We arrived at the Hotel Tichka in Marrakech to pleasant sunny weather in the low 80’s on Tuesday afternoon after 4 days in Essaouira. Vincent and I stayed at The Tichka Hotel, located away from the medina and the souks in Palmeraie district, 20 years ago and it was just as I remembered: a grand Nouveau style Moroccan 4 star hotel with a fabulous huge pool, beautiful palm trees and a lovely green grass lawn with comfy chaises. Our room was spacious and comfortable, much like an American chain hotel but uniquely Moroccan with Easter egg blue walls, dark wood bed frames, and authentic Moroccan mosaic tile in the bathroom. We lunched by the pool and chilled out on chaises on the lawn for a few hours before we tackled the souks.
Hotel Tichka
The center of the city, surrounded by terracotta walls, is called the medina and inside are the souks, which are small stands that sell everything from Moroccan handicrafts to Nike sneakers. The souks cover a vast, almost endless maze of narrow streets and alleyways, and can be overwhelming and confusing to even the most seasoned of travelers. We arrived at dusk, and since we had done most of our shopping in Essaouira, we were just going to check out the souks for a few hours before dinner. We found most of the stuff similar to what we bought in Essaouira, where the sales people were slackers compared to the annoyingly aggressive merchants of Marrakech. Our hard -earned shopping lessons didn’t seem to work in Marrakech, and the shopkeepers relentlessly accosted us. We asked directions for the restaurant and 45 minutes later found ourselves lost on the dark streets far away from the souks, not having a clue where we were going. Finally, some man offered to show us the way (for a fee of course) and after another half hour of roaming the streets, where we were almost run over by mopeds and bicycles at least 100 times, we wearily arrived at restaurant Le Foundouk. It was well worth the exhausting journey: La Foundouk is a chic, stylish restaurant with inventive, beautifully presented nouvelle Moroccan food We were relieved to find American-style cocktails as my friend Brenda sipped a Tom Collins trying to calm her nerves after our harrowing journey.
Wednesday we spent a blissful morning visiting the Marjorelle Gardens owned by Yves St. Laurent and Pierre Berge. The garden designed, by French artist Jacques Majorelle in 1924, is a lush, serene oasis of cactus, bamboo stalks, and other exotic foliage, lily ponds, bright green, blue, and yellow ceramic oversized vases, and a magnificent cobalt blue stucco house.
Yves St. Laurent/Majorelle Gardens
That evening, as we approached the main square, we were treated to a gorgeous sunset with skyscraper-like palm trees brushing the crimson sky. We decided on a restaurant listed in the guidebook that sounded like a casual, fun place. As we walked down this candle-lit dark pathway to it, we knew we were in for something special. Ryad Tamsna, a restaurant, art gallery and boutique housed in a stunning but understated 4 story white stucco ryad, is one of the most beautiful and unique spaces I’ve been to in a along time. With details too numerous to describe, I sat in awe gawking at the incredible furnishings, tapestries, paintings, and rugs while we ate a sublime, eclectic dinner. After dinner we went upstairs to the boutique, where I wanted to buy almost everything in there and was figuring out how to fit a fabulous 3 foot square white leather pillow in my luggage. The gracious woman who ran the boutique took us to the top floor terrace with plush banquettes and low tables. We were the only people up there, and we were knocked out by the unbelievable panoramic view of the city. The view evoked the seductive, magical powers of Marrakech and the experience of Ryad Tamsna was a perfect and unforgettable end to our Moroccan adventure.
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