Marrakech – 4th January

On Sunday 4th January I’d taken to using my work phone (which was on silent) to take the photos. I managed to get photos of the breakfast, the roof terrace and a grumpy cat who had sat in my seat. Today’s breakfast didn’t have yoghurt, which neither of us like, but it did have fruit salad and a different type of bread product which reminded me of pikelets crossed with pancakes, these were called baghrir. There was also chocolate cake which Captain Caveman didn’t have and I had only half of my piece despite it being very good.

Today we decided we would have a walk around and venture a little further. We aren’t ones for shopping (we only had underseat luggage anyway) but we did wander through the souks. We found walking with purpose (Captain Caveman is not a dawdler) and not touching any items, meant we had zero hassle from anyone. We did see tourists touching items which then lead to the stall owner thinking they were interested in buying. Nothing has prices on so haggling and bargaining are expected. Marrakech is a traditional Muslim city where most of the local women cover their hair, tourists don’t need to but it’s still a good idea to dress appropriately. I did see a woman in very fitting yoga pants almost give a stall holder a hard on!
It had rained quite heavily during the night so I was definitely glad of sensible footwear today as the streets were a bit grubby. Our lunch stop today was Café Des Éspices which, by the time we left, was very busy so we were glad to have gone early. Service was quick, it had the tiniest (but clean) toilet I’d ever been in – and I’ve spent a lot of time in small toilets! We just ordered a falafel wrap for me and a köfte sandwich for Captain Caveman with hot drinks and a bottle of soda water for just shy of £20. The dishes were great but I had food envy for the harira (traditional soup) which all 3 people on the next table ordered.

We visited Dar El Bacha, the Museum of Confluences, which barely had a queue and cost under £10 for the 2 of us. I was really taken with the patterns and just how much work went in to the buildings. Every wall, floor and ceiling was amazing but we avoided the coffee shop as it was extortionate! As we were leaving, the staff member told us to keep our ticket and it would give us free access to the Music museum which sounded right up my alley! We were going to be too late getting there to do it justice so the man said the ticket could be used tomorrow – we were impressed by that.

Our wandering had taken us outside of the Medina walls and we found a rooftop bar that had been recommended, Kabana. We did have to look carefully as it was a small doorway which led up to a massive rooftop bar. We had 2 glasses of red wine & 2 pints of lager for £35 so it wasn’t cheap but the Moroccan wine was palatable and they had excellent toilet facilities – this was also the second place we’d been where men and women use the same toilets so there are no male and female signs to look out for – very modern!

Our next stop was another bar on the roof top of Riad Monceau. It was very nice and we just caught the Happy Hour. We sat at the bar where Captain Caveman had a pint of lager and I went mad and ordered a Pina Colada. The bar man was friendly, made a great cocktail but they certainly knew how to charge in the Jungle Bar – £21 for our 2 drinks at Happy Hour.

We hurried back as we needed to be back at Jemaa El-Fnaa to meet Suzanna and Hugo. They were keen to watch the football but I could already tell from the crowds of supporters in the streets that it was going to be busy wherever we went. As we got to the Grand Balcon Du Café Glacier, I could see it was rammed and there were staff on the doors. I get claustrophobic and am a little over the top on health and safety so I told Captain Caveman to go in without me. I sat downstairs on the outside terrace and ordered a mint tea. I also observed more and more people squishing in to the downstairs space where the football was on the TV. I envisaged getting trapped in there and didn’t want to be part of a Swiss New Year’s Eve scenario so refused to go inside. Captain Caveman came back when he realised Suzanna and Hugo weren’t there anyway and he joined me for a mint tea.
We met just as the match was finishing at a place called Address, the prices there were high (no alcohol) and the staff not as welcoming so we didn’t stay after the match finished.
For dinner that night, we chose a lovely little restaurant which was almost full (always a good sign). La Cantine Des Gazelles was very pink in décor and we all ordered Moroccan food. My chicken tagine was amazing and we had lots of the soda water we were now partial to. When we ordered extra bread, we didn’t get charged for it and our total bill for 4 of us came to just £32.50.
I was stuffed and could not have managed a dessert but Hugo fancied a crêpe from the street seller. There was quite a queue but it went down quickly and we then said our goodbyes. It had been good to finally meet them both and we wished them well for the rest of their trip.
We wove our way back to the riad but didn’t have any rum tonight as Captain Caveman had started to feel a little unwell.

Gratitude List
1. Great food
2. Meeting up with Suzanna & Hugo
3. Rooftop bars.

Photo credit – some photos by Captain Caveman