Rolling on the Rhine: Marrakech--Guest Post from Kate!

My trusty travel companion, Kate, has written an entry for me recapping our trip to Marrakech. This was one of my most fun trips recently. It was fascinating in so many ways, always something different thing to see, hear, smell, taste, and watch--a total sensory experience. I think we also go to interact a lot more with some local people compared to other trips I've taken. Everyone that we talked with was super friendly, warm, and welcoming. You could tell they were very proud of their Moroccan culture and wanted to share it with us. In my next post, I will list some of my favorite activities and provide some links for more information.

Thanks for writing, Kate!

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Salaam aleikum, everyone! For those of you who don't know me, I'm Kate. I've known Krista since her freshman year at Pitt, which means she's been putting up with me for nearly a decade now. We spent a lot of time running around Pittsburgh, but we've also had our share of joint travel adventures in the past. There was the time we took a Greyhound to Cleveland. Then there was the time we decided spring break in Quebec was a great idea (pro tip: don't pack a bikini for a trip in March...bring snow pants). There was also the time that I made Krista climb a volcano in Guatemala. She swears it was the worst experience of her life, but I think she should view it as a wonderful experience that allowed her to check several items off her bucket list.

Chicoutimi, Quebec, 2009

Pacaya Volcano in Guatemala, 2013

When I told Krista that my mom and I were going to be in Marrakech, she readily agreed to join us - as long as I didn't make her climb another volcano. Fortunately for her, there aren't many active volcanoes in Morocco. We rented an apartment near the center of the medina (the walled old city) and booked flights that overlapped in Cologne's airport. After packing our suitcases with sunscreen and granola bars, we set off to enjoy a few days in North Africa.

March is a great time to visit Morocco. It's much warmer and sunnier than back home in Europe and the US Midwest, and it isn't peak tourist season yet. We were able to avoid crowds and increased prices, but we also weren't melting in the desert sun. Marrakech is also pretty easy to get around on foot (make sure you have Google maps on your phone, though, or you'll get lost very easily) and taxis are very cheap. We spent a fair bit of time in Place Jemaa al Fna (the main square), which is full of food stalls, snake charmers, belly dancers, and people selling everything you can imagine. We also explored the souks (markets); stocked up on tea glasses, camel leather slippers, art, and jewelry; got henna on our hands; and met with a member of the shrinking Jewish population.

Place Jemaa al Fna at sunset

Traditional leather slippers

Celebrating our haggling with some mint tea

Silver tea sets

Falafel and hummus for lunch

Henna

One of the best travel experiences I've had in a while was the cooking class we took at Cafe Clock. The restaurant is in the kasbah neighborhood and describes itself as a cross-cultural cafe. They have cooking classes, traditional storytelling (we also joined them for this event), music nights, and other activities related to Moroccan culture. Krista told me that she was not willing to ride a goat back from the market and then slaughter it for lunch (geez, such a party pooper!), and fortunately, the instructors were more than accommodating. We ended up making a spicy eggplant dip, pureed bean soup, seven vegetable couscous, and citrus sesame cookies. The veggie couscous was served in an enormous dish, and our instructors told us this would serve perhaps three Moroccans. Clearly we need to up our competitive eating training, as we barely made a dent in the food.

We had to 'fluff' the couscous 3 times during the cooking process.

Bean soup and eggplant dip

Our huge platter of vegetable couscous and amazing teacher/chef, Rashida

Sesame cookies

We ventured out of Marrakech one day and took a bus three hours to the Atlantic coastal town of Essaouira. While this town and its beaches are typically packed with European tourists during high season, it was pretty quiet for our visit. We explored the port, wandered through the narrow streets in the walled town, perused art and souvenirs, and ate pizza overlooking a quiet courtyard while some Moroccan musicians serenaded us below. The long bus ride also provided some gorgeous scenery (and the man-made wonder of goats in a tree), as well as a stop at an argan oil cooperative run by local women. We learned how to retrieve the nut from the center of a fruit, which involves whacking the fruits and shells with stones. I don't think any of us will be considering this as a future career path, as we were quite clumsy and several of the experienced women had bandaged fingers.