Kasbah Telouet...

We made a stop to visit Kasbah Telouet. As with most kasbahs, this fortified structure was a palace for the leader of the region. It isn’t actually very old, but is slowly collapsing. Check out those large stork’s nests on the corners.

Considering the condition of the outside, we were very surprised to find that the center was very well preserved with beautiful mosaics and carvings. Khaled said it was used as a palace until the 1960s.

Snow at the Summit...

While Floridian born and bred Ariana and Max had been to the snow before, they’d never actually seen snow falling. Imagine their surprise when we arrived at the summit on the Tizi n’Tichka mountain pass and saw their first snow flurries.

The summit pass is at 7,415 feet

It never crossed our minds that we might encounter snow in April. We definitely weren’t dressed for it, but luckily we weren’t outside in the snow for long.

Lunch in the High Atlas Mountains...

We soon discovered that the restaurant was segregated: the Moroccans ate inside and the tourists ate outside in makeshift tents. It was chilly, but cozy outside. Our friends were very happy to eat beef, but my family was satisfied with couscous and veggies. While my girls do occasionally eat meat, I don’t think you could have paid them to eat it there after seeing the cows out front.

A traditional Moroccan tagine meal

This fellow came along to serenade us with a few Berber songs. It was especially entertaining watching how amused he was while watching himself on the playback on the video camera.

Very Fresh Beef...

The original plan was for Hussein to make us a picnic lunch, but as the weather wasn’t great, Khaled decided to stop at a traditional tagine restaurant instead. This restaurant was located within a small strip of buildings on the lone road that connects the Sahara Desert with the Atlas Mountains. As you can see, the entrance to the restaurant didn’t just feature photos of what was on the menu.

Beyond the shock of seeing the carcasses hanging at the entrance, we were surprised to see trucks in front filled with live cows. We could only guess that they’ll be featured on the next day’s menu.  

A peak into the kitchen revealed that they took making tagine very seriously here..

Heading into the High Atlas Mountains...

After a big breakfast, it was time for our mountain and desert adventure tour to begin. Of course, that meant we had to drive into the mountains. It didn’t take long before both Max and Ashlynn were feeling carsick as we’d managed to forget to give them meds at breakfast. Luckily some carsickness medicine combined with sitting in the front of the minibus seemed to quickly do the trick.

The scenery was lovely as we wound our way up into the High Atlas Mountains.

Koutoubia Mosque...

We got back to the hotel just in time to avoid some heavy rain. We were wrong when we assumed that the rains had all passed over. When we headed out to attempt to do some geocaching, we got completely soaked and failed to find any caches. It was quite funny seeking shelter under orange trees and in doorways.

Turns out our timing wasn’t all bad. The rain stopped, a rainbow appeared and the sun shone through the clouds onto the minaret of Koutoubia Mosque, the largest mosque in Marrakech which was built in the late 12th century. That evening we hung out at the hotel. By the time we were hungry, the hotel restaurant was closed. Jimmy ventured out looking for snacks and returned with baked goods. We were thrilled to welcome Vivynne, Tony, Ariana and Max at 11 p.m. Considering how many hours they’d been travelling, they were in amazingly good spirits.

Loving the Souk...

We thoroughly enjoyed the hour that Mohammed showed us around. Khaled had suggested an area that we could find some restaurants that should be safe for our delicate American bellies and we enjoyed eating lunch on a roof terrace. Afterwards, we wandered around the souk some more.

Even Jimmy’s good sense of direction was occasionally challenged with all the intertwining alleys. We knew that we’d be coming back through Marrakech at the end of our tour, so we just browsed.

Ashlynn clearly wasn’t able to buy any chameleons, but the boy selling them still let her hold one. We were all impressed when it quickly turned from green to brown right in front of our eyes. The boy said people buy them to help with mosquito control in their homes and they buy miniature turtles for good luck.

Scarves of Every Color...

Mohammed led us up the stairs in a scarf shop up to the roof to get a view of the wool dyers, which was very cool. Afterwards, the shopkeeper showed us some of the materials used to dye the fabrics. Of course, he then tried to sucker, I mean persuade, us into paying way too much for three scarves.

We are suckers, but not complete idiots, so we agreed to buy Veronica the scarf that Ashlynn tried because she loved the color. Later we realized it did a great job turning her clothes that lovely shade of blue.

The assortment of scarves was truly amazing

First Glimpse of the Souk...

Just minutes after arriving at the main square, Djemaa el Fna, we were approached by a man that offered to show us around the souk, the largest traditional market in Morocco. We were skeptical, but took a chance by following him and ended up very glad that we did.

