The Red City

We had breakfast at a small cafe we passed on the way to the next sightseeing item on the day's agenda. It was a little café (or rather a "Soda", as I'd call it if we were in Costa Rica) where we only saw locals - men. I was a bit worried at first, as I'd heard that there are men-only cafes and if women went there they should expect some form of unwanted attention. Nevertheless, we sat down at one of the outside tables, where we could watch people, cars, motorbikes, horse-drawn carriages and donkey-drawn carts rush by.

The waiter was very friendly and welcoming, explaining some of the items of the menu we couldn't figure out and eventually served us an excellent breakfast consisting of an omelette, some bread, butter, olives, olive oil, amlou (an almond-based sauce that reminded me of peanut butter), fresh orange juice and mint tea... For only 40 Dirhams, which is roughly €4. He also made sure that none of the beggars bothered us by courteously steering them away from us. In general, we did get some curious looks - being the only women and foreigners in the establishment - but were treated very respectfully.

The pictures in this post are some miscellaneous impressions we got throughout the day.

Marrakesh was founded in 1062 and quickly became a significant cultural and political center. It is nicknamed the “Red City” because of its buildings and walls. This red hue is particularly prominent in the old medina.Read more