Tag Archives: marrakech

Apr 11 2012
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Journey

Final Bites

Here’s a quick summary of a few other great restaurants we tried in Marrakech:

Le Jardin – we headed here post-hammam and it fit the mood perfectly. The majority of the tables in this restaurant sit underneath the shade of tall trees, set against an entirely green tiled courtyard. Upon our arrival at nightfall, candles dotted every corner of the space, creating a serene experience in the middle of the bustling medina. We munched on a selection of salads that complemented our afternoon’s spa activities and shared a few bottles of some of Marrakech’s best wine (yes, they produce wine. This one was a Medallion Cabernet Sauvignon).

Grand Café de la Poste - well known expat stop that offers great atmosphere and good food. You’ll feel like you’re in a time warp (or an old movie) with the colonial décor and attentive service. My travel mate referred to it as the Balthazar of Marrakech and after dining there, I’d have to agree.


Café des Épices - the more casual sister to the Terrasse des Épices mentioned previously. This café overlooks the spice square and the rooftop tables offer a more panoramic view of the city than its ground floor counterparts. The simple chalkboard menu offers a few sandwiches and salads that will sate the appetites of those on a mission to shop the souks (the avocado toast comes highly recommended by me).

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Apr 10 2012
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Journey

Exfoliation Station

Thinking a hammam treatment would be a Moroccan looking steam room with a large woman scrubbing us down, we were in for a surprise when a very small man from Guinea ushered us into a tiny red room with no steam, no frills and no English. As he proceeded to soak us in water like we were elephants, he then ripped off our bikini tops until we four women were sat topless, thigh to thigh on miniature stools. Did I mention some of us had met for the first time just one day prior?

The Torture Chamber

He grabbed us one by one and threw us face down onto the floor where here proceeded to rub us down in black soap and scrub us down with a brillo pad (well, it felt like one anyway). In the moment we were all very into it, but upon my return to photograph the room we agreed our hammam looked more like a torture chamber than a relaxing scene.

This definitely qualified as one of the more weird and wonderful experiences of my life.

Things our Guinean friend taught us (luckily we had one French speaker on hand to translate):

1. The trick to smooth skin is NOT to moisturise but to exfoliate often – if his skin was anything to go by, I’d toss my lotions if I were you

2. His father used to play with Hendrix

3. The first person he ever scrubbed down was a Rolling Stone

4. A great cure for acne scarring is a mixture of crushed rice powder and milk. Sleep with it on your face and your skin will be clear in no time (says he)

 

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Apr 09 2012
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Journey

Runabout in the Souks

Our first attack of the souks was with our guide, who kindly took us around to all of the quality shops. Our goal was to avoid all of the kitschy tourist traps and find the authentic pieces and antiques.

Closed Souks on a Friday Morning

Above – what the souks looked like on Friday morning – their version of a closed weekend morning.

Souks Open for Afternoon Business

Above, a stark difference from morning to afternoon. Although still relatively quiet, the souks came alive after 3pm…

Women Weaving a Traditional Berber Rug

When the call to prayer sounded, our guide dumped us in a massive rug emporium where we saw two women at the hand of a centuries-old loom. Trying my hand at the tedious technique, I soon learned the patience and willpower these women must have to complete one rug, let a lone hundreds in their lifetime.

Massive rug emporium where our second hand high came free

Waiting on our guide to return from the mosque, we wandered about the shop where we got a second hand high from the fumes of hash coming from the workers’ mouths. They rolled out rug after rug until we ultimately shut them down and scuttled out of the place gasping for fresh air. No rugs in hand.

The rest of our afternoon continued, the only successful purchase was an antique bamboo and camel leather rug from the family owned and celebrity frequented Porte d’Or – where my friend got the price so low the rug would ‘cry all the way to London’ (according to the owner). With such an unproductive day and feeling as rushed as we did (we had a hammam appointment), we vowed to return again to following week.

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Apr 08 2012
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Trick and Treat

We scooted to lunch at the Terrasse des épices where it was time to slow down the eating and share some lighter Moroccan fare. We nibbled on grilled vegetables from one plate, which included the best damn grilled tomatoes I’ve had in ages, and mixed carrot, aubergine and potato salads from another.

For dessert? Cinnamon coffee – a trick and treat I will take with me forever. Caffeinated and ready for our afternoon’s adventure, we rushed out to meet our tour guide who kindly agreed to pick us up there…but more on that in a bit.

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Apr 07 2012
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Journey

My Favourite Maison

Visiting Africa’s only dedicated photography museum, Maison de la Photographie, was a highlight – the exhibition we saw included a collection of photographs meant to show the diversity of the Moroccan people. Beautiful black and white shots of some incredible subjects displayed the Arabic, Berber and French ethnicities spread across the country.

Courtyard of the Maison de la Photographie
Photograph courtesy of Camden Hauge

The exposed courtyard lent a dynamic element to the main gallery and to the images, making me feel as if I were living and breathing them instead of viewing them from within a sterile museum. My favourite subject was an androgynous boy with a head wrap (image above – left), the only indication of his masculine identity is the lack of jewellery around his a neck (a fact we learned from the museum guide).

Four floors of photography led up to the tallest rooftop terrace in the medina where one could take tea and lunch. We skipped the food and instead admired the views across the city, a sight I won’t soon forget.

