Exploring Marrakesh 3

So what to do today then? We didn't eat on the square last night but in one of the alleys where the food was very slow and the staff ( all men) very disorganised. They blamed it on the women all of whom seemed to be working very hard while they sat around arguing.

We wandered through the square afterwards where mayhem was at its best. It really comes alive at night with snake charmers, acrobats, musicians and chancers who try and extort money from you. They are a real pain in the arse and I have realised that the best way to deal with the chancers is to tell then to bugger off before they get going.

We hadn't even left the riad this morning before Nads was presented with a rose, which another young bloke then begged her for.

That then sparked some inter shop banter which continued someway down the street.

One thing that I did notice in the street stall was a funny looking scotch egg type of thing which smelled quite nice. Turns out it was a ball of jasmin seeds. Trouble is you can't stop and look or ask a question without being besieged by people trying the hard sell, which is very tiresome.

But both of us are now quite good at spotting things and getting pictures without being noticed, which avoids hassle. I was particularly impressed with this array of household goods made from car tyres. I didn't get one shoved in my face at all!

Then there are other people who just carry on doing their work regardless of tourists and cameras.

Crossing over ,we walked into the old mellah ( Jewish quarter) it was immediately different in Both look and feel with the higher buildings and verandahs. Most jews moved out years ago but the streets are wider and open, hence the different feel.

The Sadiaan tombs are here, amazingly only discovered relatively recently (1917 by a French aerial survey) as one of the old sultans (Moulay Ismail the Victorius) bricked them up to keep his predecessors out of mind . But he didn't want to desecrate them for fear of bad luck, so he hid them behind a secret door only accessible from the Kasba mosque.

We reckon that this pink cat must have been up to the tanneries and fallen in as that surely can't be a natural colour!

The Badi Palace next door is also in ruins but was once paved with gold, silver and crystal and paid for by the Portuguese by way of ransom after the Battle of the Three Kings. It was ransacked by Moulay Ismail the Victorius and today is a vast open plan ruin which us partly renovated and hosts an arts festival in the summer as well as the odd Royal party.

Storks nest along the top if the palace wall and its not until you get up close that you realise just how huge they are. They also chatter to each other and sound like distant woodpeckers or jack hammers.

We had lunch in a terrace cafe over looking them sitting on their nests or taking it in turns to wheel off on the rising warm air and get food for the babies in the nests.

After that, we sat in the rose garden which was full of the usual kittens and snoozing people but no roses, and indulged in more people watching. It's quite amusing to sit still and let the world come to you for a change.