Marrakech - You Can't Escape What it Does to You!

The word of day is senses. Very seldom do our five senses erupt in a collision so great that we’re unsettled. That’s Marrakech. You don’t smell, taste, feel, hear, or touch Marrakech. Marrakech takes all of these senses and slams them back in your face. Full-on and at high speed! You try to avoid it but it’s always there, in your face. From the polite aggressiveness of vendors in the marketplace to the individuals trying unsolicited to help you solve a problem, aka directions, and then expecting a well-deserved tip.

We loved it and feared it. We were enchanted and intimidated by it. You couldn’t walk through the medina without being overcome with the smell of fragrant Tagine cooking. And when you taste the Tagine, its over-the-top flavors hit you like a Mack truck.

There were always sounds all around. In a language we didn’t’ understand and coming from unknown directions. We’re walking down tight alleys in the Medina, maybe 6’ to 8’ wide. You know the eyes are all on you. Maybe not, but that’s what you feel. Often in the background and sometimes in your face, there is music or the sound of a drum filling the air. Or maybe it’s the call to prayer filling the air. Everything you touch has grit on it. Sand blown in from the Sahara, not too far away. The touch gets you too.

For the few moments where the intimidation is not in control, we would just let Marrakech shake every one of our senses. That's the Marrakech we met.

Arriving

Date palms growing everywhere as we approached.

One of the main mosques. 

Susanne on the rooftop of Riad l'Orangeraie
The center greenery in the house we stayed in.

On one inside wall of the Riad they were playing 'Casablanca'.  

Bergman and Bogart would have loved it!

We arrived at midday and made our way to the Riad l’Orangeraie where we were staying. Arrival included a pickup at the airport and drop off on the outside of the Medina where we were met by Omar who put our luggage in a wagon and off we went. We walked a short distance and were at an old red building that did not look like much. A small sign above the entry was the only thing that signaled our location.  We stepped inside and found ourselves transported into an area of peace and tranquility.

A Riad is a historical home or palace inside of a medina. The Medina simply refers to the old-city or in most cases, the old city inside of the wall. Many of the Riads have been restored and offer places for rooming when visiting the Medina. A Riad is not just a place of lodging inside of the old city but a fully self-contained mini-palace. When looking at a Riad, to the outside world, it’s often just a wall with few, if any, windows. Riads face inward to a courtyard. Ours was no different. A courtyard in the center provides peace and tranquility and a staid brown stucco wall faces the unknown element outside. 

The living room of the house we stayed in.

The other end of the living room. This was a 4 stories tall oasis that reached the roof.

We took it easy for the afternoon and enjoyed a Tagine dinner on the rooftop before going to our quarters. I will say more about Tagine cooking later but it was very good. When we made our reservations, the keeper of the Riad did not have availability for the first night. He had arranged for us to have lodging at a sister Riad a short distance away.We said sure, that’s ok. He had a cancellation at a home he had within the Medina that was a mere 50 meters away and offered that to us and we took it. It was twenty paces then you enter one of the alleys in the medina that has few lights, no signs and few markings to hone in on.

One key fact about northwestern Africa is that the primary language is French. Morocco was a French Protectorate for many years and while occupied, French became the language. We were shifting from the few Spanish words we knew and learning a few French words. Bonjour! Merci!

The First Night

After dinner we walked to this home.  We hesitated to talk to each other about whether we were at the correct place. A nice young man came out of nowhere to assist us and immediately upon opening the door his hand was out, looking for a tip and being nice and gracious about it. Not demanding, just politely requesting.

After paying the tip, we entered for the night. Metaphorically, we would have killed for a glass of wine, but there is no alcohol in the medina. We settled down to go to bed. Some of you may not know that Malcolm is extremely claustrophobic. This house is a three-story house with a living room on the ground floor, a bedroom and bath on each of the two floors above, and a nicely finished rooftop terrace. There is one external window on the second floor, covered with bars to keep everything out, and in.

(This is Malcolm) Around 11:30 PM the claustrophobia began to become a full-fledged panic attack. The thoughts going through my head were,

•  “Our only way out is the front door,”
•  “What if a fire blocks the alley,”  
•  “That alley is not a safe place to be under any circumstances,”
•  “What if there’s an earthquake like in 2023,” and  
•   Other innumerable thoughts added up to the panic and claustrophobic reaction.

