Archive: Travel

One of the benefits of working for a college is the plethora of activities the Students Union put on, which is how my lovely boyfriend and I ended up in Brugges on Saturday (special thanks again to Tony and Dan for organising it!).  The vote was unanimous, we both agreed with Harry (Ralph Fiennes- In Brugges) it is ‘a fuckin’ fairy tale’.  I’m already trying to plan another trip there soon.  What’s not to love about a place that introduced the world to mayonnaise and chips?!

{Church of Our Lady}

Brugges is food and drink heaven; we spent a sinfully gluttonous day moving between market stalls, shops and cafes, stuffing our faces until we couldn’t eat anything more.  After exhausting my list of food and alcohol I wished to try (none of which disappointed) it was the impulse buys that were most enjoyable.

{beautifully displayed macaroons}

Due to my lack of continental coffee knowledge, it was a shock when my my cappuccino arrived lacking it’s traditional foam, with an inch of whipped cream and melt-in-the-mouth chocolate shavings in its place.  It was the most decadent mid-morning pick up, and even my boyfriend, who has an irritating aversion to anything creamy (which means no sharing secret naughty portions of profiteroles) thought it was delicious.  I also opted for a waffle with sugar and butter as a cheeky pre-lunch/post-coach snack to accompany the coffee, which was so large I could barely finish it.

{cute riverside dwellings}

After a fantastic tour of a brewery, I will definitely be trying out the Frites Museum and Chocolate Museum next time I’m there.

{photos from my iPhone}

I have a terrible secret habit.  Only a few people know about it.  It is fueled by my crazy obsession with lists and colour coding with highlighters.  I am a holiday nerd.  I am that insane person on the plane boring everyone with facts and figures, brandishing Dorling Kindersley travel guides, and folders full of Wikipedia and Trip Advisor print-outs.  I know where to go, what to eat and have day plans to optimise the amount of things we can see and do.

I have the greatest respect for my long-suffering boyfriend for not only dealing with this side of me, but for being brave enough to go in for repeat performances.  I was a little nervous about sharing this side of me with unsuspecting friends, but they all seemed to accept it quite well.  The title of this post, if you’re interested, comes from a 60’s song by Crosby, Stills and Nash; my parents rendition of it being the only thing scarier than my pre-holiday organising (which instantly failed when I left my money at home after taking it out for my final check).

{in front of the Koutoubia Mosque, getting a better look at olives growing on the side of the road}

As with all holidays it seemed to fly by, and all that’s left is hazy memories of smoke, mint tea and tagines; not to mention a house full of holiday laundry and trinkets that still need a home.  When asked why Morocco, I’m still not sure I could explain what the draw is; I heard my fair share of horror stories before I went, from the poor hygiene to being hassled for being a tourist.  Though we experienced all these problems and more (yes, I am talking to the member of our group who got sick after eating fruit he’d bought from the side of the road), I still had the overwhelming feeling I was somewhere magical, reminiscent of Disney’s Aladdin, and as culturally far from home as I had ever been

It won’t come as a surprise, but I am a very girly girl (did the baking blog give it away?), and this trip pushed me far out of my comfort zone.  We explored unlit abandoned underground stables at the Badii Palace, climbed the Ourika Waterfall, braved some very unstable looking bridges, and ate pigeon and snails (only one of which almost made me throw up).  The guide books didn’t prepare me for any of that!

{Koutoubia Mosque at sunset}

My favourite place in Marrakech was easily the night market at Djemaa el Fna; we ate there three out of the four nights of our stay.  It was so ridiculously cheap we ended up over ordering and over indulging every time we went and still came away only having spent about five pounds each.  The best dishes were the lamb kebabs, tanjia and of course tagines (spiced lamb, honey and dried fig being my favourite), the former being ordered nearly every time we had a meal.

The biggest culture shock I found was the lack of alcohol.  Sneakily sharing bottles of duty free Smirnoff and ‘cola lite’ into a hotel room is not the same as sharing a bottle of wine with the other girlfriends over dinner (very few restaurants served alcohol), and when a bottle of Corona sets you back 90dh (about £7, more than dinner at the market) the night scene was disappointingly bleak. We did find a hotel selling bottles of Special Flag for 25dh (£2-ish).  Though reviews of the hotel are pretty terrible, I don’t think there could have been anything better than the ice cold beers we drank there whilst escaping the scorching midday sun.

