The Golden Leopard: morocco

Jemaa el-Fnaa, or the Big Square as it's called, is the central point of Marrakech. It is hustling and bustling with vendors, street performers, swindlers, and hundreds of tourists. Charming 3-story terraced cafes line the square, while the big mosque towers over the city at one end. Friday prayer time at noon was unlike anything I had ever seen. For almost 2 hours the various mosques echoed calls while the Big Square basically came to a standstill as the vendors closed their shops and headed to the mosques. Mariel and I watched in amazement from Cafe de Paris. The square truly is the heart of the city and it was magnificent to watch the commotion from above. While we got attacked my a henna ninja and cornered by snake charmers, the daily visits to the Big Square made our Moroccan experience.

HERE WE GO (FINALLY)! It has been months since I was in Marrakech but it feels like just yesterday I was meandering through the souks. My sister and I flew to Marrakech from Madrid and stayed 5 nights. We knew it was going to be an interesting experience and were warned (many times!) of the dangers facing two 20-something year old girls traveling to this majestic city. It truly is like nothing I've ever been to and if you get the chance to go, you definitely should!

I just have to tell you a little bit about the plane ride. Not knowing what to expect we arrived at the gate and thought we mistakenly were at the gate for St. Barth's, but then we remembered Europeans who vacation in St. Barth's definitely fly private. Gate 32 couldn't handle all of the glamour. Too much Louis Vuitton, YSL, Celine, Hermes for one place. It was like keeping your shades on and wearing a Rolex were mandatory. We just people watched in awe. [Side note: Mariel & I spent 1+ hours playing in Duty Free makeup & looked like beauty queens gone bad, so we looked a little out of place.] We come to find out that the Design Leadership Summit was happening, which is a conference of the top interior decorators from America and Europe.

Anyways we arrived in Marrakech to our quaint hotel in the Old City (literally looks straight out of Aladdin). Everyone who had previously gone to Marrakech recommended to stay in the Old City because it is more authentic, we were definitely in culture shock! No one spoke English and the preferred mode of transportation was a donkey. We attempted to head to the Big Square (the main tourist area) but were quickly tricked that it was closed and led to the Tanneries, where products are made with camel hide. This was a little freaky. We were shuffled between men who showed us different parts of the tanneries and kept taking us further and further away from the main path. When we tried to leave they demanded money for the "tour" luckily my sister took control and we got out of there fast. It was pretty neat, however, to see the tannery process. Apparently the tannery men are notorious for this, and we soon found out that locals were trying to rip us off right and left!

We had a relaxing night at our hotel and an authentic Moroccan meal before we headed off to bed early!