Marrakech, Morocco

Africa - Check! After spending the weekend in Marrakech, Morocco I can officially check Africa off my list of places visited! My dad and I spent the weekend exploring the city of Marrakech. I have never seen or experienced so many new things in just 48 hours! We arrived early Saturday morning and headed to our Riad (basically a bed and breakfast with a open garden/patio in the center). After walking down very narrow cobble-stone ally-ways and having to avoid the many motorbikes we found the Riad. We were sure there was no chance of us finding our way out of these windy and very confusing streets though! That seemed to be a theme of the trip, where we ended up lost a decent amount of times...it did lead to us seeing quite a lot though!

Saturday was spent exploring Jemma El Fna square, the main square of the old city. Here we saw snake chambers, story-tellers, monkeys doing tricks, women giving out henna tattoos and many food vendors. We were both truly in awe of what we were seeing. We decided we wanted to get a glimpse of the whole city so ended up taking a horse-drawn carriage ride, which was nice and relaxing after our busy morning!

Jemma El Fna Square

Horse-drawn carriage - Dad and Me

Saturday afternoon was spent trying to navigate to an old historic school (Ben Youssef Medersa) and art museum, which once we got to, were absolutely beautiful. The ceramic tiles throughout all of Marrakech are truly a sight to see! I have been learning about Muslim architecture and art in my culture class, so this was a perfect learning experience as well. We had a delicious Moroccan meal at a restaurant near by and headed back to the Riad for some rest! That night was spent as the main square again, which has two very different personalities (day and night). We had another traditional Moroccan meal (I had chicken and couscous) at a restaurant right on the corner of the main square. At night the square is incredibly lively with performers, vendors, and crowds. This included large circles gathered around a certain act, some were bands, some story-tellers and one was even a boxing match!

Ben Youssef Medersa

Jemma El Fna Square

Sunday morning was spent with a hired guide. He spoke perfect English and made the morning educational and entertaining! We began the day at one of the many palaces inside the old walled city. Once again I was in complete awe of the architecture and art throughout. We then ventured into the souks (this is where we got lost many times the day before). The souks are is a large covered market that runs for blocks on narrow roads. The souks have various sections including leather, cotton, metal, and shoes. We bought a few things and improved our bartering skills.

Bahia Palace

The Souks - Dying of Fabrics

Sunday afternoon was spent at the Majorelle Gardens, which was absolutely gorgeous and had plants from five continents! The cactus especially were truly extraordinary. We had delicious salads for lunch in the small cafe in the gardens, which provided the perfect atmosphere. For dinner Sunday night we ate a delicious meal of lamb and couscous at the Riad, which was home-made by one of the Riad employees and then headed back to the main square.

Majorelle Gardens

Monday morning we took an early flight back. It is nice to be back in Alcalá, not worrying about getting run over by a motorbike, but I definitely would love to go back to Morocco or see more of Africa in the future! I registered for classes for next semester today...this adventure is going by way too fast! Off to Barcelona for the weekend! Muchos Besos!