After a fun trip in Ireland, my friend Nate and I said farewell to our other friends and traveled to Morocco, North Africa. We flew from Dublin to London Heathrow Airport where we had a short layover before flying to Casablanca, Morocco and had another short layover, where, thankfully, we didn't have to get off of the plane. We finally arrived in the small, quiet airport in Marrakech late that evening. We found our way through passport control, stopped at the ATM to get some Dirhams, Moroccan currency, and then took a taxi into the city.
We had the taxi drop us off close to the Djemaa el Fna, the square and market place in the medina quarter, or old city, of Marrakech. It was dark out, yet busy with people, bicyclists, and vehicles. We learned quickly to be aggressive and very careful when crossing the streets. We had a map, but it was a challenge to find our way to our Riad (a fancy name for our hotel-like accommodation- so, we accepted an offer from a local boy to guide us on our way for a few Dirhams. The boy was very nice and showed us right to our Riad without any problems.
When we arrived, the manager of our Riad told us that there were no more rooms available at that location, but he had arranged another room for us around the corner. I was a little unhappy that our reservation had not been met; however, it turned out okay. He showed us to our room, gave us a map and some brochures with information on Marrakech, and made sure that we were comfortable. It was a pretty nice place.
The lobby area of our RiadThe next morning, the owners of our Riad showed us to an outdoor terrace where they served us breakfast--pastries served with mint tea, a very popular drink throughout our Moroccan experience. After breakfast, Nate and I wandered a little bit in the city to see what we could find. We spent most of the day exploring the city using the Marrakech bus tour as our mode of transportation to go beyond the medina.
The busy Djeema el Fna
Looking towards the Koutoubia Mosque and one of the busy roads
Theatre Royal in Marrakech
Interesting architecture and some of the locals
Snake charmers in the Djeema el Fna
Koutoubia Mosque and the Djeema el FnaAfter a full day of exploring the sights of the city, Nate and I spent the evening wandering through the Djeema el Fna. We walked through the markets where we found plants and flowers, colorful glass lamps, stalls with baskets filled by mounds of dried fruit and nuts, and an impressive open-air restaurant. We tried some fresh squeezed orange juice, very sweet and tasty, and bought some delicious dried apricots and dates.
Eventually, we made our way back to the Riad and got our things packed before catching some zzz's. Early the next morning, we would be venturing on a two-day tour through the Draa Valley towards the Sahara Desert.
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