Marrakech Moroccan Markets

Yes, even more shopping, but not before a lovely visit to the incredibly beautiful garden designed as a "living work of art" by French artist Jacques Majorelle with architect, Paul Sinoir.

Ahh, the sweet smell of Jasmine - Guess what's coming to your garden next Gaurav.

Herboristerie Bab Agnaou is where we learned about Moroccan spices, natural creams and bought way too many items.  We had a session with a person from the shop who told us all about the items sold in their store.  He had us smell the spices and even a very strong sinus remedy (see if you can guess which photo it is).  He certainly had our "number" as he suggested things for those of us more senior than Miss Sarah (i.e. hot flashes, hemroids, varicose veins . . .  I'll stop here).

Seriously, it was a great place to find quality spices and natural cosmetics.  They had a number of things I (mom) had been looking for in the states priced well.

On our way to lunch mom found a vendor sitting on the street with a Moroccan guitar she had been looking for!  With Nellie's expertise, we found one!  Woo Hoo -- it's been fun getting it through the airports.

We ate at another incredible restaurant with performers just for us!  Made us feel pretty special.  It was so much fun because we were able to learn how to play some of their instruments and dance.

Courtyard of the restaurant 

We visited a palace with beautiful mosaic work and internal courtyards.  

An attempt to perform at the palace while our guide, Radouane, put a hat out to collect money.  Needles to say, my performance didn't warrant compensation.  :) 

Rug shopping was quite the experience.  You almost have to be trained to figure out how to "make a deal" unless you have our guide helping you through the process.  It's exhausting!!!!!  The rugs were beautiful and we were given a demonstration on about 40 rugs and where they came from and what they were used for by different groups within the country.  

We did eventually find a stunning Berber carpet which they are shipping to Sarah and Gaurav!!!

Demo of the different carpets -- LOVE them all

"Let's make a deal"  Thank you Dave for teaching us how to negotiate.

Sold!  The berber carpet has dimension and interesting texture.  Sarah is hoping Moe won't want to dig through it.

Las Vegas in Morocco

We took a drive for dinner to a place called Chez Ale that reminded everyone of a Moroccan version of Medieval times.  It was grand, as we entered and strolled in on a red carpet past several musicians on our way to our table.  After a traditional dinner of delicious barbecue and couscous tajine, we were treated to a wonderful horse show. 

1st part we saw after entering through the gate.

Joining in with the musicians

Before we get into the horse show, let's take a minute to discuss this couscous.  This was the largest plate of couscous you can imagine, shaped like a volcano erupting with vegetables.  It was so big that when the cover was removed, I couldn't help but to laugh.  We even found a chicken buried at the bottom (cooked, thankfully, ha!).  It was delicious and we made a dent in it.

Our guide, Radouane, made certain we had the "best seats" in the house.  He quickly disappeared to watch our reaction from afar and we quickly discovered why.  The show began with 20 men with guns on horses charging straight at us and skidding about 3 feet in front of us, with the horses kicking up sand into our feet.  This happened 5 more times, only they also started shooting their muskets, as if the charging weren't terrifying enough.  We've attached a video, but it doesn't come close to being there.  It was a beautiful show though, with trick riders, a belly dancer and good music.  We were glad we went and glad we made it out!