Good morning from Marrakech Morocco!!
I’m writing this from the rooftop of our Riad as the quiet of the night starts to lift. First the repeated “cock-a-doodle-doos”—then the chirping birds, voices of people talking, scooter horns beeping, cars driving by and now a hum of a city that is revving up to burst into frenetic action!
We experienced the city’s energy last night as we drove in from Casablanca. We were met first by a traffic jam that almost rivaled that of Indore’s jam last year!! Except this time we were in an 18-seater mini bus rather than in an open rickshaw 🛺!! Typical rush hour traffic was compounded by soccer fans from around the world who came to witness Morocco play against Zambia in the Africa Cup Tournament! (Morocco won 3-0).
Once we finally made it to the Medina, we had to travel by foot through the bustling souks and crowded maze-like narrow alleys to find our oasis. 13 pieces of luggage were carted through the chaos by 2 locals (such hard work!!)
Weaving through merchants, monkey acrobats, musicians, fresh fruit vendors, hawkers, legless beggar, cafes and restaurants, soccer fans and so much more we finally arrived at our Riad! What a lovely home!!
Already late for dinner, we took a quick minute to freshen up, made our way to dinner at an an Italian restaurant in the Four Seasons hotel. Dinner was delicious—-but service was sooo laid back and slow!! After nourishing ourselves it was time to tackle the traffic back to our Riad. And boy was there traffic—-the streets were full of jubilant fans who were proudly waving Moroccan flags from their cars in celebration of their victory. What a sight!!
Finally back at the Riad it was time to settle in for the night, reflect on the day and call it a night so we can start all over again the next day!!