OK - it's Saturday 3 November 2018 at 8:10pm in Marrakech, Morocco. We have been so busy that tonight since there was no specific event Ross and I stayed "home" in the hotel for the evening and it was a super break!
I plan to add a lot more details to my photos and tell my stories after I get home with nothing to do - when will that happen????? So here we go starting with 1 November through 3 November:
Pretty interesting place on our walk - tacos fast food...hmmm..we did not stop here! Does Mig Mag mean mish mash - first thing that came to my mind.
Moroccan olives are the best in the world and I can attest to that. I cannot believe how beautiful these displays were. Could I do this for one of our dinners?
Ummmm - a meat market with a few unidentifiable body parts but someone said they saw heart, liver and stomach - ewwwwwww!
This was a school of Kohran for boys. The more educated and well behaved they were the further they moved up and actually the top floor had windows to look out when they could. It's really quite secluded.
This was one of the "dorm rooms" and only a very high window, made out of stone and not very comfortable looking.
We got to walk to the rooftop if we wanted and of course I never missed an opportunity to explore.
This was a beautiful Mosque and it Marrakech the tiles were all green. In some of the other cities they were different colors but could all be recognized.
This is one of the places we had lunch and of course the streets are very narrow with only bikes or donkeys or people to pass.
It was owned by a few generations and one of the daughters after it being vacated for a few years decided to start a small B&B type place and serve lunches and dinners. Tourism is the way to make money.
The young couple have 3 little kids and run this place and still have time to travel and be involved parents.
The upstairs and I think it had about 8 rooms for rent.
And one of the narrow "streets" after we left lunch:
One of the main squares with entertainers, fortune tellers and snake charmers and no I did not touch the snake.
This is how a lot of the population lives and I think the majority of the population is quite poor.
Traffic jams all over the place and there does not appear to be a lot of traffic rules but only "suggestions"!
What the heck is "Wall Street English" - I need to do a little research on this!
We toured this vineyard and later were served the same wine and I must say Moroccan wine is good and there are vineyards all over.
Dinner in our hotel one night and the executive chef was named Christophe so of course I had my photo taken with him. Fun to also have a son named Christopher!
This was a view from our room in Casablanca right on the Atlantic Ocean and it was awesome.
Pretty deluxe room and easy to get spoiled but I still prefer on my own travel and renting apartments where I can make my own coffee and don't have to worry if I have breakfast in my pajamas just like at home.
Hassan IV Mosque - 3rd largest in the world and 80,000 people can pray here both inside and outside and facing Mecca on their prayer rugs.
The beautiful chandeliers are made on the glass island of Murano right near Venice - I was there just over a month ago. They were 2200 pounds and cost I'm sure a lot of money.
A little more street art and this was one of my favorites - how did they do this???
Next up Musee Abderrahman Siaoui which had posters, artifacts, jewelry, clothing and containers.
Many of the posters sent a message of how women are treated and other topics.
Love this Moroccan poster for Palmolive soap!
And the clothes are drying on lines everywhere which makes sense to me as that is how I grew up on the farm but of course have not had a clothes line in years at my house.
Yup - Rick's Cafe made famous in the movie "Casablanca" - with Humphrey Bogart. The owner for many years was American and died this past year and there was an obituary in the New York Times.
This is my name written in Arabic. Very difficult to learn I am sure.
More of the Atlas Mountains heading from Casablanca to Marrakech:
Marrakech is called the "Red City" because the soil is red and many of the buildings are red stone color.
And our final hotel Four Seasons in Marrakech with loads of security including mirrors to look under every car that entered the grounds with a couple security guards to open the gate.
This gives new meaning to "A Room With a View" - Hemingway?
We were gifted these traditional shoes but I must say they are not super comfortable and I probably will not be wearing them but the little girls in the family will I am sure.
Beautiful reflection of a minaret in a reflecting pool in Marrakech:
Photo op time with more entertainers and yes I did wear the hat and didn't worry about lice - too much other stuff worse than lice can happen in the world.
Looks like a palm tree but it's not - it's a cell phone towers disguised as a palm tree.
Vegetable carts all over the place and we had fruits and vegetables at every meal and they were excellent!
This is the Moroccan version of a convenience store - wow!
We visited Koutoubia - a 12th century mosque and these tombs were discovered under many feet of sand. The more layers of tile on the tombs the more important the person. There were no names or identification on them but apparently the archives do have the info. This was the men only part:
And the women had their own section separate from the men and it was even more beautiful as far as I could tell.
The stork is a protected species here so they can build nests anywhere and cannot be removed as it is bad luck.
Next up - horse drawn carriage ride to get through town and that's Ross and it was faster than the cars as they had their own lane.
Yves St. Laurent museum - I guess the famous designer spent about 35 years in Marrakech and got a lot of his ideas from here.
And here he is - of course no longer alive but a photo of him peeking through the drapes.
I can't get enough of street art wherever in the world we are - gives a new meaning to graffiti and it's well respected.
OK - it's a slow pace for the ambulance to get where it needs to go in all this slow traffic.
The main square in the medina.
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