Daedalian Adventures

The road ahead is rarely straight…

By Lynelle Barrett

Meet me at the Kasbah

I started the new year off right, with a journey to someplace I have wanted to go for a long time. Morocco. I always imagined Morocco to be a land of romance and mystery, a sensual place full of rich color, exotic scents and warm people.

My new husband, Bas, and I arranged to meet a friend and travel companion, Alex, in Marrakesh. Alex has been to Morocco several times, knows her way around, has friends there and speaks French. We arrived two days before Alex, so we got hit with the full brunt of Marrakesh on our own. Both Bas and I are seasoned travelers, but we had to admit that Marrakesh was different from any other place that we have experienced. The “we’re not in Kansas anymore” feeling began right when we stepped out of the airport doors. Groups of people were standing around the parking lot in caftans and babouches: the men in colors of the desert or bold vertical stripes, the women wearing flowing fabric from head to toe, embellished with braided trim. There was a prayer tent in the parking lot, in case the call to prayer came while waiting for flights to arrive.

A driver met us at the airport and drove us to the center of Marrakesh, where we met up with the owner of our riad (a traditional old house that has been converted to a guesthouse). Our host guided us through the medina - ancient labyrinths of narrow, winding alleyways. If you don’t know exactly where you are going in the medina, you may never get there. As we walked I used my trail skills, making note of landmarks at all the turns. There are no street signs so I remembered things like unusual door knockers, colors of painted doors, patterns in metal grillwork, cats sitting on doorsteps.

After we settled in, we headed out to the main square, Jemaa El Fna. La Place is huge and vibrating with energy. Two of the edges lead to the souks (traditional markets), the other edges are lined with restaurants and terrace cafes. All around the square are carts with food like nuts, candied fruit, fresh orange juice, dessert bars and escargot bars. At night, the center of the square is filled with outdoor restaurants. Row after row of tables to dine on couscous, kebab, sausages and various parts of animals you may not want to think about. The open spaces in the square are filled with games of chance, musicians, women painting with henna on people’s hands and feet, vendors selling herbal remedies and incense. The smells, sounds and sheer volume of people are almost overwhelming. And it’s like this every night.

During the day, we prowled the souks. The souks wind around and around. Every corner reveals more markets filled with handmade rugs, leather babouches (slippers), colorful tea glasses, silver tea trays and jewelry, bright silk scarves, caftans, tall pyramids of spices,  glistening mounds of olives, traditional painted furniture, candles, leather purses, pastries and beauty potions from argan oil. The colors and textures all look so beautiful that you wish you could take home one of everything. Fortunately, I arrived with my suitcase only half full and a piggy bank of money received as a wedding gift.

If you enter a souk to do a bit of shopping, the owner will ask if you want to have tea with him. So the pace of shopping in Morocco is different. You look a little, have some mint tea, make a friend, and maybe buy a thing or two. In one souk, we ended up hanging around for about three hours, chatting with the owner. Karim showed me how to make his special mint tea (the secret is a pinch of saffron), massaged my neck and arms with argan oil and dressed me up Moroccan style with scarves while my husband took photos. We had such a nice time together that he invited us to have couscous at his apartment the next day.

When Alex arrived we met up with her friend, Yassir, and took them to lunch with our new friend. Karim showed me how to make couscous (the secret is to rub the couscous with butter by hand three times while it steams) and served it in a huge dish with five spoons. We all sat around the low table and ate from one plate together. It was a wonderful way to enjoy food and each other’s company.

The next morning, we hired a taxi to drive us to Essaouira, three hours away. Our driver, Abdi, was an older gentleman who started off the journey by passing around a bag of dates, to make sure we had breakfast. The car radio was playing a mix of pop songs in Arabic and English. Abdi sang along with Neneh Cherry and Brittany Spears while chair dancing in his seat. We all laughed and joined in. A bit later, we stopped for coffee. The coffee glass was passed around the car for everyone to share. When we got close to Essaouira, Abdi stopped at a lookout point so we could take photos. By the time we made it to Essaouira, we all hugged goodbye like old friends. It was the best taxi ride ever.

Essaouira is by the sea and was a relief after the intensity of Marrakesh. Alex has several friends in Essaouira and we all cooked tagine, drank mint tea, hung out in a friend’s souk making music and drinking Moroccan wine, dined on fresh seafood in the fish market, partied at a restaurant with traditional music for New Year’s Eve, rode camels on the beach. By the time we drove to down to Agadir to fly back home, we felt like we had experienced a bit of the real Morocco…thanks to all our new friends.

Lynelle Barrett lives in the Netherlands, and is once again reminded that people make everything and every place special. Check out photos of her adventures on her website at: http://lynelleinholland.spaces.live.com

The cat’s meow   noun. Any person, thing, plan, etc., that is remarkable, noteworthy, excellent, or the like. One of the most popular fad expressions of the 1920’s; archaic.

the cat’s pajamas

groovy

cool

the bee’s knees

wicked

killer

rockin’

the bomb

awesome

boss

dynamite

fab

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solid

far out

totally tubular

all that

sweet

bad-ass

the elephant’s galoshes

cool beans

A-1

bitchin’

slammin’

fierce

capitol

choice

the ant’s eyebrows

fresh

gnarly

gravy noodles

kickass

the gnat’s whistle

fly

primo

stellar

the cat’s whiskers

Wishing you a most excellent new year!

Lynelle