We ate really well in Morocco. Some travelers have said that they get tired of Moroccan food, but that wasn’t really the case for us — we were there for just 9 days, so I am sure that counts. The one thing — I do like wine. In fact, I like it a lot. And there isn’t a lot of it in Morocco. It is served in some licensed (aka expensive) restaurants, and I think a few specialty shops carry the goods. But then it becomes a chore – not so appealing on vacation. But that’s really an aside. And also, majority of riads will offer wine / beer, but it won’t be on the menu — so inquiring is a must.

Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day (very bad things happen if I don’t get a morning meal) and Morocco does breakfast right. Particularly at Riad Safa in Marrakech. Coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, jams, and pancakes, and homemade yogurt. Simple, fresh, delicious. We had similar fare at all of the other places where we stayed on this trip.

We had delicious meals out in Marrakech – I was particularly impressed with my first tagine at Chez Chegrouni — lamb goodness all baked in an egg mixture – so so good. Nice spot to people watch too, on the side of the main square of Jemaa el-Fnaa. We had countless tagines after that – one with camel – but this one was my favorite.

The majority of the places are pretty standard tourist experience — but a few cater to a more hip crowd of tourists, as well as, expats and Moroccans, who take their guests to impress them with something a bit different. Cafe Des Epices – right off the spice market – was one of those. Good food, excellent views, and decidedly cooler-than-average vibe.

We enjoyed our fill of fish in Essaouira, which is right on the ocean. The first night we had a welcome dinner at Chez Sam right on the docks. Excellent. The fish pastilla – a fried phylo dough pie traditionally made with pigeon – was particularly good. Second course of fried fish was delicious as well.

At the wedding we consumed an ungodly amounts of delicious food, all served family style. It was too dark to take good pictures, but I wanted to mention that the goat (an entire thing per table) was delicious! A tip from Moroccans at our table — using cumin as garnish helps the digestive system to cut through fatty meats. who knew? not me!

Many other wonderful meals aren’t pictured here (obviously, we would’ve starved), but i must mention that every meal was accompanied by Morocco’s specialty – mint tea. The same beverage was drank throughout the day – it’s minty and sweet and tasty (though Sergey prefers to have sugar on the side, too sweet for him). But they really shouldn’t call it whiskey (mint tea is often referred to as moroccan whiskey) – not even remotely close.

Our accommodations in Morocco were one of the best parts of the trip — we by no means scrimped on this part, but also money goes amazingly far with lodgings in Morocco. Judging by the number of trip adviser reviews for various riads, it’s actually not that hard to find fantastic accommodation in Morocco, but not only did we have a great time in all of the places where we stayed, we also had a very good assortment of different types of lodgings.

In Marrakech, Essaouira, and Fes we stayed at a Riad, which is essentially a B&B, we also spent a night in a hotel built to look like the traditional mud and straw ksar in Dades Gorge, and spent a night in a Bedouin tent in the desert.

Marrakech, Riad Safa

We stayed 5 nights here – and loved every bit of it. The owners have great taste  — there was an abundance of white, which just feels so right in the Marrakech heat. The traditional rugs,light fixtures, and poufs add just enough for the place to feel very Moroccan, but no kitsch and nothing over the top. This is how I imagine well heeled Moroccans and expats would do their own place. Plus the Riad has a cat, Kermit, always a plus in my book.

But hands down the best bit about Riad Safa was the rooftop. We had an amazing breakfast there every morning — pancakes of all different sorts, homemade yogurt and fresh squeezed orange juice.

We also hung out there in the afternoons drinking some delicious (!! and hard to procure elsewhere) wine. And then there is a pool. small but perfect for a dip, and lounging. In fact we spent the last half day in Marrakech by the pool. Simply lovely.

Riad Rcif, Fes

Riad Rcif was a completely different experience from Riad Safa — but wonderful, and culturally enriching. Instead of being run by expats, locals are in charge which changes the atmosphere a bit, you really feel much more like a guest rather than having the run of the place. Upon arrival we were treated to Moroccan mint tea and a long and elaborate story about the restoration of the riad. And the place deserves it — certainly. Originally built as a palace in 1372 for the Fes pasha (governor) the house is stunning, and I can only imagine (if a little bit) what it took to restore it. We were a bit weary from the road though, but felt it would be rude to point out that we wanted to wash up and relax before hearing all the wonderful stories. But really, our stay got much better as soon as we were able to put our stuff down and relax.

