The A(rgan), B(ahia), and C(ouscous) of Marrakesh

As in Fez earlier, on this -- a full day in Marrakesh -- formal tours for today were optional.  Two different options were offered -- morning and afternoon, with lunch.  Less than 20 signed up for the morning, which was nice, and only seven of us for the afternoon, which was great.  We started at the most famous landmark of the city, which is the Koutoubia Mosque.  It dates from the 12th century, is about 250-feet tall, and served as the model for similar mosques we'd see in Rabat and Casablanca.  No building in the city is allowed to be taller.  We learned, too, that all mosques in Morocco are built with these square towers, rather than the domes dominating almost everywhere else in the Islamic world.

Park Leading to Koutoubia Mosque

The weather in the morning was perfect, with crisp temperatures and dew covering everything.  They call Marrakesh the green, blue, and white city.  Green for the many, many parks; blue, for the clear sky on more than 300 days a year; and white, for the snow-capped mountains on the southern horizon.  The city seemed deserted, too, for most of the morning.  It is definitely a place that stays alive late into the night, but is slow to wake-up.

The bus picked us up and drove us to a far end of the medina.  Once inside the walled city, we made our way to the Saadian Tombs, where members of the family which ruled the area in the 16th century were buried.  About 60 tombs are scattered through a small complex of incredibly elaborate rooms of carved stone and wood.  The entire complex was walled off by the dynasty that followed the Saadi, and the city rose up around it.  It was not until 1917, when the French flew over the city to survey, that they noticed the blocked-off complex, which had since been covered by centuries of sand and refuse.  Even now, it can only be accessed by a very narrow alleyway carved out between buildings, built by French archaeologists.

Another City Gate in Marrakesh

From inside Saadian Tombs

Saadian Tombs

Turtles Staging Impromptu Race Over the Graves

As with many previous tours around the world, we next had a "built-in" shopping stop, to which I was not really looking forward.  Anna seemed very familiar with argan oil, which is extracted from the nuts/kernels from argan trees, which reportedly only grow in Morocco.  The oil is used for cooking, cosmetics, and medicine.  Anna was amazed we had not heard of it, and she even showed us our own shampoo bottle from home, later than night, which had "With Moroccan Argan Oil" in bold letters on the front.  Shows how observant we are.  We had a short demonstration of how the oil is extracted, and then they showed us a series of products, for all kinds of ailments or beauty uses, which we could of course buy if we wanted.  If anything, I was happy to sit for a while, and we bought a few small things for the memory.

Another short bus ride to another far-off side of the medina brought us to the Bahia Palace.  As in
Fez, the outside of the enormous complex was incredibly plain.  Once inside, though, it was spectacular, and a definite high-point for the entire trip.  It was a royal residence, dating only back to the 19th century, and named for the favorite wife of the Moroccan "grand vizier," or prime minister.  I cannot adequate describe it, but it was essentially a series of riads, each surrounded by incredibly elaborate rooms, each more beautiful than the next.  After visiting the rooms of Bahia, and five other wives, we then saw the huge harem, which had rooms for 60 mistresses, all facing onto a two-acre large riad.  The chambers for the grand vizier themselves, were the most ornate and beautiful of them all.

Ceiling of One of the Wives' Bedroom in Bahia Palace

Ceiling of Yet Another Wife

Courtyard for the Harem

Sultan's Bedchamber

Resting Their Weary Feet

From here, Abdou led the remainder of our group to the central square, or Djemma el Fna, while the seven of us continued with our local guide for the afternoon.  We snaked through a series of souks, and ended up at a private museum dedicated to bedouin (or Toureg) life in North Africa.  It was built by a dutchman who visited once, fell in love with the culture, and then spent the remainder of his life collecting artifacts for his home, which is now a museum.

Riad in the Museum of Bedouin Culture

More snaking through a confusing maze of alleyways until, we too, spilled out onto the massive Djemma el Fna, which was coming to life.  Nowhere near it's height of frenetic activity from the previous night, but definitely waking up.  Abdou met us, and we continued to a stunning restaurant, tucked away and hidden on the far side, which was built in a converted riad.  Here we had a cooking demonstration for an authentic Moroccan couscous meal.  I immediately felt stupid, as we watched how couscous is made from semolina and flour.  I honestly thought it was its own grain, as I've only seen it in a box.  It is definitely a very drawn-out, all-day affair, which families have on most Fridays, when they rotate among the homes of various family members.  The couscous was ultimate made with vegetables and meat and cooked in a traditional tangine.  After the demonstration, we had a huge meal of it in the riad, in perfect weather, while what sounded like hundreds of birds serenaded us from the trees surrounding us.

