Weekend 18!
Marrakech, Morocco
Saturday,
December 13th
We woke up nice
and early and took the 7 o’clock flight to Marrakech. After thinking we were
late, a 3 hour flight, and a long line to get through customs, we made it into
the city! We took the bus right into the main square (or Medina/old part) of
town then wandered a little bit to find our hotel was just around the corner.
We dropped our stuff off then we were off to brunch!
As the hotel was
right on the main square of town (Jemaa El Fna or Djemma) we explored the
square and found a nice terrace restaurant to observe the hustle and bustle of
the square. For breakfast we had some fresh squeezed orange juice, a cheese
omelet and some traditional eggs and dried meat smoked in a tagine pot (like a
little steamer clay pot), and of course some mint tea. This café also had a lot
of really cute kittens roaming around. Little did we know – the rest of
Marrakech was swimming in cats…
After breakfast we
walked around the square and saw some of the stands and ventured into the souk
(flea market) a little bit on our way to the Badi Palace. The Badi Palace is
the remnants of the Saadian king’s home from 1578. It had originally jail cells
in the gardens but now there are just orange trees being farmed there. There
was also a nice little FLOCK of storks that guarded the tops of the castle
(they made a really interesting sound with their beaks clashing). There was
also a neat underground tunnel system with rooms. It was pretty creepy, but
felt like you were walking into a movie set or something. We also saw a nice
view of the city from the terrace of the palace. Pretty much this palace looked
like you walked into the sultan’s palace courtyard in Aladdin.
After that we
headed to the Saadian Tombs. The tombs were attached to a really large and
beautiful mosque. The tombs were made during the era of Ahmad al-Mansur
(1578-1603), but were discovered in 1917. They have been restored and are
really beautiful celebrations of life – except no one has a name on the
tombstones. The Saadi Dynasty rests in the main mausoleum or basically a really
decorated crypt /church thing (pictures are definitely worth 1000 words here).
After this we
tried to find the church we were going to go to this weekend, but had the wrong
address and ended up in a not-so-nice part of town that lined the one of the
main gardens of the city (Jardin de L’agdal).
After this minor
detour through the city, we went to the Bahia Palace. This palace was smaller
than the other one, but a lot more modern and well decorated. It was made in
the late 1800s (intended to be the greatest palace of its time). Apparently the
rooms that lined the main courtyard were intended for the concubines of Si
Moussa (grand vizier of the sultan). Again check out the pictures for better
details.
After that we went
back to the hotel through the souk (market) to drop off the camera and go to
church. We found the correct address an hour before church so we grabbed a
snack at a pretty fancy Pizza Hut (some of us missed American
pizza/breadsticks…ok both of us did). We then went to probably the only
catholic church in the town of mosques to celebrate the third week of advent
with about 20 other people.
We made
our way back into town where the main mosque in the center of town has beautiful and tall minaret (La Koutoubia) so we stopped to get some pictures of
it lit up at night. The town was also having an international film festival
where there was a huge projector in the square playing a movie. Unfortunately
it was sprinkling that night so the people had to stand getting a bit muddy.
We decided not to
watch the movie (13 Assasins, in French as French is the main language of
Marrakech next to Arabic). We found a cute upscale and authentic Moroccan
restaurant called La Marrakechi to have a quiet meal. There was no one on the
second level of this restaurant (which was a bit weird, but very nice and
quiet). The scenery was so cute with all the Moroccan designs and candles. The
waiter then told us that we should move upstairs to enjoy some traditional
music, so we did. Dinner was SO GOOD and we enjoyed some nice music with a room
full of people. Stuart had some chicken kabobs with rice and I had some beef
stew type thing that was delicious with a side of couscous and veggies topped
with onions and chickpeas sautéed in cinnamon (so good!).
We were ready for
bed after that large meal!
Sunday,
December 14th
We
checked out of the hotel to go get some Moroccan breakfast! We walked into the
souk only to get turned around and cut across it and back track a little
(<that is very easy to do). We stumbled upon a recommended café for
breakfast (Café des Epices) in the spice market area of town. We got a huge Moroccan
breakfast with mint tea, fresh orange juice, a fruit salad, and an assortment
of three breads and three dipping sauces. The sauces were olive oil, a homemade
chocolate peanut butter thing (so good!), and a cinnamon sugar honey. The
breads were batbout (or pita), harcha (pan fried flat dense bread), and msemen
(pan fried pancakes, similar to crepes, but crispier).
After
that meal we were definitely ready to take on the day – even if it rained off
and on all day. We made our way over to the Marrakech Museum only after getting
lost in the souk (we even asked for directions!). We finally made it to the
museum after a cute little school boy lead us to the museum (of course we gave
him a nice Moroccan tip of some dirhams). The museum was a little small with
all the rooms branching off of a main indoor courtyard. It was a beautiful
place with detailed architecture and modern Moroccan artwork. The museum is
housed in the Dar Menebhi Palace which was restored in 1997.
After
that museum we went to the Ben Youssef Madrasa or the old Islamic college. The
college was found in the 14th century and was reconstructed in the
1560s or so. The college was closed in the 1960s and is now a historical site.
The college has 130 dormitory rooms (super creepy and small, but some were quite
quaint – must have been the senior rooms). There was also as many as 900
students at one time at that school…talk about roommates. This school was one
of the largest theological colleges in North Africa.
After
the school, we walked through the souks to buy some souvenirs. Stuart perfected
his bartering skills after some awkward encounters with some scarf salesmen.
I’d say 70% off of the first asking price is pretty good for a first bartering
experience!
After
the souvenirs we got our backpacks and headed to the airport.
We just want to say that we did bless the rains down in AAAAAAAaaaafrica.
Next adventure on the agenda: exploring Paris with Joan,
Mitchell, and Bradley for Christmas!!! Then it’s off to Italy!
Joyeuses fêtes! Happy Holidays!
Love,
Stevie and Stuart
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