Back to Marakesh and farewells

We left Essaouira and drove for three hours
back to Marrakech. We visited the Menara Gardens in Marakesh which dates from the 11th century. It’s full of olive trees.

We had free time until dinner and had bought tickets to the Yves Saint Laurent Museum. Once we checked in to our hotel, we rested for a bit and then grabbed a cab to the museum. The museum is beautiful, but I was somewhat disappointed in the exhibits. The main exhibit focusses on St. Laurent ‘s early career as a stage and costume designer, not on his couture career. It was interesting but not quite what I’d expected.

We then took a 40-minute walk back to the Medina where our farewell dinner with the group would be held. We had a few hours to kill and wandered around the market. Because it’s Ramadan, the shops started to close up around sunset which was still an hour until our group dinner reservation. We decided to proceed to the restaurant hoping they’d let us sit while we waited for the rest of the group to arrive. They did and it was great. Our dinner was delicious and included, entertainment - musicians, and a belly dancer. A nice way to cap off an incredible two weeks.

Our travel companions have been lovely and we’d welcome seeing them again. In fact, I WILL be seeing the woman from Basel in December when my Rhine Christmas markets river cruise wraps up there on December 1. We’ve already made a date to meet for coffee.

We logged 2,750 kilometres with the group and will now spend a couple more days exploring Morocco on our own.Read more