Marrakech Pt 1: Jemma el Fna and those sexy Moroccan riads!

When I first let the word ‘Marrakech’ roll off my tongue, I envisioned shades of red, Moroccan lanterns, and candlelit markets. Marrakech was absolutely on our list of places to see. Our 30 hours in Fez was a true glimpse of a city withstanding time in the 21st century. On the other hand, Marrakech, known as the red city, combines a taste of old with a modern kick. We arrived just before sunset and were chauffeured to our riad right in the medina and a stone’s throw away from the famous Jemma el Fna square. We were wowed by our riad in Fez but our experiences with riads in Marrakech were off the charts! Riads are typical Moroccan homes with an open-air garden in the middle and the house surrounding it--and they are gorgeous. Our taxi driver led us through a labyrinth of streets to a plain door with a single candle by its base. And once the door was opened we were greeted with a smile from a fashionable French gentlemen who had picked up and left his life in Paris to remodel his very own riad. And not one single detail was spared--Riad Dar Thania was an absolute dream.

Our generous hosts brought us a piping hot pot of mint tea and offered a little taste of Morocco as he offered to prepare a water pipe for us. We tucked away in a corner filled with pillows and candles and giggled (ok maybe I did the giggling) and puffed on the water pipe enjoying every second! We felt so lucky to have found this place because we arrived in Marrakech a day early and the next riad we stayed in had no availability that night but offered us a night ‘down the street at a small place they knew about’…yep that was Riad Dar Thania! We were dying to check out the night market in Jemma el Fna, so we did a quick wander around the square admiring the food stalls, monkeys, artisans, and storytellers gathering by candelight. But after waking up at the crack of dawn to catch our long train ride from Fez to Marrakech, we were exhausted. As if Riad Dar Thania couldn’t get any better—the bed was like a giant fluffy cloud and the best we’d ever slept in. Ummm…what gets better? Seriously?

The next night we already had reservations at Riad Boussa for the rest of our time in Marrakech. Our gracious Parisian host prepared breakfast for us and served it on the roof terrace and offered to take us to Riad Boussa because ‘it’s always lovely to go to Bridgitte’s’. Ya who’s Bridgitte? Our thoughts exactly. Navigating again through the twists and turns of the alleyways, we came to a door and were welcomed inside by the one-and-only Bridgitte—an older French woman with short brown hair who didn’t look a day over 35…oh let’s not forget that she had the sexiest French accent ever. Her French partner Bruno and jack-of-all-trades with his salt-and-pepper hair and George Clooney swagger descended from upstairs to give us a hello, clearly he had been doing something crafty because he had a bandana over his head. His all white linen outfit didn’t have an ounce of dirt on it even though his hands had clearly been hard at work—aaaah the French. That evening, Christian asked me what the possibility is for me to turn 50, develop a sexy French accent and look damn good like Bridgitte. I retaliated and said ‘if I’m Bridgitte, you’ve got to be the Bruno!’ We both agreed that there’s no way he could restore a riad in an all white outfit and look as badass as Bruno. And let’s face it, I’m not developing a French accent either.

{Riad Dar Thania}

{Exploring Marrakech's night market in Jemma el Fna}

{Riad Boussa! Our fave!}

{Christian's buddy :)}

{...aaaaand he's still following Christian around}

{Amazing Moroccan breakfast}

Exploring the Old Town of Fez

Morocco. Even the word sounds magical. A few months before we planned our trip, I had just started my first grown-up job and was itching to spend my new fancy-shmancy (well it wasn't that fancy) paycheck on somewhere super exotic and different than any place we'd been before. And wow were we glad we chose Morocco! We loved our perfect week in Morocco so much that it kicked-off Christian and I's fascination with Muslim countries--we found their people to be incredibly friendly, their cities to be filled with so much history and their cultures to be rich in color and tradition. We soon found ourselves planning a trip to a Muslim country every year since--we spent a long weekend in Istanbul last year and this year we planned an unforgettable week in Jordan (which at the last minute had to be postponed until next year! But no worries Jordan 2013 is on!). 

Well..let me start from the beginning...

