After my visit to Egypt last summer, I was expecting much of the same in Morocco. But to my surprise, I found it overall cleaner…and I felt safer. The airport in Marrakesh has a new modern terminal and it was quick & easy to clear customs. The drive to our Riad Djemanna (family owned lodging in the old town) was not nearly as congested or nerve raking as Cairo.

When I started planning to visit Marrakech, everyone I knew who had been to Morocco said … stay in a Riad. For centuries, wealthy families built their multilevel home surrounding a large open air courtyard with a fountain in the middle. These homes have long since been turned into what we call B&Bs. Our Riad was in the Médina… the old town which is a densely packed, walled medieval city with mazelike alleys where thriving souks (marketplaces) sell traditional textiles, pottery and jewelry. A map is useless! Unfortunately Marrakesh, unlike Fez and other large cities in Morocco, allows motorcycles and bicycles in the alleys, so it’s VERY dangerous when walking…and imperative you stay alert and out of their way. There are also alot of donkeys and mules to avoid as they transport the goods to the souks.

Marrakech is a city with three cultures… Muslim, Berber (the original inhabitants) and Jewish. Although there are very few Jews currently living in Marrakech, Jewish people visit here at least once a year to pay tribute to the more than 300 Holy patrons (saints) here.

As in many Muslim cities, their religious commitment is dominating…reminding the residents when its time to pray as the Chanting from the Koran comes blaring across the city from local mosques via loud speakers starting as early as 7am… they pray 5 times a day.

Not to always be bringing up food… but in Morocco they know how to prepare a feast. We went to a “typical” Moroccan dinner at Yacout, a
recommended restaurant, and were immensely impressed with our meal. Excellent food that began with about 10 starter salads (all delicious), followed by lemon chicken cooked in their typical tagine, then another tagine with lamb, then fresh fruit and finally, dessert. When I say “fresh fruit”, I can’t emphasize the word “fresh” enough. We do NOT have anything in the USA that compares to the flavor.

We visited the Palace of Al Badi, built in 1578 when the Portuguese came into power, but now in ruins; and, the famous Bahia Palace.

Probably the most well known historical site in Marrakech is the Jardin Majorelle, founded by Jacques Majorelle, a French painter who was killed in an auto accident soon after his gardens opened to the public. After his death, it was abondoned for 18 years until Yves Saint Laurent & his partner, Pierre Bergé purchased the property and restored it, leaving the majority of the plants and designs in tact. As you walk thru this amazingly lush, elaborate set of gardens representing different areas of the globe… you literally have to catch your breath occasionally when absorbing its beauty. Of course, being from Texas, Cissy and I were both impressed with the huge variety and size of the cacti.

The other historical site we really enjoyed was The Saadian Tombs that house the remains of important figures from the Saadi Dynasty, which ruled Morocco from 1549 to 1659. Shortly after the fall of the dynasty, the tombs were sealed off and hidden, only to be rediscovered in 1917. There are over 300 tombs within its walls, 66 of those are inside and covered, while the rest are in the courtyards. The most impressive part was the mausoleum built by the “Golden King”,
Ahmed el-Mansour for himself. It is called the Hall of Twelve Columns, and was built from imported Italian Carrara marble, with gilding honeycomb muqarnas, a type of ornamented vaulting, decorated with REAL gold. Extremely awesome!

And of course no trip to Marrakesh would be complete without visiting the Jemma el Fna square which comes ALIVE at night. It’s like attending a festival or fair, but it’s an every night event. The name means “Assembly place of the dead,” possibly because it was a former execution site. There’s hundreds of food stalls and restaurants, but mostly famous for snake charmers, fortune tellers, musicians, henna artists and much more. The snake charmers are interesting – cobras dancing to the music.

Missing our family and friends.. but our trip to Marrakesh was lively, informative, fun and well worth the visit. Heading to the Atlas Mountains next to explore the Berber culture and countryside.