Travel diaries: Marrakesh in March

For almost 10 years now I travel to Morocco at least once a year. Marrakesh has always been one of my favorite destinations and this time I took my daughter Stella with me. She’s a good travel companion and as fond of the city as me. 

It’s also a chance to pass on my love for traveling and show her how beautiful the world is. She likes to stroll with me through the many alleys, with no real goal, just looking around to see the going ons of everyday life. And yes, Marrakesh can be very hectic, once in a while you have to try to get rid of a too pushy salesman and the exhaust gases of the many motorbikes in the narrow pedestrian streets can be hell. 

But there are also the delicious smells of the tagines that are being prepared in the restaurants or of the many stalls with local herbs. During the last couple of years we saw the amount of tourist grow in staggering numbers, which is of course good for the local commerce, but which unfortunately gives us less chance to discover the real Marrakesh.

Day 1: Derb Dabachi

Close to our nice Riad Irhalne we found an alley with woodworkers and basket salesmen. That’s where we went to buy some stuff for our next homesale. Colorful baskets, mirrors and also al little table for our living room.

Day 2: Rug merchants

One of the aims of our trip was buying rugs for the home sale. Aissam took us to a first location and we found a dozen carpets. Not yet completely satisfied we made a new appointment to see some other merchants.

Day 3: cooking workshop at Souk Cuisine

A Dutch lady who has been living in Marrakesh for 20 years, organizes fantastic Moroccan cooking workshops. First we went grocery shopping at a local market and then we started cooking under the enthusiastic but vigilant guidance of our Moroccan female chefs. Stella even got help from one of the chefs in perfect Dutch. We prepared different tagines, salads, briouates and pastry. A delicious experience in a scenic old riad.

We barely had some time left for our date with Aissam. He took us to another riad stuffed with thousand of carpets! And yes, we found some lovely ones for our home sale.

Welcome to our HOME SALE on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 April in our atelier, 'De vierde deur links', from 14u00 till 18u00, Minnemeers Business Center (Blekerijstraat 75, 9000 Gent).