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| Marrakech, Morocco (Day 2) - Around the Medina (Click on the image to view the photos!) |
We slept in, ate a yummy breakfast, finalized our “game plan”and set out to explore the city. Our first big historical stop was the Medersa Ben Youssef, which was once a dormitory and school for Muslim scholars – we walked in and immediately all thought, wow. Even the hallway heading to the main courtyard was lined with beautiful tiles and ornate arabesque woodwork and plaster work. We stepped into the courtyard and our jaws all dropped – it was a beautifully decorative courtyard in which nearly every inch was ornate word or plaster work – really it was absolutely stunning. The pictures will do a better job that I ever will. We spent our time exploring the different dorm rooms, some of the side roods from the main courtyard – which were also stunning, and just trying to soak in the intricate details and magic of this place. The detail and beauty of Muslim architecture that abounded in this place instantly made up for not visiting the Alhambra –that was my first thought as my jaw dropped as I entered the courtyard for the first time.
Nearby we were also able to see one of the last remaining examples of Almoravid architecture (which my AP World students will hopefully know was the group of Moroccans that tried on several occasions to take over the West African trading kingdoms – they would successfully take over but were never able to maintain control across the Sahara).
After that we were off to a different section of the Medina to walk past the beautiful Koutubia mosque just past the main square (we really weren’t able to go inside the mosques) and wandered the gardens for a while, appreciating how these too provided a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of the city streets. From here we headed down to see the Saadian Tombs, which were another prominent ruling group in Moroccan history – and these too were stunning. There were two main buildings (which were actually quite small) in which the floor was full of the different tombs and the interior of the building was breathtakingly beautiful – my favorite was the room of the 12 columns (yes, very creative). After that we tried to make it to the Bahia palace before close and hurriedly walked through a chaotic section of the city only to arrive at exactly closing time. More frustrated with having rushed so hurriedly than disappointed, we switched gears and decided to go ahead and head to the Djeema al Fna for sunset and people watching. Morocco currently is only 5 hours different from the East Coast US time because they did or didn’t (not sure) do daylight savings – believe it or not, it gets dark quite early. So, we headed up to the terrace I had scoped out the day before and enjoyed an obligatory beverage (you have to buy something to enjoy the terrace) and enjoyed a wonderful hour or two of people watching, sunset watching, and camera play time – we got some great photos too! It was wonderful to be able to take in all of the different things going on in the square from above and to really observe things without being harassed or assaulted by street vendors. Often times at street level when you take a picture of a performer, even from a distance someone will appear out of nowhere to demand payment.
We headed to another terrace restaurant for a quick dinner and then set out to finally do some scarf shopping. Let’s just say that Beth had a wonderful time, Chris struck up conversations with different merchants, and Daniel abandoned us for the solace of the hotel. We wrapped up our night relaxing at our hotel – planned an excursion to the Ourika Valley for the following day, and crashed pretty hard – wiped out from a day on the streets of Marrakech which takes more mental energy that I think I can really convey. We had a wonderful day gaping in awe at the intricate panel work and tile work at the different sites, bargaining with vendors for treasures, and soaking in the atmosphere from the terrace above the square.
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