Marrakech

I finally crossed Africa off the list- my goal to visit each continent ..

 

 

My friends Danique and Danielle invited me to join them in a plan to visit Morocco, we really wanted to get some good shopping done as well as exploring a new culture- different from the Western Europe that we were so used to. I must admit I love the movie Casablanca, but I never thought that I would go to Morocco. We decided on the city of Marrakech for four days in October.

One of the first things we did was visit Yves Saint Laurent's garden in the city- it was beautiful, like a little oasis

 

They had all sorts of beautiful plants- my favourite of all being the jade plant- I've always been in love with Jade plants- ever since my black thumb was able to care of one out of the dorm in UT, to all the ones we used to propagate in the SURGe Greenhouse (my old college club, Science Undergraduate Research Group)... We had a greenhouse in order to fund the organization.

 

I also fell in love with the architecture and how color could do so much to evoke a different emotion. They had a lot of ancient buildings- but the colors made everything seem so lively.

 

 

The next most important thing we did was explore the souks- the souks were the maze of shops in the center. Selling everything you could possibly imagine from scarves, food, jewellery, henna, everything!

 

 

The square was always hectic, it was like something I have never experienced. We are so used to calm and relaxed atmospheres in America and the US, but here it was all about trying to make the sale- these people are trying to make a living by literally selling whatever they can.

View from a terrace

Inside the Maze

 

The Dyers Market was beautiful- they used natural ingredients to make pigments to dye
Scarves and cloths-


The next day we visited a mosque and the Sadian tombs- it was absolutely lovely.

We absolutely loved the intricate detail that is put into every detail- the carvings on the doors- the tiles.. gorgeous.

 

Sadian Tombs

Even the food was delicious- they had tagines, hummus, argan oil instead of olive oil- unfortunately I only pictured this Moroccan couscous- It might look strange but the vegetables were sweet and uniquely spiced:

 

 

Finally we visited the ruins of El Badi Palace- ruins from an old Saadian palace in the 1500s.

Panorama

 

 

 

 

Relaxing in the Ruins

 

 

 

 

All in all it was a lovely experience and something I wouldn't have traded for the world- I have never experienced a city like Marrakech, and I was so lucky to go with two of my best friends and be able to share new experiences together.