February 21-24
Salam!
I'm led to believe that
this is how you say 'hello' in Arabic, the language of our latest
destination: Morocco. Most people actually say 'bonjour', but there
is a valid reason for this which I will explain shortly. Hannah and I
will be experiencing life in Northern Africa for the first time as
adults, both of us having been to other countries on the southern
side of the Mediterranean in our teenage years. Not that drinking
alcohol or other adult things is on our agenda.
A brief information
overload before we begin. Morocco is situated in the northwest corner
of the African continent. It is home to snow-capped mountains, the
Atlas range, and the world's most famous desert: the Sahara. Like
most African countries, it was under the control of a European
protectorate. The fact that many here will say 'bonjour' and 'au
revoir' should enlighten you as to which country exerted heavy
influence over Morocco in the first half of the 20th
Century.
If you have seen the
classic film Casablanca –
here's looking at you kid, if you haven't – you will be aware that
Morocco was involved in the Second World War, supporting their French
masters. Independence, and the establishment of the Kingdom of
Morocco, was achieved in 1956. Their flag is a distinctive green star
on a red background, and can be found proudly fluttering around the
country.
Aside
from Casablanca,
couscous and the Sahara, you may know little of Morocco, its culture
and history. A quick Wikipedia search led me to realise that famous
Moroccans are few and far between (Adel Taarabt and one of the
Sugagbabes, apparently). The capital, Rabat, though recently
shortlisted as a top travel destination by CNN, is in reality seen as
an administrative city. So what would bring a person to the Maghreb
on their travels?
We'll
start the adventure in Marrakech. Not that we really understood where
we were, having spent the night trying and failing to sleep in Milan airport in order to catch a
very early flight to the High Atlas region of Morocco. We were
particularly puzzled trying to locate our riad,
essentially a bed & breakfast. Unless you opt for the life of
luxury in an extortionate five-star hotel, your accommodation in
Marrakech will be hidden down a network of narrow alleys. Narrow
doesn't do it justice, particularly when considering the number of
people using this confusing myriad. Nonetheless, a few friendly
locals managed to guide us to our riad. It's fair to say we would
probably still be looking otherwise.
Marrakech
is a low city. I don't mean low geographically – the vision of snow
on the distant mountain ranges would make that a foolhardy statement
– rather, the buildings rarely sprout above three floors, with the
exception of the towering minarets dotted around this Muslim city.
The combination of this and the arid climate results in all riads
having beautiful, tranquil rooftop balconies. Even the fact that ours
was being painted couldn't dampen the aura of calm we experienced.
Calm
is a word that most tourists would certainly not use when describing
Marrakech, but the reasons for that will become evident in the next
blog. I was pleasantly surprised, however, by the opportunity
provided for relaxation in a city stereotyped as being chaotic and
cacophonic. Considering the dry climate, I was actually quite shocked
to find the volume of lush green parks that are dotted around the
outskirts of the old city walls.
One
of the more famous gardens, the Majorelle, is a shrine to global
flora. Of course, the lack of rain means that many of the plants on
display are of the cacti variety. It is an exotic and eclectic array
of greenery and shrub collected from lands as far away as Mexico and
South Africa. The garden itself was bought by Yves-Saint Laurent in
order to preserve it, which I imagine costs quite a few dirhams to
do.
Even
away from the parks and within the walls of Medina it is possible to
find a silent alley, more so north of the main square, and meander
along without seeing a soul. These pathways house lots of beautiful
Islamic architecture and designs; the doors and arches being
particular highlights.
The
quietest place we have found so far is silent, but for a reason: it
isn't finished yet. The National Theatre, located across the road
from the train station, looks majestic from the outside. As you can
see, however, the inside is very much a work in progress. It was thus
surprising that the 'concierge', as he introduced himself, was keen
to show us around. Not at all surprising when he asked for a tip at
the end of our journey. I have a secret tactic for tips which I will
share next time, but I thought the idea of seeing a building during
its construction phase was worth a small fee. You wouldn't want to do
that in Brazil at the moment, though...
At
the beginning I mentioned that alcohol will, in all likelihood, not
be consumed over the course of the next week. Though not a fully dry
state, you would need to be a devout worshipper of beer or wine in
order to find relevant watering holes in Morocco. The drink of choice
out here seems to be either black coffee or a mint-infused tea. We
have opted for the latter, and spent our afternoons sipping on this
sweet drink whilst watching the world go by.
So
Marrakech is a place where you can channel your inner calm and unwind
in a peaceful, quiet and naturally green setting. Well, it can be. As
you'll see from the next edition, however, you would be missing out
on the wild side of Morocco's culture capital.
Love
you all
Matt
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