I (of course) made it a priority to sample as many of the Moroccan desserts as I could get my hands on – all in the name of research, and have come back brimming with ideas for flavour combinations and decorations.

{Moroccan deserts}

As with a lot of hot countries, the Moroccan baking ingredients focus around things that can be kept in the heat, such as nuts (predominantly almond and pistachio), spices and dried fruit, mixed with produce that can be grown easily, such as citrus fruit (most roads were lined with orange trees).  The most common sweet I found were different combinations of these core ingredients wrapped in pastry and decorated, served with a glass of freshly brewed mint tea. Moroccans pride themselves on their excellent hospitality so it is quite common to be offered these things whilst browsing market stalls, or as an after dinner treat.

Diverging into the only Type A personality trait I possess – my lifelong love affair with lists – coupled with a three hour EasyJet flight, and a small obsession with the film High Fidelity I put together a few ‘top fives’ for any fellow adventurers planning a trip to Marrakech.

{night market from above}

BAKE’s Marrakech Top 5s

Packing Essentials:
Toilet roll- the locals just use water, so not every toilet has it.
Hand sanitiser- even when hand washing facilities are provided, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Common medication- though there are pharmacies and supermarkets around they rarely stock UK brands.  I also found them useful when feeling guilty for underpaying a desperate stall owner, gifting half a pack of Nurofen to ease my conscious.
Thick jumpers- If you’re not used to the desert climate it’s good to remember that even though it felt too hot to move at midday, when the sun goes down (at about 5.30) the heat goes with it, unlike the UK where we revel in balmy evenings in the summer.
Walking shoes- though the other girls made a valiant effort climbing the waterfall in ballet flats (another tourist I saw was wearing flip flops) I was grateful for my sturdy (but unfortunately unflattering) footwear.  Also, the paranoid inside me felt a little safer whilst walking past the snake charmers cobras.

{fresh orange juice and sweet spicy tea both from the market}

Food
Tagines- poulet au citrone is a safe choice for those not feeling adventurous
Pastilla- nutty, coated with icing sugar, filled with pigeon and served as either a starter or as part of the main meal.
Mixed meat kebabs- chunks of lamb and chicken cooked over fire, if there is one thing the Moroccans know how to cook is lamb.  They have it down to perfection; moist and flakey, I didn’t have a single bit of bad lamb all week.
Tanjia- known as the bachelor dish as it is a common dish cooked by single men.  Jamie Oliver explains it well in his TV show ‘Jamie Does’.
Lentil Soup- sold at the market for 5dh (40p) a bowl, it is completely unlike any lentil soup I have had in the UK (i.e. Heinz).  It is spicey and chunky and completely more-ish.

{favourite meals included a lamb and fig tagine and a selection of dishes from market stall 1}

Places to Visit
Badii Palace- once grand but now in ruins it’s like an Indiana Jones-themed playground for adults.  I realise that is a little crass, as the history and scenery were both spectacular, but being completely honest what made it stand out for me was being able to climb all over it and explore the unlit stables under it.  It is completely lacking in the preservation measures put in place at every other historic site I’ve visited, which allowed you the freedom to discover it yourself.
Café Balcony at Djemaa el Fna- preferably at sundown, you can watch the night market being set-up and listen to the call to prayer from the Katoubia Mosque.  Though it provides a small rest from the chaos below you don’t escape the noise and smells from the main square.
Atlas Mountains- there are lots of tips on travel forums about the best way to go about this, whether it’s trusting your hotels contacts or paying for a taxi.  Walking round there are lots of companies selling tours, we found our tour guide whilst cooling down with a beer at the Grande Hotel Tazi; he was touting for business and was more than happy to barter down his prices and throw in our taxi back to the airport on our last day for a third of the price of our hotel’s service.  The other benefit of paying for a guide was the stops we made along the way, including a visit to a medicinal herb garden/salesroom and a traditional Berber house.
Souks- a seemingly endless labyrinth of market stalls (especially when you get lost in them at night, during one of the only days of the year that they’re shut).  I was a little disappointed that a lot of the wares were mass produced, I naively thought that commercial production wouldn’t have ventured that far, that of course didn’t stop me from packing out mine and my boyfriends suitcases with trinkets.
The Night Market- as I previously mentioned this was my favourite part of Marrakech, probably because living in a sleepy little city there is never much on after dark, Djemaa el Fna on the other hand seemed to come alive as the sun went down, and most of the vendors were really friendly and extremely cheeky (one of them had a good giggle at my attempts at French pronunciation).

