Medieval Medina and Majorelle Museum and Gardens in Marrakesh, October 21-22

A medina is a city, but usually refers to a very old walled city. In Marrakesh, the distance around the old city walls is ten miles, and sometimes I think we walked that far! Actually I am sure that we did not see it all, but except for the big square, we never saw anything twice. It was quite an experience which I do not think I can accurately describe in words and the photos only show small sections. A few of the streets looked like regular streets and we were told to pray as we crossed them. Most of the streets that we walked on were between six and twelve feet wide with stores on both sides and some displays extending into the street. Hundreds of pedestrians, both local and tourists, were shopping and through the middle of it all zoomed people on motorbikes as well as cyclists, donkeys with a cart or wagon full of goods, men pulling very large carts, and some vehicles with large wagons attached. We were warned to stay to the right side clinging to the edge as much as we could. We crossed streets or turned corners very carefully, preferably in a group. It was an amazing experience. The medina is huge. There is a palace in it which has 30 acres of land. There are hotels with swimming pools. We ate in two lovely restaurants.

 

 

 

 

At the big square we saw snake charmers and monkey trainers. One monkey did flips, then they put them on Bob's shoulders.

We went up on the roof of a cafe, sipped some mint tea and had a bird's eye view of the big square.

 

We saw the sun set on the minaret of the mosque as we left the medina, but I have not begun to tell about the interesting and beautiful places we saw in the medina. It will have to be another blog.

We came back to the medina for dinner at a beautiful restaurant, first having a drink on the rooftop with a terrific view. This restaurant was originally two homes.

At our table were the National Geographic expert, Jeffrey Taylor, on the left, and our tour director, Andrew Simon, on the right.

Musicians entertained us.

The next day we visited the beautiful gardens, originally the home of Majorelle, a French painter, and later owned by Yves Saint Laurent. There was an incredible collection of Berber artifacts In a small museum there. After that we returned to the medina for further exploring of the souks or markets and lunch. There are whole sections for a specific industry, like leather making or metal work, etc.

At the Majorelle Gardens

 

 

 

 

 

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