Friday 22 February 2013

Magical Marrakech

With a few days of school break, any place within close range that was warmer and dryer than England in February seemed a good destination ... but Marrakech, only 3 and a half hours flight from London, has been high on our travel wish list for ages.


Koutoubia Mosque, Marrakech Medina

And three and a half hours is enough to transport you to another world entirely. We arrived at night, politely turfed out of the airport taxi on the edge of the huge, busy square - 


Djemaa El Fna - in the heart of the Medina, Marrakech's ancient walled city ... 


Seller of flat-breads and donkey pulling wares

Gateway to Koutoubia Mosque and one of many snake-charmers in Djemaa El Fna

This square buzzes with life all day and all night - 



There are people on foot, donkey carts, horse-drawn caleches



 and Vespas weaving wildly, driven by men and women of all ages in all kinds of dress, from jeans to djellabas. 


There is drumming that increases in intensity as the night wears on, jostling at market stalls, the wailing of traditional Berber instruments


and smells of spicy meat cooking on open fires


We are guided through all of this by a porter on foot who has come to help with our bags, and led, dodging Vespas, through the square and then away from it, down a series of increasingly darker, winding and narrow medieval alleys.


Sidestepping scrawny cats and bits of rubbish, our kindly porter points out landmarks. Remember this mosque, this fruit stall, that door, you will need to find your way back. 




We stop finally at a low unmarked door in yet another narrow alley, through which we duck our heads and bend to enter




And find ourselves in our Riyad - a marvel of ingenious Arab architecture in which solid walls enclose an inner space that is a peaceful sanctuary ...



There's an interconnected maze of rooms and smaller courtyards 



                                        all surrounding a central inner, tree-filled courtyard.


There are private alcoves, lanterns and rose-petalled fountains.


 It is so insulated from the noise of the outside world that all you can hear here is the sound of doves, water running ... and five times a day the mournful sounds of the muezzins' calls to prayers from the city's mosques - the equivalent of southern Europe's church bells.


                                                  There is a roof terrace to catch the sun


and watch it set over the city's rooftops


with views to the Atlas mountains ...



We might never leave the Riyad. But then again, there's too much excitement waiting outside that ancient heavy door ...


9 comments:

  1. Dear Karen, Your photographs are fabulous. Marrakech is a most fascinating city. I love it!
    Look for restaurant "Hotel Restaurant French" on one of the corners of the Djemaael Fna Square. It serves a most delicious lunch. We ate a different Tagine recipe every day, each one a culinary masterpiece. We were greeted like the most valued customers the second day.
    And if the pocket book allows the "La Mamounia" is definitely an experience. ox, Gina

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  2. what a slice of heaven......i can almost smell the food....definitely on my list

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  3. Well Karen, no sooner do we get to see that beautiful South African garden at the base of Table Mountain, than you are offering us another visual feast!

    As you know, our friend Elizabeth has told me much about Marrakech, and seeing your photographs is a marvelous way to refresh those memories. What a place. I don't think that I would know what to look at first, but would be stunned by the glory.

    xo

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  4. Your photos are beautiful & really capture the essence of Marrakech.I was there too at the beginning of February & the bright blue skies were a wonderful contrast to the dull grey skies of the UK !

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  5. Better than a movie! We don't have to bother with the filmmaker's plot or pace, we can spend as much time as we want with each beautiful image and make our own plot, constantly changing like your scenes or the clouds above ---and make Marrakech (which I for one will never see in actuality) our own experience.
    Thank you, Karen, for the wonderful wide world you unfold for all of us.

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  6. Blissful photos capturing Marrakesh so sharply and beautifully.
    We are in Morocco now
    and am feeling rather overwhelmed!

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  7. Omg!
    Sumptuous
    Lush
    The light...the light!

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  8. On my list as a 'must go to soon destination'. Completely inspired.

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  9. Lovely Pictures, but oh i feel so much for their poor little donkeys.
    Summer.

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