A Conference in Marrakech

After a flight of about 3 hours and a landing that was nothing short of thrilling, we (I use the plural because, as I was saying earlier, I didn't go there for pleasure but for a company convention!!! And even the word "group" doesn't convey the mass of people we were moving around...) arrived at Marrakech airport. On foot we reach customs where a long queue awaits us and the heat is already starting to be felt. Once the formalities are over, we find the coaches waiting to take us to the various hotels. Of course mine was the unluckiest, not because it wasn't nice, on the contrary, but because it's the only hotel located in a remote area, that is the New Tourist Zone, where practically everything is still under construction, even our hotel (Ryad Mogador Agdal) hasn't been completed yet!!! All around there were only building sites...

Apart from the area, the hotel is truly good and once the suitcase is settled in the room, having a bit of time available while waiting for the other colleagues to arrive, I decide to go and relax a little by taking the sun by the pool. For dinner we went to the famous "Chez Ali" complex where you dine under the Keidal tents and can watch folklore shows, dances and Berber horses. It's truly worth it! Tip: in the evening it's always best to bring something warm because the temperature difference with the day is considerable and it's always quite windy!

After spending the morning at the Congress Palace, the official reason for the "holiday", and having lunch on the terrace at the adjoining hotel, the afternoon was, finally, dedicated to visiting the city. Marrakech is the imperial city that has always given its name to Morocco, also called the "pearl of the south" or the "red city"; it was founded by Youssef Ben Tachefine on the arid Haouz plain surrounded by palm groves, and is considered the great Berber metropolis. After a panoramic coach ride along the city walls, which stretch for about ten kilometres, standing between 6 and 8 metres high, opened by about ten monumental gates in Hispano-Moorish style, topped here and there by stork nests (yes, you heard that right, actual storks!!), we stopped to visit the Bahia Palace. Founded in the 19th century, it was originally the residence of Si' Ahmed ben Musa.

Entering, you walk down a fine avenue surrounded by citrus trees, palms and bamboo, then pass into a lovely courtyard and the beautiful carved marble portico that leads to the rooms, splendidly decorated with floral motifs in wood and high ceilings also in inlaid wood, from whose tall coloured windows sunbeams enter creating magical atmospheres. After this pleasant stop, we return to the heat and chaos of the city streets. Among hanging carpets, donkey-drawn carts and women covered from head to toe selling bracelets or offering henna tattoos, we reach the main square Djemaa El Fna, the heart of the city, the market square of the Medina (the old city): this is where a large part of all social, cultural and tourist life takes place.

Once the theatre of public beheadings, Djemaa El Fna is now an open-air stage where every day (from late afternoon) snake charmers, fire-eaters, musicians, dancers, acrobats, healers, costumed water sellers with traditional leather bags and brass cups perform, along with numerous stalls arranged around its perimeter selling fresh-squeezed orange juice. Around the square there are several cafés from whose terraces you can enjoy the show in complete tranquillity while drinking a good mint tea. From the north entrance of the square you enter the Souk: an irregular maze of narrow streets that form the market where the scent of saffron, cumin, black pepper, ginger enchants the nostrils, where sacks of almonds, peanuts, broad beans are piled up, baskets of dates, tons of olives, while on the apothecaries' counters stand rows of jars of henna, ghassoul, vials of rose, jasmine, mint extract....

On the other side of the square, however, the spectacular minaret attached to the Koutoubia Mosque dominates the space. It is the tallest building in the city with its almost seventy metres in height; it is a tower of pink stone adorned with crenellated battlements and topped by four golden bronze spheres. Unfortunately we cannot visit the interior of the mosque because entry is forbidden to non-Muslims!!! My sightseeing tour is over. I would have liked to have more time to visit the city better and, why not, to buy loads of things! In the indecision that always accompanies me, I had to settle for the mint tea, a little bag and the inevitable postcards to send and to keep in the album of memories.

The weekend is now drawing to a close. After packing our bags and enjoying the last sun by the pool, we were taken from our respective hotels to the Beldi Country Club for lunch. An "oasis in the desert," a place where you are pervaded by the traditional Moroccan atmosphere and enjoy good typical food (it is the place where I ate best, or rather, where I ate, of all 3 days!!!). After we refreshed ourselves and relaxed in the magnificent gardens, we headed to the airport, suitably spaced apart. Too bad that there seemed to be a strike underway, it's not clear by whom, so after having queued endlessly in a small room without air conditioning for the document check (several people felt unwell but they didn't care at all!!!), we gradually found ourselves all crammed into the very small waiting/boarding room because all flights were delayed or, rather, were held stationary on the runway.

Even when they made us board the plane they kept us stationary for more than an hour before taking off. The flight by Royal Air Maroc had become a Smart Wings, a Czech company, which for dinner served us a packet of salty snacks + a brioche + a miserable glass of a soft drink, no tea or coffee or even a second round of drinks! We returned to Italy all devastated by this return journey (not to mention those who were infected by the traveler's "syndrome" that continued in the days following the return), with many beautiful memories for the atmosphere that is created among colleagues on these occasions but also with a great desire to eat healthy and excellent Italian food.