Jun 11, 2019
A very full & fun day in Marrakech
We eased into the day yesterday, our first full day in Marrakech and it was late morning before we got out. Our accommodation is very neat and its enjoyable to just sit inside for a bit. We could hear the call to prayer through our open windows. Our host had indicated that we could pay for things with Visa or Euros. However we are finding that like Mexico cash is what is expected. We changed some Euro into Moroccan Dirham, the rough rate of exchange is 100MAD per 1EUR. Some merchants will accept Euro but give you change back in MAD. We have only found three restaurants that accept credit cards. We spent a good part of the day walking the narrow streets and also walked about Djemaa el Fna and went back later in the evening for sunset and dinner. Very generally I can say that the vendors are very polite and not pushy at all. They try to engage you in a variety of different languages. We are often asked if we are Australian. Everyone breaks out in a huge smile when they find out that we are from Canada. I keep complicating things by speaking Spanish instead of French. My mind is thinking French but my mouth automatically expresses Spanish. Even if I start a conversation in French, half of it comes out in Spanish. Does that mean I am losing my French?
It takes some skill to avoid the scooters and bikes.
A selfie in the reflecting window.
An even narrower side alley.
He purchased the shirt but not the hat.
The square early afternoon.
The monkeys are used to entice people to take photos and then they have to pay for the photo. Colin has a long telephoto lease.
The bikes even go through the throngs of people in the square. We saw someone get hit last evening.
Taxi anyone?
We sat and had lunch at a cafe right on the edge of the square and just watched the action move around us.
So many of these booths making fresh juices from any type of fruit.
After a brief rest back at the Riad we went back out and found a two story restaurant overlooking Djemaa el Fna. We ordered mint tea. What with all those mint leaves in the cup, it was strong.
The people were gathering with more booths being set up and some just on the ground. As it gets darker the action will increase even more. No visit to Marrakesh would be complete without a visit to the night market.
Photo taken by Gauthier. He and Julie live in Brussels and are only 1.5 hours away by air. Lucky them to be able to travel anywhere for a short period of time.
My sunset photo.
Merci Gauthier et Julie.
There are acrobats, the monkeys and snake charmers, ladies painting your hands with henna, musicians and dancers. We haven’t seen any belly dancers yet. This square has been described as the “greatest show on Earth”.
We soon walked down and joined the throngs of people milling about the chaos of this old city.
Tomorrow is another day with more sights to see.
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Looks lovely. So colourful! Definitely on our bucket list.
Wow another exciting day 🙂 I only know a few words in both Spanish and French but I will often speak Spanish when I mean to speak French probably because I use Spanish more.
Fascinating ! Those olives ….the clothes are beautiful. Love Colin’s shirt.
Such a colourful place to visit glad you are enjoy8ng and sharing your photos.
Love the colors! I wonder what the veiled lady was thinking as she was looking at the the woman in the orange dress…great photo.
OH… The color!!!!