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Apr 06 2012
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Buy Two, One Free!

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                                               Streetside herbs and teas

Setting off on day two of the Moroccan adventure, we decided to hit the streets on our own before meeting up with a souk expert and later experiencing a scrub down in our riad’s hammam. 

Our end goal for the morning was to ultimately reach the Maison de la Photographie, or the photography museum of Marrakech. On our way, we ran into the usual street vendors and stall owners, trying their very best to suck us into their shops to purchase their goods. We did our best to keep moving – but between frenzied cries of ’ey, Spice Girls!’, ‘Fish and chips!’ and ‘Jamie Oliver!’ we were bound to get sucked in somewhere (our troupe of four Americans apparently came off looking English).

That somewhere happened to be a herb shop where one of the best salesman I think I’ve ever met happened to work.

Some digestive goods

He pulled us in with his subtle – ‘yes, yes, take pictures! This herb is for relaxation, this herb for digestion, this herb for detoxification’ – and the more he described the specific healing qualities of each tea and potion, the more he piqued our interest in looking around his shop. So good he was, that within five minutes we ended up in what we later realised was a private ‘sale room’ – a space akin, in my mind, to the champagne room of a strip club.

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One wall of the Champagne Room

This is where we got the one dirham massages and the real sales pitch. Our salesman rubbed every kind of scent on our hands and arms – from orange blossom and sandalwood to the surprisingly delightful frankincense (no myrhh here, sadly). As our excitement grew from one item to the next, the man realised he had clearly hooked us.

Upon deciding which things we actually wanted to buy (to be honest, was the perfume arabe really going to smell good once we left the confines of the room?) he suckered us in with ‘buy two, one free!’ on every item we looked at. So we pooled together our purchasing power and bought everything from black soap (great for exfoliation) and rose tea to saffron threads and magic lipstick.

The Magic Lipstick

What is magic lipstick you ask? Imagine the classic shape of lipstick, the texture of chapstick and a colour green as grass that once applied to your lips, turns them into a rosy pink to suit your skin tone. This was certainly one purchase which, upon exiting the champagne room, I did not regret.

Some Berber toothpicks - decidedly not minty fresh...

He threw in the Berber toothpicks for free – lucky us…!

*A note on this post – although we later thought we had been completely swindled, we spoke to a few reliable sources who confirmed the quality of goods sold here.

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Apr 05 2012
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Journey

Breaking the Fast

The beautiful sunny roof terrace of the Riad el Cadi – breakfast of fresh fruit, homemade yogurt and the best black coffee I’ve had in a while was the perfect start to each morning.

View from breakfast

Rooftop flowers

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Apr 04 2012
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Pigeon in a Parcel

The first evening in Marrakech found us exhausted from the 4:30AM wakeup call and early sleasyjet flight over  (although our morning flight didn’t stop us from enjoying a treat in the sky).

Wanting a traditional Moroccan meal, we headed to Le Foundouk- one of Marrakech’s more traditional restaurants.

Rooftop Terrace at Le Foundouk

Met with an auspicious cocktail menu, we knew we were in for a good night. Americanos (any excuse to drink Campari) warmed us up for our first course of Moroccan salads and more importantly, pastilla. The traditional flaky pastry is a parcel of pigeon with a smattering of ground almond, egg, onion, sugar and cinnamon. The sweet and savoury combination was unbelievable. If I could make it myself, I might eat it for breakfast lunch and dinner.

Thinking our appetites were slightly spoiled for the second course, our plates arrived and we found our second wind. I went with the lamb, almond and prune tagine, others tried fish and chicken ones – needless to say, we polished everything on the table.

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Apr 03 2012
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Journey

Morocco on My Mind

In need of a break from London, I gathered the troops for a trip to Morocco – Marrakech, more specifically.

All my impressions of the city – film, photography and word of mouth – gave me the sense that Marrakech would be both a buzzing city with people hassling me left, right and centre but also a boho oasis of candlelit rooftop lounge bars.

I was happy to experience a little bit of everything, from an exfoliating hammam scrub down in our riad to a quick dinner in the vibrant Jamaa el Fna (the main square and market place) and a lot more in between.

But let’s start with where we stayed, the Riyad el Cadi.

Orange Blossom Courtyard

Candlelit Courtyard

This small hotel first welcomed us at the airport with a driver who brought us to the medina, across the square and through the bustling streets to the front door of the riad (a word which has two spellings – stick with me here). We quickly checked in and walked up to our room, a journey that took us through the orange blossom courtyard (the scent!) and across the palm courtyard, past the small dipping pool and up the stairs. The décor throughout was a lovely combination of modern and antique Moroccan style – think textile wallhangings, exposed ceiling beams, heavy wooden doors and dark wooden furniture set against white washed walls. To our delight, this place lacked that kitschy over-the-top Moroccan style that many other hotels employ in their design.

Our room did not disappoint. The suite, sleeping all four of us, overlooked the palm courtyard and was furnished with some great vintage pieces – including two shotguns mounted on either side of one bed. Knowing lunch was waiting for us on the roof, we quickly dropped our bags and ran upstairs to the sunny terrace. Where a perfectly executed three course French meal was waiting for us.

With that, we kicked off our 9 day stay in Morocco – stay tuned for more pictures!

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