marrakech, part one
of all the places i’ve visited on this earth, i think morocco may be the very most photogenic / the very most fun to photograph. in the four cities we visited during our ten days in that amazing country, i consistently felt like there was a spectacular or interesting or colourful picture around every corner. the markets of marrakech (and also those in fes) are a total attack on the senses -- and around town there’s so many pretty doorways, and stunning corners of ancient schools and palaces, and enchanting hidden alleyways, and mind-blowing tilework…morocco is just in so many ways a visual feast! i just couldn’t help but attempt to capture some of the wonder with my camera.
and sooooo…buckle in for the next few posts because i’ve narrowed the 1000+ photos i took on our trip just as darn much as I could ... but there’s still a lot.
today i’m sharing a first installment - from our first day or so in marrakech!
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we arrived in morocco on a friday evening and, after dropping off our bags at our riad, headed straight out into the web of streets that make up the ancient medina. we were instantly enamored with marrakech as we strolled through so much life and colour and beauty!
the big main square in marrakech, jemaa el fna, is iiiiincredible. the atmosphere is so electric and we felt transported to another world.
We had our first moroccan meal at our riad, and it was one of the most dreamy dinner experiences i’ve ever had. when we got back from our hour or so of initial exploring, we found our table beautifully set up next to a roaring fire in the traditional, gorgeous courtyard of the guesthouse. the food was to-die-for delicious and the setting was just magic.
the next morning i took some photos of our riad, including the rooftop terrace. there are looooads of riads in marrakech (i loved imagining what the courtyards might look like behind all the entrances we saw to riads throughout the medina), so it was hard to pick one when we were planning our trip. but i think we made such a good choice - we loooved riad melhoun!
a couple snapshots from the streets around our riad:
we explored bahia palace and were blown away by the wood work and tile work and colours!
^^ i tried to capture the details of this incredible place without photobombers but then also snapped this photo ^^ to remember what it was really like - pretty crowded! :) ^^
we spent the majority of the rest of our first day just wandering the markets, starting in the spice souk.
it’s wild because you can go one street over from a super bustling market street and find yourself in a super quiet neighborhood street. i loved strolling through both types of alleys in the medina of marrakech.
in the main square, we saw allll kinds of fascinating things, including some snake charmers! this was probably the highlight of our entire morocco trip for ian. he could not stop talking about how crazy these guys are to play around with king cobras!
see? around every corner a picture. sometimes it’s a fantastic doorway, sometimes it’s craftsmen in the actual process of making beautiful, beautiful items … sometimes it’s an exhausted olive seller sneaking in a nap :)
^^ i couldn’t get over the baby shoes in the markets! i maybe bought five pairs for our boys…whoops! (but they were less than $5 a pair!) ^^
my friend who had been to morocco last year convinced me to splurge and get a traditional hammam at a super fancy hotel/spa just outside the medina. the treatment (which is basically the most thorough and awesome bath you can imagine) was pretty divine and exploring the grounds of the hotel after was pretty amazing.
^^ doesn’t this spa waiting room look like it’s made of lace? soooo pretty! ^^
after the hammam (ian studied for the cfa while i was pampered, haha!), we walked through the markets and had a rooftop dinner at sunset.
that evening there were some musicians performing in the courtyard of our riad! the manager, who we became fast friends with, got a bunch of guests up and dancing to the music - it was fun.
marrakech, part two coming soon!
Hi Charity. Wow lots of beautiful pictures. I am really enjoying them.
ReplyDeleteSophia
This is all so beautiful! You have captured so much with your photos. I’m glad you had such a wonderful time, and made priceless memories
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful pictures - thanks for sharing!! <3
ReplyDeleteMarrakech is my lover city .i grow their inside the old medina. I miss my city.
ReplyDeleteI so hope you make yourself a book with all these lovely photos. Too pretty to just leave on the blog.
ReplyDeleteLots of pictures please! we're going in October :)
ReplyDeleteI looooooove the picture at the top with the gorgeous baskets and colorful....what are they? Can I have/buy the file from you, so I can print and frame it? Is that too much to ask?
ReplyDeletei've been thinking about selling some prints of my photographs! email me and maybe we can work something out!
DeleteThese photos are stunning! What a beautiful place!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you bought the baby shoes. Support the shopkeepers! Good on you :)
ReplyDeleteOut of all the places you've visited and shared, Morroco is now #1 on my wish list. Beauty everywhere - thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteMy husband is quite hesitant and thinks it's dangerous traveling to Morocco. Will you speak about this on your blog, too? Thanks! Sabine
hi sabine! i think i need to get a better sense of why your husband is nervous about safety in morocco. where do you live now? what is he afraid of? happy to help quell concerns :) we felt very safe throughout our trip.
DeleteWhat a beautiful, magical place! I'm definitely putting it on my list and I can't wait to see more of your pictures!!
ReplyDeleteBeen a blog reader for a while and this is off topic, but can we re-visit your blog name? You've said before that you don't love it and honestly, I don't love it either. I've actually had some really awkward interactions reading your blog during my lunch break at work and someone seeing the header (with the name) over my shoulder. And I've had to be like, "No this isn't some creepy sex site!" LOL. I'm honestly not trying to be mean, just telling you about a thing that actually happened. Many bloggers I read have re-branded their title and nothing went wrong. I think your name is kinda classy, so you could go with "Charity Eyre Wright" or "Charity and Passion" or something like that! Hope you don't take this the wrong way!
ReplyDeletehahha, this cracks me up. i totally hear you and am less than 0% offended :) i really want to rebrand - it has been on my to do list for yeeeears - but it just feels so daunting and i can't think of another name that i really love! it might be a while yet given that i am having a baby next month, but thanks for the encouragement ;)
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