chelsea girls: Marrakech, Morocco

11:00 AM
We decide that it’s time to visit the beautiful Majorelle Gardens & pay our respects to the late YSL. The gardens surround a Moorish villa (painted bright blue) all originally built in 1923 by the artist Jacques Majorelle. Saint Laurent bought the house in the 1980s and had his ashes scattered in the gardens when he passed away in 2008. The gardens are a luscious oasis and we spend time strolling in the shade, enjoying the ponds and fountains, and checking out the collection of YSL "Love" posters on display.

2:00 PM
Lunchtime means a meal of Tagine (traditional slow-cooked stew) and Fanta on the rooftop terrace of a restaurant in the Medina. As we watch the city bustling below us we can’t help but see Marrakech as an old world version of New York. Vendors calling out to passersby, cabbies attempting to rip-off tourists, street performers begging for money. Marrakech is just like New York. But with donkeys.

4:00 PM
More shopping! J buys her brother one of the flutes that the snake charmers use to entrance the cobras with blaring tunes (you’re welcome Mom and Dad), H buys a beautiful cognac leather satchel for a fraction of the price that it would cost in the states. We spend about an hour in the lantern shop as we hold up the lanterns to the light and deliberate which ones would look best hanging in our apartments at home.

7:00 PM
Back to the Riad to watch the sunset from the rooftop terrace, which has become our daily routine and a fantastic way to end each day. From the roof we can hear the distant sounds of the drums and flutes from the Jemaa el Fna, mixed with the sounds of children playing on nearby rooftops. We gaze at the swallows darting about the fading sky and watch as the sun sets on Koutoubia and the city of Marrakech. When we hear the call for prayer time echoing in surround sound from the mosques around the city, we know it’s almost time to head down to the courtyard for dinner.

xx H&J