Life as we know it: From the Markets to the Sea

It’s all coming to an end. Yes, it’s true- Dan and I are counting down the days ‘till we fly back to Canada. Sighs… And mixed feelings. On one hand, I’m happy; happy to stop travelling, to stop eating out for 3 meals a day and get back to normal but on the other hand, what is normal? Will our normal ever be the same? I’ll come back to that later…

Now that I have that random thought out there, I figure now would be a good time to show you how we have spent our final days here in Morocco. Right now, we do nothing. We are on auto pilot- sleep in, go for breakfast, walk around in an effort to kill time, eat again, walk around some more, stop at a cafe, email, eat, sheesha, tea and a movie, bed- repeat. That’s that. 4 more days ‘til we board our plane- 4 more breakfasts, 4 more lunches, 4 more dinners…. And maybe 12 more teas.

While we were in Marrakech we saw some pretty cool stuff. I didn’t spend all my time there compiling my Christmas list, we went to Mosques, Souqs, Tombs and the famous gardens of the late Yves St Laurent. We have investigated quite a few gardens over the past year and have seen so many roses I could puke, but these gardens were by far my favourite- not a rose to be seen for miles ;)

Awesome, I know. Who doesn’t like a sweet cactus every now and then?

Dan loves cactus…. Look how stoked he is.

Here I am playing the game- pretend like you just got the keys to your new, blue, sweet ass house. Oh how Dan loves to toy with my emotions.

Our daily lunch while in Marrakech. If you know me, then you know that lentil soup makes my world go ‘round- I LOVE IT. Man could the ‘soup man’ make a mean lentil soup! Merci soup man!

The famous Djemaa el Fna square in Marrakech. It was alright I guess. A nice place to stroll at all hours of the day and night but I could do without the mean monkey men, cruel snake charmers and the constant inquiries from the ever persistent, always annoying hash sellers. Do we have the phrase “we smoke hash and are in need“ stamped on our foreheads?

We enjoyed a beautiful Christmas sunset as we chatted with our families and friends back home in Canada.

After our not so brief stop in Marrakech- we caught a bus to Essaouira. Beautiful, albeit extremely touristy. The walks on the beach were awesome, the white washed houses with blue doors were charming and the view was unrivalled but the restaurants were poor, the hotels were expensive and the people were rather jaded. It was OK- just OK.

We stayed in what had to be the nicest room we’ve had on our entire trip- I think… But we paid a pretty penny for it. The view however, oh the view. I can’t say we took advantage of it very often since it was rather windy and chilly up there but anyways, it was nice to hear the seagulls in the morning and smell the fresh sea air.

We like our sunsets:) For this shot we braved the onslaught of shitting seagulls as we made our way through the port, past the fish sellers and out to the water. Literally, it reminded me of when Dan and I were in Chang Rai, Thailand, walking with our friend Lili, late at night. Out of no where- believe me, it was out of nowhere- bird shit started raining from the sky in epic proportions. Ha ha, remember that Lili?

Another sunset shot taken just outside of the Medina walls, close to the fish markets.

OK- this guy (or girl?) was sweet. Dan and I were sitting, resting, enjoying our picnic lunch on the beach when this guy crawls out of nowhere and scares the shit outta Dan. Look how big it is! My feet aren’t small...

I wanted to touch him so badly… Just a little poke, but I think really colourful things are poisonous… Or they are completely harmless and just look poisonous? I didn’t take any chances.