Well, a trip would not be complete for me if I didn’t put up a gallery of beautiful entranceways. I have resisted the urge so far but today is the day. Vinyl windows and doors of the world, you have nothing on traditional Moroccan handiwork. Some of these doorways are centuries old.

But I need to get back to our actual days events. After a hurried breakfast this morning we threw our bags into the push cart that would ferry them to our van outside the old city of Essaouira and walked to our pickup area. We took our usual seat at the back of the van and headed off for Marrakesh. This was to be the day of reckoning for me. This would be the destination I had been dreading. Was I afraid of the big markets that would entice me to spend all my money? Was I dreading the end of the tour when I would have to say goodbye to all the daily drama? What could it be? Well those of you who know me well, will recollect that I am desperately afraid of snakes. And yes, the rumours were that the market was filled with nefarious snake charmers who were lying in wait for people like me. Supposedly they would race up to me, throw a snake around my neck, and refuse to remove it unless I gave them a specified amount of cash for the dubious pleasure of having my picture taken with the reptile. This would not only be traumatizing for me in the moment but, would retraumatize me every time I viewed the picture or even hear the word Marrakesh spoken inadvertently. Well I am happy to report that none of this occurred. I was on high alert all day and if anyone even brushed my shoulder in the market I jumped right out of my skin. But the guide was kind and steered clear of the snake area and although I could hear, in the distance, the haunting (and nightmare inducing) sound of the flutes calling the snakes to rise I did not come in contact with any of these reptiles.

But, before we even got to the main souk (or market), we toured a couple of sights. The first was the Saddian Tombs. My takeaway from this sight was the astonishing fact that these beautiful buildings and tombs were only rediscovered in 1971 despite being in the centre of the city, The entranceways had been blocked off when a new dynasty destroyed the Saddians in 1668. Due to the nature of the thick-walled buildings and small alleyways in the old medinas, it is not always easy to determine the layout of an area.  And so for hundreds of years no one noticed that there was something unknown behind the walls. Initially after the end of the dynasty,  the Saddian people were afraid of the new rulers and the hatred toward them, and kept the location of the tombs of the royal family a secret. Eventually this knowledge was lost to subsequent generations. Although the site was interesting, the sun was blazing hot, and the lineups long and so we were glad to move to the next attraction.

We stopped next at the Bahia Palace that was built in the 1890s for the prime minster. It was ornate and glorious and the technology of thickened walls and placement of doors and windows to keep areas cool for meeting with foreign dignitaries and businessmen was impressive. This prime minister had 4 wives and each had a separate area in the complex. One of the wives was very intelligent and educated and spoke many languages and she had a room with bookcases for her study. She was the main advisor to the Prime Minister and would sit outside the doorway to the meetings and listen to all the conversation in many languages and then would tell him what would be the best course of action.

And then it was off to the souk (market) and my attempt to avoid the snakes. As I mentioned above I succeeded in this respect. By this time we were tired and hungry and so we stopped for lunch and then on back to our new hotel. It is a slightly dated place but there is a large pool and, much to our surprise, a place to get a cold beer. Rudy and Dave were delighted.

By this time I had received news that my newest granddaughter had been born and I spent much of the rest of the evening gazing at pictures of her. So lovely to have her to make an appearance. I can barely wait to see her in person.