Road Diary - April 08

After three days exploring the souks in the Medina at Marrakech, we´ve arrived in Seville for the Spring Fair. Arrived to buckets of extraordinary Spring rain as well. I´ll have many, many pics soon - so prepare to be dazzled and delighted.

Marrakech´s Casbah, the Medina souks, is the mother of all marketplaces. Over 1,500 years old in parts, the Medina is comprised of a seemingly endless maze of small alleyways and 4,500 hundred shops. That´s right. There is a street of metal workers crafting ornate Arabic-style wrought iron; a street of leather workers hawking raw skins, making luggage and pointed Moroccan slippers; a section of spice sellers, herbalists and parfumeries; and of course, Lamb Alley where a hungry visitor can purchase and consume freshly roasted lamb of any variety including lamb´s head and eyeballs. Snake charmers with Cobras; monkey masters with furry, sometimes threatening creatures on chains, black African dancers and Berber women offering Henna tats are set up in the square in front of the entrance to the souks. Violently visual, intensely engaging and sensual.

We stayed in Marrakech at the fabulous Ville d´Orangers. Much more on that, with images, in a later post. And more on Seville in the Spring Fair in the next post.