Friday, November 3, 2006
 I
have always wanted to go to Marrakech but the mini-breaks from the UK
seemed so expensive and there was no value for money just going there
for a couple of nights. How excited was I to hear that Ryanair announced
their new flight routes and Marrakech was among them! ;-) Only the flight
times are a bit of a pain in the backside; the flight from Luton is at
6.00am! … Hmm not the best start… however it is only 3 hr flight
from the UK and on arrival it feels like stepping back in time.
 The
mighty Atlas Mountains that encircle Marrakesh were hidden by mist so
when we landed it seemed that the city is only surrounded by dry and arid
land. On a clear day you would be able to see the mountains that spread
around Marrakech and are within easy reach. Marrakech is a fascinating
city; vibrant, lively and very noisy. The traffic is just unbelievable;
bikes, petit taxis, large taxis, motorbikes and pedestrians all seem to
be going in the same and opposite directions all at the same time - I’m
beyond stunned how they all manage to survive the chaos. The road from
the airport is a wide boulevard lined with palm trees, it's quite modern
and new and it only took 10-15 minutes to reach the city centre. The centre
of Marrakech, which is the old city, is guarded by the huge 12th century
city walls that encompase the medina and the bazaars. Once you’re
in, the medina is a magical maze of little streets, hidden mosques and
synagogues, beautiful riads, street vendors, bazaars, donkeys and of course
motorbikes! The scents and aromas of different kinds of spices from vanilla
and cinnamon to paprika and kif strike you immediately.
 We
have chosen to stay in a traditional Moroccan house called a Riad. It
was located in the part of city called The Mellah, which is the Jewish
quarter. All streets in the medina look the same, the houses are plain
save for the various shades of red, pink and brown (mud) as the Moroccan
architecture is more inward looking and hidden, rather than showing off.
 It
gives each riad a real charm and secrecy and the only thing that gives
away the entrance to the house is a big wooden door. Once you come in,
it is like you would enter an oasis from the noise and bustle of the medina.
The typical Moroccan house is organised around a courtyard usually with
a fountain or a small pool, orange and citrus trees or palms, flowers
and lamps. Our riad was absolutely delightful. The owners, a couple who
are from Chile and France, clearly love what they do and you could see
nice touches in every little corner. It’s the complimentary mint
tea with Moroccan cookies that was served everyday, the candles that are
lit up each night, and the way the owners and their staff look after their
guests, that makes the riad such a cosy and real chill-out place. The
bonus was the terrace on the top floor which was beautifully decorated;
we also ate our breakfasts and had the afternoon tea here.
  After
freshening up in our riad we went to explore the city. We walked to Al
Kotoubia minaret - the tallest in Marrakech. From there we walked to Jemaa
El Fna Square where I had an unpleasant encounter with a street vendor
who was trying to get us to take photos with his snake - when we refused
he was not happy. He ran after us accusing us of taking photos and not
paying him! So in the end I had to show him my camera to prove that I
indeed did not take any photos of his precious snake - before my husband
started a fight/ran away ;0). Other than that one rather aggressive incident
we had only great experience with the Moroccan people.
We also visited the Kasbah (fortress) that also leads to the Saadian
Tombs which we visited the next day. The reason for this was the fact
that it was Friday, a day off for all Muslims, is similar to the UK bank
holidays and so the tombs were closed. In the evening we went out for
dinner to the main square and ate at the local stalls that Marrakech is
so famous for. There were 4 of us and the meal cost us £13 altogether
and man was it a massive feast or what!?! All food was great and well
cooked, no Marrakech belly...
  The
next day our breakfast was served on the beautiful terrace, after which
we continued with our sightseeing by hiring a taxi to take us to the Palmeraie.
It was very dry. One can usually view Atlas Mountains from here but today
it was so misty they were hardly visible. We also wanted to see Menara
Gardens but our taxi driver either didn’t know where it was or he
didn’t understand us… what a shame. Instead we journeyed to
the Saadian tombs, which were a very impressive display of architecture,
if a bit crowded. We returned to our riad and chilled (a recuring theme)
for a few hours on our wonderful terrace with some wine and complimentary
nuts and olives. The owner of our riad, Diego, booked a table for us at
the Dar Zellij restaurant. We had to take the petit taxi as the streets
on the way there were very narrow. The restaurant served authentic Moroccan
food accompanied with traditional music, was stylishly designed with interesting
decorations and was very luxurious (read expensive). The food was again
brilliant but the quantity was way beyond our capabilities and we cancelled
one of the courses as our bellies would simply burst! The prices here
were much higher than most restaurants in Morocco, just as expensive as
in the UK. But it was good to have been able to experience both the cheap
and the expensive even if the cheap seemed better value.
  We
wanted to go to a spa but everything was fully booked!? What a shame as
I found a brilliant spa (Riad Mehdi) on the internet and we actually went
to look there. It was designed in a contemporary Moroccan style, dark
red furnishings and zen music :-) aaaah so beautiful ... and the prices
were very reasonable. We were so disappointed that we could not go…
Never mind maybe next time…
To sum up, the mini-break was great but 2 nights are definitely not
enough; 3 nights if not more would be needed. Especially considering the
things to see in the vicinity of Marrakech.
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