Catching Up: Thursday, January 22

The morning started off with grabbing breakfast, a croissant with dried fruit inside, out on the street. To give you a sense of prices, each croissant was 1 durham, about 11 cents – things are very inexpensive here. We ate as we walked to Jemma El Fna, the main square of the medina and the place that we had gotten dinner the night before.

We crossed the square and walked toward the minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque. Built around the 11^th Century, there were ruins surrounding the building which were from an even earlier mosque.

After walking around the mosque, we continued through the medina to start at the Dar Saïd Museum. The museum, located in an old palace (of which there are many, left over from the seven dynasties which have ruled Morocco), had artifacts which were nice, but the highlight was the building itself, with gorgeous tiled and painted ceilings and walls.

From Dar Saïd, we walked over to La Bahia, another of the palaces. La Bahia, built in the 19^th Century, was much more modern, though had been stripped of much of its ornamentation (as happened with many of the palaces throughout Morocco – when one dynasty took over they tended to pillage the pieces of the previous dynasty’s palace and reuse them in their new palaces, often in other cities). The place was pretty crowded with tour groups, but overall it was a nice visit.

Once we had our fill of La Bahia, we walked a bit more in the medina to an area known as the Mellah, the Jewish Quarter (derived from “salt” – apparently the Jews sold salt…). We walked through a carpet co-op, run by the state to employ artisans while providing a place for tourists to buy carpets without being gouged (as happens in the souks). Finding the co-op was a bit of a challenge in the winding, narrow streets, and when we left it was a bit of an adventure to then find an old synagogue. Though the neighborhood kids are (more than eager) to lead you to the location for money.

Lazma Synagogue was opened in 1492 (though the current building dates mostly from the turn of the 20^th Century) and is still in use. The inner courtyard is beautifully tiled in white and blue, and it was funny to see Hebrew in the tilework in the heart of a country where Arabic and French are the norm.

After Lazma, we headed to El Badi Palace. Pretty much a large ruin, the palace was one of the earliest and largest in the city. The central courtyard is massive, with pools and sunken gardens, and it was amazing to walk around it. Within the grounds were the Marrakesh Photography Museum, the Koutoubia Minbar and an old underground prison. The photography museum had an exhibit of American and Hungarian photographers which was very interesting. The Minbar (the stair/pulpit found in mosques where the imam stands to deliver Friday prayers) came from the large mosque we had seen earlier and dated to the 12^th C.).  The exhibit included information about its history and restoration. It had been used continuously from its construction until the 1960s!

The final stop in El Badi was a rooftop terrace which offered views out over the entire medina. The entire town is no more than three stories in height, and the only feature which stuck above the buildings were the minarets of mosques. Beyond the medina, many miles from the city, you could clearly see the High Atlas Mountains, covered in snow. It was quite a view.

By that time, it was getting late in the afternoon, and we headed back to the main square to grab lunch. We decided on a restaurant just off Jemma El Fna, and headed up to the third floor terrace where we enjoyed pastille (alternatively pastilla) and tea. The pastille was basically a pita, stuffed with shredded chicken, peanut butter, and orange, and fried until crispy on the outside. We enjoyed the food and views while plotting our afternoon.

We left the medina in search of a taxi to take us to the Majorelle Gardens, which are in the newer part of the city. Tim flagged a taxi (with someone already in it – apparently that’s a thing here) and told the driver where we wanted to go. The guy already in the car was heading in that general direction, so we jumped in and were off, weaving in-between cars and bikes and donkeys. The Moroccan approach to left turns is particularly entertaining – everyone wanting to turn left piles into the center of the intersection, blocking traffic, until they all try to go at once, comically attempting to fit five cars in two lanes. With the (not really) help of a traffic police officer, the taxi finally made a left and the driver told Tim (as I don’t speak French) that we could get out and walk or we could go to the first destination and then he would take us to the Gardens. We decided to walk, and got out, paying the driver 15 dirham (around $1.60).

We had a bit of trouble finding the gardens at first, but finally came across the entrance off of a side street. The Majorelle Gardens were originally constructed in the early 1900s by French painter Jacques Majorelle. While they had lost their grandeur after his death, designer Yves Saint Laurent had restored them and had them opened as an attraction. The gardens were beautiful, with plants brought from all over the world. Majorelle’s house, a brightly painted Bauhaus modern, is now home to the Berber Museum, displaying artifacts and history of the nomadic peoples of the region.

The museum and gardens were great, and after we were done we walked back to the city, which took no more than an hour. Back in the medina, we stopped into the ryad before heading to the souk to do some shopping for souvenirs and gifts. Once we had our fill of bargaining, we went back out into Jemma El Fna and got dinner at the food carts. We had tanjia (lamb with oil) bread and olives, before we headed back to the ryad.