Last year I
spent the 2nd of May, bank holiday in Madrid, in London doing the
usual. Visiting friends, having dinner in the places I love (having Tequila
with my friend Charlie), walking around town, seeing for the thousand time my
favorite museums or simply checking new interesting exhibitions, like the one
that was all summer in Modern Tate from the contemporary artist Damien Hirst.
As you can see by the amount of pictures in my previous post… same old, same
old!
This year,
on the other hand, I decided to explore new worlds. As close from Madrid as
London is Marrakech, the capital from Morocco and a “must go” destination
according to experienced world travelers. For me it was more like a complete new world just a couple of hours away.
From Madrid
to Marrakech, Iberia flies with the same airplanes that it flies inside Spain
(Air Nostrum, a branch from Iberia just for internal flights), but it couldn’t
be more different. Not only the blue of the sky changes from Spain to
Morocco, but everything… The houses, the clothes, the food, the music and,
specially, the way of selling and buying (you have to negotiate the prices of
everything, because if you don’t do it they get offended; even when you think
the price is fair, you have to push the sales people a little bit into making
it lower). Everything is so different!
If you’re
planning on doing something similar, be sure you read a lot before you go and
that you’re perfectly aware of the codes. And no, reading the Wallpaper guide won’t
be enough to put you into context. Neither reading some hints and tips at the
very last minut, before you go or even during the flight. If you’re on your way
to Marrakech, be prepared to see and live something completely new.
The high
moments of my 5 days escape were definitely the food (I had amazing cous-cous
and desserts all the time; even in Jemaa el-Fnaa, the main square from
Marrakech, where you have food outside, in tents, the food was good). Also the
hot mint tea that doesn’t feel hot at all, on the contrary, and that you are served
everywhere, is very yummy! I was also amazed by the Majorelle Gardens, former house in the city of
the couturier Yves Saint-Laurent and, before that, of the expatriate French
artist Jacques
Majorelle, who invented a kind of blue (just like the Klein blue or
the Bilbao blue, about which I told you in here) that is called the Majorelle
blue and that now, after how amazing I found the contrast between the painted walls of the house and the green of the trees, the blue of the Moroccan
sky and of the fountain water, it’s probably my favorite kind of blue. Finally I also recomend a visit to the Bahia Palace, with it’s colorful details in the walls, ceilings and floors,
plus the beautiful doors about which I’ll tell you more in a different post.
Other
things that you can’t see reflected in this pictures, like the Riad where we
stayed, "So Cheap So Chic" (and this is not my description about it, it’s
actually it’s name), and the Hammam I visited twice and from where I almost left
skinless (Le Bains de Kabira) were also very recommendable.
But, on the
other hand, I wasn’t impressed at all with the leather tanner places (for your
own sake stay away from those and, specially, never never never let little boys
take you around the Medina; get lost as much as you need to find your ways out
of the maze that the Medina can be, but don’t trust anyone that wants to advice
you or take you somewhere). In the first day we where lucky, because one of
those young man took us to the jew neighborhood and we end up buying great
stuff for very reasonable prices (in the jew neighborhood is not like inside
the Medina, in here the prices are marked and you pay what you see) but the second
day, trying to find our way to one of those leather tanner places, we accepted
someone else’s “help” and were completely fooled. So, just in case, you better
skip those leather tanner places… Another thing about which I felt completely
fooled (again!) are the henna tatoos (forget about those as well!). The ladies
in the main square that offer to do it (or, to be more precise, that steal your
hand from inside your pockets and start painting them) guarantee that they will last
at least a week. Well, mine lasted 2 days in perfect conditions, than it
started fainting. And, you can also skip the Bali Palace or, as it’s own name
suggests, the incomplete Palace. Do I have to explain it any further?!
And last
but not least, something about which I’m still not sure how I feel is the
selling and buying scheme. I mean, I know that the Moroccans have been business
people (or traders) for a long time, but their insistence it’s too much for me.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love to shop, but there’s too much stuff
everywhere and too many people trying to literally pull you inside their
shops all the time. Nevertheless I bought very interesting and cool stuff (half
way between the traditional and the modern) that look perfect in my new flat.
Talking about which… In the near future hopefully I can post some fish eye
pictures from my new flat. I know that it is a bit narcissistic, but now that
I have the best terrace in Madrid I just want to “share it” with the whole
world. Meanwhile, enjoy Marrakech!
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