BUSTED AGAIN

I returned from Ireland in the spring and was a few blogs short of finishing the trip, so I just kept on posting like I wasn’t home………so Dano sees me at the golf course and says “Hey, You’re supposed to be in Ireland, I just read your blog this morning”……..BUSTED……..so yesterday Jutta goes to her book club luncheon, and tonight I am playing cards with the boys…….still a couple short of a full trip……BUSTED AGAIN. We got home Tuesday evening after being up for almost 24 hours……Marrakech to Paris…..layover……Paris/Toronto……lovely drive home on my summer tires……good planning there, and thanks everyone for pitching in and shoveling my walkway and front stairs…….what a treat! So I will just do what I do……forget you ever saw me, or that I told you the truth……just a couple more to go.

TOUR DAY IN THE MEDINA

Jutta and I have already done the tour, but it was great info, and don’t mind doing it again with Cosgrove’s and Sibylle. We are hooked up with Norma’s preferred tour guide Samir…….nice fellow and speaks great English which is a real plus. It is a walking tour so we head out towards the Jewish quarter, and the Bahia Palace (probably #1 attraction) which is close by. The quarter or “Mellah” is a place where Moroccan and Jewish people have lived, worked, and done business since the 1500’s…….the defining architechtural feature of the quarter is the outward facing balconies on the homes in the area, not just the typical flat walls you see elsewhere.

The palace is closed because of some construction that is taking place……apparently still due to the earthquake that hit Morocco in 2023. We that throws a wrench into the works…….we decide to head towards the university, another big attraction. I can’t believe how busy it is here today, but then again, it’s frickin’ Saturday…….good planning again……could have toured on a quieter weekday. Either way, we are in it and slogging our way along this great street…….the goats notice it has excellent shops…..heading deeper into town…….motorcycles are an absolute pain in the ass, pushing their way through the crowds and leaving a trail of stinky exhaust behind…….they are everywhere. We are on some narrow alleys maybe three people wide, and then Evel Kinevel goes banzai on us from behind, honking his stupid horn, and pushing his way through……..all part of it I guess. The university is packed, obviously, because the palace is closed, but we go in for a look see.

With that accomplished we are off to the argan oil dispensary to sample the magic liquid……..it does everything!…….rub it on, drink it, it doesn’t matter. Our consultant……..just a guy in street clothes that they put an ill fitting white lab coat on so he looks authentic…….suggests that one of their products……”Just a few drops in your whiskey at night…….Very good for jiggy jiggy.” Yeah sure…….bought a half gallon……couldn’t help myself. We are getting a little tired of the trudging around and the endless crowds of people, so decide to duck into this coffee shop that Samir suggests…….would rather have found one in the open air and sunshine, but at this one they make coffee in a very unique way……..moving the cup around in hot sand (heated from a propane burner underneath) very strong a gritty coffee but nice experience and good photo op.

We end up through some alleys with Samir and get to see the work that goes on behind the scenes, behind the shops, where the products are actually made. We see bundles of leather skins, mostly goat and sheep, that have come down from the tannery and are being prepared for auction. I am fascinated by this one guy who stands there punching our soles of shoes all day.

I am ready to call it a day…….John and Monica are on that bus also, and we point them in the direction of the hotel…….Jutta has booked lunch at El Fenn, a rooftop restaurant/hotel not too far away and I head out……the goats……well there was this one shop!!! You know the story, I will meet them there. Ok, so pretty cool place, and they have nice cold beer on tap, but we have been seriously spoiled on the culinary front by Villa des Orangers, so the food does not get top marks.

I am heading back to the hotel, but the shopaholics want to get back to that street where the great shops were…….I walk them over, give them my trusty map and a reference point where to turn, and they are off.

Tonight we are booked at Nobu Hotel, and have decided we will sit at the rooftop bar/restaurant rather than the ritzy doo sushi place downstairs……having done that in Munich, we know the drill, and while fantastic, it just wasn’t what we were into tonight. The late lunch at El Fenn is still lingering.

It is a stunner of a place……glass walled elevator gets you up top, music thumping away, lots of movement and activity……..we are shown to a table on the upper deck overlooking the lower tables with superb views of the skyline. The goats decide to share some gyoza…..for some reason they stop selling sushi on the roof at 6:00pm? I order a pizza, and a burger and fries, J&S’s mouths fall open, but I’ll tell you when my food hit the table it was time to share, and I barely saw my french fries. It takes me about 15 minutes to realize that the music that is playing is just a soundtrack, and the singer we are hearing is for real………about 6’6″ with thigh high silver platform boots some slinky outfit, and a great voice, this beauty appears in front of us, does a few turns and kicks, then is gone. Next up is a wild multi faceted floor show than makes its way around the entire restaurant, and I don’t know what any of it was supposed to mean or symbolize…….all I know……..it was a blast.

Another great day in the books……..I have to get to bed because I have a big day tomorrow!