It took almost a year of convincing to warm my other half to the idea of going to Morocco for our honeymoon. Besides all the wonderful cultural and activity possibilities, he feared it would resemble his experience of Tunisia, which must have involved a great intensity of hustling and haggling, besides heat and dust. But finally, with the help of some friends who raved about how they'd loved it, he was sold on the idea. So it was with some trepidation on both of our parts that we approached on the plane in July, two days after our wedding. From my point of view, if he was right to be hesitant, it wouldn't be a very romantic honeymoon!
After a comfortable Ryanair flight from Bristol, we were greeted at Marrakech airport by Hassan, an incredibly cheery and wonderfully camp Moroccan man whose very good English was spoken with what sounded like a New York accent! After changing some money, we walked through the very balmy evening, across the car park to the 'grand taxi' that Hassan was driving. On the way we saw a mangy stray dog running through the car park. We'd been warned about rabid animals so we imagined there would be many more, though I think that might have been the only one we saw the whole trip in the end.
Once we were settled into the luxurious back seats of this air-conditioned SUV, we were surprised (and delighted) by an amazing array of sights as we drove past. The roads were wide, and besides the speeding cars, there were innumerable scooters, on which rode sometimes families, sometimes couples, sometimes women only, sometimes with their faces covered in addition to their heads, but only with veils (no one wore a helmet). The scooters weaved in an out of traffic, along with a few horse-drawn carriages and occasionally a donkey cart. Next to the street on a patch of grass some young boys were practicing some form of martial art, families with children were out and about and there was as much bustle at 9pm as you might see during a festival or fair in Britain. What was nicer is that people seemed to be just spending time together, they weren't on a mission to buy things, they were just being together, playing, talking...
As we drove, Hassan bubbled away in English about how he used to live in Manhattan and work at a tour company, running tours to Morocco. He told us about the American tourists and what they liked to see, and about where he came from and what he enjoyed. He was really excited to hear that we had just gotten married. By the time we reached Bab Ailen (the stop at the edge of the Medina nearest our riad, we already felt like friends.
We were met at Bab Ailen by Lissan, a handsome young man, probably in his early twenties with a serene face and ever-present soft smile. When I try to conjure Lissan up in my mind's eye, besides his smile I remember his posture, at once relaxed and perfectly proper and upright, which I think describes his personality as well. Lissan walked us into the Medina, which is a network of narrow streets not really suited to cars (though a few do struggle their way in and out, amidst the horse carts, scooters, donkey carts, bicycles, and throngs of people and prams, children and animals). After ducking into a small entryway to the side of one of the roads we arrived at the Riad (Les 5 Soeurs). It was just like the reviewers online had said, we left the hustle and bustle of the Medina and were welcomed into a serene oasis of calmness.
We were treated to our first 'Whisky Morrocain' as it's sometimes called, the wonderful sweet mint tea, by Abdul, the Riad manager. Abdul's English was less fluid than either Hassan's or Lissan's and sad to say, neither the hubby or I are particularly fluent in French, so we struggled through our communications with Abdul using a mixture of the two, and even the odd bit of Arabic thrown in eventually. Abdul was all smiles and attention as well, and showed us around the Riad, including all the other free rooms. Then we freshened up and headed to the roof terrace for a late, delicious dinner. From the roof we could hear all the sounds of the street and covertly watch the action. We spent the evening soaking it all in, breathing in the rhythm of what we could tell already, was a very special place.
