Marrakech Day #2

Trip Start Nov 05, 2010

Trip End Nov 14, 2010

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Riad Sofia Marrakech

Flag of Morocco Marrakech, Morocco
Monday, November 8, 2010

Mom and I headed out of our riad at 11:35 a.m. for our first full day of exploring Marrakech. We spent the first two hours wandering through the incredible maze of souqs (markets) containing thousands of stalls selling jewelry, clothing, crafts, shoes, lanterns, chickens, eggs, vegetables, dates, apricots, and on and on and on. Mom, of course, was in pure shopping heaven. I do not shop, but I enjoyed taking pictures of the amazing sights while Mom stopped at every third or fourth stall to examine the merchandise. In the narrow alleys, we had to dodge motorscooters, pedestrians, donkey-drawn cart carrying all sorts of goods, and even some hand-drawn carts. It is an overwhelming frenzy of humanity and capitalism at work.

We ate lunch at Chez Chegrouni, a restaurant overlooking the central square. I tried another Moroccan specialty called tanjine – chicken steamed in a pot with onions, raisins, and almonds

Mom Shopping for a Silver Bracelet

. Scrumptious! I've yet to not like any of the Moroccan food I have sampled.

After lunch, we walked to Bahia Palace. Morocco’s top artisans worked for 14 years adorning the palace, constructed beginning in 1860s. "La Bahia" means “the beautiful.” One of the sights was the harem that once housed Grand Vizier Si Moussa’s four wives and 24 “concubines” – women kept around for pleasure. Most of the palace is off limits, as it is still used as a royal guest house by the present King Mohammed VI.

We then completed the Lonely Planet walking tour of Marrakech including the Museum of Moroccan Arts, Bab Fteuh Fondouq artisans’ courtyard (where Mom shopped for a silver bracelet), and the Dyers Souq – where you could watch sheep’s’ wool being dyed in numerous colors. Mom purchased a blue scarf made from the wool dyed here from a friendly young salesman.

Returned to our riad at 6:46 p.m., where I took care of editing some articles for work that I wasn’t able to finish last week before leaving on vacation. We headed back out at 8:25 and got lost wandering the souqs in search of a restaurant, ending up trekking clear across town to a restaurant we had seen last night called Portofino. I enjoyed another Moroccan dish called “brioutte.” Mine came with fish and other things stuffed inside of a fried pastry-type concoction. Once again, delicious.

Back to the riad at 11:08 to get ready for bed.

Had an outstanding second day here in Marrakech. Mom got started on her shopping, but will have to continue tomorrow, and we also took in several of the main sights. One more day to go in Marrakech, and then we rent a car and head out to the Atlas Mountains and the edge of the Sahara Desert.

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