We boarded our middle-of-the-night flight from Amsterdam to Casablanca and after arriving at a ripe 5AM, we caught the first taxi we could and hopped aboard a comfy 4-hour train bound for Fez. It’s claimed that the medina (or old city) of Fez is one of the oldest and best restored in the Muslim world—this fact alone meant we had to see it for ourselves and Fez was a must see destination on our list! As soon as we arrived, we dropped our backpacks off at the riad (Moroccan riads are AMAZING! I'll touch up on this later). We were greeted by a cheery British woman who owned the place--Riad Verus--and graciously brought us Morocco’s famous mint tea and cakes to go with it.  We were a little bit crunched for time in Fez and arranged to have a local give us a private tour of the city. This may have been the best idea ever because once we entered the historical maze-like souks of Fez, we didn’t know right from left! Escaping into the crowds and alleyways of Fez's souks felt like we stepped back in history and the old city was indescribable—a bustling mix of workers, street-sellers, donkeys pulling carts, etc. Any one direction was a feast for the eyes--multi-colored carpets hanging from the walls met keyhole archways and a centuries-old lifestyle being carried through the 21st century.

Our guide, Azziz, took us to places unbeknownst to passers-by. We visited an old elementary school being converted to a luxurious riad, witnessed a rooftop carpet maker working on his latest masterpiece and got a glimpse of Fez’s famous tanneries and tile factories. He even invited us into his sister's house for a delicious helping of mint tea--I seriously couldn't get enough of that damn mint tea!! By the time the sun set, we took our riad’s recommendation, navigated ourselves through the souks and to a 4-story candlelit café choosing to eat dinner on the roof terrace overlooking the rooftops. It was majestic and Christian and I were beaming with delight. It was only the first full day and we loved Morocco already :).

Riad Verus!

Itty bitty babies!!!!

I obviously ignored the 'don't touch wild animals in Africa' warning...I just couldn't help myself! Fuzzy little chicks!

A night cap :)

One Colorful Weekend

The infamous Queen’s Day in Holland has come to an end and this year’s Queen’s Day weekend was definitely one for the books! Beer was plentiful, laughs never stopped and street parties seemed nearly endless. I took out my camera last Queen’s Day so I opted to give my camera a break this year. Fortunately my trusty iPhone was nearby and between the street parties and massive orange crowds, I got a few pics of what was one of the most beautiful Dutch days ever (almost as beautiful as our Dutch roadtrip!). Leave it up to Holland to rain every single day of April then when Queen’s Day arrived, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky!

*Our long weekend started in Maastricht visiting Christian’s family :).

*The eve of Queen’s Day is Queen’s Night and it was spent at a friend's house party along those pretty canals I love so much mingling with party-goers, ex-colleagues and new friends. The best part of the night was when I and a few other awesome ladies I’ve had the pleasure to get to know in the last few weeks joined Liz to celebrate her birthday!

*Queen’s Day arrives! We dressed in orange, grabbed some beer and hit the canals and street parties of Amsterdam! Queen’s Day means that everyone is having a blast and Amsterdam becomes alive with orange-y goodness. I had a blast walking around with Christian and his friends as we picked up cocktails and biertjes along the canals. Oh did I already mention how beautiful the weather was?! Has to be mentioned twice.

*Oh oh oh! I hit the town and saw Pretty Lights and Skrillex tear up the stage too! Shout out to Lindsey for Skrillex :). Pretty Lights especially was so fun!

These Dutch people know how to party, it’s no wonder that when I walked in to work on Tuesday every desk had a bottle of water, aspirin and a note from HR that said “We thought you might need this after yesterday’s celebration…” Now THAT’S a thoughtful employer ;). Blue skies + orange everything + lots and lots of Heineken = one colorful weekend! Now hurry up this weekend because I’m nowhere near recovered from this last Queen’s Day weekend!


On another note, I JOINED TWITTER! 'bout time I hopped on the bandwagon ;)


Tweet tweet! Let's Be Adventurers

{Pretty Lights & Skrillex!}

{Yummy cocktail bar set up by the birthday girl and Lily stirring up a cocktail for Jeanelle!}

{QUEEN’S DAY!}

{Queen’s Day in a nutshell: drunken adults dressed in orange, wandering the streets of Amsterdam like hooligans and being totally cool with it! Like this guy...}