March 6, 2015 - Marrakech Day 1: Riad and Mosques

For Chris's Christmas Present, (yeah, we're talking Christmas 2014. I realize I'm a little behind. #understatmentofthecentury)

ANYWAY. For his present,  I planned a quick 4-day getaway in sunny Marrakech, Morocco! I loved this place so much, and I'd go back in a heartbeat. The food, you guys. I still have dreams about that food. Incredible.

Getting to our Riad (hotel) was a nightmare. I could type out the whole story, but it would just make me angry again. I'm still not over it. Just know that we were bounced back and forth between two locations, almost double charged, and were swindled out of a camel-riding excursion that I had already paid for. Rude.

But despite that entire fiasco, Marrakech remains one of my favourite holidays Chris and I have ever done. We made a pact as we were boarding the plane that no matter what happened, we'd roll with it, and not get mad about it, or frustrated with each other. (We're kind of the worst at getting hangry when we're traveling, and taking it out on each other.)

I digress. PHOTOS:

This was our tiny room in the Riad Dar Dubai. Check out that ceiling.

The courtyard of the riad. 

This Majorelle Blue, you guys. I want it in my house. And on my clothes. EVERYWHERE.

A cool room-divider-screen thing in the courtyard.

Morocco has loads of cats. Like so many.

View from the rooftop of the Riad.

And a cosy little rooftop retreat that we never actually sat in because it was so dang hot. 

These PATTERNS. These TILES. 

I mostly took this photo so that I could refer to it when we were walking back to the Riad.
(Turn onto this street with all these pots.) 

This creepy nesting bird was always eying us when we walked into town.

This is Mosque El Mansour, also known as "The Mosque of the Golden Apples." Can you guess why? 

See at the top of the minaret? Those three golden gilded globes? GOLDEN APPLES! 

I want to always be here. The sun. The palm trees. The patterns on EVERYTHING. It's a photographer's dream. 

Walking through the smaller markets of the Kasbah area.
Those SHAAAADOWS. Okay, Marrakech. Just chill with the awesomeness. 

Stopped for a rest as we got to the main square, Jemaa el Fna. I loved this woman walking her bike, in her red outfit.
Behind her is the Koutoubia Mosque, the largest mosque in Marrakech. 

This guy was also stopping for a rest. I loved the patterns on his clothing. 

We walked up closer to Koutoubia Mosque. The ruins are part of an old Almoravid fortress wall.
The Almoravids were a Berber imperial dynasty in 11th century Morocco. 

In 1147, the Almoravid leader Ali ibn Yusuf died, and Marrakech was captured by another family, the Almohads. The Almohads did not want to leave any trace of religious monuments built by their enemies, as they were considered heretics. 

The leader of the Almohads, Abd-al-Mu'min, built the first Koutoubia Mosque on the grounds of the former Almoravid Palace of Ali ibn Yusuf. This first mosque was built between 1147 and 1154 and completed in 1157.

They rebuilt it sometime at the end of the 12th century because they realized halfway through construction that the mihrab (prayer niche) was misaligned and not oriented towards Mecca. 

Literally every time you turn a corner, you stumble upon another tiny street as photogenic as this. 

That stained glass window!

The colors!

I loved this hat salesman, even though he was ticked that I took his photo and didn't buy a hat. 

Everyone eyeing me and my camera. I'm not the greatest at natural street photography. I will get better at that. 

Donkeys pulling carts are the main means of transporting goods through the markets. 

HAAA! Oh yeah! I forgot about this sign. I took a picture of it because I cracked up every time.
 That sketchy, sketchy looking Mickey Mouse. Hilarious. 

Stay tuned for Day 2, in which Chris becomes King of Puppies. (And by "stay tuned" I mean check back in about a year or so, because that's how often I update this thing. My bad.)