Morocco.... A love story - (Days10-12)

Seen at the entrance to a spa. He was apparently advertising!

Waking up in Marrakesh is not something I ever thought I would do. But there I was, waking up in Marrakesh. We had a fairly busy day planned but Jim wanted to head to a pharmacy before he set out, so I began the day on my own. He would catch up with us in bit.

The first thing on the agenda was the Majorelle Gardens. This was a botanical gardens right in the middle of Marrakesh. We walked down what seemed to be a normal city street until Abdel pointed and guided us through a door that opened up into a beautiful garden area. The area was not large gut it was worth the visit! There was a path that led you around a loop where you could view all the lovely plants. It was very quiet as we walked along the path and we all seemed to wander off to study different areas of the gardens. Since 2010 the gardens have been owned and operated by the Foundation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent. The grounds were very well kept and we saw many people working as we walked around.

After leaving the gardens, we walked to a quaint little coffee shop for coffee and cookies. Once we finished, we strolled around Marrakesh visiting Koutoubia (a mosque) and the Saadian Tombs that dated back to the 1500's. The tombs were not just tombs, they were masterpieces. I was a little distracted while we were visiting them though. Jim was ready to meet up with us so I was trying to go back and forth between talking to Abdel about how Jim could find us and talking to Jim about how to find us. Adbel tried talking with the cab driver that Jim has but they were having trouble understanding each other. Finally, Jim used his "Find My" app and showed the cab driver where I was. As we walked out to the street, we saw Jim walking up to us with our day guide. I was so glad he was joining us and seeing him made my heart melt.

We spent a lot of time that day walking around the city. I think that was the most interesting to me.

Abdel had taught us that in Marrakesh, you "Close Your Eyes and Go" when you cross the street. He was serious when he said it and he was right. It was a bit scary but if you waited until there was not traffic, you would never get across a street.

Watching the locals going about their day, walking to work, or to shop, or to wherever they were going. We ended the morning in the Djemaa el Fna Square. That was the end of our guided tour so the rest of the afternoon we were free to do whatever we wanted. Jim and I decided to stay in the Square and walk around. We saw everything from vending carts to snake charmers. There were baby bamboos doing tricks that you could get your photo taken with. There were fruits and vegetables and clothing and anything else you could ever want to buy.

Yes, I got suckered into paying to have my photo taken with a snake!

Our investment advisor had recommended we try out a place called El Fenn. He and his wife had visited and he said we would really enjoy it. So we headed out on our own to find it. Jim used his map app and it had us walking through tiny little alleys that seemed to be more residential. We finally found it though and headed up to the rooftop for a glass of wine. We found in Morocco, any time you order a glass of wine, it comes with nuts and olives. Quite a nice addition. So we sat on the rooftop and enjoyed. When we went back, Jim realized there was a much easier (and quicker) way to get to the Square. We met up with those of us that had stayed to shop, hopped on the bus and headed back to the hotel.

We had the evening free so we relaxed by the pool (which we had a beautiful view of from our room) for a while and then went to the room to rest. That evening, we headed out to dinner and ran into Tami and Vince. The four of us walked to the mall area and had a wonderful dinner. We sat outside and really enjoyed ourselves. Abdel and Ellen showed up so we talked to them for a bit before they went to their table to eat.

After dinner, Jim and I walked around some more and watched a beautiful show of lights at a nearby fountain. No matter where we turned, we ran into something amazing!

Another successful day!

The following day we had free. Others opted for a hot air balloon ride or trip into a village, but we hung around and did laundry.

That evening, we all headed to a local Moroccan woman's house for dinner. She was a divorced mother raising two children. He daughter was was helping her serve dinner. The mother was quite interesting. The food she served was amazing and her home was beautiful. We all had a wonderful evening talking with her and her daughter. Afterward, we walked back to the bus and rode back to the hotel. I know it sounds like a quiet day but it was very enjoyable.

The next day we were heading to Essaouira but first, a cooking class. This was to be a half day class followed by a lunch of the food we had cooked. Moroccan tajine and salad. The location was right across from our hotel so we all just walked over. Upon entering, we were all stricken with the beauty of the building. I think this was another hotel but it was more of a boutique hotel. We were greeted by the class instructor and she told us what to expect. Then we took our places around the teaching kitchen and put our aprons on. Each spot had a sink, utensils, spices and the food we were going to eat. Let the games begin!

There were tv monitors around the room for those that couldn't see her up close. She guided us through each step and would walk around assisting anyone that needed help. We cooked our chicken in a tajine. I had never heard of a tajine and had certainly never used one so I had no idea why this was so popular. Well, I learned a lot of reasons! A tajine gives the food a more earthy taste. The cone shape allows the steam to recirculate and keep everything nice and tender.

Toward the end of cooking, you remove the lid a little and let the steam release.

While we were cooking, the instructor told us which spices to use and when to use them. The spices were already were set out in adorable little mini-tajine type pots which made it even more fun to use them.

Once we had finished and received our diplomas, we all made sure our pots had our name on them and headed down to the dining room. The food was brought to us there and we all proceeded to eat what we had cooked. It was so much fun seeing how everyone's had turned out. Some looked like pieces of art. Not mine. But it was delicious!

With very full bellies, we walked back to our hotel and hopped on the bus to head to Essaouira. We all swore we would not be eating dinner that night.

The trip to Essaouira was almost 3 hours but we had stops along the way.

Gate 1 was very good about scheduling restroom breaks often. Our first stop was a restroom break and it was at a coffee shop/convenience store. As usual, there were cats. However, this particular shop had a kitten that couldn't have been more than a couple weeks old. It was the highlight of the stop! We all wanted to take it home with us but Adbel said no.

The next stop was the Argan Oil Women's Coop. We learned a lot from these women.

Argan trees only grow in the Souss Plain area of Morocco. There are approximately 21 million trees. You can not plant a tree. New ones grow from the roots of other trees. The trees can live up to 200 years old.

You can use most parts of the tree for different things. The nuts are turned into oil. The pulp that surrounds the seed is food for animals such as camels, goats and giraffes. The goats LOVE them and can be seen climbing in trees to eat them.

We toured outside and saw argan trees and then moved inside to watch how the women actually made the oil. Fascinating! Then we were finally allowed to shop! The women were so helpful about what oil was best for what part of the body. We also sampled some of the edible oil and it was delicious. I ended up buying oil for my skin and oil to dip bread into. I couldn't resist.

We made it to Essaouira by early evening. Abdel gave us a brief walk about the city so we could get our bearings The remainder of the evening we were on our own. Jim and I found a restaurant on the bay and ate while looking out the window at the water. We went to be early looking forward to getting to know Essaouira better tomorrow.