Morocco – joloyolo

Breakfast was included at our riad and was served on the rooftop terrace each morning between 8 and 10am. Our first breakfast on Saturday 3rd January consisted of several bread based items, yoghurt with a sauce in, a piece of cake, juice and a choice of coffee or mint tea. I tried to take a photo of the spread and the photo was there, but later disappeared from my phone. This was to be the start of my phone deciding it was going to delete photos just minutes after taking them, with no warning! Captain Caveman had his coffee which he said was alright but didn’t eat the cake or the yoghurt. I tried a bit of everything but it was very sweet for a breakfast. We both liked the dosa type bread which we later learned was called Msemmen. I ordered the mint tea and it became my drink of choice throughout the week. At first I thought it was simply a healthy mint tea but it’s actually made with gunpowder green tea and plenty of fresh mint and sugar!!! The Moroccans pour the tea from the pot at a height to aerate it and it looks a bit like dirty water or whisky.
Captain Caveman had only exchanged £50 at the airport, ironically so that we had cash for the taxi! We decided to walk around the Medina and get our bearings a bit. Captain Caveman had marked a route and the way to an ATM on his offline maps. Neither of us used WiFi or a SIM once out of our accommodation as it can be expensive, plus we didn’t really need it.

We called for some lunch on the rooftop dining area of Chinguitti restaurant in the square where the spices are. The sun was shining and I actually had to take my hat and hoody off. They didn’t sell alcohol so I ordered a mint tea, Captain Caveman a coffee and both of us chose tagines for our meal – a minced meat and egg for Captain Caveman and a chicken for me. The waiter was friendly and spoke french, we can get by in french too (although I’m a little rusty, food is my forte). The menu was in French and English so it was easy to order. A selection of olives with a basket of warm bread was given for free and we ordered a bottle of water as it was getting quite hot on the upstairs terrace.
The food was excellent and I really enjoyed my mint tea, this time with no sugar! Our tagines were around £8 each and were filling. The most expensive drinks on the nenu were about £2.50 for a juice. Our next stop was at the ATM, which you can choose English as the language before you start your transaction. This time we got 12 Dirhams to the pound so was a better rate than the airport, of course. The queue was long and the likelihood of people trying to push in happened but we stood our ground. A french lady told us that this ATM didn’t give the best rate and that we should walk to the post office to get money, we were fine to use this ATM as I was there now. Captain Caveman had transferred £500 to me, which we had allotted for a 7 night holiday and then, because I had Wise, we would use it all from my account.

We had more of a wander round the Medina and then I needed the loo! Everywhere I go where I eat out, I often end up with a dodgy tum but it didn’t last long and I was ok after a cafe visit. I ran off to the top floor of Argana in the famous Jemaa el-Fnaa square, shouting back to Captain Caveman to just order me anything to drink.
When I came back down, Captain Caveman was drinking an Espresso and had ordered me a freshly squeezed orange juice – probably not the best choice in my predicament and I didn’t have any imodium on me. The drinks were reasonable and the cafe nice (good toilets that were free for customers) – we paid £2 for coffee and £2.33 for the juice, which Captain Caveman had to finish off.
Our next stop was to meet Captain Caveman’s sister-in-law and nephew at a rooftop cafe. Le Grand Balcon Du Café Glacier was the perfect spot to watch the goings on in the square below and meant we could avoid watching any potential animal cruelty. A small amount of snake charming and monkeys for photos is still going on but my theory is to not give it any attention, so that it will eventually die out as an attraction. It was my first time in 14 years of knowing Captain Caveman that I had met Suzanne and Hugo, so it was great to spend some time with them. We sipped soft drinks or mint tea (they don’t have alcoholic drinks) on the roof terrace and caught up. The excursions they had booked already had cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions Morocco was experiencing this week and were staying in Marrakech for one more night before taking the train to Casablanca. Le Grand Balcon Du Café Glacier had an interesting toilet arrangement that I thought worthy of note. There is a toilet attendant who pretends he doesn’t have change so you can end up paying more than you should – like I did, twice! Captain Caveman went in for a free one and said I’d already paid for him just to even the score up a bit.
We walked past a snack place called Adam but we didn’t choose there to eat. Instead we went to a place near to it, that I forget the name of. Suzanna wasn’t hungry so just had soda water – which is excellent in Marrakech and cheap for a large bottle. Hugo had a local sausage dish and an Orangina, Captain Caveman ordered lamb, roasted veg and couscous tagine and I chose chicken shish and chips to be kind to my stomach. The food was good and cheap, it started raining as we were leaving and the restaurant we were at filled up quickly. We walked back to our respective riads with arrangements to meet up tomorrow to watch Morocco play football. We got back to our room before the rain got heavy and had a spiced rum for a night cap! Our first day in Marrakech had been surprisingly lovely and very relaxed.

