We originally planned to spend 6 months working and slowly floating through Europe, but as Canadians, we are only allowed to stay a max of 3 months in Europe (out of every 6 months, cumulative days, and non-resettable). We didn't realize this was a big of a deal since there are so many great places to see around Europe... but after doing some research, we discovered that this 3 month "Schengen Visa" doesn't just apply to EU countries.. it applies to every country that is part off the Schengen Agreement. This turns out to be EVERY country in the European and surrounding region except for the UK (too expensive), Russia (we heard it can be tough to get a visa), Turkey, and the African countries.
So.. life can be unpredictable.. but we went with the flow and bought our tickets to Morocco!
When you think of Morocco, you think hectic bazaars, snake charmers, small streets, colourful crafts, tagines and mint tea... We were not disappointed! The old town of Marrakech is bustling with continuous activity and is a really pretty place to walk around.
We stayed at a really cool hang-out hostel called Marrakech Rouge, where we had the best host! Ali is unbelievably chill, friendly, and helpful. He was constantly offering us the yummiest homemade mint tea with Moroccan pastries and, of course, always passing around the shisha (flavoured tobacco)! The thing Dom loved most is that one of the official languages of Morocco is French! In all of our travels, this is actually the first county we've been to where people speak French, so Dom was super happy to be speaking French again :)
The main square (or Djemaa El-Fna) is where most of the action is. You can watch snake charmers, trained moneys doing tricks, various entertainers singing&dancing, eat at one of the many fresh food stands, get fresh pressed orange juice, or shop for various colourful handicrafts. Our first couple of days were filled with an excitement of the senses.
Visiting the souk means getting very lost in the massive maze of tiny alleys filled with a variety of shops: Tagines, slippers, wood boxes/carvings, spices, scarves, etc... If you adventure past the shopping alleys, you can actually see where they hand-make all of the wares that they sell.
Unfortunately, as we began to roam the more touristy areas vendors became a bit more aggressive and overwhelming: Locals insist on being your tour-guide and follow you for several blocks.. if they give you directions and you actually go that way (even if you were planning to go that way anyways), they insist on tips and follow you even more. In the square, a snake charmer forced a snake around Dom's neck, as we were just walking by.. then the snake charmer got aggressive and repeatedly pushed the head of the snake into Dom's face while insisting on a big tip. On another occasion, two waiters fought to get us to eat at their stand and it became an aggressive, unfriendly tug-of-war where Dom was literally the rope... each of them had one of Dom's arms and were pulling him in opposite directions while Dom was insisting that they stop touching him....a bit too much.
Nothing says Morocco like Tagine and couscous! ...and we had plenty! Sadly, we were extremely disappointed with the food here. We were really looking forward to experiencing real Moroccan food since the Moroccan restaurants in Calgary are so delicious! In all of the restaurants here, the dishes were surprisingly flavourless, too oily, and too mushy.. the bread was always very dry.. and the prices were touristy-expensive! Nonetheless, we still decided to take a cooking class :)
Lastly, before departing for our next destination, we experienced our first Hammam (Turkish Massage). Here is a quick description of the experience: You arrive, strip, and wear a towel. An attendant, strips the towel, smears you in Argan oil, then takes you to the sauna (or Moroccan igloo) where you sit for 30 minutes. Once you're thoroughly cooked, they rinse you off and lay you on a marble table. They then take sand paper (maybe not.. but it sure feels like it!) and scrape all of the dead skin off of your body, then another rinse. Next, a 45 minute massage, another rinse, and then you can relax in the lounge drinking that delicious Moroccan Tea again! Overall, an interesting and enjoyable experience with a decent price tag (about $15cad each for the 2 hour treatment) :)
