Day 11 - Salaam Marrakech!

Saying goodbye to Fes (at the gorgeous Fes train station).  

Though we were sad to leave Fes, we had an early morning train that took a little over 8 hours to get to Marrakesh  In my journal, I wrote of seeing not much else other than farmland (I was surprised how green Morocco was. I tend to assume most countries in Africa are dry and desert like, but half of Morocco is quite fertile).

We amused ourselves waiting for the train by playing hide & seek. I bet you didn't notice this, but Ryan is hiding somewhere in this picture!

This image is not mine. Mine was taken in a drizzle and deleted for having too many rain drops on it. But see what I mean about the beauty of the train stations there? This is Gare de Marrakech, or the Marrakech Train Station.

Because I'd read a few online reviews that indicated our riad in Marrakech was even more difficult to find (it was...fivefold!), I made last minute arrangements to have a driver from the riad meet us at the train station. As a result, everything went very smoothly and was worth the (unexpectedly high transport and porterage) charge(s).

Riad 02 was nothing like Dar Fes Medina. It had a very different vibe...a very open, rustic, zen-like desert retreat, with subtle hints of Morocco (vs. the more standard floor to ceiling mosaics seen in many other places). Our room greeted us with a bowl of fresh fruit (I tore into my fresh, sweet pomegranate like a caveman) and was filled with antique decor and furniture. My only real hang up there was the shower drainage. Namely, that there was none. Though I loved the open shower (it was massive, almost no walls), the water filled up most of the bathroom floor every night. Never fun wading around in your sudsy bathwater an hour later. But I think drainage is an issue everywhere, because toward the end of our trip, it occured to me that I did not take a single consistently warm-water, wall-mounted shower with proper drainage. I usually had one of the three, occasionally two, but never all three. But c'est la vie. Hot water is most important, and I usually had that.

The courtyard of Riad 02

The soaking tub in the indoor courtyard

Joey's digs

My mother's private boudoir

My parents even had a cute area in their room to sit and/or pray. Though Joey should have availed himself of this area to perform some of the latter duties, he did not. 

Interestingly..everything was quite open. From the windows (some of which did not close/lock, even in our shower looking out to a sitting area...free show!), to our actual bedroom doors. A little disconcerting initially...but riads are typically small affairs so we weren't really worried. Plus, as Rich pointed out- there are not a lot of people clambering to snatch my $19.99 Samsung cell phone or dirty drawers. Snobs.

The hallway lighting

The outdoor private sitting area between my parent's room and ours...which also doubled as our improvised nighttime disco for Ryan (thank to Joey's phone and our spinning the light around manually). 

The very best part of Riad 02 was their rooftop deck...sprawling, rooftop views and fun place to hang out in the evenings & listen to the evening adhan, or play hide and seek .

There was even a nomadic tent set up outside (Berber?) where you could sleep if you wanted. 

See what I mean about an awesome nighttime disco?

Because we spent most of the day getting from Fes to Marrakech & didn't get to the riad until dusk, all we had time to do that night was unpack, scrounge up dinner and fall asleep. :-)