We had one major goal for our second day in Marrakech: Christmas shopping. Armed with my handy and inspiring book about shopping in Marrakech, and later assisted by the twins, we were on a search for tea glasses, babouches and argan oil for our friends and family. I was also determined to buy a fez hat for my nephew, and a traditional tagine and some spices for myself.

Djemaa el Fna square is a wide open space during the day. These butane tanks power the evening food stands.

Wandering the alleys and markets in the early morning was a far better experience than the previous evening. In the daylight, we were able to navigate the maps in my shopping book.

Thanks to Yasmine and Nesrine, we finished our shopping in a couple of hours. The twins’ mother invited us to their home for lunch, so we dropped our stuff off at Riad Karmela and met the resident turtle.

Once again, we were amazed by the hospitality of our Marakchi family. We shared this amazing platter of salads, which included cauliflower, tomatoes and onions, green beans, carrots, potato salad, boiled eggs, and rice with tuna and corn. Fantastic!

We thought the salad platter was the lunch, but then they brought out this beautiful onion and lamb tagine! We ate the traditional way, picking up meltingly tender bits of meat and veggies with bread. Another delicious meal from our wonderfully generous hosts. And of course, the meal ended with mint tea.

After lunch, we thanked our hosts and hopped on a bus to the Jardins Majorelle (Majorelle Gardens), donated to the city by fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. He and his partner purchased the villa and the surrounding gardens to preserve the vision of its original owner, Jacques Majorelle.

There are over 300 plant species from deserts around the world in the garden.

Memorial for Yves Saint Laurent

The villa is now the Museum of Islamic Arts. The bright blue color is known as “Majorelle blue.”

The Koutoubia at sunset. Built in the 12th century, the base of this mosque was surrounded by 100 booksellers. The name Koutoubia comes from the word kutubiyyin (meaning booksellers).

Five times a day, you can hear the call to prayer coming from the Koutoubia minaret.

We enjoyed coffee and tea with Yasmine and Nesrine at a rooftop cafe and watched the Djemaa el Fna come to life. We learned more about Moroccan family life and culture from the girls, and they asked us lots of questions about American life. They and their family were certainly the best and most memorable parts of our experience in Marrakech.

Back at Riad Karmela, we enjoyed a delicious dinner, which started with a seafood pastilla, similar to the one I’d eaten in Essaouira.

The main course was a beef tagine with dried apricots and dates.

Dessert was a simple cup of fresh fruit in juice.

After two very relaxing days in Essaouira, we hopped on a Supratours bus headed back to Marrakech. I was excited to finally see the city I’d read about and seen on TV, and heard about from friends who had toured Morocco - the evening food vendors and entertainment of the Djemaa el Fna square, shopping in the many souks, our upcoming cooking class, and best of all, the chance to reunite with our Marakchi sisters, Yasmine and Nesrine.

Much like Fez, Marrakech’s medina is a maze of narrow alleys, only here, pedestrians share the road with scooters and motorcycles, cars, horse-drawn carriages, donkey-drawn carts, and bicycles. We found a lot of alleys (”derbs”) without signage, and therefore all maps are quite vague. The alleys with countless souks selling the same goods made it difficult to identify landmarks that could possibly help us find our way through the labyrinth.

Spice market

Spices and bath products

We managed to navigate our way to the Djemaa el Fna square just as the food vendors were setting up. Just as with the souks, there are multiple vendors selling the same product out in the square. This is one of about six guys selling snails in a spicy broth (I didn’t try it, I saw a lot of this on TV!).

Stewed sheeps heads

Walking up and down the stalls was fascinating, but watching the scene and the throngs of people from a rooftop cafe was equally entertaining.

After multiple failed attempts to find restaurants listed in my guidebook (some were closed, and some we just couldn’t find), we made our way back to our riad, hoping we’d be able to have dinner there. Unfortunately you must make early reservations so the chef can buy and prepare enough food. Fortunately the lovely folks at the desk and in the kitchen felt sorry for us and threw together these basic but delicious kefta (meatball) sandwiches for us.

After a rough day of travel (me and buses don’t always mix), a sketchy search for restaurants (confusing and dark alleys with questionable characters offering assistance) and a challenging walk from the square back to the riad (and being harassed and cursed at by a very persistent boy offering to help us find our way), we finally felt some reprieve, and that we might actually enjoy our time in this crazy city.