Weekend Trip: Marrakech, Morocco, Day 2

Day 2 began with the Call to Prayer - a little earlier than I was hoping, but Sophie and Stone were still fast asleep in the dark, so I snuck into the amazing lantern-lit bathroom with my journal and my favorite black roller ball pen and wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote.... and then soaked in the giant green marble bath tub, ears under the water, the only sound my own heart and breath. There is no fancy spa that could soothe my soul like a morning of writing and soaking and breathing and just being still. 

We got dressed and then ran around on the hotel's rooftop terrace, watching the storks. Nearly all building tops were adorned with giant nests!

We could see everyone else's rooftops - not quite as nice. And Marrakech city code prohibits buildings from being taller than 5 storeys, so that no building is taller than the minaret.

Tour of the Meat/Vegetable/Fruit/Spice Market

A left Stone watching a movie with the sweet hotel babysitter (she only spoke Arabic and French - no English!), and our concierge Pierre took us through our neighborhood to the market before starting our Moroccan Cooking Class.

This is the heart of the Jewish Quarter. In 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella expelled the Jews from Seville (an event I learned about in Jewish Civ and never forgot - and mourn every day as I walk around their old neighborhood where my kids go to school). What I didn't know was that many of them immigrated to Marrakech! Those windows date from that time period - Arab windows and doors face their inner courtyard, not the outside street. Outside-facing windows (especially with tiny balconies and wrought iron work) were brought by the Spanish Jews.

Chickens waiting for the inevitable. People come here to choose their live animals  - they are all killed fresh.

Pierre explains the process while we contemplate vegetarianism

We lingered at the flower stalls for a long time to give our noses a rest from the wretched odor

Pierre said "people coming from the US sometimes ask if the food at the hotel is prepared with organic fruits and vegetables. I tell them 'of course! Morocco can't afford chemicals!"

More mint tea. And then the shop owner showed us a jar of sharp, clear crystals - overpoweringly potent eucalyptus extract. He dropped just the teensiest bit into each of our glasses, and the tea was transformed into liquid cough drops - our eyes were watering and our nasal passages instantly icy and clear. 

Then back to the hotel to begin our cooking class in the kitchen. The girls made two different kinds of Moroccan cookies - shortbread rolled in crushed almonds with apricot centers, and orange zest macaroons.

Erik and I worked at the stove, helping to make fish tagine and vegetables. The chefs didn't speak English but they demonstrated everything and we got by on hand gestures. 

My piano teacher used to tell me to relax my shoulders - I wonder if I always look like that when I chop!

That big clay pot is the tagine - it cooks slowly with a big chimney-ish lid on top. 

The finished product. So delicious!!! 

And the girls' masterpieces - I could have eaten that whole plate of orange macaroons. Lindsay wrote down the recipes but they're in handfulls of this-and-that (which is my kind of recipe!! But I wasn't watching.) 

After lunch, I wanted to see the Madrassa (Koranic School); Erik and Stone were more interested in a park. So we split up and the girls and I headed into the old city on our own! It was hard to get around not knowing Arabic or French, and I was annoyed that we got hassled a LOT - I'm assuming it's because we didn't have a guide with us. We got lost but eventually wound up at the old school where young boys would come from all over Morocco to learn from the Koran.

We are very familiar with this Architecture now - we loved seeing it at its source (it came from the Islamic world to Spain with the Moors)

The students' quarters. I'm guessing none of their students were there on basketball scholarships.

Back through the Souks - we got hopelessly, magically lost for about an hour and a half. Everything started to look the same, and people pointed us in conflicting directions like we were in Wonderland. We made friends with a charming young British couple and gazed in rapture at the punched-metal lights. I would love to have lights like this in my house or on my back patio some day.

This guy is up to his waist in dried fruit (kind of - it looks really cool)!

Gender-segregated bath houses are everywhere. We saw a man in a basement (more like an underground ditch off the side of the road with a little door) shoveling wood by hand into a roaring fire that heated the water above

The walk back to our hotel

We are die-hard Siesta fans now. Everyone needs a rest in the afternoon!!

I gave Sophie and Stone a bath and then snuggled and tucked them in... and then the babysitter came back to keep them safe while Erik and I took the big girls out

This brought back memories of my dad braiding my hair! Nothing sweeter (or goofier looking).

We went to one restaurant near our hotel, sat down, were ignored, finally got the menu and were disappointed to find not much we liked, we settled for what seemed the least gross, ordered... and then I said "Let's not do this! Let's cancel our order and go somewhere else. We're only in Morocco once!" So we did. We found a taxi to take us to a Thai restaurant in the New City, and we LOVED it!!! Delicious, and a great, clean atmosphere.


Home late, and slept like rocks.