honeymoon - day 6 & 7: essaouira

last november about a month after returning home from our honeymoon, i shared 2 posts dedicated to our honeymoon adventure. (i recently went in and tweaked both of these posts too!):

1 // day 1 & 2: spain
2 // day 3, 4 & 5: marrakech

and then ... well i have no excuse. maybe the holidays kicked in. either way - i never shared the end of our adventure.

many of you know that somewhere between morocco - london - atlanta or nashville ... i lost my camera. thankful that we had wade's camera w/ a few random pictures here and there, i was still very heartbroken and incredibly disappointed w/ myself.

last week, our sweet friends ellen and nekos of black & white & loved all over spent their 5th anniversary in barcelona. like our honeymoon, it was a once in a lifetime trip. and unfortunately like our honeymoon, their camera (card) went missing. ellen wrote me knowing that i could relate to the disappointment she is feeling. attempting to comfort her, my advice was to journal everything and as soon as possible.

and so today ... i finally return w/ another honeymoon post (oh hey - 10 days short of our 1 year anniversary): day 6 & 7: essaouira.  i've had to borrow quite a few images and am so thankful for the world wide web & these beautiful sources.

oct 1st:

we woke up again to a yummy breakfast of warm olive muffins, yogurt and fresh fruit. then, we were driven back into marrakech to the airport to pick up our rental car. yes - we were about to DRIVE in morocco! i cannot even begin to explain the madness of driving in marrakech. it is a constant traffic jam of trucks, cars, scooters piled w/ 3 or more passengers, kids on bikes, pedestrians and stubborn donkeys.

{source: gaetan lemaitre via trekearth.com}

unfortunately to rent a car in marrakech we had to put several thousand dollars (quite possibly the price of the car) down as a deposit. something we didn't know in advance. and so we left for a weekend in essaouira w/ little more than the dirhams in our pockets and w/ the encouragement from our driver that if we were pulled over we could call him bc his uncle was rather high up in local government.

once we were outside of marrakech, we saw very few cars on the road and more importantly very few policemen. (there were a few police checkpoints ... but luckily we passed through w/o being stopped.) the drive was 2.5 hours long and stopped in a little village along the way for lunch. however - there weren't very many little villages - just a lot of sand and goats. and the occasional pack of men cooling beneath the shade of a lone tree.

{source: 1 // worldatlaspedia, 2 // topitopis, 3 // samba samba, 4 // horea_cnx, 5 // richard lozin - via panoramio}

finally, we arrived in essaouira! wade had booked us a room at hotel atlas directly on the ocean and about a half a mile from the medina. we were exhausted after a long (nervous) day of driving so we took baths and watched french dating shows and played cards a bit before heading into the medina to find a place to eat.

 {source: hotel atlas}

essaouira is absolutely beautiful. the narrow winding corridors of the medina were built in the late 18th century and so everyone walks. the walled city sits high on the cliffs over looking the atlantic and the original canons are still in place. fortunately, essaouira hasn't been overtaken by tourism. it is for the relaxed independent traveler - and lots and lots of hippies. (i was going to mention how jimi hendrix had once visited and wrote "castles made of sand" ... however - i've just found out that he wrote that 2 years prior to visiting essaouira. random fact for you!)

{source: 1 // roger godett, 2 // andreas leo urban, 3 // catriona knapman , 4 // besnard nicole, 5 // michael levy, 6 // csaba witz - via trekearth}

the food of morocco thus far had been so fresh and delicious - and yet we were craving italian food and indian. ha! luckily, katie and todd from peacock pavilions recommended silvestro cucina italiana - a little italian restaurant in the heart of the medina. yum!

oct 2nd:

after a good night of sleep, we decided to spend our last day in essaouira (and morocco) at the beach and poolside. our friend alex had rented us surf boards and wetsuits as part of his wedding gift. we wandered out to the beach to find our surf shop and when we finally did ... i chickened out. you have to understand. the beach was mostly men (morocco is a muslim nation - even though essaouira felt more european). and morocco is still a developing country. there are laws being passed regarding minimum age for marriage ... needless to say there's little demand to sort your plastics. oh and there were CAMELS on the beach.

 

 {source: gavin gough photography}

wade gave it a good go though! (it was also not really surfing season - unfortunately. we'll make up for it in hawaii in just 2 short months!) and i sat on the beach (fully clothed) and enjoyed my book. once he was finished we went back to the hotel for salads and fruity drinks by the pool. oh - so that's what a "honeymoon" is supposed to be like. hee hee.

in the evening we headed back into the medina. there was little pressure to buy in essaouira in comparison to marrakech ... but we still had a few dirham burning a hole in our pocket. i looked at different paintings by local artists and also at aragan oil (boy if only i had known how much i would fall in love w/ that stuff just a few short months down the road). wade picked out a white linen shirt - ideal for hippie vacation though i can't say i've seen him wear it since. :) (i can't complain - i haven't worn my little pointy toed shoes either.)

as one last hoorah ... we decided to splurge a bit and eat at il mare over looking the ocean. oh my! 

