Author: simon

A notable day – Marrakech wins Eileen over completely. She had some trepidation about the hassle (virtually none), the crowds (busy but nice), the dirt (actually pretty clean, especially the loos), but we ended up loving it.

And also did some further intrepid (so it seems to me) driving to another part of the Medina (and succeeded).

Followed a recommendation to find the Museum of Confluences with a decent coffee shop.

Hundreds of coffees to choose from. And that’s chantilly cream and ground vanilla. Yum.

And the museum was pretty good.

Then with a degree of success, we successfully navigated our way through the souks

I think we all know what a souk looks like, but these are massive. And found our way to lunch in the main square.

Hee hee. And note the Atlas Mountains in the background – some snow on top.

R&R again in the afternoon, followed by dinner in the Medina.

Off to the mountains tomorrow. But before we go a brief look at our correspondent in Greenland where we’re told it has been -33 out on the boat and it freezes hair!

Some serious sightseeing today, and a few reflections. Unlike most old cities which are small and easy to walk around, the Medina is massive. Following on from last night’s successful navigation, we stuck to the south part around the palace.

Starting with some tombs only discovered 100 years ago.

Then the palace.

Not as old nor as rich as the Indian palaces.

Then a bit of R&R back at the hotel/gallery. Hmmm …

We had expected a lot of hassle, especially in Marrakech, but it is almost non-existent. Traders do approach, but it is in good humour and not oppressive. After dinner last night we were walking back to the car and all the restaurants were trying to entice us in. When I said to one that we had already eaten and my tummy was full, he rubbed my tummy and agreed it felt full!

Of course they try it on. Got a lot of help from one shopkeeper when I was sorting out change who insisted the 10d coins were 1d and when I pointed out the number on the coin just shrugged and said sorry.

And the food is stunningly good.

This was the restaurant last night. Some help from trip advisor but it doesn’t seem to matter much. They all make outstanding tajines and pastillas. No booze helps on price, but we’re struggling to spend £20 on dinner for two.

So, sun, warmth, friendly people, interesting things to see and stunning food. It’s going well so far.

Having almost ground to a halt, we stirred ourselves for a little bit of adventure – i.e. driving to Marrakech. No real idea what driving is like in Morocco, and no satnav so relying on maps.

And we made it ok. The roads seem to be extremely good – or at least this one was, and so 120 miles later, and with a couple of wrong turns, we found the hotel. So take a look at this – more like an art gallery.

Our room

And the foyer outside our room

And a real sense of achievement in the evening.  We had been expecting to take taxis into the old town, but the owner of the hotel (or is it a gallery??) encouraged us to drive. So we had a go. Found the Medina, immediately turned around and retraced our route so we could get home again, found somewhere to park close to the main square, negotiated a reduction in the parking fee from £4 to 2.50 (still way more than I should have paid), had an excellent meal in the square without overpaying, found our way back to the car, and found the hotel again.  And didn’t hit anyone or knock anyone off their bike (none of which have lights).

Proper exploring tomorrow.

Nothing to report. Sun, sea, delicious food (although a scarcity of booze). Many of the smaller restaurants are dry, which doesn’t half make eating out cheap.

Quick fringe trim

And so on and so on …

3 hour drive to Marrakech tomorrow.

Not in any sense adventurous exploring – more of a gentle stroll, interspersed by coffee, beer and dinner.

Staying in a beautiful hotel – here is one of the lounges

Here’s the beach

The fishing port

The ramparts

And a beer

I said it was tough. More tomorrow.

When you joke that after a trip like India you need a holiday to get over it, you don’t really mean it. But only 3 weeks after landing in Heathrow we’re off again – but this time more for R&R.

So where is Essaouira (pronounced Essa-Wirra)?

I’d never heard of it, but not a million miles away from the Canaries on the Moroccan coast.

Not a bad welcoming view from the room. And then as we walked to the Medina for dinner.

And even Ryanair behaved. Allocated middle seats in different rows, as they do, we managed to swap and ended with a row of 3 to ourselves. Felt like a victory!