April 20,
2014 Day 2 in Marrakech
Suzette and
I got dressed round 7:30 a.m. and walked across and down the street to a grocer
and bought butter, olive oil and a fresh baguette for 51 dirham (about $6.50,
so quite expensive by U.S. standards, but it was about ½ pound or 200 grams of
the type of French style butter and Moroccan olive oil we buy at Talin, so
perhaps not all that expensive.
We sliced
and sautéed the heavy brown corn and millet bread in a skillet with olive oil
and I made tea and Suzette made coffee with heated milk and we poured orange
juice and sliced a banana and some of the baguette and a few figs and we went
to the roof to have breakfast.
At about
10:45 Naoiri came to guide us to the medina for more shopping. Naoire took us to a great spice shop where
the proprietor gave us a demonstration of the types of spices, incenses and teas. We bought saffron, eucalyptus crystals, long
black pepper we had never seen before, an ambur perfume, and blends for several
mixes of spices for garam masala, chicken and fish ($100.00). We looked at a
great shop owned by Naiore’s dad that sold fossils of Morocco. There were lots of Mosasaur heads, ammonites
and trilobites; really interesting stuff.
Next we went to a bazaar where there were an
assortment of items and were told that T.R. Lawrence used to trade a lot with
this group of people. We were looking
for door latches but could not find any. Finally Suzette called to me and when I went
to her she said she had found something.
Neither of us knew what they were.
Can you guess what it is?
 |
| Spice Shop and Willy |
 |
| Spice shop and Willy and Suzette |
It is a tool
used by the Berbers to tighten their weavings.
Can you
guess what we will use them for?
We are going
to mount them on the wall of our new mud room and use them for coat racks.
One of the
owners showed us that the shop is mentioned as a good shopping place in several
guidebooks.
The little
cowrie shell pendant was given to me because we bought five of the weaving presses. We did not have enough money to pay the
entire $500.00 (4,000 Dirham), only 1,500 Dirham; so we decided to go to lunch
and then an ATM and back to pay the rest of the money.
We ate lunch
in the Toublak Restaurant at 59 Jemaa El Fna.
I wanted to eat a bowl of Moroccan soup.
We had two bowls of soup, 2 breads, two mixed salads (tomato, lettuce, potato,
rice, cooked carrots, and cucumber)
 |
| Mixed Salad ($.62) |
and a Moroccan salad (marinated tomatoes,
red onions, bell peppers, and a large bottle of water for 38 Dirham (about $4.50).
Can you guess what the most expensive
item was? It was the 1.5 liter bottle of
water for 8 Dirham. So you can eat well
and cheaply. I could not help thinking how upset
it must make T.R. to have to pay $8.00 for a bowl of soup in Santa Fe, when a good
bowl of soup with a piece of Arab bread costs $.50 in Marrakech.
Here are pictures
of Easter Sunday at 2:00 p.m. on the Jamaa el Fna. Notice how many people are wearing their Easter
dresses. Perhaps they did not get the
memo that it is Easter.
 |
| The Jemaa, notice folks are steering clear of the snake charmers' tent in the center |
 |
| Suzette and Naiore in front of the Mosque |
We were
tired and asked Naoire to lead us back home.
He took us to the last turn in the medina and said goodbye.
At 6:30 p.m. we decided to go eat in the medina again. We \wanted to sit up on a terrace. We walked to the Place Jemaa el Fna without difficulty but decided to eat in the smaller place next to it but with a view into it. We climbed the stairs to the third floor terrace and took a table with a view of both the small place and into the larger Place.
We ordered a beef Couscous and Vegetable couscous and a chicken tagine. the portions were small but satisfactory, although not as good as last night's meal. With water the meal totaled 130 Dirham. After dinner we walked across the square to Restaurant Tagine that has a terrace that looks into the Place Jemaa el Fna and seems to have great food, if the girl making crepes is any indication. Perhaps we will eat there some night. We walked around the Place Jemaa el Fna abit but got bummed by the wind and so many people. We saw folks watching dances and other entertainments. We bought a container of yogurt and walked back to the apartment and opened our bottle of Douro red wine and enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine and a bit of dark chocolate.
Bon Appetit
At 6:30 p.m. we decided to go eat in the medina again. We \wanted to sit up on a terrace. We walked to the Place Jemaa el Fna without difficulty but decided to eat in the smaller place next to it but with a view into it. We climbed the stairs to the third floor terrace and took a table with a view of both the small place and into the larger Place.
We ordered a beef Couscous and Vegetable couscous and a chicken tagine. the portions were small but satisfactory, although not as good as last night's meal. With water the meal totaled 130 Dirham. After dinner we walked across the square to Restaurant Tagine that has a terrace that looks into the Place Jemaa el Fna and seems to have great food, if the girl making crepes is any indication. Perhaps we will eat there some night. We walked around the Place Jemaa el Fna abit but got bummed by the wind and so many people. We saw folks watching dances and other entertainments. We bought a container of yogurt and walked back to the apartment and opened our bottle of Douro red wine and enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine and a bit of dark chocolate.
Bon Appetit
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