Marrakech is one of those exotic, mystical cities everyone dreams of going. You imagine serpent charmers, men with turbans eating fire, and camels casually walking the streets. Marrakech is exactly this, but instead it's all put on for tourists. With all it's beauty and uniqueness Marrakech is undeniably a tourist hot spot and revolves around the tourists. Having said that, one of it's most wonderful quality is how tourist life and local culture collide. At every food stand, street band or serpent charmer, you will see just as many Moroccans enjoying the entertainment and food. 
The first place my parents and I visited was the Bahai Palace. This 19th century palace was for the sultan'z personal use to house his concubines (mistresses). The detailed work was suppose to be the best of it's time, given the name the Brilliant Palace, but it's said to have fallen short of expectations although it looked pretty good to me. It's decorated in a very traditional Moroccan Islamic style with most of the craftsmen ship completed in Fez. Generally in Moroccan architecture you will see the same materials used time and time again; cider wood, plaster, marble and green tiles. The detailing in the work is incredible and if you look closely you will notice that, not all but much of it is Arabic script. The gardens are to die for with Bitter Oranges (not for consumption) shading most of it. 
After the beautiful palace we were off to the legendary Majorelle Gardens. This garden was developed by french artist Jacques Majorelle. It is home to numerous plants from all over the world and one of the biggest collections of Cacti.
In the 1960s when Majorelle passed away the garden was opened to the public but because of a lack of funding and care the garden began to fall apart. In the 1980s Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé bought the garden and brought it back it it's old glory. The garden itself is absolutely amazing and so serene. Besides all the tourists and visitors I would imagine this place to be incredibly relaxing for the soul. The true artist's touch is seen in the blue and yellow coloured buildings. It stands right out amongst all the greenery. In the garden there is a small gallery of YSL's love posters, one for every year since he started designing them. He would send them out to friends, family, and close customers. There is also a memorial for YSL in the middle of the garden where his ashes' were spread. 
After a full day in Marrakech, my parents and I decided to head out to the countryside for the day. My parents had remembered, from their previous trip a town not too far away from the city where you could go for a nice but rocky hike, leading to a waterfall. We were on our way but before you would get to the town with the waterfall we went to a traditional berber home, for Mofletta and some mint tea. It is common for Berbers to invite tourists into their home for a bite to eat and some tea in return for money. We got to see how they live, and where they work. The owner of this home makes his living from pottery, making Tajines and other Moroccan ceramic goods and selling them. 
Marrakech is an amazing city with so much to see. It's incredibly touristic so you must be prepared for some of it's cultural charm to be lost in commerce for all it's visitors. After Marrakech we were off to Essaouira, but before we arrived there, we stopped at an Argan oil co-operative. Argan trees only grow in Morocco and produce this amazing oil that is not only good for consumption but also for cosmetics. The nuts to make the oil grow on these big bushy trees. Goats love Argan trees and despite their many thorns, somehow the goats find their way around them. The goats get up high on the tree and are often seen climbing to the top towards the end of Argan season. It's actually really really cute!
At the cooperative we learned how Argan oil is made. At this cooperative, everything is made by hand and they employ local woman, and practice fair trade. The production is quite laborious. It involves cracking the nut twice, roasting, and then crushing it to produce an oil. I got to try to produce it myself. It's amazing how much work it takes to produce the smallest amount of oil. 
Essaouira is a costal city known for its surfer-like lifestyle. I felt as-though if it weren't raining I would have probably loved it, having said that I did like it. We didn't do much as we only had about half a day there, and it was raining, so here are some photos to enjoy.
The next day in essaouira we booked it to Casablanca where we were to catch our flight the next day. There wasn't much to see on the way back since it was STILL raining. We heard much of Morocco was under water by the time we got to Casablanca. We didn't do much in Casablanca, but we did manage to pay a short visit to Hassan II Mosque. This mosque is easily one of the grandest things I have seen in my life. Completed in 1993 it's the biggest mosque in the country, the 7th biggest in the world, and has the tallest minaret in the world. It's absolutely huge and it's insane to imagine the prayers during Ramadan when it's swarming with muslims.
The mosque also sits side by side with a Islamic university, I believe one of the biggest in the world. Now, I not only love churches but Mosques are going on my list of favorite forms of architecture.
This brings my Moroccan trip to an end. I loved Morocco and I am looking forward to returning. I'd love to do a less manicured trip around the country. More spontaneous trekking and less organized driving. All in all, an amazing trip. I got to see my roots, visit where my family comes from, eat all my favorite foods and discover parts about my heritage. I am hopefully doing to do another blog post about Jews in Morocco as I've left out all the Jewish related stops I made throughout the trip.
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