You know the kind of mental thoughts that just keep playing and replaying in your head. I wish I knew how to stop them. I went up to the rooftop and started deep breathing, but when I came back down, I was in the middle of it again. We discussed just leaving and going to a hotel in other parts of town but decided against that because of the alley and having to walk out of the medina at 1 AM. So, I ended up taking a blanket and pillow up to the rooftop and spent the rest of that night on a sofa on the rooftop deck looking at the stars and occasionally sleeping. The rest of the night ended when the ‘call to prayer’ began at 4:59 AM that next morning. Add a night like this to your sensory perceptions and you are really cooking! We did get through the night. 

Our Full Day

We awoke in the morning and went to breakfast at the Riad. I failed to mention that every one of these trips to a roof top is a four-floor walkup. Not to mention the bedrooms on the second and third floors. Susanne’s good knee did great, but her bad knee kept telling her “I am going to make your pay for this! Now and later.”  But what a trooper she was.

 After breakfast, we met our guide, and toured the medina somewhat protected from the sensory overload that is there without the protection of a guide. It was a great experience; we bought a few things and saw a lot of artistry in process.

We were never able to get the perfect answer for what constitutes a souk. Is it a single stand or vendor, is it an area of common vendors, or is it the entire marketplace or bazaar. But we now know the word Souk even if we don’t know its definitive meaning. There were scarf makers who were dyeing with natural dyes, there were metal workers pounding and welding metal, weavers making rugs, shoemakers stamping out the traditional sandals worn by Moroccans, leather workers making bags, and so much more. But the word of the day is not souk, it’s senses just because.

Here are some pictures from the Souks.

We visited the Ben Youssef Madrasa (University) which was established in the 14^th century. It was one of the earliest universities created and we were reminded often that it predates Oxford and other continental schools.

 

One observation was the state of disrepair that existed in the Medina. You would think that with a tourist draw like this, there would be developers lined up for reconstruction projects. What we found out from talking to our host at the Riad, is that there is a problem obtaining a clear title to a piece of property. I may not have this exactly correct, but he told us that to obtain the title to the ground and decaying house he had remodeled, he had to deal with 42 different property owners. So someone's grandfather owned the house. When he died it passed on to his heirs and when they died, it passed on to their heirs. Now you have 42 family member to deal with before you even own the land. And then there is the red-tape of construction permitting as well as issues of construction. So many lots, sit empty and in total shambles like this one.

In the afternoon we visited Jardin Majorelle. This is a garden, outside of the medina that was a beautiful distraction from the intensity of the medina. The garden in on a hectare of land outside of the medina in the new city. It was originally built by artist Jacques Majorelle as a private space. After Majorelle's death it was saved from development by Yves St Laurent, yes, that one. He and his partner, Pierre Berge, acquired it in the 1980s and have preserved it. 

The Evening

On our way back we went into the main square in the Medina that is set up every night. We encountered the snake charmers with their Cobras. We did not get any good pictures of the snake charmers, because neither of us would go close enough. The monkey grinders were there and again we saw them but had no desire to embrace them. Pretty boring people these two. The street food is supposedly good, but we had already planned to eat at our Riad. We watched the commotion that is the marketplace for about an hour and then gave up and headed back to our Riad.

 

The snake charmer. If you zoom in between the drums, there is a Cobra waiting for you. A lot of this is lost since neither of us was willing to be the one to go talk to the snake and ask for permission to take the picture from a closer position.

This clip shows a monkey entertaining a group of women.

We got a seat at a rooftop bar. That's their words, not ours. It did give us a perspective to watch the main square coming together for the evening. 

That evening we had dinner again and moved into a room in the main Riad. We slept better although by then we would really have killed for a glass of wine.

 

Before we leave Marrakech and move on, we want to make sure that you understand that the Riad l’Orangeraie, our home in Marrakech, is in no way responsible for how we reacted to our stay. This is on us only. They live here. I’m not sure that they would even understand our anxieties. We highly recommend Cyril and his team, and they were outstanding hosts. We’re just writing about our personal feelings from the stay. 

Would we go back, ABSOLUTELY! I believe our experience have shaped us to a point we could handle it on our own. Malcolm may never be ready for another Riad but there are other options for lodging. We would love to learn more about the Muslim and Moroccan culture.