Marrakech, Morocco - Day 2

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Our day began at the Riad Azoulay in the Medina (old town) of Marrakech, in the souks (neighborhood shops) of Mellah. Aden was pretty keyed up last night before bed processing all the intense sights and sounds of Marrakech, so Andi and I had an honest discussion with him about his worries and observations from yesterday. It was good to talk about it openly, and I think he felt better after we did. The world is richer and more wonderful than only the parts that we see from our little spot in the USA and although it can be uncomfortable at first because it’s different than what we know, Andi and I truly believe we’re teaching our kids to appreciate and respect cultural diversity through our travels.

After a good night’s rest, both Aden and Tory seemed happier this morning and ready to explore the Medina of Marrakech. The four of us got dressed for the day, and then walked downstairs to the lobby for breakfast. There, the hotel manager named Ahmed brought us small cups of freshly squeeze orange juice, coffee, yogurt, raspberries, as well as pancakes, traditional Moroccan bread, and avocado toast with goat cheese and hard-boiled eggs for breakfast. Once again, our meal was perfect and service was excellent. I really love not having to make a decision about what to order here; every dish that the kitchen staff at Riad Azoulay has prepared for us has been amazing.

Today, Andi arranged for a tour guide to walk us through the Medina to explain in more detail about the history and importance of the area. A maze of spice and textile souks line the narrow, cobblestone alleyways of the Medina, and Andi and I have no idea how to navigate our way through them. Whenever we visit a new city, we always think it’s helpful to walk around with a guide so we can really understand where we are and what there is to do in an area. Having some context always makes our experience better.

Our private tour guide, Ahmed, met us at our hotel at 10:00am. He is originally from the Valley of the Roses in Morocco, south of Marrakech, but has been a licensed tour guide for many years. We started our tour right away in the spice quarter of the Medina, called the Mellah, which used to be the Jewish neighborhood of the city. When the four of us were walking around yesterday afternoon, it was hard for us to look too closely at the souvenirs because once we showed even the tiniest bit of interest in something, the salesman started to haggle with us. With our tour guide, Ahmed, standing beside us though, no one attempted to engage with us. This benefit alone was worth the price of the tour! If a vendor began to talk to us, Ahmed simply pointed to his official tour guide badge hanging around his neck and the person would immediately stop talking.

I wanted to know more about the colorful spices we’ve seen, so Ahmed said he’d take us to a vendor who would explain everything in more detail. A few minutes later, we arrived at one of the stalls in the spice market and were welcomed inside by the shop owner. The man identified various spices for sale, warning us never to buy spices from the colorful mountains on display around the souks. Always buy whole herbs and grind them yourself, he said, to release the best flavors.

I cannot even describe the mixture of smells wafting around us in the Medina. Incense burning, spices being ground, food cooking, smelly trash, exhaust from motorbikes, donkey poop … the list goes on.

We stood in the spice shop for 20 minutes or so while the owner made various concoctions of herbs and spices for us to try. He put a mixture of them in a piece of white gauze, crushed it with the palm of his hand, and then held the ball to each of our nostrils to sniff. Wow! Our sinus passages were instantly cleared. I didn’t even realize my nose were clogged.

He showed us a few different products like argon oil and pure peppermint crystals, and then waited with an expectant look on his face for us to tell him what we wanted. I gave Andi a shrug. I guess we should buy something after he spent all this time explaining spices to us.

The kids wanted to buy some of the pure peppermint crystals for Andi’s mom who struggles with her sinuses, so we asked for a small container of those. Andi also asked for a tea mixture for digestion/gut health and nighttime/relaxation. The man hurried to prepare our order and then told Andi the price — 1,000 Moroccan Dirham. Andi handed him 100 dirhams. No, the man said, the price is 1,000 Durhams (which is equivalent to $100 USD). I think Andi thought it misheard him. Apparently, the peppermint crystals were a little more expensive than we imagined. Andi paid the shop owner and we left feeling like we’d been bamboozled. “I know better, I should have asked the price first,” Andi said. Oh well, we were now the proud owners of herbal tea and magic sinus-clearing crystals. At least they threw in free Moroccan lipstick for Tory and a clay foot scrubber for Aden.

