Day 14: Zurich -> home

I got up this morning for a brisk walk and pastry-hunt before we all headed back to the airport.  

Moving through the airport was easy, and we boarded the plane just fine and dandy.  I’m writing as we’re flying; we’ve passed Iceland and are headed towards Greenland.  I’m passing the time by watching some movies and TV, editing photos that I haven’t gotten to in the past few days, reading a dissertation qual exam, and napping.

We landed a head of schedule, breezed through security thanks to Global Entry, and hopped a Lyft Black that we got curbside.  We were home an hour after our scheduled landing.  H fell asleep in the uber and S and I were in bed by 7pm.  Zonk.

Day 13: RAK -> ZUR

Last night was rough for me.  I went to sleep worried about the airport/passport issue, and woke up even more worried.  Plus, with two nights in a row of poor sleep and early mornings, my body was feeling a mess (sort throat, panicky, etc.). Nevertheless, we persist.  I got my butt up at 4am, showered, and martialed H towards being ready.  S is feeling a lot better too, which helped.  

Our porter met us at 5am to haul our bags to the waiting car, which took us straight to the airport.  Door to door, maybe 30 minutes.  Once we got to the airport, we were able to enter the airport and go to the check-in counter (instantly, I stopped panicking and started breathing a little easier).  

We had a small snafu with our checked luggage: because we have a 23-hour layover in Zurich, I confirmed thrice with the airlines that we’d have to pick up our luggage in Zurich and recheck the next day to LAX.  We packed accordingly.  But, when we got to the Marrakech airport, the check-in clerk printed out tags to send everything straight to LAX.  We only caught the problem after the first three bags had entered the baggage area.  Our clerk said he could fix this with new tags.  He printed out the new tags for a Zurich pick-up, put one on the visible bag, and said he’d tag the other three bags that were already in the baggage area.  No idea if he was able to do it or not.  

Once we had our boarding passes, we stopped at Starbucks (H was disappointed that she couldn’t get any ham) for a snack.  My panic energy had lifted, and my body had started shifting into exhaustion mode.  Then, we headed to the gate. 

Our passports were checked six times: once by the check-in clerk, once by the security clerk before we went through security, once by the customs agent, once by the security clerk after we went through security, once by the passport control agent, and then again by the gate agent. 

The Marrakech airport is beautiful.  High ceilings, dappled sunlight, but all of the hard surfaces made announcements unintelligible.  

Once we were on the plane to Zurich, I closed my eyes.  As soon as we lifted off, I fell asleep, waking 45 minutes later when the meal service began.  The rest of the flight was uneventful, as was landing in Zurich (where all of our bags showed up!) and getting downtown on the train.

The city is lovely.  We checked into our hotel and wandered the city for a few hours, including popping into the Giacometti-painted police station (where he painted, among other things, Pythagoras).  S and H shopped, and I wandered down to the lake to people watch and take photos.  The weather was sunny and warm, and the gobs of people on the street made it feel like the first warm day of spring.  

We had a nice Italian dinner (and I had my first cocktail of the trip, thanks to Iceland’s penchant for shots and beer, and Morocco’s general dryness), followed by a walk back to the hotel by way of the lake.  We all marveled at the orderliness of the Swiss compared to the chaos of the Moroccans.

S and I were exhausted by the time we got back to the room, so H put us to bed.  She read to us, tucked us in, and then put herself to sleep.  That kid!  <3

Day 12: Balloon Ride and more!

(a short post for reasons)

My alarm went off at 4.15am so that we could be ready for our 5am pick up.  The medina was empty - very different from just a few hours prior. 

Our guide led us to a waiting van that drove us 40 minutes NE of the city to a hot air balloon experience.  When we got to the operation, we waited in a lit courtyard, sipping mint tea, coffee, and munching rosewater madelines.

After we checked in and got the arrangements squared away, we all left the grounds for the balloons that were filling up. 

Our basket held 24 passengers.  Most of the passengers had to climb into the basket while it was tipped over.  Once there was enough weight in the basket, a pickup truck pulled it up right and the rest of us climbed in.

In no time, we were airborn.  The views were amazing!  I have so many photos, but will just post a few here.

Our guide was knowedgeable and safe, and he kept us giggling by making taliban jokes (these jokes were pretty funny this morning, but definitely wouldn't fly in the states).

We were in the air for around an hour before landing safely and heading back to the balloon flight HQ for breakfast.  Then, back to Marrakesh.  We were at the Riad by 9.15am.

The rest of the day went by in a blur.  H and I had massages (awesome), we did some shopping, and we did most of the packing for the multi-leg trip home.

I'm a little concerned that we may have a problem flying out of Marrakesh.  The airport security sometimes requires passengers to have printed boarding passes before entering the airport.  I tried to get our boarding passes taken care of, but there's a problem with H's.  Instead of listing her as Firstname Middlename Lastname, her ticket lists her as Firstnamemiddlename Lastname.  Because this isn't what's on her passport, I couldn't get her boarding pass.  I was on support lines with Edelweiss Air (our carrier subsidiary), Swiss Air (our carrier), and United (with whom we booked the tickets) for 90 minutes and no one could help me.  Fingers crossed that it all works out!  Gulp.

We ended our day with a visit to The Secret Garden and a dinner at Le Jardins.  Delightful all around!

On the walk back, we passed through the main square.  Then quickly to the Riad.  We're getting picked up at 5am again to head to the airport!

