Marrakech never sleeps. Tourists in new town

 

 

Breakfast was included in our riad. When we arrived in the dining room in the morning, there were two couples already eating at the long table. We sat at one end to avoid the awkward elbow-touching, but the head waitress promptly asked (or pointed with her finger) us to move and take seats next to the other couple. So, we shifted over. The morning spread consisted of sweet yogurt, tiny bananas, three types of bread, four types of jam, rock-hard butter, and triangular processed cheese. Not exactly a dazzling culinary display.

Scott was especially hungry leaving the table and wanted a kebab first thing, so we ventured out from the riad. Last night, the city seemed completely deserted, but now it was alive and bustling, and the market was right at our doorstep. We encountered several new friends at the door, each claiming to know the best place for us to go, and none of them mentioned a kebab stand. Finally, a lanky lad won the competition and led us to see how the Berbers process leather. Apparently, these Berbers are in the city only once a week, and tourists are in pure luck to see them in Marrakech. Anyway, this lad took the lead, and we just ran after him. No kebab in sight. Eventually, he stopped at a gate and handed us over to a chubby man, who right away handed each of us a handful of peppermint leaves for "the aroma". Stepping inside the gate, the stench hit us like a ton of bricks, and we shoved the peppermint leaves up our noses deeper than we did with Covid testing sticks four years ago. Then, we followed the enthusiastic fellow and heard all about the process of soaking leather in pigeon droppings to soften it with the resulting ammonia. What the other baths were there for escaped my attention - I imagined all the pigeon-poop treated handbags and jackets... Finally, after what felt like four extremely long minutes, we emerged from that leather industry ordeal, only to be immediately ushered into a shop across the road to buy all these beautifully finished products. We bought nothing and thoroughly disappointed the seller. Exiting the shop, our leather tour guide stood there, demanding payment for his guiding services. He was also left there dissatisfied.

Finally, we encountered the first pastry stand, and Scott bought two pies - one with chicken and the other with cheese. Both were filled with noodles and were utterly tasteless.

At the next place, we had a relatively tasty falafel wrap and a very suspicious mojito juice. The falafel wrap was probably made from scratch; when we ordered, the chickpeas were most likely just being sprouted. By the time it arrived half a day later, at least it was edible. I couldn't say the same for my mojito juice, as its green hue resembled something between a swamp and Shrek, and I didn't dare to taste it.

We thought about strolling through the Medina, but among all the market vendors and motorcycles, it seemed like a nerve-wracking endeavor. So, instead, we went to see the world's oldest mosque and had a light lunch with a mosque view. I was pleasantly surprised by how tasty their chicken tajine was.

We walked to Starbucks. They only had a Moroccan mug, and the barista thought maybe the gas station Starbucks would have a Marrakech one. While we sipped our coffee, we had the idea to have them to call and ask if the other Starbucks had it. Looking at the map, the Starbucks at the train station seemed closer than the gas station, so I went in to inquire. Now, there was a young man behind the counter, and I asked if he would be willing to call the train station Starbucks to check if they had the Marrakech mug. The boy went to the back room, emerged 20 seconds later, and asked when we were going there. I said we were just about to leave. He went back again and came out, this time in five seconds, saying, "Probably not." Nevertheless, we still went there, and they had half a shelf full of Marrakech mugs...

For dinner, we had a table booked on a rooftop, and when we arrived, we caught a slight glimpse of the sunset glow. For starters, we had chicken and almond pastilla, a crispy filo pastry filled with chicken and almonds, covered in powdered sugar and cinnamon. It was delicious. The main courses were quite good, and for dessert, I had a milk pastilla, while Scott went for another round of chicken pastilla :)