Mohammed led us around the main alleys of the souk and also through many side alleys that led to areas that clearly catered more to locals than tourists. While I quickly grew inpatient in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar because it was filled with trinkets for tourists, I was truly fascinated in Marrakech’s souk and could easily spend hours.

It would have been fun to dig through this pile of trinkets

Visiting Our First Market...

After a short rest at the hotel, we decided to explore Marrakech, the third largest city in Morocco with 900,000 people. We spied a small market just across the street and took a quick look around.

Jimmy smelling spices

We didn’t know at this point that we’d later
 want to buy an antique teapot and tray

Check out the bike repair shop

Arrival in Marrakech...

To be honest, I didn’t have much desire to go on vacation in Morocco. I wasn’t impressed enough with what I saw during a day-trip to Tangier in 2010 to want to explore other areas. So when Jimmy said it would be a good place to meet Vivynne and family for Easter break, I started researching adventurous options that would concentrate on taking us away from the big cities. Booking the trip was further complicated by the fact that the tour company wanted to put us in large tourist hotels and we wanted to stay in small riads (traditional Moroccan houses converted to B&B’s). Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised by the entire trip. I have to warn you, we took a massive number of photos and have lots of stories to share...

Our day started very early and our four-hour flight arrived in Marrakech at 8 a.m. We were greeted by Khaled, our tour guide extraordinaire for the next six days. He introduced us to our minibus driver Mustafa, who proved to be a very competent driver. He parked as close as possible to our first hotel, Riad Aladdin in the old fortified city. Our luggage was off-loaded into a cart and we were led down a dark alley and through a small door. Inside was a peaceful courtyard with a beautiful rooftop terrace. We were happy to learn that we could check in early and upgrade to this lovely family suite.

We had heard from Vivynne before we left Holland that their original overnight flight had been cancelled due to an air traffic control strike in France. Stupid Air France should have rerouted them through New York, but instead insisted on flying them the following day from Orlando to Paris then to Frankfurt and finally to Marrakech, which caused them to miss two days and one night of their vacation. They finally arrived at 11 p.m.

Can you see the outline of the small door to our hotel?

There’s no way we would have
 found this place on our own

Learning About History in Berlin...

I find it strange to think that there are kids in the UK that don’t study history at all in high school, so I was happy that Veronica chose history as one of her GCSE options. As part of her two-year history studies, she’s learning about the Rise of Hitler, the American Civil Rights Movement and the Cold War. At the beginning of Easter break, she went on a school trip to Berlin for four nights to visit WWII and Cold War sites. I was surprised to hear that she was one of the only kids that cried at the concentration camp and holocaust museum. Here she is in front of a remaining portion of the Berlin Wall and at the parliament building with her friends. For more photos and her stories, check out her blog.

Special Birthday Surprises...

After the performances, the food booths from 21 countries opened. It was impossible to try all the foods, but we gave it a good try. I started with a round of savories and then went back for sweets. Many of the booths had regional liquors, which added an extra dimension to the evening. When Madame Chantal, the organizer and Ashlynn’s French teacher, found out it was James’ birthday, she called him to the center for a few rounds of Happy Birthday.

The Russian group got into the act as well. Afterwards, we had Sally, John and the boys back to the house for a campfire and some birthday cake. For his birthday gift, Veronica made this video that she set to music that she composed herself.

Another Year, Another Great Dance...

The kids were a big hit! Ashlynn and Lauren choreographed the basic moves, then Nick added a few extras. His little brother Bernie (on the chair) was hilarious during Greased Lightning. Jimmy and Veronica did a great job making the car.  

Tell me more, did she put up a fight?

Tell me more, was it love at first sight?

Lauren and Ashlynn starred in the final song of Summer Nights during which they mouthed the words. Check out the video to see for yourself what a great job they did.

Getting Ready for the International Festival...

For this year’s American entry in the International Festival at school, the girls decided they wanted to dance to a medley of songs from Grease. The school generously offered us a budget for costumes which allowed the Pink Ladies to have matching jackets. This year we planned ahead and recruited a great group of performers.

In an effort to be transformed into Danny, Ashlynn borrowed an Elvis wig that had seen better days. The Pink Ladies all tried helping to bring her hair under control.

Running for a Good Cause...

Back in September, the girls had come across some folks that wanted to use the CPC to raise funds for the World Wildlife Federation. When they hadn’t heard back from them, Ashlynn emailed to get the donation paperwork. Much to everyone’s surprise, the two of them raised €300!

I think the organizer was originally leery that the kids were really going to raise funds and do the race. He was so impressed with Ashlynn’s commitment, that he interviewed her for the WWF Dutch kid’s magazine.

John, Andrew and David also ran the 5K and we met up with them afterwards for photos and lunch.