Day 11: Walking Tour, Desert Visit

 I had trouble getting to sleep last night, so was a little groggy this morning.  We all managed to get ourselves up and breakfasted before Rashid arrived for our walking tour.  He took us all through the old city.  We started off our tour walking to the Kutubiyya Mosque (and the accompanying minaret, the oldest one in Marrakech) and the adjacent Parc Lalla Hasna, a lovely green space with some fountains.  From there, he took us to Madrasa Ben Youssef, which used to be a university (and is now a restored tourist attraction/museum).  S and I wandered the halls and quarters while H rested.  Then, Rashid showed us a few Hammams (spas/bathhouses), including a pit stop to where the fires are stoked to heat the water.  One of the workers kept tossing wood shreds into the oven to make a beautiful fireball for us!

From there, Rashid led us into a rug shop.  A great big rug shop.  A man in a suit started showing us rugs.  S and I hadn't really considered buying a rug, but we have a room that could use it and when in Morocco....

H has been giving each of the cat she sees around the medina their own names.  These are Scritches and Smokey.

Then, on to an herbalism shop for some lessons (and sales) about Arnica oil.  We asked Rashid to end the tour by taking us to his favorite spice shop, but it was closed (still for Ramadan).  So we, parted ways with him.  He was a great guide - knowledgeable and engaging.  And he knew so many people on the streets.  I started calling him Mr. Mayor.  Everywhere we went, he was hugging people and greeting them.  Not just his shopkeeper colleagues, but just passersby too!

After saying farewell to Rashid, we bought a cheap kaftan for H. Then, we had lunch at Cafe Nomad, a touristy spot on a rooftop overlooking one of the small market squares.  Our meal was pricey (relative to Marrakech), but super delicious.  Ingredients were fresh.  Flavors popped.  My favorite dish was the sardine tart.  S liked the zucchini fritters with mint.  H ordered the chicken tagine but ended up just dipping her bread in the sauce.

the view from the rooftop at Nomad

Sardine Tart - delicious!

From lunch we headed back to the Riad for a siesta before our evening plans.

After our siesta, I headed out to grab a coffee before our evening plans.  

When I got back to the riad, I found that both H and S were feeling crummy. Not super-bad, but definitely not up for the long car ride we had planned. They didn’t need me to stick around, so I left with the porter and met the driver Idris for a trip into the Agafay Desert.  

The desert is about 40 minutes out of Marrakech, and it's a sort of central business district for desert activities. We had booked a camel ride and a dinner/music/schlock experience. The camel ride was first and was pretty fun. I was one of around 12 riders in a small caravan, and we spent around an hour loping through the rocky hills. I was the only American in the group, but not the only tourist: most of us were from outside Morocco, as far as Zimbabwe and Holland.  

"dressed like a Berber man" said the guide

When we arrived at the camel ride, Idris asked for the payment. He paid for everything out of that. I didn't get a discount since S and H didn’t come, but I presume Idris didn’t pay for their camel ride or dinner.  

After the ride, Idris drove me further into the desert to the restaurant. I was seated at a table by myself, and had enough time before dinner to snap a few photos of the sunset.  

The menu was limited: as an entree I could choose chicken tagine, meatballs tagine, chicken couscous, or a vegetarian entree. I had chicken tagine yesterday at the cooking school, so I opted for the meatballs in a spiced tomato sauce.  

As the restaurant filled up, some musicians started to play by the fire pit. About half of the guests went out to watch them, dancing, clapping, or just listening. There were four frame drum players and one brake drum player. All sang, and once in a while they brought out a wash tub to dance/stomp on, like a tap surface.  

please forgive the noise - I'm editing fast!

We filed back inside with them and sipped our tea as they kept the misic going for over 30 minutes straight. They played a fast 6/8, usually in two but occasionally slipping into three to change songs. Each drummer found a groove in the beat, and their constantly varying accent patterns kept the music engaging the whole time. The musicians invited some diners to dance while they played; the diners had varying levels of rhythm.  

My server Cid brought bread and four small bowls of potato salad, cole slaw, beets, and white rice. And bread, of course. And for the Russian couple in front of me, a hookah!

The drummers wrapped up and were soon replaced by two more musicians playing a different set of Moroccan instruments. These were more like the Gnawa music that I remember falling in love with in college. They played a few, generally with a similar structure: a simple start, meter in a fast two, then speeding up, then slipping into a slower three.  Which then speeds up. Sometimes the piece would start in three. The percussion generally played a moderate swing, not quite a triplet, but not straight either. As they finished their set and left the playing area, I'm pretty sure i saw the percussionist pull hearing protection out of his ears.  

Once night had fully descended, the distant desert lit up with lights. What looked completely desolate at dusk was full of activity. Way in the distance.  

The meatballs arrived and were tasty, if a little oily.  

Next, the frame drummers returned! Sans brake drum. By this time it was well after 8, so I left a tip and snuck out early. We have an early morning tomorrow!

To be honest the whole evening made me a bit uneasy. I felt performed-at in a way that I don't really like. That said, the music was beautiful!

On the way back to Marrakech, Idris's car was making a funky rhythmic clanking sound that sped up with the car's speed. He spent most of the ride home either visibly stressed or trying to reach people on the phone. I think maybe he was trying to diagnose the problem from the road.  

I got back at around 10pm.  S let me and we both conked out.