A week of vacation - Marrakesh and the Riad Ambre et Epices

The most beautiful place we stayed. This riad is down twisty empty alleys - we were sure we were being taken somewhere to be shot and never seen again. What a gem!

The people who work here are, as usual, incredibly friendly. There's nice music playing in our courtyard in the mornings and afternoons, and we have breakfast on the roof terrace.

It's so soothing to just rest here. I had a lovely hammam and am laying on the bed in peace and quiet, getting ready to go out to dinner. We're going to a restaurant called Azar- it's a Moroccan inspired Lebanese restaurant. It's right next to another restaurant that, despite the name, we decided not to go to:

A week of vacation - here's how to keep bees out of your mint tea in Morocco

After a hike in Chefchaouen, we wanted some refreshing mint tea. We stopped at a beautiful little cafe on a hillside and asked for tea and water. The waiter and the owner tried to dissuade us from ordering tea - they said the bees would attack us. But we thought we'd be clever and cover our glasses with napkins and drink from straws.
The waiter told us when he arrived with our tea that the straws would melt. He had brought a huge bottle of water with just one glass, and two tall glasses of tea with saucers to cover them. It would be up to us to figure out how to drink from the glasses.  Here's what we ended up doing!

The end of work, the beginning of vacation

Where did the time go? We had just gotten to know one another on the team and then suddenly, four weeks have passed, the work has finished, Warren is here with me, and we are on vacation! How did that happen?

Our final presentation with our client was met with applause and incredibly generous gifts - they really appreciated the work we did. We are proud of what we accomplished and I hope to see some results in a few years. After we were finished, they gave us each a carpet and a wood desk set, and for the women, a jewelry box. They are so kind!!!
Warren arrived and met the team. We stayed up way too late on Friday night and by Saturday, he started getting a cold. Darn. Saturday we walked around Casa a bit and said individual goodbyes to our teammates as they left hour by hour for home or for their own separate vacations.

Later Saturday, Warren and I drove to Fes, where we spent a wonderful night in a very nice riad called Dar Fes Medina. It's a tiny home just inside the medina, owned by a special family. We were served tea upon arrival and talked a while before settling into our room.

 This courtyard was beautiful - where breakfast is served.

We walked around a bit of the medina and had dinner outside the medina in probably the best restaurant so far (with the exception of the JMSuites hotel of course.) It was called Medina Cafe - just outside the blue gate and up the hill from where you can take a photo with two minarets in the background. The proprietors are a husband and wife - there's a roof terrace that's very nicely, simply kept with plants and vines. I had the preserved lemon chicken and it was the best so far of all in Morocco. Warren's vegetable soup was simple and nice. We had mint tea to soothe Warren's sore throat and we felt like we left the buzz of Fes behind for a few hours. The bill was tiny compared to other restaurants - 150dh for the two of us (under $20.)

We slept well and long, and on Sunday we went to the antique shop that belongs to the father of the owner of the hotel. What gorgeous things he had! We were served tea of course, and the father - 82 years old and up & down the stairs like a 60-year old - brought out carpet after carpet for us to see. He had a great sense of humor. He wanted to trade a carpet for me, as he wanted another wife. We ended up with two beautiful runners - one for our hallway in our house and another for my quilt room.

We barely scratched the surface in Fes, but we did visit a Koran school, the food market, and of course there were loads of cats everywhere. Here are a few photos:

 The school - the walls in plaster and the ceiling all in wood above.

 Note the chickens in the foreground. If they're sold, they'll make a nice dinner. If not, they'll live another day.

cats
cats
cats