The market in Marrakech

Our alarm in Tanger went off bright and early..literally! We were ready to go at 4:30am and the taxi driver that drove us around the day prior had agreed to pick us up at the hotel. Well, our tour guide arranged for the pick up since the driver doesn't understand English. The whole trip my mom and I were away I did not feel scared or threatened by anything or anyone...until this particular morning.

When we got outside the cabbie was there waiting for us and talking to some random guy. As we got closer I noticed the driver was trying to get around the guy to help us with our bags. Then I saw a beer in the guy's hand and realized he was blitzed! He saw the tag on our bag and knew we were Canadian, so he proceeded to talk to us in French. I was still asleep and not in the mood for conversation so I just nodded here and there. When our bags were in the back, I said bye bye to the man,  my mom got in the passenger back door and I proceeded to walk to the driver side back door. I don't know what set the guy off, but just as I was about to shut the door and do up my seatbelt, buddy blocked the door with his body and tried to grab me. I was so startled and I slammed the door shut on his arm. The guy then went to the driver side window and was reaching in saying something to me very quickly. We were yelling at the cabbie to drive, DRIVE, but this guy was in the way. Eventually he peeled out. What a WEIRD, frightening experience!!!!!!!!

Anyhoo.....we arrived at the airport, boarded the plane, flew to Fes, and then to Marrakech. When we arrived it was pissing rain! We wanted to figure out what tours were available, so we walked to a couple of tourist offices once we dropped off our bags. We got some good info., but since it was still raining we decided to go back to the hotel and chill out. We did that all day/night. It felt nice to rest up:-)

The next morning it was absolutely gorgeous out. You would have never known it was so stormy the day before. That day we woke up, had breakfast and took the bus to the Medina and in particular the Djemaa el-Fna (the city's main public square). The sites here were unbelievable. We saw donkeys pulling carts , fruit and spice stands everywhere, people everywhere, ladies doing henna, men playing music, more people, fortune tellers, men toying with cobras while other snakes watched. It was bizarre!! I loved it! After we roamed around the square, we made our through the narrow streets of the Medina and purchased some souvenirs. There was soooo much I wanted to buy, but it was impossible because of our bag restrictions. I am kicking myself for not buying an extra bag and mailing it home full of stuff. Oh well!

I didn't take many detailed photoz because anyone who thought my camera was pointed at them would either shoo me away or demand money. So I played it safe and rarely used it.

Here are some I managed to snap:

Djemaa el-Fna

The mosques are gorgeous!

The next day we were up bright and early again as we had booked a trip to the coastal town of Essaouira.