Morocco - Toronto to Marrakech

Rick drove me to Pearson and I was at the gate with plenty of time to spare. Nic and Dave arrived shortly after and we had a light meal and Prosecco to celebrate the start of the trip.

Flight to Charles de Gaule was fine, about 3 hours sleep and then no issues to get to the next gate on time, where we met the rest of the group (Mark and Emma, Pam and Tina, Heather and Tim). Flight to Marracech also fine, dozed off and on. Customs went smoothly, changed currency Euros to Moroccan dirham (MAD). 1 Canadian dollar is 7.02 Mad, 1 mad is .14cents. Emma had arranged a transfer to the hotel and we were there before check in time at 3pm.

So we went up to the roof top pool, which is a great way to deal with the grainy way you feel after these long, time change, flights.

 

The view was of the train station, Gare de Marrakech, across part of the city, to a fortress on a hill

and mountains beyond.

 

Thatched rooftop bar/restaurant (Heather, Tim, Nic and Dave later ate dinner there)

Our rooms were ready on time

and my balcony looked down at the station and

across to the fortress.

I sat there for a while absorbing the sights, sounds, smells and impressions of the city. Lots of scooters and little trucks that looked a bit like the Tuktuks from Thailand, along with long modern buses. Delivery vans and a cart pulled by a mule trotting rapidly down the street. Bicycles and scooters with anywhere from 1 to 4 passengers crammed on (no helmets). Dress varied from full burkas to shorts and tank tops, with everything in between. The street fumes finally drove me from the balcony and I responded to a text from Emma that they were going for a walk if anyone wanted to join them.

And we were off (Tina, Pam, Mark, Emma and I), following google maps to an area recommended by our driver.

 

French is spoken here and many of the signs are in English too.

The train station is much more impressive at the front, than the side I can see from my balcony.

Some of the intersections had cross walk indicators but at others we were taking our lives into our hands.

We, obviously tourists, were stopped a few times by people trying to sell us stuff and wanting to direct us to a market. They were quite insistent but not aggressive or making us uncomfortable.

I indicated to the others that I had walked far enough and, as we didn't have a particular destination in mind, was going to turn back. We all did, heading in the general direction of the market we had been told about.

I would like to claim that I found this restaurant, but in all honesty I was just intrigued by the entrance and thought it was a market.

When we found our way down this long corridor

we found ourselves

in this tiny restaurant and decided to stay.

Emma texted the others but they decided to stay at the hotel to eat. The waiter gave us a brief description of each of the dishes and we opted to order 5 appetizers and share them because we all wanted to try them all. No alcohol on the menu but we each had a smoothie and fizzy water.

Photo by Emma.

The waiter  described it as Moroccan Fusion and I can't begin to describe the dishes but if interested google Azalai Urban Souk and look at the menu as it does have an English translation. 

We had smoked trout crispy rolls, chicken crunchy things, 2 eggplant and toasted chick pea dishes and this, my favourite (although all were delicious) which was a sort of tomato aspic with a broth and something creamy in the middle and I have no idea what the flower was made of. Just a bite or two of each dish, like a tasting menu, and it was plenty for me as by now I was ready to go to sleep. We split the bill and my total was 152 MAD (about $21)

Dark by the time we came out. While in there the lights had flickered off a number of times but the waiter seemed unconcerned

and said that the dishes were mostly just plated in the tiny kitchen we could see.

Almost next door we found the market we had been looking for

full of spices, leather goods and metal work. I am sure we will see a lot more of this as we tour the souks over the next few days.

Back to the hotel, we were all dragging by now. Back in my room, I did my duolingo Spanish and had the light out by about 8pm, hoping for 10 or 12 hours of sleep.