Morocco: Marrakesh: Exotic Spices, Soaps and Scrubs
May 22, 2011
5/22/11 - 5/23/11
88 °F
Today is our last day in Marrakesh and we are really sad about it. We walked around and tried to enjoy every last second while soaking in the culture. Marrakesh has to be the best place for exotic travel by far! There are lots of Europeans who live here so Tony was able to blend in instead of his usual obvious tourist appearance. We went on a mission hunting for the plates we love so much and ended up on the other side of Marrakesh in front of a closed store (Sunday)
That was disappointing but thanks to our awesome camera we were able to zoom in on the price tags from OUTSIDE the store and take pictures for negotiating in the market later. Once we got that sorted out we noticed that we were in a very French neighborhood which makes sense since Morocco was colonized by the French for some time—this is where Tony fit in well. After gaining some bargaining power we headed back through the souk . . . along the way we could smell the spices, hear meat sizzling on the grill and see lanterns glowing on their display hooks. Ruby couldn’t resist the smells and ended buying lots of spices including the Moroccan 35 spice mix for cooking in a tagine and seasonings for chicken and fish. We hope to use these in our own cooking at home. She didn’t care for Moroccan curry though—it’s too sweet! We also picked up some black soap which is made using the oil from olives as a base.
By this time we were starved and at a rooftop restaurant we ordered chicken kebabs but ended up eating something that may have pigeon. We didn’t eat much before we walked out of there. . it was terrible! At least the view was nice . . . and we got to admire some Moroccan carpets from afar; if we got too close Ruby might be tempted to buy one and lug it around with us on the rest of the trip like our friend Carine from South Africa did!
Before we said bye bye to Morocco Ruby couldn’t leave without indulging in a classic massage at our hotel and spa. This was insane, for $35 (including a generous tip) they bathed her with eucalyptus black soap , shampooed her hair, scrubbed her with a loofah, applied a mud mask to her entire body with an herbal mask to her face and followed all that with time in the steam room. Afterwards, Ruby had a full body massage with warmed scented oils and a facial. It was heavenly and they played Buddha Bar 4 during the whole time; Ruby liked it so much that she asked to borrow it so she could play it and remember this amazing experience! Afterwards we watched the sun go down just as we boarded our night train to Tangier . . . we opted for second class again . . . fingers crossed that we don’t have to share our cabin tonight!
Posted by Tony.Ruby 13:00 Archived in Morocco Comments (0)