Free day in Tblisi

Last night ended up being a bit of a late night so we are grateful we have no early morning is planned today. We finally take advantage of the breakfast offered by the hotel.

It is a rainy day, one of many of our time in Georgia, but we plan to visit markets today and some are luckily indoors. I am not usually a big shopper but during the last couple of trips I seem to buy more souvenirs than usual. Today it is earings – I buy an unspecified number of unique pairs today. I also discover some artwork I may want to purchase on my return trip to Tbilisi. We visit the Median Bazar, a smaller underground store where all the different local tourist items can be purchased.

We finally try the wine ice cream. It is quite lovely.

The rain has halted and we walk down to dry bridge market to see what is being sold there. Dry Bridge Market is an expansive market of local art, antiques, and jewelry.

We shop until we literally drop into a cafe where we order a khachapuri and a bottle of wine that gives us a free local cheese board. We use this time to plan our evening. We attempt to see the special seven o’clock show at the clock tower but our walk takes longer than we anticipated. We catch the shortened bell at another hour instead.

We stop at the famous Caravanserai Bakery for bread for an early morning breakfast tomorrow; we have a long day scheduled in Armenia tomorrow and no time for breakfast.

Dinner is at a casual restaurant where we have to choose our seat based on where the resident dog is not sleeping. In between his naps he wakes up periodically to guard the place. Dog would occasionally run off barking at random people or cars. During outr meal a guy walks on the terrace wearing a knockoff Louis Vuitton jumpsuit asking each table for money. The dog senses bad energy and chases the man off barking. My meal is lackluster and unfortunately I think is the cause for my gastrointestinal distress for the next few days.

We have a charming walk back to our hotel to rest up for tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a very long day.

Some more pictures from the day around town.

Wet Marrakech

After we eat our prepared lunch we leave our group and take a short walk to the Le Jardin Secret, a 19th century courtyard garden. It is slightly wet here and very overcast. It is nice but probably better to be enjoyed on a sunny day.

We then head into the heart of the medina. We plan to do some shopping as we each have a list of souvenirs we want to buy. We practice haggling with the salesmen who start off very high for us tourists. We attempt to drive a hard bargain but some will not budge much in price. We get some sellers to agree but sometimes with attitude. It’s all a little dramatic. We probably don’t get the optimal price for all our items but at least we don’t walk away feeling severely ripped off.

I buy a purse that I’ve been looking for. I am aiming for a purse like I viewed at the tannery shop in Fes but I had a hard time finding the exact colors I wanted. In one shop I find a bag in a lighter blue but they are able to make it darker before my eyes using some special kind of oil that may have been a vegetable oil. I think I’ll be happy with my unique bag that was made around the corner by the salesmen’s father who I also met today.

We walk down the busy corridors as we browse. There is extra bicycle and motorbike traffic that we need to dodge while we walk. Perhaps they are also trying to avoid the rain outside.

We also take some time to say hi to some more kitties.

Later that evening we have reservations at the popular restaurant Safron by Koya. It is a nice dinner environment that after 9:30 PM has periodic belly dancers, a dj, and even some live music performers. We are seated in the section they seem to put the less fun people since we don’t have as much action or show in our area. Despite our location it is still good fun. They have a strict two hour limit for each table but luckily we are ready to head back to the hotel after two hours. They do give you an option of watching from the bar though if you wish to stay. I took a chance on a new Moroccan dish and it was delicious. Our appetizers were quite good as well.

The next morning we have reservations for the famous Marjorelle gardens (Yves Saint Laurent gardens) and we go hoping for a break in the rain but we are initially miserable there, rushing through the wet gardens so we can stop getting soaked. We have raincoats but they aren’t enough. We spend some time in the Berber Museum and shop towards the exit. We plan to leave the gardens when the rain temporarily lets up. Luckily since it isn’t too busy today they let us tour through the garden again instead of exiting. It is still overcast but it is a much more pleasant experience this time.

I love the Berber blue and all the cacti.

We buy the ticket that includes the Yves St Laurent Museum. I know very little about fashion but the museum is very informative. I had no idea on the impact the designer had on history nor that he was formally a designer for Christian Dior.

The ticket we purchased also includes a visit to the onsite Berber museum. While the museum was a great place to escape the pouring rain, it also is a good historical museum of the Berber people. No photos are allowed but there is a good selection of historical items such as clothing and jewelry from different regions.

It seems like it is about to start to rain again so we hop in a taxi for the souks once more. We both have more shopping to do. I purchase a tagine bowl and a lantern among my purchases and my friend has a very successful shopping day as well. Multiple times prior to this vacation we are told to drive a hard bargain. I don’t know if it’s all for show or that we really do negotiate hard but I know this bargaining activity exhausts me emotionally and physically. I am happy we are heading home soon due to being tired and all the rain. We finish the evening with a quick dinner, trip to the grocery store and spending the last hours here trying to fit all our purchases in our luggage. Wish us luck.

We’ve discovered it snows in Morocco and it can be wet when it wants to, even in the desert. Some of our days traveling have been plagued with rainy weather – mild sprinkles and some all day rains, like most of our stay in Marrakech. Luckily we already decided to skip some of the outdoor activities in Marrakech due to the similarities of the sites to places we visited earlier in our Moroccan travels. Our exploration did include two wet visits to famous gardens and shopping at souks that are partially covered but with the constant rain streams of water flow on the ground of the very old souks making it hard to stay entirely dry.

Since there are places to still visit in Marrakech and other parts of Morocco I might be coming back. We have a not so terrible direct flight from Atlanta now to make it easier. Only time will tell if/when I return but it was a good trip overall.

