After an uneventful coach trip from Golders Green to Stansted in the depth of the night we arrived at Stansted to catch a very early flight to Marrakech. I was seated between a gentleman with a bad case of halitosis and a young chap sniffing and sneezing throughout the flight. I had a smoked salmon sandwich that hopefully sent some odours to Mr. Halitosis and finished my breakfast with milchike cake. Then down to reading my book. I always find it a pity that I cannot sleep whilst traveling, but it just doesn’t work for me.
Marrakesh has the same time zone as the UK. It’s 6 degrees here and I am happy that i brought my thick jacket.
Our guide Raphael, driver Mohammed and security guys Abdul and Ahmed have been keeping us busy the whole day. When I think of Morocco I think of warm weather, but today was freezing and it rained – heavy rain – the whole day.
We went to the Atlas mountains to visit a Berber village. Jews lived in this village and in particular in the house we visited prior to the Berbers living there. The dwellings were made of
mud. They even had a cow indoors (maybe they felt sorry for her as the ground outside was muddy and red from the melting snow).
The buildings in Marrakesh are rather low as there is a law that forbids them to be higher than the minaret of the main mosque.
We visited the tomb of the tzaddik Rabbi Shlomo Ben Hensh. There were photos on the wall of many Sefardi Ravs including Babi Sala.
We walked through the wet cobblestoned market to get to the shul. The market was fabulous – the colors, the spices, absolutely amazing.
We visited the Bahia Palace which was near the Melah, the Jewish quarter. The Bahia Palace was built in the 19th century by the Sultan for his wives, his harem and his concubines. It was a walled Garden with loads of pavilions and courtyards.
In the evening we went for a meal in a local woman’s home. She catered an amazing meal for 36 people. We had to climb very steep stairs (all mosaic tiled) to reach her home which was like a courtyard opening up to the rooms of her house.
A spice shop in Marrakesh and and a sweet shop in Amsterdam (Jamin)
