Marrakech Feb. 14, 2011

The pigeon we had for the special Valentine's Day dinner last night, I was sure, was not going to set well in my stomach, but not only did it taste like chicken, it stayed where it belonged. In fact, all the meals at our riad, a villa type home which has been made into a small hotel, were delicious. Besides tasty, they were always served artistically with exquisite table decorations by Abdul, Yashim and Amin.  We had quail, chicken and beef, in addition to the pigeon, with all sorts of well-seasoned vegetables and salads. Desserts ranged from fruit to chocolate fondue. and the coffee here has been excellent, something for which we are very grateful. Our very favorite drink, however, was a combination of fresh squeezed orange and pomegranate juices which we got at a town called Sitti Fatima. We visited there yesterday and enjoyed the ambiance of a small town originally built in the mountains by Berbers for the beautiful, cool climate, a respite from the terrifically hot summer temperatures in Marrakech.

I should actually start at the beginning. Getting to the riad on Friday afternoon was quite a feat and could have ended up poorly if we hadn't been guided to our riad by our taxi driver through twists, turns, tunnels, and dark alleyways. We stepped from a dark and damp passageway into a beautifully decorated hallway, past a tiny kitchen that turned out some amazing meals, and into an open courtyard with a collection of colorful Moroccan furniture, tiles, a fountain with sparkling blue water, and a large cage containing 4 darling chinchillas. Our room upstairs was both colorful and cozy with a very large shower and nice seating area with what turned out to be a comfortable bed. We fell in as soon as we could.

Saturday was our first full day in Marrakech, and we began by visiting a few of the more famous sites. The Place Jenaa el Fna is a huge square in the old medina where we paid the first visit of many to buy fresh orange juice at 50 cents a glass, watch the cobras sway to the music of the tin horns their masters played, and laughed at the monkeys on chains brought in to entertain the Moroccans as well as foreign visitors. (It's no wonder that I dreamed about snakes that night). On the way to the Place el Fna we had to pass through many small alleyways lined with hundreds of postage-stamp-size shops selling virtually everything. Every shopkeeper thought we needed what they were selling, of course, and it was hard to even look without causing a stir, but we managed to get to the Bahia Palace, the Badi Palace and Sadieen Tombs with stops for cappuccino inbetween. We also stopped at a herbalist and to see Berber arts of carpets, jewelry, and other decorations. The Berbers are the early nomadic people.

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Sunday we visited the Musee de Marrakech where everything was in French (why didn't we pay closer attention in class?) and then visited a tannery. This was an amazing process unchanged for thousands of years. The hides are put through various processes, all of which are so foul-smelling that they offered us sprigs of mint to hold up to our noses to allow us to breathe. The entire area was covered with hundreds of vats dug in the ground (we had to watch where we stepped) containing different kinds of natural chemicals and dyes. It's a nasty business but one that produces a very fine leather.

We took a carriage ride to “air out”and enjoyed seeing the king's palace and different types of architecture that runs from extremely simple to very ornate. Designs on the doors are pretty fascinating, no two alike, in a variety of colors and styles. Ordinary homes are surrounded by tall walls of about 2 stories with only about 5 feet inbetween them, making narrow passageways that turn and twist, but opening into hallways that lead to sunlit courtyards that contain fountains and plants that might be found in our yards. It is always bright inside because the courtyard always opens to the sky which has been eternally blue except for one day and that is the day we went to Sitti Fatima.

The day started out cloudy, and we were sorry that we had chosen that day to travel into the countryside, but nearly halfway there, the sun broke out and before us appeared the High Atlas Mountains with glittering snow at the top like vanilla ice cream on a cone.

Our driver Mohammed stopped at a pharmacy where herbs were made into teas and creams and then at a typical Berber home before we arrived in Sitti Fatima where we had lunch and hiked to a waterfall, stopping here and there to look at some of many wooden sheds set up along the rocky path. They all displayed handicrafts, snacks or drinks that were for sale. It wasn't very crowded along the way, but we heard that in summer hoards of people travel to the Ourika Valley to cool off.

That brings us to the present which finds us aboard the train bound for Fez or Fes as Moroccans spell it. It's an 8 hour trip but we are passing the time speaking with Mouna and Simohamed sometimes in French (very hard for us), German (hard for Simo who studied it for 6 months and will go to Germany to study in the university), or English which Muona wants to practice because she'll be coming to the US with her husband. They are brother and sister traveling to her recent husband's family's home.

A big holiday coming up tomorrow-- the birthday of the prophet Mohammed—so the train is crowded with standing room only and that's mostly taken. We haven't been able to stand up because of the hoards of people, so it's very uncomfortable. Besides, it's raining buckets, and we can see standing water. We certainly hope it stops.