Impressions: Marrakech

Marrakech is an assault on the senses. The colours, smells, textures, sounds – everything screams loudly, attacking you from all fronts. Clouds of smoke from the open charcoal fires and wafts of charred meat in the Jemaa el-Fna square; the scent of warm spices coming up in swirls as the top of a terracotta tajine is lifted; violently-coloured designs on embroidered pillowcases; stacks of Berber baskets; countless pots of fresh mint tea steaming on café tables; a Muezzin chanting from the Minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque; the sound of a hundred motopeds speeding across the maze-like streets of the Medina: this is Marrakech. This, and so much more. It is poverty and luxury, openness and rigour, donkeys and Range Rovers, Yves Saint Laurent and leopard fleeces, hammams and pollution. It's red walls and blue walls and no room for chromatic compromise. It's people on the street ––idling, selling, shopping, haggling, living, getting by. Media often tend show the polished side of the city and hide the mess. Except, the mess is very real. Take it all in. Go out, explore the grandeur, embrace the confusion. Haggle, eat, walk, negotiate the public space and the unwanted offers of guidance from random strangers. And then, find refuge within the tall walls of a Riad ––in the surreal quietness and comfort of its courtyard––; recharge, and be ready to do it all over again the following day.

See

Palais Bahia
Jardin Majorelle
YSL Museum
Jemaa el-Fna
Souks
Le Jardin Secret & Tower

Shop

33, Rue de Majorelle
Chabi Chic (ceramics)
Place des Epices (for baskets & fabrics)
Rue Dar El Bacha
Scenes de Lin
Chez Madame Alami (traditional Moroccan sweets)

Eat

Café des Epices
Café Atay
Al Fassia
Amal
Le Jardin
Café Clock

Drink

Café de la Poste
Le 68 Bar à Vins

Relax

Les Bains de Marrakech