Its been 3 weeks since I've returned from my well awaited vacation in Morocco and the post holiday enthusiasm of going back to normal life has died out.
However I can proudly say that I have completed my tour of North Africa and that I can confidently state that I live in the most beautiful capital city of North Africa. There is no comparison to the backdrop of mountains spotted with white houses next to a deep blue mediterranean sea.
Morocco was fantastic the perfect break at the perfect time. I got to have some quality time to myself, visit a beautiful country and catch up with friends I hadn't seen in a year.
The first stop was one day in Marrakesh and 2 days in Essouira. I had forgotten what its like to wake up, open your guidebook in the morning and head off for some exploring... meeting interesting people you wouldn't have meet in other circumstances and waking up the next day with the adrenaline pumping for another adventure.
Marrakesh and its infamous minorette
Marrakesh was amazing.. Djenna El Fna was fascinating, so alive, not only for the tourists but for anyone else who bothers to pass by the square is always alive... during the day it is full of snake charmers, henna artists and reed basket vendors, at night it is alive with live music, food stands, snail stands, tea stands and juice stands as well as storytellers ready to lure you into a world of fantasy.... I could never get tired of that square....
ready to grill that piece of meat for us!!
engaging his audience in a world of fantasy
Essouira was also fantastic, a little paradise by the sea... the perfect place to sit on the bastions and plan the next year of your life, stoll in the bazaars, chat with the locals sitting in the corner of the streets..... by far a place I wouldn't mind returning to
the charms of essaouira
A bus ride back to Marrakesh and there was stefan, irina, manu and eileen waiting for me, we sat up nights catching up on the past year, discussing the future, strolling around the streets, being lured into the bazaars of Marrakesh with the sound of 'la gazelle, la gazelle', and bargaining till we couldn't take it anymore and our suitcases would explode!!!
After Marrakesh we headed off to Casa for a dinner with Fred and Narjiss and then headed off for a day to Rabat. Rabat was tranquil, not what you'd expect out of a capital city, it is overflowing with history and we also got the chance to catch up with some old Moroccan friends.... some of which I hadn't seen in 5 years!!
We got back to Casa where surprise, surprise we found out Laurent and Juan finally managed to grab a flight to Casa and join us for the occasion we all came for - Narjiss and Fred's wedding. We were now complete... the maltese, the romanians, the belgians and the phillipino... the swede and the brazilian were missing but we thought about them!
catching up with the moroccans in rabat
We spent the morning in a typical Moroccan hamman, guy in one and girls in the other... we got the full threat - steam, scrub and massage.... then we were all ready for the well awaited moroccon wedding.
I cannot beleive that Fred and Narjiss finally made it to get married, after all the obsticals their relationship encountered I am very happy that Fred finally got the love of his life all for him.
Part one of the wedding was the Henna night.... None of us knew what to expect....but I definately did not expect what I experienced that night... Narjiss was dressed like a princess and sat for 5 hours while a woman painted her hands and feet with henna... in the meantime the guests drank tea and danced.... drank more tea and danced once again.... us, the foreigners drank tea and were occasionally draged on to the dance floor by the welcoming relatives to dance to moroccan music - i am sure the locals got a good laugh!!
anxiously waiting for the bride with Fred
the bride has arrived
time for henna
The bride was done with all the Henna and this is when the women rushed to queue to get their fair share of henna painting.... well... some of the guys also decided to give it a try!!
The next day was the big day!!! We all woke up with a tea hangover and chilled out in the center of casa, slept and dolled up for the final wedding day -which once again was way out of our expectations. We drank tea, even more tea, ate, danced and stood with eyes wide open while Narjiss came in with one different dress after another, one more beautiful and glamarous than the other... we were dumbfounded.... she finally came out with her last dress at around 5am... where they cut the cake, wished the guests good bye and headed off to their honeymoon suite.....
the boys looking handsome in their indian outfits
Fred giving it a try at the Moroccan dancing
the final outfit and the final goodbye
WHAT A NIGHT!!!!
The next day the 7 of us, after a couple of hours of sleep headed off to do some sightseeing in casa, and off to the beach!! I got my first swim in the freezing cold atlantic.... we got our final moroccan meal of couscous and tajin, exchanged photos and wished eachother good bye and good luck... hoping to see eachother again somewhere, sometime next year...
.... and more sightseeing