Gratitude List
1. Riad Lalla Khadija was very comfy and in a good location
2. Having some really nice food and drinks
3. Meeting up with family in Marrakech.

Photo credit – Captain Caveman, Suzanna, Facebook groups.

I woke up having had a good night’s sleep at The Tribe hotel, Manchester airport, on Friday 2nd January. Our flight to Morocco wasn’t until 3.25pm and check out at noon so we had plenty of time. When we went down for breakfast it was very busy and lots more guests than average who didn’t know how the toaster worked. It turned out that there were about 500 people in the area who’s plane had been cancelled so had ended up in hotels for the night. The hotel was very cold but the breakfast was pretty good. I stayed in the restaurant while Captain Caveman went back to the room for his morning meeting. I caught up on some blogging and checked my social media posts for Resort Experts.
We checked out and walked from The Tribe hotel to the airport (it’s very close) and, as we only had hand luggage we were through security fairly quickly. By 1.15pm we had bought some Duty Free, paying £17.29 for a bottle of Captain Morgan’s Black Spiced rum. We knew Marrakech was likely to be expensive for alcohol so we could have a drink in our hotel room if we liked. Interestingly, Facebook sent me 3 posts to recognise improvements in my conversations and posts on social media – at least someone appreciated me chatting on in my unique way!
The airport was busy and we decided to get a drink in one of the bar/restaurants upstairs. The service was slow so Captain Caveman went to the bar and bought us a couple of pints for about £18.
Next we took it in turns to have a wander round and decided to go to the gin bar downstairs. It was quieter but the gin was pricey. Captain Caveman had a pint and I had a glass of red wine (less than £20 for the both). We got chatting to a couple who were going to Poland and had another round. Neither of us has been to Poland so it got added to our list of places to visit.
The Happier January chart that I was following said ‘Make time today to do something kind for yourself’ so a wine at the airport and a trip to Marrakech seemed a good start!
Our flight was delayed a little and on the way to the gate, Captain Caveman bought 2 meal deals at Boots for £13. Once on the plane, Captain Caveman put his headphones on and that was him done for the journey.
When we landed, it was gone 10pm, the main doors to the airport exit were cordoned off due to a problem with the facade of the building. We were redirected to the nearby domestic terminal and there were no taxis there, just a large carpark. I noticed that there were taxis still parked up where we should’ve exited but Captain Caveman was having none of it and we started walking. The temperature was quite mild but it was very windy as we walked down a dual carriageway. I’d had 3 wees on the plane but, as we walked, I started to think I might need another one. Captain Caveman had maps on his phone and was confident we could get a bus. I noticed that even when there were bus stops the buses were in different lanes, in the middle of the dual carriageway and weren’t able to stop. Of course, Captain Caveman wasn’t listening, I ran out of water, he had to carry my bag after an hour of walking and I really needed the loo. By the time we got to where a hospital was it was after 11pm and I started to worry our accommodation would assume we weren’t turning up. In the end I got upset because, as usual, Captain Caveman was determined for us to walk all the way and I was not up to it. My (previously broken just 4 months ago) foot hurt, I was desperate for a pee and I was frustrated at the speed Captain Caveman was walking. This happens pretty often and I never learn – I saw cars and taxis and insisted we get in a taxi. When we got dropped off after a journey of less than 10 minutes, which the driver still tried to charge us £20 for, Captain Caveman was miffed that we were almost there and the taxi was unnecessary. We managed to find the riad, which was in the medina, and a young boy was trying to con tip money out of us for showing us the way, even though we had maps. Captain Caveman was having none of it and told him to bugger off. I had to wait until we’d checked in and given our passports for a photocopy before being shown to our ground floor room. The bathroom was small, traditional and clean – the room smelled nice.
Finally we had arrived and we were in bed before midnight. I logged on to the WiFi to check the map and saw that it said our riad was 1 hour and 40 minutes’ walk from the airport! At least it was flat but I was pretty annoyed at Captain Caveman because he would’ve known how long it would take to walk it – he had the map! I couldn’t, and would never, understand why this always happens and he knows it always ends in tears, but does it anyway. The taxi would have only been £20 for the whole journey and was less than 20 minutes’ drive.

Gratitude List
1. A lovely breakfast at the Tribe hotel
2. Drinks and food at the airport
3. Finally, making it to our accommodation.