Left to Right -- Crown Prince, King Mohammed VI, and King's Brother

Time To Make the Couscous

Our Amazing Lunch

Our final formal stop of the day was at the Majorelle Garden, which was the highlight for Katherine.  It was created by a resident French ornamental artist over 40 years, beginning in the 1920's.  It was taken over by the government following his death, declined, and ultimately purchased in the 1980's and restored by French designed Yves Saint Laurent, who said he had drawn inspiration from the place over his career.  I had no idea, but Yves Saint Laurent was actually born in Algeria, and spent a huge portion of his life in Algeria and Morocco.  He and his partner are both buried here.  The complex covers more than two and half acres, and include distinct bio-systems, from cactus gardens, to flower gardens, to bamboo forest, and even groves of hardwood trees.

Exterior of Majorelle Gardens

Majorelle Gardens

It was probably in the low 80's by this time of the day, and we were all pretty tired.  We did, however, want to be able to at least explore the shopping souk.  We weren't looking for anything in particular, but we had read that the shopping in Marrakesh was the best in Morocco.  After getting back to the hotel, we freshened up, rallied, and then grabbed a cab.  The souk complex is huge, and hard to navigate.  We had a map in our guide book, which included some recommendations.  Trying to maximize our time, I selected a starting point on the far end of the souk area, which they said was less touristy and more authentic.  The plan was to start there, and then work our way toward the end, at Djemma el Fna.  The driver of the first cab we approached at our hotel did not understand enough English to know where I wanted him to take us.  He flagged over a colleague from a neighboring hotel, who spoke English well.  I showed him where we wanted to go, and we were off.  I was lost almost immediately, and as we got closer, I realized I had left my phone (and its maps) back in the hotel.  I also realized that the landmark I had given him was located inside the walled medina, and therefore inaccessible by car.  He pulled over to a nondescript alley, said he could go no further, and then explained how we could reach the square I had named.  It was basically, "go straight, go left, go two rights, then left, and you're there."  Hmmm.  I was none-too confident as we set off.  We were also definitely not in an area full of tourists.  We made our way for a while, feeling fairly confident we were at least heading in the right direction, until we hit a hard fork in the road.  Unsure which way to go, a local man asked if he could help.  His English was very limited, but I showed him the map and he started to walk, beckoning us to follow.  It did not feel quite right, and a few times I tried to pull away from him, but he insisted we keep following.  We did ultimately reach the metalwork souk, which had been our goal, but he insisted we keep following him.  Disoriented and unsure, I held us back.  I thought maybe he was trying to bring us to the shop of his relative, or something like that.  He ultimately gave up on us, and disappeared down an alley.  We were now in the souk area, but within a jumble of small alleys going in a multitude of directions.  Another man approached us, also with limited English.  Knowing that I ultimately wanted to end up on one very long alley in the souk, which spilled out onto the Djemma el Fna, I showed him that.  He signaled that he understood, and off we were.  Another series of left and right turns, and then we hit a definite major alley, which had a healthy number of non-locals.  At this point, my suspicions were confirmed, as he held out his hand.  I should have expected this, but we had not encountered this behavior anywhere else in Morocco.  I only had some coins, which I gave him, and which he handed back, obviously not satisfied.  As that was all I had, short of the equivalent of a $20 bill, he waved his hand at me and walked away, clearly disappointed.  It was the only somewhat uneasy part of the entire trip.  I did not feel threatened in any way, but it was still kind of a letdown, given that such overt behavior toward tourists had been absent throughout our trip.

We Finally Made It

Believe it or Not, They Had To Send Out for Anna's Shoe Size!

We spent the next 30-45 minutes slowly making our way down the main alleyway, through a series of souks -- metalwork, leather, spices, clothing, wood carvings, embroidered cloth, lamps, etc.  The quality of the stuff was amazing, but we only bought a few small items.  Most of our enthusiasm was sapped by the long day.  It was nearly dark as we finally entered the Djemma el Fna, and it was overflowing with people and activity.  It was almost overwhelming.  We walked through the mayhem, headed to the square opposite, next to the Koutoubia Mosque, where we found a cab.  We had already selected a restaurant near our hotel, with a German name, that Anna wanted to try.  We had the driver bring us straight there, as it was less than half a block from there to the hotel.  The restaurant was very European, and we sat inside.  The numbers of patrons increased markedly after we sat down, and then they lowered a large screen and tuned all of the wall-mounted televisions to a soccer match.  Barcelona was playing Lyon, as part of the Champions League, I think.  We were told it was a big match.  It was interesting to watch, as we seemed the only tourists in the place, and everyone else seemed to be well-to-do Moroccans.  As Lyon blocked the first shot on goal by Barcelona, and place erupted in cheers.  That led me to believe the French connection was strong, and they were all rooting for Lyon.  Soon after, however, Barcelona scored, and an equally loud chorus of cheers rang out, so the place was definitely split down the middle.

We became interested in the game, but were far too tired to remain parked there for the whole thing, so we headed back to the hotel, and settled for reading the score in the morning.  For those still reading, Barcelona won 5 to 1.