In our most adventurous travel yet, we headed to the African continent, country of Morocco and one of its largest cities - Marrakech. We flew in on Royal Air Maroc through Casablanca on Thursday night and arrived at our Riad (hotel) Villa les Oranges at around 11pm. Given it was dark, we didnt get to really see where we were or what the area was like. The hotel was very nice - with a courtyard, a heated swimming pool and our room even had a private terrace on the roof where we ate breakfast everyone morning and had good views of the city.
The temperature was about 70-75 degrees which was a welcome change to London or New York. We met up with our tour guide, Mohammed, in the lobby of the hotel. Mohammed was a very nice man who had been showing people around Marrakech for the last 38 years. Anthony's bosses both had Mohammed take them around and we later learned that Mohammed has taken the last five US Presidents on tours of the city as well as celebrities like Brad Pitt. Guess who was most interested in the presidents and who was interested in the celebrities?
We set out on a walking tour of the medina (old city) of Marrakech. As opposed to most of the other places we've been, there are not a lot of major sights to see in Marrakech. The charm of the city is walking around and seeing the different culture. The medina was quite chaotic. Motorcycles were zipping around, there were no street lights so people cross the streets whenever they can, hoping cars, bikes, motorcycles and donkeys (yes, donkeys) stop for them.
We walked to the main square called Jemaa El Fna. The square was full of life. Amy didnt like some aspects of the square. People seemed to rush up to the tourists with snakes and monkeys - King Cobras dancing to flutes, monkeys on chains being put on people's shoulders. Anthony, on the other hand, loved it and even took part.
I guess monkeys can be near sighted also - this guy needed Anthony's glasses.
We walked through the square north to the Souks (the markets). Since Friday was a holy day, the Souks were not as crowded as normal so we were able to take our time and explore. They had little shops selling slippers, nuts, oranges and oragne juice, olives and much more. Anthony knows his father, Tony, would have enjoyed the nut and olive displays - both to eat and also to look at how perfectly they were arranged.
After enjoying "getting lost" in the Souks (and not buying anything), Mohammed took us to the University which has now been turned into a Museum (Musee de Marrakech). Each of the places we visited was very plain on the outside, which is part of the Muslim tradition of being understated. That plainess, though, made the surprises all the more interesting when we walked into these places which were beautiful. The University, for example, had a nice courtyard in the middle. The most striking aspect of all of the Moroccan buildings was the carvings on the walls and ceilings - both in wood and in stone. It was very intricate and impressive.
After the university, we walked around the corner to the private home of the former defense minister (Madersa Ben Youssef)which had also been converted to a tourist destination. Again, bland building on the outside, but nice courtyard and intricate carvings all over.
From there, we set out on a walking tour of the Souks (the main markets) with Mohammed. They sold anything you could imagine at these markets. They reminded us of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul.
We headed for lunch and then walked down the Avenue Mohammed back towards the medina. We passed the main mousk of the city where all roads generally lead. They restrict the height of all other buildings in the city to ensure the mousk is the higgest and can be seen from just about anywhere.
We then went to the Tombeaux Saadiens near our hotel (tombs).
Then, not being able to resist a "spa day" we took part in a Hammam (a Moroccan bath). We are becoming experts with these types of treatments as we did one in Istanbul as well. Other than being locked in a steam room and Amy having to break down the door to get out and the extreme amount of dead skin that was rubbed off of Anthony, it was an enjoyable (and certainly cleansing) experience.
We headed back to the main square to get a birds eye view of the activities because as you approach 5pm, the "characters" come out supposedly. The views were great.
We decided to walk through the crowd to get a closer view. There were dozens of places to eat (and their owners outside asking whether we wanted to sit as we passed each tent), storytellers, games, etc. Amy's light complexion made her a popular person to call out of a crowd for some crowd participation. Not feeling in a participatory mood, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We headed to this huge, very nice hotel, Amanjena (where Anthony's bosses stayed when they visited) for dinner. Nothing like thai food in Morocco.
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