Good Times in Marrakech

Friday, we hired a guide to show us around the city. This was by far the most brilliant thing ever. He asked us what we were interested in seeing, and that’s where he took us. If something came up along the way, he would ask if we were interested, and if so, would take us in, but if not, “No problem.”
We were treated to the glory of rug shopping. Sitting in a private room in the back of the store on lovely couches sipping mint tea and being educated about rugs. It worked well. Both Annie and Johnna bought a rug.
We then were continuing our game of follow-the-leader as he lead us through the maze of the souks (the market). He took us to a spice/herbal store. Again, we were seated in a private room with our own discussion of what all he had to offer. We also got brief neck and shoulder massages while there. It worked. Among the four of us, we spent almost $100 at the store, and managed to walk out with three ‘complimentary’ gifts each. This spoke volumes to us about how much we must have actually spent there.
Next, we headed to the museum and I admired all the artwork, displays, and traditional items. Had I been able to read French, I could tell you much more, but I promise, it was very lovely there. We then headed to what used to be a school for the young boys. They would attend from age 10 to 12 to study and learn the Koran. Although the building is no longer used as a school, it was amazing to see it. 132 rooms for 900 students. Do the math. Yep, that’s about 8 kids to a room. The ceilings were less than 2 meters high, and I doubt the floor space was much more than 2 or 2.5 square meters. In the corner of each room was a ladder which led to a room with the same dimensions. Four on the lower floor and four on the upper floor.
After our tour through the souks, we had lunch and decided to see the ramparts as the sun set. We did the total tourist thing and hired a horse drawn carriage to take us around for about an hour. It was a beautiful sight to see the burnt oranges hues change in intensity as the sun faded.
Dinner time. Time to head into the booths of over 100 restaurants. We maneuvered our way to one of the vendors we spoke with the previous night who promised us the food was, “Bloody Amazing!” I was also pleased because it was booth #75. And it did help as we stood deliberating about whether to eat there or not, the owner and cooks were able to get a fair amount of those dining under their tent to becoming a giant cheering squad that erupted even louder as we chose to dine there.
We took turns going up to see what there was to choose from, and as I went up, the owner was there to point out what everything was. Not in the mood to make a decision, I asked him what his favorite was. He began to list off a few things, and I asked him if he would just order for me – surprise me, I requested. Apparently, this is a bit more of an honor than I realized. With his hand over his heart, he promised he would take very good care of me. His eyes then lit up and he asked if I wanted to have my picture taken in the ‘kitchen’ which was really more of a cooking area. Before, I could answer, he grabbed my hand, and held up a curtain and I was suddenly up on milk crates with several cheering Moroccan, and holding different forms of food. It was hysterical!
Dinner was delicious and the owner continued to check on us all throughout our meal. By the end, he generously offered us to come back once it had slowed down to enjoy some champagne…around 2 or 3 in the morning. Had I not been catching a bus in the morning to Essaouira, I probably could have made it. But my days of being a rock star are numbered, and this was not going to be one of those nights.We wandered though the souks, did a bit more shopping, this time Julie made two small purchases, and we wound our way back to our hotel to pack and for another night of sleep before the next adventure.