Things to do in Morocco, Marrakesh

First part of my trip to Morocco, the city of Marrakesh

Morocco

I went to Morocco in February 2019, and I celebrated my birthday in Marrakesh.
At work I have a Moroccan colleague, she talked to me a lot about her culture and I couldn't wait to see her country. We organised together this trip, but last minute she decided to quit, I didn't want to miss this opportunity and, fortunately, I had another friend that came with me (you will see her in some of my pictures).

This is one of the trips I enjoyed the most, for the people I knew, the experiences I did and for how much I learned. 

Marrakesh

I have to be honest, in my mind, Marrakesh was completely different from what it is, and I didn't like it, but now thinking about it, a year after, it is a bit different: the experiences I had and the friends I left there to make me enjoy it more.

On the top of the hill

Near the host place, there is a hill, and on the first morning, we decided to climb it to see the view. 

The host lives in the north part of Marrakesh, about half an hour from the centre, so this picture is of the suburbs, the place is really nice and it is still one of the main memory of this trip.

Looking forward

I have to say that this is one of my favourite pictures: my friend looking at the landscape, the blue sky and the fog in the city, I think it is a nice mix. If I want to find a message in this picture it could be "looking forward": you have everything you want in front of you, don't look back and move forward.

Koutoubia mosque

After the hill we went downtown, looking for a place for breakfast, and we stopped at a place in front of the Koutoubia mosque, the picture is from the bar balcony. The mosque is the biggest in Marrakesh, and the minaret, 70 m tall, is a symbol of the city. 

Jama El f'na

It is the main square in the city, in the medina, and also a huge market. The square is the UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity since 2001. At first, I didn't understand the reason for this, the square itself is nothing special, but the environment there is intense, something unique. There is some tourist business, like the possibility to take pictures with monkeys or snakes, but anyway, it gave me nice feelings.

Medina

The old city is a big market, with every kind of shop, bar, and restaurant, there is also a part where they work the leather and use it for bags, clothes, whatever, and you can see all the process. This picture is not really representative of the medina, but I like it for the colour combination: green, red, orange, white, and blue.

Door after door

One of the things I liked the most in Morocco, and mainly in Marrakesh, was to look inside the open gates of the houses, to see how they are inside and catch the decorations, the tiles. This door after door till the garden of the building is like a peek at a private house to catch a moment of local life.

Oranges

Behind the mosque, on the opposite side of Jama el F'na square, there is Parc Lalla Hasna, we went there to enjoy the sun and take a break. It is a nice green area, with benches and a fountain in the middle; in the picture, you can see an orange tree on the left, with some oranges; orange trees are everywhere in Morocco, not only in the parks but also on the streets. For example, on my birthday there was a marathon and they were giving oranges to the runners, crazy!.

Inside/outside

After the park we went to a shopping complex called Ensemble Artisinal, this place features colourful artwork, housewares, instruments, clothing and fabrics. For me, this picture is the opposite of the previous one "door after door", this time I'm inside, and the combination between the tiles and the textile of the clothes of the ladies are really cool.

Night lights

We went to visit the Medina for dinner, I ate snails, and visit the market at night. As you can see from the picture the atmosphere was magical, lights from the shops, a lot of people around, many more than in the daytime, and sometimes for this, we were blocked in the alleys, I have to say that sometimes it was a bit scary.

Nightlife

Medina is mainly for tourists, especially at night, but not only, is common to see locals doing shopping because it's cheaper than the new part of Marrakesh, where you can find bars, restaurants and clubs very similar to the ones there are in Europe.

About the picture I have to say that my first idea was to photograph the people passing under the arch, I didn't see the woman. I like the warm colours and her expression, it's like she is isolated from other people, the world is moving around her and she is not able to stop it.

Spices

The day after we went again to the Medina, and we went around visiting others part of it, this picture is from the Jews' part: since 1438, following the great wave of immigration of Jews from Spain, several urban mellahs were created on the Moroccan territory. The Jewish Mellah of Marrakesh has been recognised in 1558. 

What I think is impressive, as a European, is to see these big bags of spices in the markets, with their colours and smell.

Place des ferblantiers

Close to the Jews mellah there's this square that can be translated as "iron workers square" or "tin workers square". As you might expect, the square is occupied almost entirely by small traditional shops with tradesmen crafting their wares from a variety of different metals. Even if you have no desire to buy anything at the square, it is still very much worth a visit. We have been there by chance, we didn't know it is really tourist, as you can see from the picture it was almost empty.

Avenue

After the square, we went back to Jama el F'na, and as you can see the minaret is a landmark, you can't get lost in the city. As I told you my friend is in a lot of my pictures, she improves them; in this one, I think it's nice the contrast between her and the environment, emphasised also by the colours, and because she is walking alone.

Gueliz

It is the heart of the modern part of Marrakesh, here there is what usually you can find in a European city: restaurants, shops, big brands, and hotels. From what they told me it is where foreigners usually chose to live.

I took the picture from McDonald's terrace, a nice place. We went there to take a rest and enjoy the sunset.

On the top of the hill by night

For our last night in Marrakesh, we went back to the hill, to enjoy the night view. We went there with our host and a group of travellers from Lithuania, who slept with us that night. We brought some beers, talked together, know each other and enjoyed the lights. These kinds of situations are what I like most about travelling: sharing a beer, a view, and stories.

Laura and the stars

I used that opportunity for some night pictures, and to photograph the stars, the sky was free of clouds and on top of the hill, there wasn't so much light pollution.

Considering my equipment the result was not so bad, and I can say that Laura did a nice job.

This was the first part of the trip after we went to the desert, and we ended it visiting Essaouira and Agadir.