Our room was stunning as well – particularly with the light streaming though colored glass. I feel like it was extraordinarily lucky that we happened on this place — given the short amount of time we spent in Fes, it was amazing to be staying in what felt like a landmark itself. I couldn’t stop staring around me.

This was the ceiling in our room — ridiculous, I could pretty much shamelessly spend all day in bed and call it a cultural experience or sightseeing.

Riad Mimouna, Essaouira

What Riad Safa had in comfort and relaxation and Riad Rcif in visually stunning decor, Riad Mimouna more than matched with jaw-dropping views. I literary squealed when we walked into our room — the entire back wall was floor to ceiling sliding glass windows with the view of the Atlantic ocean. It is breathtaking. The hotel is literary built into the ramparts of Essaouira. Amazing.

The rooms themselves are actually quite nice, and much larger than anywhere else we stayed. I didn’t get a chance to take many pictures though, since I was feeling so off and spent better part of the day in bed. But by the time the actual wedding festivities began I was all better, a good thing too since the celebrations began on the rooftop terrace of the hotel.

Hotel Dar Essyaha, Dades Gorge

This hotel was per-arranged for us as part of our tour to the desert. The room and bathroom weren’t quite on the same level of the riads where we stayed, but at the same time were more than fine — clean and comfortable. The staff were very nice and I actually enjoyed the kitschy decor, which featured mud and straw walls akin to the traditional ksar (but which I assume are in reality much sturdier) and a plethora of various berber artifacts and imagery.

And actually the best bit was taking our breakfast outside on the terrace, the view of the gorges and the palmeries was amazing.

Bedouin Camp, Merzouga

Staying overnight in the desert camp was obviously the most exotic lodging experience that we had in Morocco. It was quite a treat, and surprisingly comfortable (I suspect for our sake rather than per usual custom of the days when camel caravans made their way through the Sahara). There was a large tent where we hung out with our guides and other travelers, and for the night each couple actually had their own private tent, which came with a tufted mattress and even sheets!

The desert experience came with a drum show in the evening after dinner and a tea ceremony right after the sunrise, courtesy of our guides. That bit felt a bit touristy as well, but I guess that’s what we were there for after all.

All in all – I was a fan of everywhere we stayed, every place definitely added to our Morocco journey. Without actually planning on it, we ended up have an amazing variety of experiences, each great but very distinct from one another.

We spent a total of 8.5 days and 10 nights in Morocco, which was a good amount of time for Marrakech, Essaouira, and a tour of several beautiful valleys, mountains and the Sahara desert. We had only one night and half a day in Fes — that was not enough to see the city, but we definitely enjoyed the little time that we did get to spend there, and would love to return to explore more.

Map created via Tripline

1. Marrakech (3.5 days, 5 nights)

Marrakech is Morocco’s most visited city, and given that about half of the country’s GDP comes from the tourist industry that’s a lot of tourists. But there is a lot of culture to take in, a good amount of landmarks to see, and plus the city is safe and compact (at least the medina), all of which makes it an excellent starting point for a first visit to the country.

Morocco, and Marrakech, are markedly different from anywhere else we have been, so it took us a moment to get our bearings. The small alleys and streets are often unmarked, so we ended up walking around in circle around a few streets before figuring out that we weren’t actually making any headway to our destination.

Our destination was Jemaa el Fnaa – the central square in the media — apparently second in size only to the one in Cairo. It really was pretty large, featuring all sorts of traditional entertainers – snake charmers, monkey trainers, acrobats, henna artists, and lots and lots of fresh squeezed orange juice.

At night time the square adds food stalls — which we sampled on one of the nights. The food was delicious, albeit the smoke from the open grill made it a bit difficult to be indulgent with our meal.

We spent a good amount of time walking around, eating, drinking mint tea on the rooftop restaurants of Jemaa el Fnaa, and also visited the Bahia Palace, Museum of Marrakech, Ben Youseff Medressa, El Badi Palace, and the Saadian tombs. I don’t think I am going to be very original in saying that the zellige, Moroccan hand-cut tile, in all the fancy places, was hands down my favorite bit in Marrakech (and also later in Fes).

2. Essaouira (1.5 days, 2 nights)

Essaouira was the reason we traveled to Morocco in the first place. Or rather not so much Essaouira as the wedding of our friends, who decided to celebrate their union in the bride’s home town. And it was breathtaking! You can see all of little beach town — on the Atlantic ocean — in a couple of hours, but can stay for many many days surfing, swimming, lounging.

