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:
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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! |
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| Typical spice shop. |
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| Snake charmers. Yes, these are cobras. |
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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. |
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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!
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| Atlas Mountains in the background. |
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Our driver kept on commenting on how fresh the air was out here as
compared to downtown Marrakesh. |
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| 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! |
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| Berber villages were spotted throughout the mountains. So cool. |
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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. |
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| Love blue doors. |
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| More blue highlights. |
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| 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
