Morocco is different than any of the other places we have visited while we've been here. Everything from the food, the language, the sights and smells- all very unique. The boys really took it all in and we enjoyed watching them experience something so different. The moments we had couldn't be replicated and will never be forgotten.
We stayed a really lovely resort. You would never know that the crazy city of Marrakesh was on the outside of these walls.
Our camel ride through the desert was one of the highlights of our trip. It's not every day that you can drive to the middle of no where and hop on a camel for 2 hours. The boys really enjoyed the ride and managed it really well. We rode one hour in and stopped at a traditional Barber house for mint tea and moroccan pancakes. Yum.
On our way to a traditional Moroccan dinner. This involved belly dancers, musicians, singers, acrobats, and snake charmers! It was a really good time!
Henry volunteered to go up to have the snake wrapped around his neck!
And it gave him a kiss. No worries, no one was panicking!
The show started at 8:30 at night...needless to say it was past their bed time but he did eventually wake up and rally.
The next day we were taken into the Medina (city center to see the souks). Souks are essentially large market places that are confined by narrow alley ways. With in the old city of Marrakech there are small communities - each one has it's own community bread oven and hammam (steambath). The hammam is is an ancient and integral part of Moroccan life as water, which is considered sacred, and cleanliness, are essential elements of Islam. In a part of the world where family and community are everything, the hammam is deeply rooted in everyday communal life. This is where people go to socialise, gossip, make connections, do business and even arrange marriages.
There are hammams throughout the Medina; some are basic – a couple of small tiled rooms, announced by a faded ‘Sunsilk’ sign – and others are hundreds of years old and full of character, with great domed rooms heated by wood fires under the buildings and multi-colored beams of sunlight filtering through stained glass into the steamy darkness within.
Below is one of the community ovens. Dough is brought to him by community members each morning. His job is to bake it. He distinguishes each persons bread by making special markings on the dough as it bakes.
Our guide brought us to what is now a historical building. It used to be a boarding school. The court garden was their place for prayer. The pictures don't really show the beauty of the architecture but it was stunning.
**A note. Islam religion states that you perform daily prayer 5 times a day. In the city of Marrakesh the call to prayer is piped through speakers 5 times a day to serve as a reminder to pray. What you hear is actually a prayer throughout the city. It stated at 5am.
Yes, this is them drinking Fanta. Long story but it started out by asking if I could have orange juice in Sicily- they handed me a Fanta. I couldn't go through another 15 minutes of trying to get a proper drink. So Fanta - it's a new addiction. And yes only on holidays.
Upon closer inspection of this picture I see the snake is wrapped around Henry's neck. I didn't see this moment and I'm glad I didn't.
This is better.
This guy wanted us to take pictures at his orange juice stall.
We were trying to get a good picture of the olives next to me but we had to always be careful of what we were taking pictures of because if someone thought that we were taking pictures of them they would expect money.
Youseff was our guide for the day. He was great and took us to many different areas of the souk. Places we may not have ventured on our own. Our first visit was on a Friday, which is a holy day. It was much quieter crowd wise but we were happy about this. Especially since we went again two days later and it was mobbed. The pictures below are combination from the days we visited.
It was amazing to walk down an alley that didn't look like much and then to stumble on a shop like this. It was a beautiful renovated riad. Riads are Moroccan houses with interior gardens or courtyards.
Everyone needs a fez right??
It was so amazing that we could come back to this after a busy morning.
One day we took a horse and buggy to the Majorelle Garden. Very, very pretty manicured gardens smack dab in the middle of chaos. You would never know what was going on outside the walls. The boys got the front seat the entire day and even cracked the whip now and then!
Back in the buggy and into the medina again.
One of the entrances to the Medina. The Medina is actually walled from the rest of Marrakesh. There is the new city (outside the walls) and the old city (inside the city).
The boys having a drink at the bar. (Note the Fanta)
While this one takes a nap!
Hanging out with the musician before our fancy dinner in which the kids had plain couscous for dinner. When in Rome...
More pictures from the souks and Medina.
Look out for the donkey's!
This was a very cool geocache. You had to ask for Youseff (different from Youseff our guide) and ask if he had a cache. He was so nice to the boys and we were excited to find this cache very deep in the heart of a souk. He was a shoe maker- thousands of leather shoes in his shop.
Literally mopeds zooming by you as your walking.
The pictures don't really do it justice but the size of these shops are so small- it is amazing that this is what their daily life consists of.
Some of these shops have been in the owners families for several generations. In some areas of the souk, their very small living quarters is directly above the shop.
Going out for our final dinner in Morocco.
On this particular night we went to restaurant located about 15 minutes into the Medina from our resort. La Fondouk It happened to be in a part we hadn't seen before. The taxi could only take us so far as it couldn't get down the alley. So, two young boys escorted us to the restaurant for a small fee. Coincidentally, they were waiting for us when we left to help us find our taxi to go home. It was worth every cent.
This was the outside of our Ksar. It was the perfect home to come back to after so much stimulation in the heart of Marrakesh.
Marrakesh. It was a very cool place to visit. The boys were exposed to so much as were we. At the end of every trip I always ask myself if we would go back and for sure we would.
