Day 6 & 7- Marrakesh

Let's see, when I last posted we had just arrived at our hostel in Marrakesh and were planning to spend the afternoon exploring the city. We left the hostel shortly after I posted and went out to find some lunch. As we made our way through the main square Kaitlin was quickly grabbed by one of the Henna artists who drew all over her hand “as a gift,” but was quite offended when we didn't want to pay 150 Durham (about 15 Euro) for her 45 seconds of work.

We finally found a restaurant, slightly off of the square, where we got a three course meal for 65 Dh (by the way, I think it's pretty fitting that a currency called Durham isn't worth much). After lunch we wandered and eventually had to enlist a 12 year old guide to take us to the Marrakesh Museum which was right next to an old school and aqueduct. After touring all three we gradually worked our way back to the main market where we did a little bit of shopping.

We got back to the hostel around 7 to shower and change before dinner at 8, but upon finding out that the hostel was going to charge us 100 Dh for a bottle of wine, Sean and I decided to go get our own. Unfortunately, there is only one store in Marrakesh that sells alcohol, and it is about a 15 minute cab adventure from the main square. The roads in Marrakesh are used by everything from bicycles to mopeds to cabs to horse carriages, and at one point we drove in between a truck and a carriage... on a two lane road.

Eventually we made it back to the hostel for 'Tagine' with our hostel host Mousaffa. The dish is prepared in a uniquely shaped clay pot an contains a collection of meat, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots as well as several other vegetables and spices and it is eaten from the pot with bread, not from individual plates with utensils. We ate on the roof (and were apparently the first group ever to do so at this hostel) end then spent the rest of the evening there as well.

Right before we went to bed last night we found out that our day trip for today had been canceled since we were the only three to book it, so Monday morning we slept in bit and then went to a nearby bakery for breakfast. After breakfast we came back to the hostel and Mousaffa gave us some suggestions for the rest of the day. Before lunch we went to the Menara, a large pool that exists for I'm not sure what reason, but you can buy bread to feed the fish in it. On our way back to the square for lunch we took a 30 minute camel ride, which we bartered down to 100 Dh each. After the camel ride we found a literal 'hole-in-the-wall' restaurant with no menu, where 25 Dh per person bought a quarter chicken with rice, fries, and bread.

We spent an hour or so back at the hostel after lunch to get out of the heat, then took a cab to la Jardin Majorelle, which Mousaffa told us was one of the most beautiful gardens in all of Africa. The garden was the work of Jaques Majorelle, a French artist who spent much of his life in Morocco. There were plants representing 5 continents along with an overpriced cafe and art museum.

From the garden we took another cab adventure to the grocery store were we bought bread, goat cheese and lunch meat to eat dinner on the roof again. After dinner we went briefly back to the square to take some pictures and I finally found what was apparently the only shop in Morocco with an XL Soccer Jersey.
Tuesday we're flying back to Madrid and then on to Rome because it was cheaper to do that than fly straight to Rome. But since our flight to Rome leaves at 7 am and Spanish bars stay open well past 5, we're not even going to check into a hostel.