And then there was Morocco

Next in my saga of "amazing places that I've gone for work": Marrakech!

To be honest, I wasn't as in love with Marrakech as I expected. There were busloads of (Dutch) tourists at all of the major attractions, and when I escaped the tourists I was assailed by offers of goods and marriage. Now, not everyone behaved like this, but it was enough to get on your nerves. Still, for the two days that I had to wander around before the meeting started, I tried to make the most of it.

First, I was off to the major tombs, palaces, and markets. This is the Saadian Tombs. They're particularly cool because they've been in the center of Marrakech, just around the corner from a major mosque, and for 300 years they were completely forgotten. That gives you an idea of how twisty the roads are...

The rooms are all decorated with brilliant geometrical patterns, and there's now a lush garden in the center. As soon as you elbow your way through the hoards of tourists, it's quite nice!

When I came out of the tombs, I was excited to get away a little bit. I thought I would take a shortcut to the next palace. Well, that clearly will not work. I had a very nice wander through some streets where there were neither tourists nor people trying to sell me something nor men trying to marry me. In fact, it was quiet, and almost tranquil. This, I suspected, was the part of Morocco that I liked. I said hello to some women (the extent of my Arabic...), asked a man for directions... it was lovely. Look at the doors:

So, I'm looking forward to more of this in Fez at Christmas, only then hopefully my Arabic class will have had enough effect that I can move from "hello" to "how are you?". I have high goals, I know. But really, I think this is the way to see the "real Morocco".

When I finally found my way out of the twisting streets, I found another palace... I can't keep track of which was which. They all have colorful, beautiful patterns... wow!

This one had the good fortune of a view on a stork's nest. This is supposed to be good luck, and is a very cool thing to see. These are not small nests...

Then, by sunset I headed over to Place Jemaa el Fna, the main square in town. Here you can see the hustle and bustle on the square as dusk fell.
After dark, it's a nice place to be... if you're an Arabic man. I guess that the storytellers were telling nice stories, and for sure there were some very interesting musical performances, complete with drag-queen belly dancers. But mostly, this is a place to find single Western women and ask them to marry you. Apparently.

At least there's also food there. I did (on another night) eat in the stalls... good food! Crazy atmosphere! More marriage proposals!


The day after my adventure in the center, I tried out the new part of town. This was much calmer, less salesmen, and less marriage proposals. Thank goodness. Also in the new part of town is the Jardin Majorelle - the most beautiful part of Marrakech.

Yves Saint Laurent was the most recent owner of the garden, and upon his death it was opened to the public. What a beautiful place!! Cacti, bamboo forests, and lots of deep blues, greens, and oranges. It was a very calm and peaceful place of beauty.

Finally, on Sunday morning before the conference started, I went for a cooking class. The class was held in a villa outside of Marrakech, and just to satisfy those demanding photos that prove I was actually there, here's one of me by the pool in this little slice of paradise.

Now, on to the next post for my favorite thing - food!