Welcome to Marrakech

Okay! Time to talk about our vacation from our vacation: Marrakech!

Our plan was to spend a relaxing week on the Costa Blanca in Spain, but the call of Morocco was too much for me, and I ended up planning a short visit to Marrakech in the middle of the week. Have you ever packed up and gone on a trip when you're already away somewhere? It's very weird!

We arrived in Marrakech at about 6:30 pm. I took the photo up top on the tarmac at the airport. I think we were already sensing that there was something very different about where we were. It was hot, about 111 degrees, but with very little humidity--not the kind of heat we're used to!

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After making our way through immigration, we headed towards the exit to find our taxi driver. There weren't too many drivers with signs, and we didn't see him at first. I was starting to think, "Oh boy, he isn't here. What are we going to do?" but then I spotted him and felt a huge sense of relief!

He led us outside to a parking lot FILLED with taxis. There are two kind of taxis in Marrakech: grand and petit. We relied on the petit taxis to take us everywhere, as we had limited time. As long as you have an idea of how much a trip should cost and agree upon a price with the driver ahead of time, this is an easy option.

The airport, shown in the picture above, is beautiful. I didn't get the greatest picture, but it's made up of lacy panels, and the effect with the sun shining through them is lovely. Googling images of the airport brings up some wonderful shots such as this one.

And then we were off! Wow. Just wow. I wanted something different, and this was certainly that. The architecture, the clothes, the plants...it was like the atmosphere itself was different. And traffic was crazy. Taxis, bicycles, scooters, the occasional donkey cart--just weaving in, out, and around with seemingly no rules. I turned to Gerry and said, "My eyes are on sticks!" That would continue throughout the visit. I didn't want to miss anything and didn't know where to look.

Tomorrow I'll show you where we stayed.