Essaouira,
Morocco
Sunday, October 5, 2008
We flew into Marrakech and, after dropping our baggage at our accommodation, made our way on foot to the area around the large main square of the medina, Jamaa el Fna, in order to find some dinner. We found our way to a restaurant where we each had a tagine, one a citrus based chicken dish with green olives, the other a tomato based beef kofta dish with egg on top. They were both very nice - a promising start to the Moroccan cuisine scene. After dinner we headed into the square itself to soak up the atmosphere. There were women offering various henna designs, a boxing match which had drawn a huge crowd, a game involving picking up a coke bottle with a round object (which looked like a magnet) hanging from the end of a fishing line, and food stalls galore. I saw one guy walking around with a monkey on his shoulder looking for people to entertain. There were people of all ages, and the atmosphere was friendly and sociable. When we return to Marrakech at the end of the tour, I will definitely return here to eat at one of the stalls.
We then made our way out to Essaouira, a small town on the coast. We are staying at a lovely house a little inland - the meals here are fantastic (dinner is 3 wonderful courses). We had a successful trip to the souk in Essaouira today, where Ben finally got a haircut (he figured it was time when he was getting approached in the street by one of the local hairdressers) and I bought a pair of red babouches for around the house. We plan to spend tomorrow morning by the pool, before packing up and heading to Casablanca where we will join our tour group.
