Family Vacation, Part 1: Marrakech

Hola, friends! We just spent a whirlwind nine days, flying first to Marrakech and then to Barcelona, with a stop in-between at El Puerto and our own bed. For this family vacation, Molly flew in from Baltimore.  Laura, Adam K, and Nieto (grandson in Spanish) came in from Hartford. The only one missing was Adam R, who is soon returning to the Northeast from a 2+ year stint out West as organic farmer extraordinaire. We missed you, Ad!

Everything went off seamlessly. Eight-month-old Nieto was a trooper. 

He simply loves traveling! And what's not to like? 

He is carried around all day in a snuggly pack, whimpers and

 immediately gets nursed (the quickest way to squelch cries in public), 

and sleeps in his parents' bed at night. 

Five adults are his adoring audience 24/7, 

and countless Moroccans want to hold and kiss him.

 If Nieto could talk, he'd undoubtedly tell us 

he just loves Europe and Northern Africa.

Marrakech was a surprise. First, tourism is encroaching. Deb's friend from work visited in the 1990s and said it "was all dirt roads, including the main square."..... No longer. Muhammed V and Muhammed VI are major boulevards, lined with sprawling terra cotta-colored buildings, and the main square, Jemaa El Fna (pronounced as a rushed "j'maf na") within the old city walls, is fully paved (although still chaotic!) We stayed in a smaller hotel about a mile from the Kasbah, which worked out well. Pictured above is the Four Seasons Resort. We stopped here one night (thanks to Molly's connections!) and had drinks out on the veranda with this scene before us.

Marrakech vs Fez

The Kasbah is the spiritual and historical heart of Marrakech. Compared to Fez, 

Marrakech's old city was smaller. We didn't use a guide, whereas in Fez, 

we simply had to if we were to come out on the other side. 

The shopping was better in Marrakech. It probably was catering 

more to tourists than in Fez. 

And we have to say the food was much better here, too, mainly because there were many upscale restaurants appealing to Western palates. Italian, French, and, of course, Moroccan cuisine were easy to find outside of the Kasbah. Wine was available in these contemporary eateries, and prices were incredibly reasonable.  In Fez, it was a totally different story. Fez was fabulous because it was so authentic, but what Marrakech lacked in old-world charm, it made up in new-world luxuries--which we enjoyed thoroughly! So we experienced both the old and new, and it satisfied everyone in our party of 5.5.

Here are our favorite scenes:

Jemaa El Fna--the main square in the Kasbah. What a riot of colors, people,
taxi cabs, motorcycles, people, and horse-drawn carriages.
Not to mention souks, acrobats, fortune tellers, snake charmers (pictured below),
and a man selling dentures and individual teeth amassed in a large bowl.
The smoke  you see in the background is from all the open-air cooking.
On top of that throw in the call to prayer on a loud speaker five times per day!

Typical spice shop.

Snake charmers. Yes, these are cobras.

Water sellers roam the square, ringing copper bells to announce their arrival.
The brass cups are meant exclusively for the Muslims,
 while the white-metal cups are for thirsty people from other religions. 

We hired a driver on Sunday and drove to the foothills of the Atlas Mountains.
First stop was roadside camels. This stubborn beast must have had
his fill of tourists because he refused to get up, despite the owners cajoling!
 

Atlas Mountains in the background.

Our driver kept on commenting on how fresh the air was out here as
compared to downtown Marrakesh.

Unhappy Nieto. Time to change his diaper. The Souk owner recognized what needed to be done and threw down a Berber rug especially for the occasion!

Berber villages were spotted throughout the mountains. So cool.

This is NOT a Berber house. Far from it. But it was a beautiful restaurant/store
we stopped by on the way back to town.

Love blue doors.

More blue highlights.

Marrakesh Jim. 

Going Home.

After three nights in Marrakech, we regrouped in El Puerto for two nights (laundry, sleep, homemade meals, internet, TV coverage of Storm Sandy, and floor-time with Nieto).

Nieto was dressed up as Charlie Brown
 on Halloween night. Cute.

And the next morning we boarded Ryan Air again,
this time to Barcelona.

 Stay tuned to Family Vacation Part 2.  

Hasta luego! Deb and Jim

We Love Mallorca

We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to visit Mallorca. We loved the hiking, the vistas, the quintessential European villages, the mountains, the shops, our little Nissan “race car,” the “petit hotel” where we stayed (including our stone garret with little windows that opened out onto the street), the food, and our time together.

View from our room.

We stayed in Alcudia, in the northern part of the island, which
is less crowded.

Let's buy this house. (Peggy?)

We took a short train ride from Soller to the Port.

Tourist.

Cloud 9.

Photo taken from inside the car.

Hike on our first day led us to this cove where we sat at a table in the sand for lunch.

It was hard to believe it was October. High 70s, low 80s. Just lovely.

Second day of hiking---a little more formidable! We
were headed to Ermita de la Victoria. (Thank goodness for
switchbacks.)

Best of both worlds: Hiking with vistas of  the Mediterranean and mountains.

Reminded us a little of Lagos, Portugal.

Mallorcan wild goat is unique to the Island. They were grazing all over the mountains.

Morning glories, as well as so many other flowers, were
still in full bloom. This area must get more rain and milder
temps than we do because many of the same flowers
where we live are past their prime.

Here's our little hotel--- a renovated 10th century building.
We stayed in the attic. Beautifully renovated.

Last day. Roads were steep and curvy. And driving our little rented Nissan car, which
hugged every turn, was a blast.

More vistas from the car.

We stopped at the village of  Deia for lunch.

Houses were perched on cliffs.

Quintessential European street scene.

A thirty minute walk from town, through the hills, brought us to this out-of-the-way
cafe on a cove. This was the hang-out for "local" Robert Graves and other
literati back in the day.

Our view from the restaurant.

By chance, we arrived in Alcudia on the first day of Feria, which is "the party of
the year." Unlike Andalucia where everyone gets dressed up in traditional garb, here
Feria was more like a county fair. 

We had a romantic meal here.

We only have high praise for Mallorca.
 If you have the chance to go, do it!
Hasta luego, Deb and Jim