Magic in Marrakesh: Part 1

It was cold, grey and raining slightly as we left Paris, so I practically skipped down the tarmac with happiness when we finally landed in Marrakesh to be greeted by blue skies, sunshine and palm trees. After being royally ripped off by an airport taxi driver (as expected!) we arrived at the edge of the medina to be immediately confronted by all the clichés I'd read about - the touts, the snake charmers, the masses of freshly squeezed orange juice! We'd already booked our accommodation, at the lovely Hotel Ali, and I had scribbled down a rough map from the website, so we headed straight there - much to the dismay of all the people attempting to convince us that their families'/brother's/best friend's hotel was much closer/cleaner/warmer. (Really, warmer. One guy asked us where we were staying and when we told him he shook his head and told us that it was a very cold hotel, but, of course, he knew somewhere with much better heating!)

We ran straight up to the roof terrace, which had an amazing view of the main square, Djemaa el-Fna. Though the sun was still shining, there were storm clouds building ominously in the distance, so we headed straight out to see as much as we could before the clouds caught up with us. 

(The view of Djemaa el-Fna from the terrace) 

Unfortunately we barely even set foot in the souks before the rain started bucketing down and we were forced to seek shelter in one of the many cafés lining the square, where we ate the first of many amazing plates of couscous washed down with orange juice. It rained for almost 24 hours straight (we later learned that Marrakesh is experiencing one of its wettest winters on record - they apparently had more rain in October alone than they did for the past 4 years combined) and although we hastily bought umbrellas (having not come prepared for torrential rain!) it did put somewhat of a dampener on the first day of sightseeing. Luckily we had no fixed itinerary, so we were able to spend as much time there as we liked, sitting in cafés sipping mint tea and waiting for the deluge to come to an end. 

Which it did, in the early evening of our second day. The clouds rolled away, as quickly as they had come, leaving only a clear blue sky and some rosy traces on the horizon as the sun went down.

We ran around in the lovely rain-less twilight, finally experiencing the magic of Djemaa el-Fna as acrobats, story-tellers, snake charmers and henna-ladies (who told us that their henna would help us get a husband - do we look like we need one?) emerged from under their verandas and umbrellas to mill about. The main square stopped being a massive puddle we had to negotiate around and instead became an obstacle course, the game being whether we could get from one side to the other without being cajoled into buying dates, or orange juice, or having our fortunes told. 

As the light disappeared, turning from gold to blue to black, we crossed our fingers and wished for a clear skies and sunshine the next day. 

Part two tomorrow! 

Bisous, 

Alice x