MOROCCO INSHALLAH/2

We go out to dine in a nice little restaurant for the usual modest sum of about 150 dh for two (14 euro) and then off to bed! On 4 October we have a nice breakfast at the riad, then we go out to discover Essaouira, the ancient Mogador in Portuguese times. Unfortunately the weather, after the dry 30 degrees of Fes, is rainy, but you just need to be patient for an hour and everything passes to make room for a beautiful blue sky. We visit the sea bastions built by Cornut (a French architect who also worked for Louis XV) to protect the city from the sea and from land, they are still equipped with Spanish cannons.

Then we visit the port where dozens of fishing boats daily dock loaded with every type of fish, it is a real manna for the palate! Then we continue visiting the whole medina and the various souks (fish, spices, hides, silks, silver) and the art galleries that characterise it, because Essaouira is a city not only of merchants but also of artists. We end the day on the immense beach where numerous tourists enjoy kitesurfing, much practised here. In the evening we decide to go and eat in one of the roughly 10 white kiosks that the fishermen run, grilling fresh fish on the spot, the fruit of their work, the beauty is that with 100-150 dh each (10-13 euro) you have incredible fish feasts.

On 5 October after breakfast we decide to make the most of the whole day at the sea, there is a beautiful sun and we take advantage of it, the sea is very cold so we only wet our legs, but being on the beach is a real delight, at sunset we pay a visit to the medina to buy some gifts, always negotiating the price and then out again to dine at the fishermen's to eat grilled fish!! On the morning of 6 October after breakfast we go outside the walls to the area of the Supratur Buses where for 140 dh we buy 2 tickets for Marrakech (about 7 euro each), we set off at 11.30 and at 14.30 we are at the station in Marrakech, we take a petite taxi for 40 dh that takes us to our riad ( It is beautiful, here too they welcome us with mint tea, then they give us a beautiful room with bathroom, satellite TV and air conditioning, all for 45 euro the room per day with breakfast.

We take a shower and go out impatient to see the much "infamous" MARRAKECH! We are 10 minutes from the Koutoubia mosque and from the famous Jemaa el Fna square. Arriving in the square we are hit by sounds, noises, smells, scents, chaos of cars, horses, carts, by any type of vendor who wants to offer you any kind of thing just to get a few dirham. You go from the woman who wants to do your henna, to the snake charmer, from the water seller, to the monkey trainer, from the storyteller, to the orange juice seller, from the guy in a carriage who wants to take you for a ride, to the seller of hides, fabrics, essences, costume jewellery, of any kind of thing you can imagine.

Know that in the square as soon as you take a photo they will ask you for money for the "copyright", but you just give a few small coins, 3-4-5 dh at most if you really want to do it, they will even ask you for 100 dh, but do not listen to them, even if you give nothing they will not follow you much, they are not dangerous, it is all an act. We went into the souk for a little tour before dinner, and there too everyone will ask you to look at anything, but you just say NO MERCI and they will let you go.

In the end we decide to eat in one of the kiosks that are set up every evening in the square and feed people at ridiculous prices, with 80-90 dh you dine for two people!! On 7 October after a nice breakfast at the riad brought to us by HAKIM, who has by now become our friend from the riad, we go to discover Marrakech, we immediately visit the Mouassine mosque, then the Koutoubia and its park, then the walls that surround the city until finally the Kasbah Mosque and the Saadian tombs (10 dh) dynasty that reigned in Morocco from the 16th to 18th century, then the Badil palace, the Berber market and the Bahia Palace (10 dh) simply beautiful with its stucco, decorations, inlays, mosaics and fountains.

Finally we visit the Ben Youssef madrasa (60 dh) to return to the souk towards the Jemaa el Fna square where it is my intention to sit on one of the terraces (Café de France) where, sipping mint tea, waiting for the sunset and taking the most beautiful photos of the square. So we did and I will not tell you about the spectacle, unmissable, at sunset and in the evening the square is even more magical! Satisfied we return to the riad, take a shower then off to dinner again in the square in the kiosks. On 8 October after breakfast we decide to see what we have not yet seen of Marrakech, we start with the gardens and the house of Majorelle (30 dh) a French painter of the 1800s where he created a garden with succulents from every part of the world. It is worth it.

We then go to see the GUELIZ district, the most modern, full of beautiful buildings, avenues and bars typically in French style, then we move on to the Menara, an oasis and imperial garden where a water basin stands out with a residence that the sultans used for their gallant encounters (10 dh). Exhausted by the walk and the sun we took, we return to the riad, take a shower then go to dinner in one of the many terraces on the square to enjoy the whole spectacle for the last time, always at ridiculous prices (150 dh for two). On 9 October after breakfast we pack the suitcases which we leave at the riad, we go one last time into the souk where we make the last gift purchases, at 14.00 we take a petite taxi that from the centre takes us to the airport for 80 dh….our trip ends here with the return flight to Bergamo from Marrakech….farewell chaotic and surprising MOROCCO.

Tips: take a low cost flight, Morocco can easily be done on your own with trains, buses, taxis and rental cars. Also book the riads from home, they are beautiful and cost little, just look at the travellers' comments to be safe. For every important thing you buy, negotiate and always pretend to walk away because for you it is expensive, they will ask you to come back. I got a pouf that started at 1400 dh down to 500, three T-shirts that started at 670 dh I took for 200, little soaps of pure argan that they asked 40 dh for you get for 10 dh and so on. As for safety, do not worry, there is police and gendarmerie everywhere as well as plainclothes policemen, you will never be harassed, they will ask you to buy anything, but no more than that. Dine anywhere, the costs are truly reduced even in the best restaurants.

Morocco will give you strong emotions, strong colours, contrasts with pockets of extreme poverty alongside almost European wealth, very strong smells that we are not used to and which sometimes we struggle to get used to, and above all so much availability even without necessarily having to hand over a few dirham. Enjoy it without prejudice. Good trip to everyone!