Rolling on the Rhine: May 2016

Since we got two holidays off from work over Easter, we decided to spend the long weekend in Prague, Czech Republic. The city has a unique charm and is filled with castles, spires, and other fairytale-esque buildings. They are also famous for Easter markets, which are comparable to the Christmas markets of Germany.

Prague was beautiful, but it was SUPER busy! Easter is obviously a very popular time to visit, so some of the attractions and main areas were very crowded. We managed to avoid some of the crowds by visiting sites as soon as the opened, which helped a bit.

Our first order of business was trying the famous doughnut cones, as recommended by Buzzfeed.

Strolling around the Easter markets and main town square:

On our first night, we went to dinner and a show at a restaurant across the street from our Airbnb (a 500+ year old castle). The show was held in the basement of the restaurant, which claims to be in operation now for over 640 years.

The next day, we visited the famous Prague Castle and cathedral.

Prague Castle

Cathedral interior

Cathedral exterior

We also did a tour of several of the town's former synagogues and Jewish cemetery.

The walls are filled with names of Holocaust victims.

Spanish Synagogue

And some other photos from the trip:

The music hall

Charles Bridge

Lennon Wall

St. Nicolas Church

On the way home

As a conclusion of my Morocco trip, here are some of my favorite activities and a few tips we collected along the way...

1. Café Clock
I think both Kate and her mom would agree that this was one of our favorite places in Marrakech. Kate initially found Café Clock when researching options for a cooking class. The café describes itself as a “cultural exchange” and operates a restaurant in addition to hosting daily activities such as traditional Moroccan music, cooking classes, and storytelling.

Our cooking class was a ton of fun! Although we had thought there would be other students participating, it ended up being just the three of us with one chef and one translator. They were great and explained each step to us as we prepared our traditional couscous, spicy eggplant dip, and sesame cookies. Before starting to cook, they also took us to a local market to buy some fresh ingredients. When we were finished, they also ate with us, sharing our enormous bowl of couscous. We talked with them about life in Morocco, their families, and studies.

We also ended up going back to the Clock Café a second time to hear the traditional storytelling. There was one older man, who was the featured performer as well as two “apprentice” storytellers who are learning the art and who performed in English. That night for dinner, we tried the café’s famous camel burgers, which were actually pretty good!

Shopping for grains

Our finished couscous

Camel burger

2. Henna Café
Another really cool place we visited was the Henna Café, a cooperative run by women, providing jobs, business skills, and empowerment. We stopped there one afternoon for lunch and enjoyed homemade falafel and hummus. After you finish eating, you can also choose from a menu of henna designs and one of the artists comes to your table. For dessert, we tried several tasty cookies that were made and donated by locals. Delicious!

3. Argan Oil cooperative
One of the main souvenirs we were interested in buying was Moroccan argan oil. Argan oil has become fairly popular in the last several years and is used in hair and skin products. Most of the products available in the US and Europe are either very expensive or only contain a very small amount of actual argan oil.

Close to the Café Clock, there was a small branch of a national women’s cooperative that produces and sells various argan oil products. When we went in, the saleswomen were eager to explain all of the different products and let us test any that we wanted. Between the three of us, we bought some 100% argan oil for hair/skin, some facial masks, and body scrubs. The hair oil is amazing!

A few days later, on our way to Essaouira, our tour bus made a pit stop at another branch of the same cooperative where we could actually see the grueling process needed to extract the oil from the argan nut (repeatedly striking the nut with a rock and then grinding the pits into a paste). We asked the guide if it would not be easier to have this done by machines, and she responded that of course it would be easier, but then they would not be able to employ as many of the local women

Recommendations and Tips for Marrakech

1.Interact with Locals
As I said in the previous post, I think I was able to interact with local people more than any other trip I’ve been on. Before going, I had read a lot of articles and blogs online and it seemed like most people either loved or hated Morocco. I was hoping that we would have a positive experience, and we definitely did. Everyone that we spoke with was very friendly, helpful, and welcoming. They had an obvious pride in their Moroccan culture and were eager to share it with us.

Like I said, we had a great time spending the afternoon with our chef and interpreter at Café Clock and got to hear a lot about their lives and experiences. We had some interesting conversations with several local marketplace sellers and were even invited to have some tea with one of them. Kate had also made arrangements for us to speak with a representative from the local synagogue who told us about the Jewish culture in Marrakech.

2. Haggle
This one was a bit hard for me to get used to, to be honest. In all of the open-air marketplace stalls, you must haggle with everything! Our guidebooks actually said that the haggling process is part of the rapport building and a seller might actually feel let-down or disappointed if a customer doesn’t haggle. They even recommended throwing in some exaggerated “WOW—that’s way too expensive!” phrases and pretending to walk away.

Although we’re definitely not experts, we usually would begin with about half of the initially-stated price and then work up to meet in the middle with the seller. I don’t know if this is the preferred method, but I think we got some pretty good deals!

3. Dress Modestly
While Morocco is a Muslim country, it’s not required for women visiting to cover their heads. However, it’s important to still be respectful of the local culture and dress on the conservative side. For me, I usually chose a higher neckline, at least elbow length sleeves, and long pants or at least knee-length skirts. Compiling an appropriate wardrobe is actually pretty easy, and most of the clothes I wore in Morocco I would wear in my everyday life. Maxi dresses have also been in style for the past few years, so that’s a great option too. Of course you will still see a few people wearing shorts and tank tops, but dressing modestly will help you to not stick out quite so much as a tourist.

4. Try the local language
While I have to admit that much of my French is stuck way in the back of my brain behind German, I still tried to say merci or shukran (“thank you” in Arabic) as much as possible. Many of the people we interacted with did speak some English, but trying a few words in the local language is a small gesture to show that you value the culture and and people.

Rolling on the Rhine

Sunday, May 8, 2016

European Roadtrip

Easter in Prague

Marrakech Favorites and Tips