chelsea girls: Marrakech, Morocco

11:00 AM
We’re off to the Bahia Palace, a 19th century, 150-room palace where a grand vizier once lived with his four wives and 24 concubines. More recently, P. Diddy threw a huge birthday bash here in 2002 complete with dancers performing on flying carpets. The palace is full of intricately painted cedar ceilings, delicate stucco work, stained-glass windows and colorful zellij tiles. We spend time in awe of the beautiful architectural details and enjoying the beautiful Andalusian gardens.

3:00 PM
Our first venture into the Souks (markets) of Marrakech! The Souks are full of the traditional handicrafts of the country and the market is arranged by these categories. Leather goods, jewelry, spices, lanterns, carpets, slippers, woodwork and pottery fill the stalls that stretch for blocks and blocks in any direction. The Souks are full of rich spice aromas, vibrant colors of the wares, the sounds of vendors calling out, and customers bustling to and fro.

Today’s venture in the Souks finds us buying old Berber pottery, vintage Saharan jewelry and antiqued mirrors. We barter with the vendors and get a kick out of the process of writing down our “best price” on a pad of paper that we pass back and forth between the vendor and us. They throw out a ridiculously high price, we feign shock. We throw out a ridiculously low price, they feign shock. The process continues until we meet somewhere in the middle. We learn that the line “You insult me and my family” is a common bargaining tool and add it to our Moroccan lingo.

6:00 PM
Tea time! We wander back to Jemaa el Fna where J has traditional mint tea and H has a café au lait as we watch the square come to life as the day comes to an end. Pedestrians, cars, bicycles, mopeds, donkey carts, everyone shares the same narrow streets here in a dance that follows the rhythm of this vibrant city.

XX H&J