More Exploring in Marrakech

Unfortunately, Bryce was not feeling great today, and even though he wasn't "regurgitating" any more, he decided to chill in the Riad while Laurel, myself and Sue went out with Madani.  We had quite a day, walking all over town.

We visited the Saadi tombs. These were shrines for royalty, and weren't discovered until 1917, and date to the 1600s.  There were three rooms: one for kings, one for their wives, and one for royal kids (most of whom died due to bubonic plague). The architecture and lighting was very cool:

Along the way, Madani took us to a typical Moroccan bakery.  Every neighborhood has its own bakery. Individuals and restaurants take their unbaked bread here, and the baker shoves the loaves into a huge oven (with 12 foot long spatulas).  Each person marks their loaves with a unique symbol to tell them apart. This particular bakery was 180 years old.

We also visited the Bahia Palace.  Unlike the Royal Palaces, which are not open to the public, this one from the early 1900s is available to tour.  It was occupied by the Grand Vizier (sort of like the governor), who ran the country while the 11 year old King was being educated. The Grand Vizier lived large, with four wives, and 24 concubines.  The four wives all had their own quarters, with a common courtyard, and the concubines stayed in a separate area (which used to be horse stables). Apparently the concubines had to share their rooms with one other woman.

While not as grand as some of the other palaces we have visited, the Bahia was still pretty impressive.

And what would Marrakech be without a little more shopping?  Madani took us to a shop run by a designer named Aya, who had some amazing, one-of-a-kind clothes. I bought a green cashmere sweater (to be unveiled in Tahoe), and Sue got a stunning jacket (which Laurel will wear a lot while it still fits.) Aya posed with Laurel when we were done.

After returning home and recharging, all four of us went to the Jemaa El-Fna (main square) for some Moroccan style fun. We tried a game of landing a plastic donut-shaped ring over a soda bottle using a fishing pole, and were unsuccessful (it was practically impossible, although it looked doable).

From there, we walked around a bit and tried not to look at the monkeys or snake charmers, lest we be accosted.  But we were getting hungry, so we wandered around the food stalls, having to fend off dozens of very aggressive restauranteurs, until finally settling on a place that had a decent number of other people and a friendly fellow named "Johnny Walker" who was its spokesman. We ordered various barbequed skewers of meat and chicken, and Bryce had some couscous and bread.  Sue was not totally sold on the hygiene, but she eventually nibbled on some grilled veggies, bread and french fries.  Laurel and I are more adventurous, and we enjoyed our grilled meats.

The eating area in the square has probably a hundred eateries, and most of the clientele are foreigners.  Everything is brightly lit, and looks great. Here's how our stand appeared:

For dessert (which the kids won't let us bypass), a vendor came by our table with a nice variety of baklavas, cookies and other yummies on a cart.  The kids were able to choose an assortment for about $3.

Marrakech is really intense. I'm glad we'll be taking a break tomorrow and heading to the Atlas mountains for an overnight adventure...