 {source: essaouira.pro}

with very full bellies, we headed back to our hotel room for one final night in essaouira. early the next morning, we would drive back to marrakech. from there we would fly to england and spend 8 hours wandering the streets of london (we were ambitious ... our layover was from 9pm to 7am). then we boarded another plane to atlanta and from there finally back to nasvhille. 

yes we were sleep deprived. which definitely explains how i could walk off w/o our camera. but we were also so thankful for the fantastic memories that we had made during our trip! oh hey - and we were married AT LAST! and who knows - maybe we'll just have to visit (move to) morocco someday soon! ;)

the grand finale: the ONLY shot of us in essaouira. with a photo that magical ... all you can do is laugh!

{shop} plümo

i am absolutely in love w/ these hand-blown glasses available through plümo. they are exactly like the ones we used everyday during our honeymoon. i searched the souks in both marrakesh and essaouira for something similar only to find out via plümo that they are algerian not moroccan after all. that explains why i couldn't find them!

{source: plümo}

our first anniversary is just around the corner in september (crazy, eh?). i thought this would be a cute little addition to our collection - plus a perfect time to buy w/ them on sale! but i've attempted to put in an order 3 days in a row. :( supposedly plümo has my item on hold - and has emailed me a shipping quote to approve.

anybody else tried to order from them and had trouble?

{someday} moroccan lamps

emily at [ little observations ] posted a link to terrain yesterday. i hadn't heard of it before - but it's an online shop inspired by the concept of uniting house and garden to create an experience for the senses. there's so much to love about what they have to offer.

i especially am in love w/ these lamps:

{click to shop}

beautiful! they are so similar to the lamps that hung in the main room @ peacock pavilions (our honeymoon stay) and the lamps being sold throughout the souks:

wade and i opted to buy a moroccan wedding blanket instead of lamps because we couldn't imagine traveling w/ the lamps --- 36 hours in airports - yikes! besides, a wedding blanket seemed fitting - honeymoon and all. ours is very similar to the these blankets below:

{i love the idea of using our wedding blanket as a rug.
however - first we have to figure out how to clean it. smelly!}
{source: 1, 2, 3}

though we love what we brought home w/ us ... when we arrived home - we began looking for similar lamps. definitely adding these to my "someday" list.

{if i could find the right materials, it would be so much fun to make my own! any ideas on where i could find a something similar?!?}

honeymoon - day 3, 4 & 5: marrakech

sept 28th:
we arrived in marrakech at last at about 2am! it was apparent that the airport had remained open for our flight alone. we fumbled through customs and then found our way to baggage claim. there was a line of men w/ signs for different riads patiently waiting their hotel guests. at first we didn't find anyone for us but finally reclining half asleep, we found our driver. (i do not blame him. our flight was 5 hours delayed AND they were as uniformed as we had been in spain. he had been waiting at the airport for those 5 hours.)

a brief introduction and then we loaded the car and were off. zipping through the winding streets of the city. through the medina. through the royal palace. down country roads not lit by the comfort of street lights. and finally into a little village w/ rough gravel road beneath us. disoriented by the hour or maybe a bit of culture shock (my first time overseas and all), i must admit i began to question whether planning a honeymoon based on a blog wade had stumbled upon was the best idea after all. and maybe just maybe the thought crossed my mind at least once that i was about to be sold into sex trade.

but then ... we pulled up to a gated fence. followed by a candlelit driveway. peacock pavilions ... our destination at last.

we spent the first half of our moroccan vacation at peacock pavilions - a boutique hotel on an olive grove just outside of marrakech. wade discovered the private riad while exploring honeymoon options. he happened upon owner maryam's blog my marrakesh ... and i am so glad he did. we were spoiled by the staff who cooked, cleaned, drove and prepared activities for us each day.
we are so thank you to maryam & her husband chris (and the kiddos), todd, katie and medora for your hospitality and friendship.

our room:

and one must not forget the bathroom:

{source: my marrakesh}

we woke to the echo of the call to prayer across the horizon. our room was breathtaking - and attention was paid to every detail: a bottle of champagne, fresh olives, dates and nuts, soft towels & robes and the sweetest smelling soaps and shampoos. we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of warm olive muffins, fruit w/ yogurt, fresh squeezed orange juice and mint tea poolside. exhausted from the extensive travel, we spent the morning snoozing and wandering the olive grove. then we chose to eat lunch with the family while we planned the week's activities. in the late afternoon, we were grateful to have todd & katherine, who were interning at peacock pavilions, along for a mini shopping trip & dinner in the medina.

 {source: winos&foodies, the travel stylist}

the heart of marrakech's shopping experience is found at jemaa el fna. it is a giant square filled with circus-like performers: story tellers, snake charmers, and monkey handlers. behind the square lies the souk ... miles and miles of twisting walkways (think indiana jones) filled with shops offering everything you can imagine: leather goods, clothing, spices & meats, brass and ironwork, antiques, moroccan carpets and much more. it is total sensory overload!

