Marrakech, Morocco
Sunday, April 12, 2015
The sun was cracking the stucco walls as we prepared for another busy day doing not very much in Marrakech. Lucia had bought a Fez yesterday, thereby ending a lifelong search for the world’s most authentic head wear; however, she has decided not to wear it in Morocco for some unknown reason ( at least to me. ) so it is back to baseball caps and the classic, floppy bush-hat.
On a different subject, it has been brought to my attention that spelling mistakes have been encountered by certain members of the wider readership. I will mention no names, but the guilty party knows who they, don’t you Mrs Zegenhagen, but suffice it to say that I will try to allevieate, aliveeeait, alevevenate, minimize them as much as possible, and if that fails then sack the proof reading team !
The Ben Youssef Mosque and the museum are our targets today.. Only a 10 minute stroll in the Medina, or so we thought. After wandering, and unknown to us, lost, we arrived at what we thought was the museum. Well, it was a museum but not the one we wanted – but in for a penny in for a Dirham as they say here, we paid the entrance fee and went into the museum. It was small, neat, uninformative and slightly dull, but the lady at reception was charming and did direct us to the correct museum as we left !
After a spot of map reading ( why didn’t we do that to begin with ? ) we neared the correct school/museum. As we did a Moroccan chap told us that it was closed and we should go to the tanneries instead. We smiled and ignored him, but an Australian couple behind laughed and said he had told them the same thing yesterday. Well, the Moroccan did NOT take kindly to this and harangued this couple for a few minutes, using some choice English words and telling them it was his job and they should mind their own business !
First bit of anger we have seen all week really.
The Ali Ben Youssef Medersa, next to the mosque is a very old Muslim theological college, opened in 14th Century. It used to house over 900 students in 132 small dormitory rooms and, so we were told, only one bathroom ! It was a stunningly beautiful building. The mosaics, carvings and delicate trellis work was overwhelming.
We had a spot of lunch in Djemaa El-Fna and then walked down to the Bahia Palace, getting seriously lost this time – still, all part of the rich tapestry of Marrakech ( plus nowhere is very far from anywhere else inside the Medina walls ). The Palace was empty of ornaments and furniture but full of a German tour group, even so we were able to admire the ornate ceilings and make use of the conveniences !
On leaving the Palace we accidentally went into a carpet shop and had a look at some carpets ( well what did you think we would be looking at ? ). There was one we liked, but it was very old, and also very dirty looking. It seemed to be very good quality and the price dropped remarkably from 3,800dh to 1,100dh in a matter of minutes. If the whites of the carpet had been whiter we would have been sorely tempted, but as it was, it looked too much like it was crying out for the wool cycle in a washing machine !
So, empty handed, we consoled ourselves with an ice cream and returned to the hotel. Resting feet, reading guide books and thinking about dinner …
For dinner we zipped down to Le Jardin and had a very nice, if rather expensive meal. I had salmon tartare for starters, described by Lucia as “a bit weird but quite nice” and a sardine tajine for main. The girls had something else but it was very dark in the outdoor restaurant by this time so I can only guess what it might have been – they seemed to enjoy it. ( Lucia’s had mushrooms in it though, I know that much )
We got back to the riad quickly and settled into bed. It is a big day tomorrow, trecking in the High Atlas ! Not really sure how much trecking as opposed to just looking at the mountains we will be doing – we will find out tomorrow.