Our next stop on the Medina tour was to Chez Lamine Hadj Mustapha — one of the most traditional Moroccan restaurants in Marrakech. Ahmed told us that eating here is an absolute must when visiting the city. The chef, Hadj Amin, was the cook for late King Hussein the 2nd who died in 1999. The restaurant’s most popular dish is the roasted lamb which is slow-cooked in a pit in the ground for 24 hours.

Ahmed also pointed out the clay tagina pots sitting on display outside the restaurant. Tagine (ending with an ‘e’) is the popular cone-shaped cooking vessel used in many Moroccan dishes featuring meat (beef, chicken, or lamb) and vegetables. This style of clay cooking pot is traditionally used by women in the home. Tagina (with an ‘a’) is limited to cooking meats like beef and lamb with fewer vegetables (or none at all). This style of pot is predominately used by men in the souks. Tagina pots do not have lids, but have tinfoil covering the opening.

One more tradition we saw outside the Chez Lamine Hadj Mustapha restaurant — a bag of sheep heads. Moroccans love lamb and they eat the entire animal … yes, even the head. There were several restaurants serving up this Moroccan delicacy around the Medina. We, however, did not patronize them.

We continued walking through the souks until we came to Ben Youssef Madrasa, the largest and most prominent Islamic religious school in Morocco founded in the 14th century. The school is no longer operational, but is now a tourist attraction showcasing the cultural history and architectural detail of the interior building.

The cedar wood, marble, and colorful tiles were absolutely beautiful. I could have stayed all afternoon and taken a million different photos of every exquisite detail.

After Ben Youssef Madrasa, we continued wandering through the Medina. We visited the lighting souk, the iron souk, the sandals souk, the leather souk, and so many others. Not only are various souvenirs for sale in the shops, but the craftsman are also busy working to make the products in the alleyways. We literally stepped around a man welding together two pieces of iron in the cobblestone street.

We don't have room in our backpacks to carry any of these items home with us, but on the off-chance we wanted something, I told Andi we’d better stop and buy it now. I’m not sure how we’d ever navigate ourselves back to these shops located deep in the maze of alleyways.

Some of the buildings we walked past are being “straightened” by scaffolding, Ahmed said, due of damage caused in the September 2023 earthquake. I remember hearing about this earthquake on the news and wondering if Marrakech would even a possibility to travel to this winter. Ahmed said “fake news” is to blame, and that media outlets came to take pictures of rubble without showing the bigger picture of what was happening here. Marrakech is fine, he said. It was the small, more rural towns in the Atlas Mountains that were hit harder because their homes are constructed of mud, not stone.

Eventually we reached the end of a covered alleyway and walked into the sunlight of Jemaa el Fnaa Square — the largest outdoor square in all of Morocco. For a thousand years, Jemaa el Fnaa has served as a gathering place and marketplace for locals and visitors alike. Snake charmers, story tellers, monkey tamers, and dancers entertain the crowd while vendors sell fruit juice, spices, and herbs. At night, the market transforms into a place of games, performances, and food vendors. Andi really wanted to get some video of the snake charmers in the square, so Ahmed offered to take us over to them. “Do not pay them more than 20 Dirham for their entertainment,” he warned. “They’ll ask for more, but it is only worth 20.” Ahmed asked to hold the money for Andi so he could do the negotiating.

It felt like a scene straight out of Aladdin — a real snake charmer with the ear-piercing sound of his horn and beating drums entrancing the cobra to dance. The snake charmer tried to wrap a snake around each of our necks, but we all said “noooo” and backed away from him quickly. Instead, the charmer quickly offered to take a video of us sitting behind the cobras.

After a few minutes, Ahmed handed the snake charmer his 20 Dirhams. The man was not happy with his payment and immediately started yelling at us to pay more. “That man is trying to tell us something,” Aden said as I tugged on his arm in the other direction. “They will try to hassle you for more money,” Ahmed said. “Their entertainment is only worth 20 Dirhams.” (20 DH is equivalent to $2 USD) I was glad we had him with us during this experience.