{source 1 // sonsoles avalos, source 3 // gerard lorriaux, source 5 // sebastien herniote via trekearth} 

we wandered through the souks for several hours and when we emerged, the jemaa el fna had transitioned into hundreds of little food stalls with the smell of spices and steam rising. we had a delicious dinner of lentil soup, couscous and chicken & lamb for about $6.00 total ... neither of us was daring enough to try the sheep's brains. :)

 {source 3 // webshots}

the only couple pictures of us in marrakech that survived the trip. wah wah:

{source 2 // todd oberndorfer}

sept 29th:

our second day at peacock pavilions was a day of pampering! we shared another delicious breakfast. this time with the family. chocolate muffins! tristan - maryam and chris' little boy had 4. i wish i had been brave enough to have 4 myself! a woman came to the atlas pavilion and gave me a manicure and pedicure while wade swam and read.

{source 2/3: decor8}

afterwards we traveled into town for a day at les bains de marrakech - a beautiful 600 year old spa - for a hammam bath and massage! this was wade's first massage and both of our first experience with hammam. first we were directed into a little marble steam room (a hammam) where we "baked" while 2 stocky women applied different soaps and oils to us all the while chit-chatting in arabic except when they asked us to "flip". they were incredibly cautious scrubbing wade - barely going above his knees. but with me ... they snapped my swimsuit bottoms in between my cheeks and went to town! in between treatments, they doused with buckets of water, and finally they used rough gloves for exfoliation. (i was so embarrassed with how much more i needed the exfoliation than wade ... ha!). afterwards we were directed upstairs for a much more relaxing massage.

{source: les bains de marrakech}

when we were finished at the spa, we went back to peacock pavilions for lunch and then a village woman met me poolside for a bridal henna session! she didn't speak any english so i stumbled through bits of conversation w/ her and then finally decided to just sit back and watch her work. such a beautiful tradition.

in the evening, todd had planned a meal under the most beautiful tent. the walls of the tent were stenciled delicately w/ traditional moroccan design. the ground covered with berber rugs. the table adorned with rose petals. todd had carefully planned every detail. we were served too much red wine, a fresh spring salads, and traditional moroccan meal of lamb, dates and almonds cooked to perfection all day in a tajine. the 2 young cooks also surprised us w/ a gigantic chocolate wedding cake with "best wishes" in raspberry sauce.

sept 30th:

again we woke to fresh breakfast on the patio. then wade and i decided to spend the morning on the terrace above our room reading and soaking in the sites and sounds. there was a little village next door and you could hear children playing and the occasional donkey in a far off field. 5x a day the call to prayer echoed from several different minarets across the horizon (including one just down the street).

feeling adventurous we decided to make a trip into the medina to do a little souvenir shopping on our own. i purchased a pair of leather shoes & wade and i haggled over an old wooden diploma {i'll add pictures soon!}. we had learned some basic arabic to help us including "la shukran" ... no thank you. ha! i found myself saying this a lot as everyone is very helpful (for a tip!) we were also caught off guard by the funny american phrases people would holler at us to get our attention: "fish & chips" from a shoe salesman, "shakira" from another, and my favorite - when i attempted my arabic on a shopkeeper, he laughed and said "woah woah woah. don't speak arabic to me. we chilaxin."

everybody wanted a chance to try their english and to relate to the foreigners. one particular man hollered "boston" as we passed, which peaked wade's attention (he had lived there for the year of our engagement). before we knew it we were in his tent and he was attempting to heal us. you'll be happy to know that wade has a good stomach and prostate, we are very fertile and "i am not a garage". ha! finally our healing ended and the shop owner billed us - 400 dirham for wade and 200 for me. yikes. lesson learned - nothing is free in the souks. we talked him down to 400 dirham in the end (about $50 buckaroos). lesson learned! and we had a priceless memory.

we also bought a beautiful wedding blanket - which had at one time been handmade by a Berber bride as part of her dowry! it's absolutely beautiful - though it smells like it has been shared by a couple of goats for the last 50 years. it very likely might have been! {i'll add a picture of it too!}

we returned back to peacock pavilions just in time for dinner with the family. the traditional friday night meal is couscous cooked all day w/ vegetables and lamb. {friday is the muslim holy day.} thankfully the family bumped the meal up a day so we could share it with them. it was delicious.

as a final hoorah - our hosts had planned an outdoor screening of casablanca under the stars & the olive trees complete w/ moroccan beer!  we invited todd, now a close friend, to join us. the boys both snoozed and i tried my hardest to soak up the perfect moment. 

----------------------------

the adventure isn't over yet! one more entry as we spent the last few days of our moroccan honeymoon in essaouira, the windy city of morocco, off the atlantic coast.