Goodbye Essaouira...Hello Marrakech!

We started the day at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant we passed every day but never tried

Jonas and Jaxon making funny faces.

Freshly squeezed orange juice and omelets - just the thing we needed for a travel day. After trying the Berber omelet cooked in a tagine clay pot, we were disappointed we had not eaten there before. 

Even though we were in a hurry, we stopped at a spice shop that we passed every day.  The owner always asked us to come and look each time we passed by and we always said "maybe later" We ended up buying the spice mix needed to try to replicate the Berber omelet we just enjoyed.   Jaxon was an expert with the scale after playing in so many shops.

Natural dyes.

Daniel thought he would try to sell some spices without success.   I guess he frightened the customers.

We hired a nice man to help carry our bags to the bus station and the kids enjoyed another ride. 

We did not realize buses are rare and require reservations well in advance.   Luckily there were four no-shows and we got the bus right away.  The lady from the bus company moved all these people from their reserved spots so we could all sit together.  Priority to families!  How could you say no to that little face?

Village markets.

Eva loves her fingers.

After being led through a veritable labyrinth of narrow alleys by someone who was more than happy to make a few bucks, we came to our Riad (a traditional Moroccan home originally inhabited by wealthy families - ie rich man with up to four wives and many children).  The windowless and austere exteriors hid a paradise of luxury and comfort.

The boys of course added to the ambiance of peace and serenity.

After a welcome tea the staff showed us to our room

Boys upstairs

Mom, dad and baby downstairs

The boys even had a little cachette under the stairs where they stashed their new Christmas toys.

Love this bathroom

Jonas sitting at the mosaic table on the balcony over the inner courtyard garden,

This cute kid was one of the staff and kindly led us through the labyrinth of the souks to point us in the direction of the Place Jemaa El Fna, the main square in Marrakech.

Place Jemma El Fna was crazy and not to disappoint. People trying to "extract" money from us, as Daniel called it, left and right. For "however much you feel like" you could have your picture taken with a snake wrapped around your neck. Of course not matter what you offered, they wanted more.

Games

Snail vendors. Daniel mentioned once that we should try them, but I never insisted and luckily he forgot about it.

Every night, however, they set up tents and tables and multiple grills set to feed the hungry masses. The food was actually really good and inexpensive.

Jaxon and Jonas trying the spicy sauce. These boys have clearly not had enough exposure to Tex Mex and have developed French taste buds. They are very sensitive to spicy, especially Jaxon.

After dinner we headed back to the riad. When the boy had led us to the Place, Daniel and I had done our best to take mental pictures of all the necessary turns, having heard enough horror stories of friends getting lost in the souks. We did really well getting back and were patting ourselves on the back at not getting lost when we got completely flipped around at the last major intersection. I had tried to remember the name of this school which was close to our riad, thinking that everyone would be able to point us in the direction of the elementary school. After wandering around unsuccessfully for quite awhile I finally asked a police officer to show us where we were on the map. Unfortunately map reading isn't much of a thing here because he had no idea how to show us our location on the map. I then asked him where the elementary school was, and he said he had no idea. We walked back to the main intersection and there were a few guys hanging around who asked if we needed help. I asked one of the guys if he knew where the elementary school was. He looked really confused and replied, "No, no school. School is over. Come back in the morning, Madame." When I explained that I didn't want to go to the school, but that it was near the riad, he pointed us in the right direction and we found the school and finally made it back that night.

When we finally got back, Daniel took the boys up to the terrasse to look at the stars and tell them stories.