We needed a bit of calm after the sensory overload of Jemaa el Fnaa Square, so Ahmed led us to the entrance of the Secret Garden within the Medina. Entrance into the gardens cost 30 Dirhams per person (kids were free), but it was well worth the price for a few minutes in tranquil surroundings. Origins of the riad date back to the Saadian Dynasty over 400 years ago. Today, the grounds have been transformed into a botanical garden with both native and exotic plant species. Ahmed left us to explore the gardens on our own. We agreed to meet him by the entrance when we were ready to continue our tour.

Twenty minutes later, we continued on through the Medina with Ahmed to Kutubiyya Mosque — the largest mosque in all of Marrakech. The mosque was founded in 1147 and later re-build in 1195. This is the building which still stands today. Ahmed took the time to answer our questions about the Islamic religion. The three orbs and hook-shaped pole toward the top of the mosque serve as a directional guide for praying to the Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Muslims pray five different times throughout the day and the mosques broadcast prayer messages via loud speaker throughout the city. We’ve heard the prayers ourselves, but were curious if Muslims had to “stop, drop, and pray” every single time they heard the broadcast or if they participate whenever it’s convenient. So far, we haven’t seen anyone praying in a public space. Ahmed said people are expected to pray five times per day, but they can make up their prayer time later if they’re at work or unable to pray at the broadcast time. I’ll admit that I knew nothing about the Islamic religion so it was interesting to learn about their beliefs.

After six hours of touring around the Medina, the four of us were hot, tired, and ready for some food. Andi asked Ahmed for a lunch recommendation, and he suggested we should go to the famous Chez Lamine Hadj Mustapha restaurant. Tory and Aden were such troopers today walking around the Medina, never complaining, that Andi thought it might be better to choose a place with more kid-friendly food options. Ahmed gave us with a few other recommendations around Jemaa el Fnaa Square, and we picked L’Adresse restaurant. We thanked Ahmed for his time & information today. He kindly gave us his Whats App # to call or message him if we need anything during our stay in Morocco.

Inside L’Adresse Restaurant, Tory and Aden each ordered burgers and fries. I had a chicken and mushroom dish with rice & steamed veggies which was very good. Andi ordered Moroccan chicken skewers. Entree prices in the restaurants of Marrakech have been comparable to prices at home in the United States. Our bill was 700 Durhams ($70 USD) for four entrees, two Sprites, and a large bottle of water.

On our way back to the riad, we stopped in one of the shops and purchased a piece of artwork for home. “40 Durhams,” the man told Andi. “Nah, 10,” Andi responded. The dance of haggling for a price was making me uncomfortable, so the kids and I ducked out of the store into the alleyway to wait for Andi to finish our purchase. In the end, we paid what we thought was fair — 200 Durhams ($20 USD) for a painting to hang on the gallery wall in the new room of our house.

We got back to our hotel room at Riad Azoulay around 4:00pm and unfortunately, it was time for school work. I could easily count everything we learned about the Medina today as real world education, but we do need to keep up on Math & Language Arts, too. Tory and Aden were troopers when I pulled out the school books and asked them each to complete a lesson. They are keeping a written journal of our daily experiences as well.

Treats from the housekeeping staff helped fuel our enthusiasm — fresh figs, oranges, and Moroccan cookies.

Andi and I decided to have dinner at Riad Azoulay tonight. The kitchen prepared Tory and Aden pasta again (by request) with fresh-made tomato sauce. The kids both swear this is the best pasta they’ve ever eaten. Aden even asked for a bowl of the tomato sauce on the side so he could dip his bread into it.

For Andi and I, the kitchen prepared three different Moroccan salads to begin — stewed beans, traditional bakoula salad, and a cold beet salad with apples. And for our entree, we were served traditional tagina with chicken and mashed potatoes on the side. The meat was fall-off-the-bone tender and so flavorful.

Dessert, however, stole the show! It was similar to a cream puff filled with chocolate pudding and had a gold leaf on top. I didn’t think I could eat another bite, but somehow managed to polish off every bit of this delectable dessert.

With full bellies and tired legs, the four of us retired to our hotel room for the rest of the evening. We had a fascinating day exploring the Medina of Marrakech. Tomorrow will be a slower day for us as Wednesdays are typically more work & school focused while traveling. Andi also arranged for a professional photographer to snap some photos of us in the Medina. Should be fun!