The Incredible Circus of Marrakech

Posted by Nicki

I am now in Marrakech, Morocco; and I can say without a doubt it is one of more fantastic and exotic places I have ever been. And I love it.

But first things first. Casablance ended up very well yesterday. Emily found out that our hotel there would store her absolute mountain of luggage for free, which was very nice of them. Hopefully she will be able to ship it moroccan post when we get back to casa for a reasonable price. Second, we actually found the mosque. It was not even close to where the map said it was, but once we found a nice taxi we got there in no time. The Grand Mosque in Casablanca is the third largest mosque in the world and its absolutely incredible. I was blown away by how massive it was and the craftmanship that obviously went into it. Its set right on the ocean as well which makes for quite a backdrop. The lines of the archways are stunning and I couldnt help but take a bajillion pictures, hopefully some of which might actually be pretty good. We didnt get there in time to take a tour; but of what I saw I was very impressed.

This morning we caught a train to Marrakech and it was so nice to travel by train again, I love watching the countryside go by. Morocco has such a beautiful landscape, lots of green pastures full of wildflowers closer to Casablanca, changing into more of a desert nearer to Marrakech. Around where we are now its particularly wonderful with swaying palm trees looking out upon the snowcapped mountains.

So far the city of Marrakech is fantastic, a complete sensory experience. It completely takes you in. There are amazingly colored scarves and pottery and fabrics draped high overhead, small moutains of vibrant spices and jars and jars of brillant powders stacked up to the ceiling, the strong scent of the herbs and dried spices and leaves and men carving fresh cedar drift in and out of the souqs as you stroll past. As you walk through the medina there are snake charmers flutes and drums and music in every direction. There are tons of stands selling fresh squeezed orange juice for 30 cents a glass. I am hoping tonight we will be able to see the acrobats and whatever other crazy things this place might hold.

There are some sketchy characters for sure here; but so far we have managed to keep them at bay. Today we feasted on coucous and tajine (a moroccan dish cooked up in a pottery dish of sorts) wandered the Medina, and most definitely got lost, but it was great just to find our way and look at all the things for sale. I am excited to head out shopping in a day or two and see what I can come up with. Weve also signed up to do a tour of the atlas highlands and a small desert camel trek. We will be gone for three days, so I let you know how it is when I get back. Another strange random tidbit; people here (and in senegal) often ask where we are from. They keep guessing tons of places from belgium to germany, england to italy or maybe canada, but it seems they never guess the US. I thought that a random fun fact of the day. Maybe we americans need to travel more!

I hope you all are doing well, I bought a bunch of postcards today, so they will be on the way soon!