“I will cooking tagine for you”

We’ve made a couple of rookie mistakes in our first couple of days in Africa, but nothing that hasn’t turned out to be a pretty good story in the end.

On our first night we settled into our Riad (Moroccan accommodation with rooms around a central courtyard). Our little courtyard is filled with orange and lemon trees, and we get a fresh squeezed OJ every morning with breakfast. We had our first tagine, and since then RobO has had tagines steady for every lunch and dinner!

Yesterday we wandered the narrow, windy streets, staying as close to the sides as possible to avoid bikes, scooters, donkeys, horse and carriages, food carts, and the occasional truck.

We got lost a couple of times, but only because we listened to the touts who say that “X (X=wherever you’re going) is closed”, or “The big square is this way” followed by pointing in the direction of the shop that they’re promoting. Because ‘X’ was closed, we were led by a ‘friendly’ young man right to the tanneries, where they clean and dye hides of leather. Interesting process, though it would have been nice to know we were taking a $20 tour prior to the end of the tour!

We really enjoyed seeing the tile work in the Bahia Palace and Ben Youssef historical site. I could have (and did) take and endless number of photos.

And, of course, we’ve spent a lot of our day and night time at Place Jemaa El Fna. This is a UNESCO cultural heritage site for good reason. I mean, where else can you hang out in a square filled with king cobra snake charmers, acrobats, banjo playing storytellers, henna painters, strange gambling games, rows of food stalls (that include sheep brains on display), and much much more. A lesson if you’re ever planning to go: every picture you take costs money, and the amount is likely more than the pocket change you were planning to give. And they’re determined. But you can always leave your little lady hostage with the snake charmers while you go to the bank machine across the street.