When my BFF asked me to go on a much-needed break with her to Marrakech, I found it difficult not to jump at the chance.
We arrived in what seemed like the blink of an eye. Immediately I was taken aback that just a three-hour flight, had transported us to a place that made us feel like we had stepped back in time several hundred years.
We were greeted from our transfer car by the owner of our hotel and walked, in darkness, through the bustling Jemaa el-Fnaa square. Holding on to our suitcases for dear life and feeling quite daunted by the hoards of locals that filled the square, we were finally led through several dark alleyways to our 16th century Riad. Once inside, we were both in awe of our surroundings. The Riad, had been redesigned by a local architect in 2009 and was simply the most beautiful bed & breakfast either of us had ever stayed in!
We were promptly served a cup of sweet mint tea by the wonderful women who looked after us so well during our stay and finally, we were shown to our glorious suite. The traditional decor was simply stunning. We had our own lounge with copper spiral staircase leading to our bedroom and from this, was a further spiral stair case that let to our own private terrace! Oh I was feeling very Carrie Bradshaw from Sex & The City 2 by this point!
A wonderful nights sleep followed, with no interruptions from alarms, radios or even a television. Just my best mate and little old me with the entire day ahead of us.
After an extremely tasty continental breakfast, we ventured out into the unknown and clearly lost, were shown to a place where we could buy some traditional leather goods. This was quite an experience! We saw the leather being stretched, soaked, dyed and battered before being shown into a little shop to buy our goods. We both bought shoes and my bff bought a lovely bag. We then had to pay the gentleman who had shown us around.
Completely and utterly lost, in the middle of Marrakech, a boy of about 14, said he would show us the way back to the square, then of course, we had to pay him too! This was going to turn into quite an expensive trip at this rate, so we decided not to get lost for the rest of the time we were there!
Before returning to soak up a few rays on our peaceful terrace, we realised we hadn’t bought any sunscream! This could be a problem as it was already over 20 degrees and we were, after all, in North Africa! We found a little store on our way back that had a very limited choice of sunscreen. We both sniffed at the factor 50 and went straight for Nivea sun oil, spf6! Now I knew I’d be ok with this. I’m slightly olive-skinned and don’t burn that easily. My bff, however, is not! Her moto though, was to go for it, after all, we were only there for three days and we didn’t expect to be in the sun that much.
Once back at our cosy little Riad, we stripped off into our bikinis and headed straight upstairs to the terrace. I was shocked at the heat from the sun. The terrace wasn’t big and was surrounded by a pretty high stone wall, so we were in a complete sun trap. There was no breeze at all. After a couple of hours, we were forced into the shade and this was probably a good thing as my bff had turned into something that resembled a lovely ripe tomato!
After showering, which I must tell you was quite an experience in itself! She was lucky to emerge with all her flesh intact as the water was so powerful! She applied a little moisturiser and dressed for dinner and by this stage, she didn’t seem quite as red, which was a relief, though we did take some photos of her rather red chest and we had a little giggle about our not very sensible choice of tanning lotion!
Our first day had been lovely. We had laughed about the silliest things, bought some pretty cute souvenirs and even caught a little sun! An early night followed and we woke, refreshed for another girly, relaxing day.
The rest of our trip was wonderful. We ate the most delicious food, served by the nicest people. We slept more than either of us has for as long as I can remember and we laughed, oh boy did we laugh! Both of us blurting out the silliest things that I wont bore you with as I imagine, you needed to be there, but those memories will I’m sure, still make me laugh in years to come.
After three wonderful days, it was time to pack up and come home. We were a little delayed but nothing too horrendous and after a three-hour drive from Gatwick, I was met by my youngest daughter with a lovely big hug! My hubby followed and I gave him a big kiss before boring them to tears with the details of my weekend.
I have to say a huge thank you to my beautiful, amazing BFF, who not only drove us to and from the airport, but made the trip to Marrakech so special. thank you, love you lots & lots xxx
Emma's Diary 