With the presumption that we'd be on a downer coming back from three weeks in New Zealand to both work and the dark of a London Winter, Sushil and I put a trip to Marrakesh in the calendar for February to have something to look forward to. We booked a classic riad in the middle of the medina, at the end of winding passageways, near the main square, Jemaa el-Fnaa, ready for an exotic weekend, full of spiced food and enchanting streetlife.
Instead, what we got were bland tagine, backpackers, tourist tat and touts. We ended up trying to go home a day early, but our flight was cancelled after we had already boarded, so we spent our final night in a mid-range business hotel on the outskirts of the city. The thing about Marrakesh is that it falls into a null space for me: it's too well-touristed to feel authentic or exciting, but it's Muslim and not developed enough to just relax with a drink and enjoy yourself; it's neither of the kinds of holidays I enjoy.
When you travel, you accept that you'll have some duds amongst the winners, but when we got back home I started to wonder if maybe it was more about me and the place I've been lately. Why am I being such a negative Nancy? Perhaps what I need right now are trips to people (duly booked for April, and corona-cancelled), not places, and to spend a bit more time at home. Be careful what you wish for, eh? But I'm actually OK with the lockdown - I could do with a little less motion for a while.
Contentedly isolated,
Shaun
Jemaa el-Fnaa, where there was, admittedly, a lot of local life on display, but also a reliably large minority of white faces and American accents.
Boxing in Jemaa el-Fnaa.
#millennialmarrakesh
Shopping near our riad.
"The Majorelle Garden, on Avenue Yacoub el Mansour, was at one time the home of the landscape painter Jacques Majorelle. Famed designer Yves Saint Laurent bought and restored the property, which features a stele erected in his memory, and the Museum of Islamic Art, which is housed in a dark blue building. The garden, open to the public since 1947, has a large collection of plants from five continents including cacti, palms and bamboo."
Yves Saint Laurent Museum - sexy architectural diversion, but we did not view the fashion collection inside.
Night spice market.
Loved this woman. This was the only stand at the night food market we saw being run by a woman, and she was certainly in charge.
Chez Rachida (Stand Nº 42)
No comments:
Post a Comment