Tag Archives: Marrakech

Morocco Journal 9: Shopping, Eating, Sleeping, Body Work

Posted on Tuesday, October 8, 2013 | 7 comments

Back home in North Carolina after 14 days in Morocco, the quintessential shopping bazaar, with a 2-day stopover in beautiful Madrid, Spain. Now, I prepare to return to Oaxaca, but not before a final set of Morocco recommendations to share with you.

Tisnet tagines copyright Norma Hawthorne

Tisnet tagines photo copyright Norma Hawthorne

Marrakech

Riad Bahia Salam, Marrakech, a restored mid-range guesthouse situated within easy walking distance between the Mellah, Jemaa el Fna, and the souqs. Great food. Serene spa with best massage. Excellent service. English, French, Arabic spoken. Tell Omar at the front desk I said hello.
English-speaking Marrakech taxi driver Abdellatif will drive you anywhere for a reasonable price. He has a university education in linguistics and can’t find professional work! Very nice, honest man. Tel (00212) (0) 6 60 47 98 42
For incredible Marrakech hand-woven cotton and agave silk scarves see artisan Ahmed El Baroudi, Souk Serrajine, No. 69, Tel 06 58 37 19 80

Spice market, photo by Norma Hawthorne

Chez Laarabi is in the Mellah, down the street from the spice market and the old Jewish synagogue no longer in use. It is a mini-bazaar with a fine selection of rugs, leather bags, clothing, old and new Berber and Tuareg jewelry, tea sets, babouche (pointy-toed slippers), and all things Moroccan. Arset El Maach, Rue de la Radeema No. 41 (upstairs). Tel 06 66 09 11 59 email: simolarrabi@hotmail.com Say Hi to Mohamed for me.
Stay outside the city in the Palmerie at Mosaic Palais Aziz & Spa for deluxe, grand luxury experience. The two swimming pools and spa offer a retreat from the hubbub of being in the souq.
Chez Chegrouni for the BEST tagine and people watching on Jemaa el Fna. I had both the vegetarian and the chicken tagine on two different nights. Cheap and delicious! Recommended by locals in the know.
Don’t get kidnapped by the henna artists on Jemaa el Fna. They are con artists who grabbed my wrist, started painting my hand in motion, and dragged me to their chair before I could protest! Cost 100 dh to get out of jail. Evidently they are famous. First price she asked me to pay to be bailed out = 800 dirham. Don’t fall for it 🙂

They saw a live one coming!

Essaouira, Morocco photo copyright Norma Hawthorne

Essaouira

Taros Restaurant, Essaouira, consistently the best food, views, Atlantic Ocean breezes, great wine.
Buy your tagine in the fish market square. Don’t pay more than 30 dirham! I bought one made in Tisnet which is just south of Agadir on the Atlantic coast. It has a beautiful green/brown glaze.
Eat dinner at L’Heure Bleue, the luxury Chateaux et Relais hotel at the Bab Marrakech (the Marrakech Gate) if you want to spend $100 per person for superb food and house label wine.

L'Heure Bleue courtyard, photo copyright Norma Hawthorne

L’Heure Bleue patio, photo by Norma Hawthorne

See Abraham Touarez for great authentic, old Berber and Twareg jewelry at very reasonable prices. Avenue Sidi Mohamed Be Abdellah on the left side closer to the end of the shopping as you walk toward the old Mellah. There’s a pool hall directly across the avenue. Tel 06 70 95 404 He says the best way to clean Berber silver (a metal/silver mix) is to use salt and lemon juice! Map.

Argan oil, nuts photo by Norma Hawthorne

Best lunches are at teeny tiny Vague Bleu on a side street to the left off Avenue Mohamed El Quon as you walk toward the Bab Marrakech after crossing the BIG main shopping avenue. Seats 8-10 people. Get there early. Daily specials. Terrific. Went there 4 days in a row. Not boring. French ex-pat hang-out.
For rugs from a trusted merchant go to Maroc Art, 8 Bis Rue Laalouj, next to the museum. Ask for Abdel Mounaim Bendahhane or his colleague Abdoul Gnaoui. Tel. 05 24 47 50 50 or email maroc_art@live.fr
Bring home Moroccan spices, dates, argan cooking oil and argan nut spread (be sure you buy the authentic kind made with almonds not peanuts) from a young man in a stall on the left side of Ave. Mohamed Zerktouni close to the Bab Doukala. Very fresh. Keep your empty water bottles and pour the oil into them. Then wrap in bubble for safe travels.

Azur Spa & Hammam for great deep tissue massage. 1-1/2 hours for 500 dirham — an incredible bargain!
Visit the Essaouira Synagogue and discover Jewish Moroccan history — deeply embedded in the town’s identity as a trading center.

