Morocco Reviews: Marrakech

After a nice relaxing time in Essaouira we went back to the hustle and bustle of the big city, specifically Marrakech. In the afternoon we had a guided tour through the city, where we apparently pretty much saw everything there was to see! 

First we went to the Saadian Tombs. These are the tombs of the Saadi dynasti which ruled Marrakech in the past. The sultan Moulay Ismail, who gathered the country in 1672, encircled these tombs with high walls, and they were preserved until the French discovered them, when they took arial photographs of the streets. There are two main buildings surrounded by gardens with palm trees and herbs. The tombs are beautifully decorated as are the buildings some of them are in. There are more than 166 graves altogether, some of which are placed inside the buildings and some outside. 

We also went to the Bahia Palace where the grand vezir Bou Ahmed lived with his 4 wives and 24 concubines. The entire palace is beautifully decorated, but at his death it was plundered by his wives, concubines and angry people from the city who had suffered greatly under his hands. A selection of the restored rooms are open to the public, except when the king is in town. 

The medina of Marrakech is very big, but someone will always point you in the direction of the big square if you get lost. Which can actually be troublesome if you are looking for anyplace other than the big square! This medina is also one of the better ones, in my opinion. As mentioned it is big, but that just means you can actually spend some time browsing in it rather than pushing through it too quickly. A lot of the shops have the same things, which is all the more evident, because the medina (or the souk as it is also called) is divided into parts based on goods. So all the shoe sellers are in one parts, all the lanterns in  another, the spices in yet another and so on. But if you look hard enough it is possible to find a good deal on souvenirs to take home. 

The central square is called Djemaa el-Fna. The square is populated by snake charmers, fruit sellers and buskers in general. During the day it is not too busy, but at night everyone seems to gather here to enjoy the street food and the show of people. This first night in Marrakech we braved the masses and went to one of the street food places for dinner. It was barbecued meats and vegetables and an assortment of smaller dishes. There was also a local dish of meat cooked in clay pots, which was apparently very tender, but there was a lot of bones and fatty bits in it. 

The next day we had a free day, and we decided to go check out a garden; the Jardin Majorelle. We got there quite early, which was lucky as a large queue quickly formed. We paid 50 dirhems for the entrance fee. For another 50 I think it was, you also had access to the small museum of Berber culture located in the garden. The founder of the garden was the French painter Jacques Majorelle who lived here, and after his death the French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent bought the place. The garden is not too big, so I could imagine it would get a bit crowded later in the day. We were there in the morning, and when we left there was a really long queue outside. 

Then we went on a quest to find the photography museum. It is tucked away in the smaller streets of the city, where tourists apparently don’t often come, unless lost, because practically everyone we met tried to show the way to the Djemaa el-Fna Square. The museum has a lot of interesting photos of the city and Morocco in general from the late 1800s up to about the 1940s. There is also a little roof terrace that serves a small selection of food and drink. The entry fee was 40 dirhems. 

Restaurant Le Caspien

We had our last group dinner at this restaurant and it was quite fancy to what we would normally choose. There are white table cloths, airconditioning, drinks on the menu and good food in a jazzy French atmosphere. I had a lovely steak for 140 dirhems, and when some of us came back the next day, I had the same meal, because it was so good. 

The steak

And dessert

Smöoey

This is an ice cream/fro-yo place in the “modern” part of town. There is a small square around here with “western” shops such as H&M, Zara and New Yorker. The ice cream was really good and you could pick a lot of different toppings and sauces. Definitely worth a visit. 

Hotel Gomassine

The rooms at this hotel have airconditioning, refrigerators and TVs. The bathrooms have a shower, a tub and a hairdryer. The beds were comfortable and the street noise was not too bad. The breakfast consisted of bread, juice, hardboiled eggs, warm milk, cold milk and cornflakes, cakes, coffee, tea, butter, cheese and jam. The orange juice was cooled at this hotel, which is unusual in Morocco, but yummy! The hotel has wifi, and the front desk will help you arrange a taxi to the airport. The website said this would be free, but that was apparently a mistake, so I paid 150 dirhems for the trip to the airport.