{exploring the Badii Palace}

Things to Try
Orange Juice- sold all day in the market square for 4dh (30p).  Freshly squeezed and sweet.
Going to a Riad- to escape from the loud and busy streets of Marrakech some of the buildings used for people to live in were built with courtyards.  A lot of them have now been converted into hotels, but if you don’t end up staying in one, there are a number of restaurants within the riads.
Henna- if you want it to be done professionally you can hire people to come to your hotel, but I found it far more fun and spontaneous to have it done by women in the market.  Four colours are offered, blue (lasts a day), orange (1 week), brown (2 weeks+) and black (which should be avoided as it’s full of chemicals).  From my experience, I strongly recommend opting for orange, as the artists will try pass off orange as the more expensive brown dye, as they look identical when they are applied.  It also seems to work better on the palm of your hands, the dye seeps in better.
Bartering- not my favourite activity as I am not as forceful as other people, but as an integral part of many services in Morocco something I learnt to get used to.  Most vendors enjoy the banter as long as you make your intentions clear.  If they won’t agree to your highest bid, leave; time is money and they don’t appreciate theirs being wasted.
Eating outside your comfort zone- this is one of the highlights for me whenever I go away, there are many things I would never eat again (I am still talking to you, boiled snails) I feel a massive sense of achievement at dragging out the adventurous side of me again.

{henna from the market}

Things to Avoid
Spending too much time with sales people when you’re not planning to buy-  the sellers are more than happy to let you know if they’re not interested in your highest price, it’s only fair to give them the same courtesy.
Paying for a guide in the souks- they get commission from the shops they take you to, so you can’t trust them to take you to the cheapest stalls as they already have an agenda.  The market place isn’t particularly big and the prices seem fairly standardised so you should be fine exploring by yourself.
Accepting what the street performers offer- my boyfriend gave one a few coins as he walked past and the performer chased after him to try and hassle him out of more money.  The performer even gave him the money back saying it was no good and he needed more.
Drinking the water/eating the fresh fruit and veg- standard advice for most foreign countries. Though it might be fine it’s not worth risking your holiday.
Tourist filled restaurants- you wouldn’t eat in them at home so why would you eat in them somewhere else?  The one we tried (because we were starving and the view was nice) took advantage of this and didn’t bring us part of our meal knowing we probably wouldn’t notice it was missing.

{feral cats roamed everywhere, from living under refrigerators in shops to wandering round the hotels and restaurants}

Things to bring back with you
Tagine- the common cookpot, whether for cooking or just for decoration they are brilliant reminders of your holiday and make great gifts.  I regret only bringing decorative ones back and have been scouring ebay for the perfect terracotta one.
Leather- a speciality product in Marrakech, the range of goods you can buy are endless from shoes to dog baskets.  I noticed several girls getting off the plane with a bag I’d seen in the market.
Spices- they are far cheaper and more varied than the UK.  I bought a big bag of edible dried roses for baking with.
Decorative home-wears- after falling in love with cupcakeandcashmere’s anthropologie bowls in her kitchen post I knew I wanted to come home with decorated bowls for my kitchen.  Marrakech has a large pottery industry so the choice is endless.  I have already made plans to go back when I buy a house (or at least move in to a flat with my dream kitchen and a more flexible approach to the number of holes I can put in the walls!)
Tacky trinkets- maybe it’s just me but I always try to bring back one tacky holiday souvenir from each trip, just something quirky and small for a couple of pounds, to gather dust on a shelf.  A little camel made of camel leather fitted the bill perfectly.

{spice stall}