Mohamed Touarez copyright Norma Hawthorne

Abraham Touarez, photo copyright Norma Hawthorne

How to get from Marrakech to Essaouira? It’s a two to four hour bus ride depending upon which company you choose. SupraTours and CTM offer first class direct service and have their own stations. Any bus that you take from the Gare Routiere will stop in every hamlet and crossroads along the way. Avoid El Mahabba Voyages, second class, shabby. Prices are about the same. You choose. And, don’t get swindled by somebody who wants a tip to reserve a seat for you! Bags are extra 5-10 dh each depending on which service you choose.

Below, dinner at L’Heure Bleue. C’est magnifique.

7 Comments

Posted in Dining and Lodging, Food & Recipes, Jewelry, Textiles, Tapestries & Weaving, Travel & Tourism

Tagged bus, carpets, Essaouira, food, Jewish quarter, Marrakech, mellah, Morocco, rugs, shopping, travel, where to stay

Morocco Journal 4: From the Medina to the Palace

Posted on Friday, September 20, 2013 | 2 comments

From North Africa, the land of coucous, tagine, lamb, prunes, dates, figs and apricots: We moved from the cozy, neighborhood riad on a busy street in the Marrakech medina near the crush of the souq and Jemaa el-Fnaa square to an oasis about 15 minutes beyond the city center.

The Mosaic Palais Aziza & Spa driver fetched and spirited us away in a new Rolls Royce to a neighborhood of gated palaces, mature date palms, lush gardens, climbing pink bougainvillea and aromatic jasmine. We entered a refuge, a rose-colored enclave of repose and serenity. Luxury and 5-star boutique hotel only begins to describe where I landed, thanks to Judith Reitman-Texier and skin care and lifestyle company La Bedouine.

Marrakech is a desert sanctuary. Known as the Red City for her mandated salmon pink buildings, travelers come to experience her legendary romantic appeal, great craftsmanship, outstanding food, and focus on personal health.

Spa life is an integral part of desert culture where both men and women of all economic levels take a weekly cleansing hammam. Small guesthouses, luxury boutique hotels, and grand international hotels all offer spa treatment services. Here beauty is more than skin deep. It is a meditation whose source comes from deep within for spiritual and emotional cleansing and purification.

Mosaic Palais Aziz & Spa is a perfect spot for the frenzied. There’s not much to do here except lounge on pristine white divans on a patio outside the room or at the pool and swim. Take your time. North Africa is slower paced, just like Mexico. Enjoy a spa treatment, take a turn in the fully equipped gym, and sleep at any hour of the day. Reading a book seems to be the preferred entertainment for guests stretched out around the two pools.

You can dine at two extraordinary restaurants where Daniele Tourco, director of food and beverage and chef de cuisine, ensures that guests have the best fresh-made Moroccan and Italian specialties.

Have you ever had scorpion fish? Karim el Ghazzawi, President and CEO, recommended I try this last night. Otherwise, I would never have ventured there with a name like that. I know scorpions. I find them in my Oaxaca casita and I would never eat one! I step on them. But, the name belies the delicacy and Morocco is famed for her fresh fish and oysters.

There is even delicious Halana brand merlot available at the hotel that is made in Morocco to sip at your leisure.

Arabian Nights architecture and decor, lemon, olive, date and pomegranate trees heavy with fruit surround me. I’ve just emerged from a four-hands massage (imagine that). I feel so fortunate to be here at this moment, far away from stress and the decisions at hand.

I did venture out on my own on Day Two, stopping periodically to consult a map, with no difficulty. Though Morocco is an Arabic and French-speaking country, I found myself able to get along in both Spanish and English, using Spanish as my primary language. In tourist areas and hotels, most people speak enough English for basic communication.

Now, for another glass of mint tea before dinner! I’m six hours ahead of you.

2 Comments

Posted in Cultural Commentary, Dining and Lodging, Photography

Tagged boutique, food, hotel, lodging, Marrakech, Morocco, Red City, spa

Morocco Journal 3: Shop, Bargain, Buy or Walk Away

Posted on Thursday, September 19, 2013 | 2 comments

How many glasses of mint tea can you drink in a day? Every shop owner, whether in the souq or in a traditional store, will offer mint tea. The tea is delicious. It is also a strategy to get you to sit down, talk and stay a while.

A while can often be two hours! Don’t take the tea unless you are ready to linger, like what you see and willing to bargain. You have to bargain hard. You have to get to the point where the seller begins to call you a Berber. Then, you know you are getting closer to the real price. It took me a day to learn this. Yesterday I was called a Berber repeatedly with a great deal of respect.

In Oaxaca, crafts people may offer you a mezcal as a sign of hospitality. There is very little if any pressure. Of course, if you drink more than one, you may lose your sensibilities. Oaxaca prices have very little play in them. Most things are tagged. Some are not. It’s different in Morocco.

