Morocco: All the things. (Part 1)

J and I have a bad habit when we travel: we do it all. We’re not much for the beach, and we don’t care for resorts or lounging by the pool. We want to go to a place and soak up all it has to offer. But we struggle to balance our FOMO with the desire to return home feeling rested. It’s a ‘struggle’.

We’ve been in Marrakech for a week, and we’ve been so busy doing things I’ve barely had time to post about it. So, in no particular order, here are some of the things we’ve done during our week ‘just chilling’ in Marrakech.

We found our Riad

On day 1 we were met in the main square and escorted to our Airbnb. And thank goodness! We never would have found it on our own.

Amina showed us the way and pointed out some helpful landmarks. It was important, she noted, to look for sights and signs that wouldn’t change as places opened and closed throughout the day. This was critical advice.

Since that initial run, we’ve gotten the hang of navigating back to our place: It’s a right off the main square. A left across from the bakery with the big sign in English characters. We stay true past the shoes and the ‘cute rug’ shop (which really is). We cut across the Place des Epices and are into a second set of alleyways. We head down the hill and past the pottery vendors and the ‘grocery’ on the left where we stoped for water that one time. We hang left and watch for motorcycles at the public washroom and then it’s a quick right at the olive stand. And there we are, back at our riad. Easy peasy. Lol.

We got lost. A lot.

There probably isn’t a trip to Marrakech that doesn’t involve getting lost in the Medina. Some of our best finds and adventures happened while we were lost.

Every time we thought we’d seen the whole Medina, we’d find ourselves down a new laneway and discover a whole new section. Sometimes it was an entire mini souk dedicated to shoes or a specific style of art. Or a singular type of craftsmanship, like metal work or wood carving. And other times a wrong turn became the stuff of nightmares.

A ‘chicken loop’ is how we now refer to a wrong turn that we need to abort, asap. It was coined a few days ago when we made a wrong turn onto a Medina ‘cul de sac’ dedicated to culling chickens. The smell and the screams continue to haunt us, and we now proceed down unknown alleyways with additional caution. Understandably, no photos were taken, but here are a few from our less scarring wrong turns.

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We found cool cocktails

Marrakech (and Morocco in general) is mostly dry. Outside of a glass of wine here and there at a nice restaurant, we’ve been keeping it clean and focusing on hydration and copious amounts of mint tea. But, I am a sucker for a cocktail, and even in Marrakech, good ones can be found.

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We took a cooking class

Chef Asma was our host at Chef Laila’s cooking School. Asma took us to the market to buy our produce, and then back to her Riad for tea and the class. (Mom and head Chef Laila zipped by on her motorbike to shake our hands and say hello!). Along with a pair of women from Paris and another Canadian (by way of Germany), we learned to make tagine, salads and mint tea (which was Js primary motivation for the class – he’s committed to perfecting it back home).

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Time to hit the road again, friends. More adventures to come!