Morocco

Sunday 16 October 2009 Morocco - Marrakesh

Marrakesh was first established in the 11th C as a caravanserai, providing both accommodation and a market place for caravans of camels from the east bringing goods to markets in the west. The city was outclassed by Rabat, Fez and Casablanca for many years but since the 1960s, has reverted to its caravanserai status. The markets are in full swing and the owners are hungry for sales. Some are more aggressive salesmen than others but we learned to say “no merci” and walk on.

Marrakesh is a combination of old and new. The inner souks (markets) of the Medina are just as they have been for generations. Many of the buildings surrounding the souks in the Medina have been rebuilt and boast modern conveniences. The area outside the Medina, the Ville Nouveau and Hivernage, is filled with modern buildings and new buildings under construction or extensive renovations.

Our timeshare condo, Residence Amina, which we had for one week, was in the Hivernage, an upscale district of large hotels, government buildings and private homes. Broad tree lined boulevards connect the side roads of the Hivernage. Wide pedestrian promenades bordered with more trees and gardens run down the middle of the boulevards.

Many of the trees on the boulevards were olives or oranges, heavy with fruits ready to be harvested. One afternoon we passed a truck parked by the side of a boulevard. Six or more workers set up metal ladders under the trees and filled plastic milk cartons with the olives they gathered from the trees. We never determined if this was a city sanctioned operation or an example of free enterprise. The next day we passed a single man with a bulging black plastic garbage bag full of olives he had gathered. He probably sold them later in the market.

We had a studio apartment. It had a large bedroom/living room separated from the small, well equipped kitchen by a counter, plenty of room for the two of us. We never attempted anything more than breakfast and snacks, but it served our needs for the week of our visit.

The Medina was about a half hour walk from the condo. We walked the distance many times. It would have been shorter but two closer Medina gates were closed because of construction on new big hotels. Marrakesh had the highest temperatures we have experienced in Morocco, over 30 C, but most of the time we were able to walk in the shade of walls, buildings or awnings.

Our first full day in Marrakesh we took advantage of a free introductory tour of the city. We were driven in a minivan around the outside walls of the Medina, which encompasses the largest area of the Medinas we have visited in Morocco. We also had a quick tour of the Palmeraie, where Residence Amina has a second resort set amongst quiet gardens about 5-6 kms from the city.

Water is very important to an arid country like Morocco. We were taken to see the Jardin de l’Aguedal, a water reservoir first built in the 14th C. Unlike our public buildings, this one had been constructed to be decorative as well as utilitarian. It services a huge area of market gardens and olive groves and is open to the public only Friday and Sunday. Families visit to see the flowers and to feed schools of large carp that swarm to the surface to feed on breadcrumbs thrown to them.

Filtration Plant

Beautiful Carpets

Our guide, Aziz, took us inside the Medina to visit a large carpet cooperative. We were given a talk and shown examples of the different styles of carpets, from the Imperial, or Oriental style, to the Berber, or Kilim, flat weave style. The colours and workmanship were awesome but we were not in the market. We are trying to limit our possessions and a new carpet would necessitate a complete redecoration of the house, which we are not prepared to do. One of the women in our group did succeed in buying a Kilim carpet about 1.2 X 1.5 M. She knows how to bargain. She said she had been advised to pay 1/8 of the original price and she did. She managed to cut the original price of €800 to €100!

We found the best internet service in Morocco in the Cyber Park, just outside the Medina. The internet building is a showpiece for Maroc Telecom. It is in the middle of leafy gardens sponsored by several technology companies. During our visit there was a wonderful exhibit of photographs, called The Earth Seen from the Sky. A Frenchman, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, spent 4,000 hours in helicopters in 2005 taking photos all over the world. Displayed on large free-standing panels about 4 X 8 M, the patterns he captured were fabulous. There was a message provided for each photograph, highlighting global warming or some other ecological damage. Each country where the photo was taken was identified by a red dot on a world map. I took issue with the photo of autumn colours in the Charlevois. The red dot was somewhere over Saskatchewan so I inked in an X on the St Lawrence River. I didn’t do the same to a photo of Hurricane Katrina damage in New Orleans whose red dot was somewhere on the Carolina coast.

