Morocco

Lucky for me, my mom and dad and carol and ed were meeting me in Morocco too! They got to Casablanca the night before and went to rick's café. Pretty kool. The next morning I was allowed off the ship and I met our tour guide Rashid and Mohammed, our driver for the whole trip. They took me to my parents and we got to see a little bit of Casablanca before heading to Marrakech. We got off at Hassan ll Mosque which has the largest tower of any religious building in the world. It is stunning! Literally every inch of it is perfect. The detail and the colors and just everything about it is magnificent. It was built on the water and there are waves crashing behind it. I am so glad we stopped to see it. We then got in the car and drove a little ways down the coast and walked again, this time on the little boardwalk by the ocean. There were some really beautiful resorts and surf schools too. It was time to start the drive to Marrakech. It usually takes three hours or so and we made pretty good time. Apparently traffic can be pretty brutal around Casablanca so we were lucky.

            We arrive in Marrakech in the afternoon and set about finding our riad. A riad is a former house that only one family used to live in. It has a central courtyard that has no roof with a little pool and rooms are set around it. We tell Rashid where it is and he takes us to a street that looks downright scary. All of the buildings in Marrakech are required to be the same ocher color and most of the city is dirty and busy with hundreds of people. People drive as if they are actually insane. Motorcycle bikes whiz past and cars pay no mind to the lines on the street. We only saw one accident though on our whole trip and I don't think that it was even in Marrakech it was on the highway. So we are parked and really hoping that Patricia knew what she was doing booking this riad because so far things were not looking good. We have to walk into this walled area and through some streets to get to it. Still, things are really not looking good. The area seems more likely to have dead animal in the corner than a nice place to stay. All of us are getting increasingly nervous, including Mom. When Rashid tells us we have arrived we are standing in front of a plain door and a little plaque is above it that says Azoulay's. He knocks and the door opens into the most beautiful place I have ever seen.

            This place is STUNNING. How. How is this possible? Outside looks scary and the inside is more beautiful than any place I have seen in the US? What? The rest of my people are equally as stunned and all faith has been restored in my mom. Holy cow. I immediately start planning to make my own house like this. I am nowhere close to having a house but seriously I am determined that it will look like this. There is a pool in the center and a little fountain, a live banana tree, little chairs and tables are around it. There is a beautiful dining room on one side and then the kitchen. There is also a spa and the ground floor suite. Then upstairs are more rooms and on the third floor is a rooftop hangout where you can eat. All of it is beautifully decorated, all of the rooms have amazing Moroccan rugs.. I wanted to live here forever. We are served mint tea and little cookies while we check in. Mint tea is a big thing in Morocco. They are served in these beautiful little cups, which we later bought for home. There was no aspect of this riad that wasn't perfect.

            After we check in we head out to a mosque that is pretty close to us and then we go to the souks! We actually first walked through the "something of Death" (It has death in the name) I think, it's a big open space with men playing instruments loudly and snake charmers and monkeys and story tellers, beggars, more snakes, food stands, anything and everything goes there.  The souks are the local markets and are overflowing with stuff, some of it nice some not so much. We were just supposed to be taking a tour quickly but naturally we get sucked in trying to find shoes! We just want to be like Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City 2 and buy a pair of adorable shoes that only she could find and somehow make desirable! We did see shoes and bought a few pairs ;) Rashid was trying to hurry us out before we bought anything else because we had to make it back to the riad for dinner. It is polite to eat dinner on the first night at your riad as a sign of respect. I had no problem with this because it was delicious. They have this cooking things called tagines that look like little teepees with holes at the top. You cook meats and vegetables in it all at once and it is so. Damn. Good. The food they made was delicious, the main course was a chicken tangine with prunes and I am now addicted to prunes! Weird, certainly. We get to bed after that because we have an exciting day ahead of us.

