Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

Marrakech

The day started cool but quickly warmed up. We are blessed with a great day weather-wise.

We have a city walking tour - even though we had already walked yesterday afternoon in the souks. Today we visited the Bahia Palace and the Maison de la Photographie walking through souks to get from one to the other: a labyrinth of alleys with artisans and stalls galore! Everywhere of course, like in all the souks, there are myriads of stalls selling the Moroccan babouche: a cross between house slippers and “mule” slip-ons, the Moroccan version of flip-flops if you like! These are typically stitched together by aging artisans hunched over in corners of various foundouks (Morocco’s old, cheap hotels).

The Bahia Palace was built in the 19th century and captures the essence of Islamic and Moroccan styles. There is a harem and central courtyard with fountains, beautifully decorated with tiles (zellij). Extremely beautiful. Nice gardens too, reminiscent of the Andalusian style of Seville and Granada. 

Located in a renovated riad, La Maison  de la Photographie has become an attractive refuge for enthusiasts of the arts and photography since opening in 2009.

Walking through the souks was as colourful as ever. But by the time we finished about midday I was pretty much walked out and we sped off to grab a noos-noos in a cafe facing the main square and watched the universe pass by.

Back at the hotel, we did the planned switch to a riad for our last night in Marrakech. Deep in the labyrinth of the medina, we followed our map successfully and on arrival at this delightful oasis, we had a pleasant ‘chill out’. We are in the Sidi Ben Slimane neighbourhood up on the terrasse. Very nice.

Our riad, apart from being the genuine article (which is what I was seeking for our last night in Marrakech) also supports a local charity (Atfalouna) for street children and orphans.

In the later part of the afternoon we set off from this end of the medina to stroll through the souks, constantly alert to the motor scooters tearing up and down the alleys (derbs). 

We were aiming for Dar Cherifa for orange cake and coffee. But these things are never straightforward - or at least the Moroccans aren’t. Some will give straight directions, no complications; others are completely devious saying to follow them (even when you don’t want to) and of course the doorway you enter turns out to be NOT the one you are after! Talk about Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves!

So we walked the souks some more showing incredible buyers’ resistance although I did stop and look at some leather shoes but no size bigger than 8 so that solved that one.

We walked on, and on, and on - dodging the weaving motor cycles and occasional mule cart. There is everything you can imagine for sale here. And yes, we ultimately got lost. Conversations ran along a theme of ‘yep, we walked past this shop before, I THINK we went past this one, hmmm I’m not so sure, what do YOU think?’. Anyway we seemed to accidentally come upon sights that I had hoped to see like the Complexe Mouassine, the ancient Jewish quarter (mellah) comprising a library, hamman, madrasa and the Mouassine Mosque dating from Saadian days (1510-1699).

Even when sure, we still managed to do one complete circuit and then finally exited too far left and then had to ask directions 3 times before getting anywhere near our neighbourhood. We arrived back foot-sore and weary - and totally souked-out!!. Could KILL for a drink!

We had dinner at our riad. Absolutely superb food - AND A BOTTLE OF RED WINE! (No arabs killed in the process ...).  Cuvée Première 2015 (cab sauvignon and grenache) Appellation D’Origine Garantie Zenata. And the most superb music. We had an absolutely lovely relaxing time.