There is nothing for sale that has a price tag on it! Yes, there are tags with numbers, but all the sellers tell you these are reference numbers. I expect that they are indeed some type of pricing code, but I couldn’t even begin to decipher this.

If you want something, here is what you do.

Don’t ask for prices first. Decide what you like. Select a group of things. Sit down. Have some tea. Take your time. Watch the presentation of beautiful hand made art. Once you decide on what you like, take out your notebook and pen. Draw a chart like a Scrabble scorecard with the seller’s name on one side and yours on the other. Ask him his price and to write it under his name. Offer less than half his asking price and write that under your name. He will cross it out and write his “best” price. You will say NO and write your best price. Don’t go down too far too fast or you will pay too much! You need to do about four to six to eight rounds of this back and forth. You will get to the fair price when he says he can’t do any better and you say you won’t pay that much.

I had a traveling companion once who said you have to learn to walk away and then you watch the price go down. This is not something we are used to in our culture and at first it feels very uncomfortable. I think a lot of the bargaining mentality also comes with the power of the dollar and the exchange rate. We have such an advantage using dollars in Mexico. Much less so than here in Morocco where the Dirham is tied more closely to the Euro. Now, 8 Dirhams to the dollar — a 20 percent premium. In Mexico, 12.5 or more pesos to the dollar — a 20 percent discount.

I’m figuring there’s about a 40% discount margin. If you end up paying a little more, but you love the piece, you have struck a good bargain.

Rule of Thumb applies to small inexpensive things like baskets you find in the square to very costly, large carpets in shops. However, in the square, you may have to do all those calculations in your head 🙂

I’m traveling with Judith Reitman-Texier, founder, La Bedouine argan skin care and La Bedouine Lifestyle.

2 Comments

Posted in Cultural Commentary, Photography, Travel & Tourism

Tagged bargaining, discounts, Marrakech, Morocco, prices, shopping

Morocco Journal 2: Marrakech–Oaxaca Connection

Posted on Wednesday, September 18, 2013 | 10 comments

After a 24-hour journey from Raleigh, North Carolina to Marrakech, Morocco via Madrid, Spain, I headed out on Day One with my guide Fadil into the labyrinthine Marrakech souq (souk). I was forewarned. It is easy to get lost. Don’t even think about going in without a guide, advised a U.S. State Department friend who lived in Rabat for years. I took him seriously. Opinions vary on this, but I decided to be cautious and get the lay of the land.

It was early morning after a rainy night. Only the cobra snake charmer greeted us on Jemaa el-Fnaa, the city’s main square.

Then, we entered the souq. Except for the minarets, Arabic script, women wearing djellabas, and narrow arched and cobblestone alleys, I could have been in Oaxaca’s Abastos Market where I have often lost my bearings among the tangle of vendors.

My priority today was to see the Dyer’s Market. But, as usual I got sidetracked. Temptations are many. As in most international markets, craftsmen congregate by trade. Here, there are sections for jewelry, ceramics, shoes, leather bags, traditional clothing, food and spices, cookware, and even a goat skin auction.

Marrakech–Oaxaca Connection

Natural dyes. Here in Morocco, indigo, poppy, saffron, mint, kohl, henna, and other plants and minerals are used to dye wool for rugs and fibers for clothing and shawls.

Silk of the Agave Cactus. Just like in Mexico, the agave leaf is soaked and pounded, the fibers separated and spun, and used for weaving and embroidery embellishment. We call it pita in Oaxaca and sabra in Morocco. It has the shiny texture of raw silk.

Fruit of the Agave. Lo and behold, I’m walking through the market and see a street vendor selling tuna, which is what we call the fruit of the agave cactus. He peeled the skin and offered the fruit to me and Fadil. We each got two for 5 Dirham. That’s about 15 cents each.

Sesame seed snacks. The women who balance the baskets on their heads filled with sweet sesame treats on the Oaxaca Zocalo and the souq pushcart vendors have a lot in common.

Donkeys. There are beasts of burden in every culture, thankfully.

Weaving Techniques. Men weave on the heavy floor loom. Women weave using a lighter weight vertical loom that looks more like the Navajo loom.

And, then there are the rugs. Stunning rugs, just like in Oaxaca. Too many beautiful rugs to choose from.

Market life for the staples of life.

Photography: Traditional people do not want their picture taken!

Moorish influences in tile work, craft, food.

Construction: Buildings are made of adobe, earth’s raw materials.

Of course, so much here is different, especially in food and beverage. The whiskey of Morocco is mint tea. We are getting used to dining without a glass of wine in this alcohol-free Moslem country. Couscous and tagine are culinary gifts. The hammam, or sweat bath, and the spa life are integral to the culture.