This was the view from our hotel room. *Good thing that the one day I was feeling a bit off, and not up for walking around I could just stare at the ocean and hear the waves crash from my bed.

Also cool? Bits of the latest Game of Thrones season were filmed in Essaouira (and some of the other bits in Ourzazate film studios, which we saw on our epic trip to the desert).

4. High Atlas Mountains – Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah – Ouarzazate – Rose Valley – Dadés Gorges (1 day, 1 night)

Time to stop relaxing. We took the 6 am bus from Essauoira back to Marrakech to start our tour to the desert. After a bit of a snafu with a driver – we missed each other, we were on the road to check out what Morocco’s countryside had to offer. So, yea, the High Atlas mountains — pretty cool. Also, the roads are pretty winding, which in itself is a whole another attraction.

we also hung out at a bunch of ksars — a group of buildings built out of straw and mud and surrounded by high walls. One of the most impressive is the Ait Ben Haddou, in Ouarzazate province, but we also had a lot of fun exploring the Taourirt ksar a bit down the road. And also, Ourzazate plays host to lots of Hollywood movies, such as the gladiator.

It is ridiculous how many different landscapes there are in Morocco – the desert, the palmeries, the valleys and gorges. We finished the day with a drive through the rose valley, where the locals were hard at work harvesting this year’s crop and getting ready for the rose festival, which we missed by just a few days. And also, some ridiculous imagery from Dades Gorges — including what our guide told us looks like monkey’s figures, though the huge stones look distinctly like something else entirely…

5. Todra Gorges – Rissani – Merzouga (1 day, 1 night — in the desert!)

The following day we checked out the Todra Gorges, a popular local spot for picnics and playing in the water. One of two locations — the other one being Essaouira — where we actually came in contact with Moroccans who weren’t trying to sell us a souvenir or get a tip for something. The expectation that being a tourist must mean that you are a living, breathing ATM was a bit hard, I admit. Anyway, Todra Gorges — awesome spot to hang.

But really, the day was all about getting to Sahara – driving via Rissani, and Merzouga the last populated outpost before the dunes. Sahara did not disappoint. Neither one of us has seen so much sand in one place ever. We saw the desert before – in Israel, but that was pretty rocky and not nearly as pretty as the orange sand peaks.

We had an hour trek on the dromedaries (one hump camels) out to the desert — awesome, way easier than horses, but I definitely don’t want to do a trek of several days. Your legs / thighs get tired! I made friends with a dromedary — he kept coming up to me and nudging so i can swap the flies of his face (he had some snot problems). Dromedaries are very, very sweet.

6. Ziz Valley – Middle Atlas Mountains – Midelt (1 day)

The last day was a haul — I think we spent about 7 hours in the car with a few short sightseeing breaks to see the Ziz Valley, and the Middle Atlas mountains. Driving north, via more lush landscapes we saw a lot more of Morocco’s nomad families than out by the desert. The highlight of the day were the Barbary macaques in the middle atlas mountains. We stopped in a rest stop and there they were — just chilling.

7. Fes (half a day and 1 night)

What can I say about Fes — the one thing that comes immediately to mind — is I want more! We were both kind of awe stuck driving into Fes, by how lively it is and how many people were out mingling, hanging out, doing their thing. We got to sample the medina just a little bit with a guided tour, that mostly took us to all sorts of shops — which was fine since we didn’t do much of that in Marrakech.

Both of us agree that we got a good glimpse of the country, and would love to come back one day particularly to see more of Fes, but also make our way down the coast to see Casablanca and Rabat. I wouldn’t mind checking out Tangiers either. Inshallah.

Now that we are more or less finished up the big renovation projects, we are taking a break from house related work. We worked really hard for the 8+ months on gut renovation of kitchen and two bathrooms, and then powered through left over items, like re-plastering the ceilings, putting up wallpaper and getting the floors refinished. Let me just say keeping our focus on the house at that point was a feat, and I am actually surprised that we managed to do it. Its been a couple of months since then, and we have really enjoyed putting our feet up and not doing all that much at least on the house front. We did get to take some awesome trips – in May we travelled to Morocco for a friends’ wedding and also hung out in Barcelona. That was fun!

Fishing port, Essaouira Morocco and Dades Gorge, Morocco

And I think we will be doing more of that. So after much debating I decided that rather than starting a new blog we will keep the VIB, but add a travel section. We will still update here on whatever is going on with the house as well. So that’s that — I will be putting up new posts on Morocco and Spain in coming weeks.