            We wake up pretty early because we are heading out to the Atlas mountains for lunch and a visit to the Berber villages. The breakfast at the riad is just as good as dinner. Before we left we headed to Majorelle Gardens, home to Yves Saint Laurent's ..home.. Mom and I are less about the plants and more about the gift shop. Sadly, this is typical. We got some cute stuff doeee. The gardens are beautiful and well worth the visit. We head from there to the mountains. The drive there is about an hour and the views are stunning. The villages are really just adobe huts that blend in with the mountainside. We got out to take some pictures and then keep heading higher. We end up at a resort/ adventure park. They have ziplining and bridges strung between the mountains and unfortunately none of us are dressed for physical activity. We do decide that we can do ziplining though. We have a great lunch, make friends with some donkeys, and then go ziplining! It was so much fun and really exhilarating. It was one of those moments where you are just like woah, I am ziplining in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, Africa. What is my life? How lucky am I? Shoutout to dad for doing it even though he is scared of heights! When we get back to Marrakech Rashid has told my dad he would take him to a great carpet place in the souks. This place is legit. No bargaining. They take you downstairs into the room with hundreds of rugs and start going into the history of their carpets and why they are special. These rugs are all Berber rugs, tied with double knots and made of lamb's wool. All are usually one hundred or more years old and really really stunning. The berber women would make them for her husband's family I believe. They just start pulling out rug after rug and I know my dad is going to buy like seven. Just kidding, I guessed one at least. I tried to help with the decision making and subtly push one over the other. I know that I can probably get one of them and make a mental note to call dibs on them when I get home so Jack and Anders cant have them. Hahahah. Just a joke. (Is it? (You'll never know)).  We take too long in the rug place, Mom, Carol and I have a massage scheduled and have to get going so we leave the men to the whole paying business, which is all they are good for. Again, just a joke! (Is it though?) Yes. Anyways, we have a traditional massage called a hamam or something that sounds like that. I wish I had internet to look up whether or not I am butchering these words. It is similar to a Turkish bath. We sit in the steamroom and a woman washes/ exfoliates you all over. And I mean all over. Not an inch is spared. Oh and this is with the other ladies in the room. So, I mean kind of awkward. But you get over it because everything feels so goooooood. It was really nice and the perfect way to feel clean again after sweating all day. We had dinner reservations at an odd place. The pages were staying in, but didn't miss much. The food was great but there is this weird performance afterward with horses and guns and belly dancers. There are hundreds of other people in the stands watching after dinner. We sat for five minutes and then my mom, dad and I all look at each other and are like yeahhhhh time to go. So we leave early. Back to the riad and straight to bed.

            The third day is just as jam packed as the second. We are heading to Essaouira. I know what you are thinking. That is quite a lot of vowels to put all together like that! Don't worry though, Ive got it down. Essaouira is a coastal town about three hours away from Marrakech by car and it is really worth the drive! I had invited my roommate, Amber, to come with us because she was in Marrakech too. Like idiots we decide she will meet us at the hotel before we leave. Well on the morning of I am thinking holy shit I am so dumb, how on earth could I expect her to find this place? It is hidden practically, I don't even know if I could find it without Rashid! I am actually starting to hyperventilate thinking I have led Amber to her death in Morocco. After several tense minutes of waiting someone knocks on the door and it's Amber! She managed to get a guy to help her find it. Note to self: try not to kill roommate again. So, on the way to Essaouira we stopped for a surprise. There are goats in trees. Yes you read correctly. There are goats perched in trees. They are placed there to eat the shells of the argon nuts which are then collected and pressed to make argon oil. I wish I could send pictures to the blog from the ship so you could believe this, but it will just have to wait until I have internet. I got to hold a cute little goat and take lots of fun pictures. We also stopped at an argon co-op. Co-op? I might be making that up but I think it is right. They showed us how they make the oil and everything and then we got a chance to buy some yummy products. They have oils and shampoos, soaps and then they have the ground up version that tastes like a combination of Nutella and Almond butter. Ugh, so good. We get back on the road and stop again only to take some panoramic pictures of Essaouira and ride a camel. Casual. We then get there and walk around the fishing boats, fish market, souks, and then stop for lunch on the beach. I finally bought some pants, I was in desperate need of pants because I didn't bring enough for the whole trip. We also stopped at a specialty store where they make beautiful stuff out of wood. Everyone bought something that day, and I think it was a great success. The beach was so nice; there were kite surfers and women in hijabs and women in two-piece bathing suits. We then head back to Marrakech. We get back with time to get nice and clean for dinner. The place tonight for dinner is really gorgeous. The dinner is fantastic, they had a belly dancer but it was a much better performance than the other place. It was sad for me though because my parents were leaving the next day and I didn't want them to go. I'm twenty but I still like my parents. We had a really good night.

            Next morning we have a little bit of time before we have to leave. We went to Bahia Palace, another stunning structure. I begin to see that Marrakech, and Morocco in general, looks like a hot mess on the outside but it hides these little places of beauty that just take some effort to find. After the palace we go to a street with more little shops to buy our glasses like the ones in the riad. We also have one last stop at a spice store to hear a little bit about their products and buy some spices, oils, and tea before we go. Finally it is time to get in the car and head back. The airport is between Marrakech and Casablanca, so my parents and the Pages are the first to be dropped off. The ladies were all crying like babies at the airport. It was awful. I then went with Rashid and Mohammed to Casablanca. We got some lunch, dropped off Rashid at the train station to get a train back to his home in Fez and then I said goodbye to Mohammed at the ship. I got back pretty early in the afternoon but that was ok because it gave me some time to be weepy before my friends got back on the ship.

            The boat left that night for Ghana. I wont see P and dad for two months which is the longest I will go without seeing them. Eek.  So that is all for Morocco. I know I am forgetting a million things but I hope I got the important parts. For you adventurous travelers, do go to Morocco, it's fabulous, but take a guide with you. For you readers thank you for hanging in there in this too long post. For Ed and Carol, thank you for being amazing travel companions, I love you guys and will see you in December. For my mom and dad, thank you for coming and thank you for letting me go on this wonderful trip. Part of me wishes this will be the quickest two months and part hopes they will be the longest. I will be taking your advice dad and just taking the most that I can out of every day that I have. Xoxo