Saturday, June 8, 2013

Day 2 in Marrakesh, Palais Bahia & Jardin Majorelle

Last night, I made plans to go out and explore Marrakesh's new city with a hostel mate from Slovenia.  We planned to meet after breakfast, I got up around 9 am, took a shower and went downstairs for the hostels breakfast.  This hostel has a good breakfast, mainly breads, Moroccan style breads and more varied than most hostels.  I met a couple in their 70s traveling through Europe who took a detour to Morocco, we talked about my background, experience at CIA and life in general.

After breakfast I met up with the hostel mate to explore Marrakesh, three other hostel mates joined us, two from the Netherlands on vacation and one from the UK, finishing up a year of traveling.  We started out walking to the Palais Bahia, we looked around the palace, it was empty, but interesting to see.  

Lynnae at Palais Bahia 
We walked to Marrakesh's new city after leaving Palais Bahia, it was a long walk, there was a big difference between the new city and the old city where our hostel is located and we have spent most our time.  Marrakesh's new city is more modern, there is not the same chaotic atmosphere found in the center of old town Marrakesh.  On our way into Marrakesh's new city we stopped in the outdoor cyber park, the hostel staff said this park has the best WIFI in the city.  A few of them tested it out, I did not, I do not have an Ipad or smart phone, was not going to take out my laptop, we were not staying at the park long enough. The Cyber Park was like a calm oasis in the middle of Marrakesh, I would not have minded hanging out there longer.

Vegetation in Cyber Park 

Sign in Cyber Park 

Free Computer in Cyber Park
From the Cyber Park we walked into Marrakesh's new city. The new city is modern, brighter, and less busy than the old city, it was a different world.  Our group split up after we got to the main part of the new city, the guys from the Netherlands left to go back to our hostel, they were planning excursions in Morocco. The rest of us continued to Jardin Majorelle, a beautiful garden in the new city.  There's a memorial to Yves Saint Laurent, he owned the garden and his ashes were scattered there.  

Lynnae at Yves Saint Laurent Memorial 

Greeting Card designed by Yves Saint Laurent in 1976 

Lynnae in Bamboo area of Garden 
We took a taxi back to the square in the old city after the garden.  We had lunch, and I went back to the hostel to rest, I had spent enough time walking around the square yesterday, did not need a follow up experience with the souks.

In the evening I went out to dinner with Slovenian from hostel, we met her French friend from college in Germany and we met up with some French who are interning in Morocco. I did not eat much, I got some French fries and Moroccan salad.  We went back to the hostel around 10 pm, the WIFI was not working, everyone was trying to get online, most of us unsuccessfully.  Other than that, the rest of the night has been relaxed, I spent some time talking to some Brazilians at the hostel. 

Tomorrow I go on a 3 day Saharan Desert tour.  I probably will not have access to the internet for those 3 days, I will write a blog post about this tour when I get back to Marrakesh on June 11th. I should have a lot of pictures to post then too. 

Day 2 in Marrakesh Photo Album 


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