Route of 1000 Kasbah

We start in Tinghir, one of the cities that is mostly populated by the Amazigh people (berber) and also along the route of 1000 kasbahs. The kasbahs are large structures that served as fortresses along this popular route but later turned into residential structures. The city is close to nearby gorges. These kasbahs held feudal lords that were in charge of surrounding lands. Tinghir is now expanding quickly due to nearby silver mines.

We drive through many oasis like towns that have mud built kasbahs during the route of 1000 kasbahs.

During our journey police frequently pull over tour buses to have a record of stops, seat belts, and sometimes look at the cargo. Mileage, speed, stops and more are stored on a disc that they view. This disc looks like a CD.

Ouarzazate Solar Power Station is a complex power facility that harnesses the power of sun and stores energy as heated molten salt for energy production at night. The power station provides energy for the region. It is quite impressive, I wish I could have seen a facility in person.

We get closer to the mountain range again as we can see the snow covered mountains in the distance.

Today is cold and rainy as we expected. We get a slight break in the rain when we stop to see a kasbah in Ouarzazate. We learn about the history of the building and what it is made of. The walls are a mix of straw, earth, and gypsum (or adobe).

The interior is an earth and sand plaster. The foundation is stone.

Then ceilings are made of reeds and interior rooms have tile floors and no windows for privacy.

We stop briefly at a Amazigh (Berber) pharmacy to learn some natural remedies. I buy some medicine and herbs for cooking here.

Ouarzazate used to be more of a tourist stop along the desert route but better roads have tourists choosing to stay in other towns. We are staying here tonight in a really nice hotel. Unfortunately the rain and cold have us not enjoying all the outdoor amenities the hotel has to offer. Also the constant rain has us getting soaked whenever we walk from our outdoor rooms to the main lobby. Netherless we find a lull in the rain and walk around town on our own. Commerce has come to a halt because of bad weather but we visit some souks and get in views before the rain starts up again. After some shopping we head back to our hotel and camp out in our room the rest of the evening.

Tomorrow we continue our exploration of the region and then head through the mountain pass to get to Marrakech. We are entering the last part of the tour. We must make the most of these last few days.

Fes

We will leave for the Fes city tour at 9:00 AM. The first part of the tour is by van where we stop at the royal gates, decorated only in the 20th century to make the royal palace more visually appealing and we learn about the history of the area. We learn how the architecture changes over time due to the Berbers (original name Amazigh), the arabs and the Jewish settlers. We drive uphill to get amazing view of the Medina below. It is vast. The Medina is a combination of shops and residential in narrow streets that bustle with energy daily. There are tourists but this is a place where locals do their shopping.

We stop at an overlook the see the city from above. You can tell it is a densely populated city with centuries and centuries of growth built on the top of old development.

Before we visit the Medina we stop at an art collective called Art Naji to view potters and mosaic artisans at work. We watch a tagine pot being made on a pottery wheel. Another room has artisans that paint on designs by hand.

Next we visit the old Medina where a guide is recommended since there are over 9,000 streets and alleyways, many narrow and dead end. Luckily we have a local guide named Aziz.

We travel down increasingly narrow alleyways. It’s almost like we are going on a special adventure but this is the everyday life for people who live here and down some of these narrow alleys are their homes.

There are so many different food and spice booths. We learn about traditional weavers and other artisans like wood carvers. We walk through the section where they are dyeing yarn and fabric in jugs but you can see the dyed water that had been dumped on the alley. We walk through the puddles hoping we don’t dye our shoes in the process. I know my long hanging pants to get muddy at some point so it’s probably good to not wear your best clothes here.

We pass by Al Karaouine University – the oldest university in the world. Outside the university are metalworkers banging on items they are constructing.

We view and learn about the famous Fes tannery. We learn how all the leather is dyed to make the high quality products they sell.

During our tour we visit a Quranic school (Madrasa) and we also visit outside the Tomb of the founder of Fes.

We have lunch at an old riad converted to a restaurant. Raids are large family houses interior of the medina that would house very large families traditionally. Some riads are normal homes but some are elaborately decorated and you’d never know from the outside. Today many of them are converted to hotels or restaurants.

We want to stay on our own after the tour but our guide strongly advises against it due to the confusing nature of the medina. We probably would have tried to stay anyway but it is rainy and I uncomfortably wet – I decide it would be best to return with the group.

Later in the evening after resting at the hotel we go next door for dinner at what appears to be a restaurant with a lively band playing. Entire families, including toddlers, are enjoying the fun late into the evening. Others from our tour join us. It is a fun impromptu night out.

Tomorrow we head toward the mountains and then to the desert.

Meknès and Volubilis

Today is an early start. We are traveling three hours to two UNESCO sites.

We first visit Meknès, an imperial capital of the 17th century. We visit a mausoleum, walk around and visit a market. We were supposed to visit a museum of music but it is closed the day we are here.

The Mausoleum of Moulay Isma’il is a former kasbah turned into a mausoleum for a former sultan.

We drive forty-five minutes away from Meknes where we visit the Roman city of Volubilis. This impressive city was destroyed by the same major earthquake that destroyed Lisbon in 1755. It is now being excavated and restored. We discover a large ancient city with some impressive mosaics.

We next stop at a Women’s collective that is sponsored by our tour group and they serve us lunch and tea.

A short drive later we are at Fes for the evening. Since we had such a late lunch we decide to skip dinner and have a drink with some others in the tour instead. We have a day of sightseeing in Fes tomorrow.