Atay Cafe patio where we had a fantastic tagine meal. The one Craig ordered was sooo delicious with lamb, fig, dates and apricots! Sounds odd, but it was fantastic. He switched with me because my chicken one wasn't AS good. Ahhh, what a sweetheart! Turns out our crazy 40-minute adventure trying to find this place was really just a 5 minute walk from our Riad!!! Geesh! lol All part of the adventure I guess!

Another example of Moroccan "beauty" and "ruins" in the same shot - from patio of Atay Café.

Craig trying to explain to the Moroccan barber to take of "just a little"

So much for "just a little"! Oh well, it'll grow back!

Our luggage being transported back through the maze toward the car to take us to the airport...by Marrakech, it's been a wonderful journey!

Although this photo is technically taken after we returned, this is a all the things we purchased in Marrakech including 2 lamps, 2 carpets, two pairs of the traditional babouches leather slippers, one sliver tray, two toques (for the winter, but ya, a strange place to see toques), 2 beaded necklaces (the 3rd one is from Madrid), one little basket and 3 leather belts for Craig. Another beautiful item I received while in Marrakech is a beautiful native-designed scarf from my dear friend Shirly who snuck this to Craig for him to give to me on my birthday along with an adorable card.... thank you Shirly, it was a beautiful surprise and I love the scarf!! xo

Love our new lamps! This one arrived with 3 dents, but Craig managed to pop them out! Phew!

Smaller table lamp now in our spare bedroom

 

 

 

 

 

Flying to Madrid...see the next post. This shot is where Africa meets Europe.