Marrakech Day 4

Day 4 - Monday

Raining again today. I think we've managed to come during the 2 days of annual rainfall that Marrakech gets.  Least the umbrella sellers are raking it in.

Jellabahs are common outfits in Marrakech. They are hooded floor length kaftans and with the pointy hoods up you could be forgiven for thinking you were on the set of a Harry Potter movie. Usually in linen or wool, the rain has brought out the cagool Jellabah - very practical for a day like this.

We've had quite a busy day exploring today.

We got a taxi to the Musee de Marrakech.  Taxis can only go so far so after a few wrong turns on foot we finally found it. A spectacular building, the Musee holds numerous traditional Berber embroidery, jewellery and ceramics. But the building itself is the main attraction.

On to Medersa Ben Youssef. This is a 14th century Koranic school.  Again beautiful architecture with two of the hundred tiny student rooms made up as they would have been back then. Most of the student rooms (that were not reserved for the privileged students) were in fact quite pokey little cells. But in lovely surroundings.  Our ticket also allowed us entry to something else but we were not quite sure what it was. We took a picture of it though.

Next we wandered off into the direction of the souks. A maze of tiny streets and Aladdin's cave style shops.  We navigated the souks quite well (we didn't even need to use the phones compass!) and made our way back to Jemaa El Fna square, which even in the rain was still bustling.

Next stop was the Palais de la Bahia. Built by Grand Vizier Bou Ahmed, the palace was to house his four wives and two-dozen concubines. The rooms that you are able to see are unfurnished but the building itself is decorated beautifully with brightly coloured tiling and intricatly carved panels. The palace is still used as a royal residence so most of the 150 rooms are sealed off, unless of course you are P Diddy and you throw a $1 million party and invite a load of supermodels and celebs!

The next palace probably was just as grand and possibly even bigger than Bahia back in the day, however now the Palais El Badii is unfortunately just ruins. Impressive ruins though.

Making our way back to Place Des Ferblantiers we stopped off for Morroccon style pizza and beer in a fantastic cafe/restaurant called Le Tanjia.  Another little hidden gem.

The sky cleared and the sun started beating down so we whipped out the Ray Bans and got some snaps with blue skies in the background.

Final visit was to the Tombeaux Saadiens. These are the tombs of the golden king, Ahmed El Mansour. Apparently these were lost for a few hundred years behind high walls only to be found again in 1917.  It seems that we arrived at the same time as the three coach loads of French tourists.  Let's just say the Tombeaux are not that big.  At least mum managed to get rid of last nights chicken kebab (that she had hidden in her bag at dinner to make it look like she'd eaten it all) by discreetly chucking it over the tombs to the three hungry kittens. There is always one beady eyed kid around though isn't there.  Quickly exiting the tombs we headed back to the hotel. 

Final recommendation for the day.....dinner at The Red House. The decor was very much like the palaces we have been in today and it offers delicious Morrocan food with entertainment provided by the house musicians and belly dancer. Tres bon!