Henley-on-Thames, England

Columbia Road, London, England

Windsor, England

17th St., Chelsea, NYC

My friend Patrick took this picture while out with his dad one day. I had it posted on my wall at work. Thanks Peves!

And my friend Janet took some artistic liberties and enhanced this “no dogs allowed” sign for my birthday. This is also on my wall at work. Thanks Janet!

22nd St., Chelsea, NYC

NYC

NYC is supposed to be one of the fashion capitals of the world, so will someone please explain these outfits to me?

Drunk and snoozing on the train, this guy’s rocker style, bandana and all, is straight out of the ’80’s.

I would totally wear these sandals. Except they were men’s sandals, a.k.a. “mandals.”

Spotted on my commute to work one morning in January. Not sure what I liked best, the floral shirt unbuttoned down to his pot belly, revealing his chest rug, or the pretty purple purse and color-coordinated scarf.

This guys stumbled, completely drunk, onto my train as I was heading out to meet a friend for dinner a couple weeks ago. I would normally cover the unsuspecting model’s face, but then you’d be missing out on the full effect of his outfit. The back of his fringed coat had an animal head, like you’d see on an animal skin rug. And yes, that is a flask in his hand.

Tight white jeans, pegged at the ankles. Worn by a man. Fashion don’t, for sure.

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.

Our second day in Essaouira was just as mellow and lazy as our first. Just more wandering and eating. Ahhh, vacation.

This is the pretty little sign outside our hotel, Dar Liouba.

The lobby serves as the living room and dining room.

Looking up to the sunroof

Gorgeous rooftop, I’m sure it’s amazing in the summer months.

View from the rooftop

Our second breakfast at Dar Liouba started with something that reminded me of Indian rice pudding with rosewater. This version had some sliced almonds and pieces of orange in it.

We also had warmed thin crepes, which we ate with honey.

There wasn’t much to do in Essa, so we returned to the port to explore more. This sign has a lot going on. The illustration in the center reminded me of this sign I saw in Split, Croatia. But I have no idea what it’s saying.

Jewelry souks

Beautiful powders for paint

Time for lunch! Chez Sam is at the end of the pier.

We had pan-fried John Dory, which was moist and tender.

Grilled fresh sardines were delicious, but lots of work.

While some of the bones were soft enough to eat, some definitely were not, so we had to perform major deboning surgery on every sardine.

We continued our lazy day with coffee and desserts at Patisserie Maalem Driss.

This cat was either looking for her babies or needed some attention. She walked through the patisserie into the courtyard and gave out quite a sad meow every 20 minutes. When we were leaving, she hopped into my chair.

Back at Dar Liouba, we went up to the roof to watch the sunset. We saw seagulls pecking at these sheep skins (from the Eid) drying on a nearby rooftop.

Our previous night’s dinner was not good, in fact, I might call it gross. So our last night in Essa, we went to a restaurant listed in my Loney Planet book, Restaurant El-Minzah. I had the seafood pastilla, which is a filo-type of pastry, stuffed with seafood and glass noodles and fried. Not the healthiest thing, but certainly tasty.

Nicole had the chicken pastilla, which is stuffed with chicken, cinnamon and nuts, and topped with confectioners sugar. Kind of an odd flavor combination, but it works!

After a nice couple of relaxing days in Essaouira, we hopped on a bus back to Marrakech for the last leg of our Moroccan adventure. We were sad to leave this quiet little seaside town, but excited to do some shopping and see our Marakchi family again!