Cyber Park

Ceiling decor in Palace

We visited two museums in the Medina one morning. Unfortunately we arrived at the Bahia Palace at the same time as several large tour groups. I almost suffered an attack of claustrophobia but thankfully we managed to avoid the worst of the crowds in the large complex. The palace was started in the 1860s by Sultan Moulay el Hassan and embellished from 1894-1900 by the Grand Vizier Abu “Bou” Ahmed. Just part of the 150 rooms and 8 acres of gardens have been restored and are open to the public. We wandered through the reception areas and the area that housed his four wives and 24 concubines. The décor of the rooms are prime examples of the skill of Moroccan artisans. The floors were patterns of marble and mosaic tiles. The walls were carved plaster and more mosaics and the cedar ceilings were painted with different patterns in each room.

Just a short distance away was the Dar (house) Si Said, built by Bou Ahmed’s brother in the late 19th C. He spared no expense, contracting the leading artisans of the time to build his home. The house is now a museum displaying traditional crafts. There were rooms filled with carved wooden doors, rugs, jewellery, pottery, copper ware and a wall or ceremonial daggers. The upper floors had more of the decorative ceilings as the Bahia Palace.

All this touring calls for periodic refreshment break. We have both learned to appreciate Mint Tea, a sugar laden delicacy, rather like a liquid scotch mint. The best comes in a metal tea pot and is poured from on high into a small glass tumbler. Even better is drinking the tea while enjoying a Moroccan pastry. The other drink not to be missed is fresh squeezed orange juice. It is inexpensive and delicious.

 After all the traditional tajines and cous cous we have eaten, we were ready for a change. We lucked out. We were searching for the simple Café des épices and found ourselves in the Terasses des épices. Seating is on cushioned benches in alcoves around the side of a top floor terrace. Diners are made comfortable by bursts of cooling mist. Ray had a smoked salmon, avocado and goat cheese salad. I had a trio of Moroccan salads. Both were so good we returned so that I could sample that smoked salmon salad while Ray contented himself with a penne and aubergine dish.

lunch at Terasses des épices

Musicians inPlace Djemaa-el-Fna

The place to go in the late afternoon and evening is the main plaza in Marrakesh, the Place Djemaa-el-Fna in the Medina. The name of the plaza means “assembly of the dead”, derived from the public executions held there about 1050 AD. People arrive in droves every night to see the buskers, women offering henna hand tattoos and other impromptu entertainment. Circles of onlookers surrounded the most popular groups and workers passed the hat for contributions. There is a tradition of traditional story telling and cross-dressed belly dancers. Since everything was in Arabic, I couldn’t understand any of the tales being told but the belly dancers were there in force, accompanied by musicians.

Other groups of traditional musicians entertained and salesmen pitched the latest medicinal cure. During the daytime the only wagons setup in the middle of the plaza are those selling fruits, nuts, spices and orange juice. At night, the center is filled with portable food stalls lit up and vocally advertising their specialties. You can enjoy a bowl of snails, have a sausage in a bun, sample a brochette of meat or have a fish dinner. The choice is endless. The only caution is make sure of the prices for you may end up with a larger bill than you anticipated when unordered treats appear and you eat them.

I was getting to the end of the books I brought with me to read and was having trouble finding a supply of English books to trade. We finally found a source, for a price, at the very good, upscale Café du Livres, in the Ville Nouveau, about 20 minutes from our condo. I found books of my choice but the best find in my opinion was the Pain au Chocolate in a café next to the book place. Oh, memories of all those Parisian delights! They were so good I brought several back to the condo for breakfast the next day.

Seven days in Marrakesh is more than is really needed but it gave us an opportunity to see the sights as well as time to simply relax. We did take one excursion outside the city and that will be the topic of the next blog.