No money, no honey!

I enjoyed a great weekend in Marrakesh. There is a huge contrast with Rabat. Marrakesh definitely caters to tourists but that does not mean that everybody has sold out. Although we did pay a visit to the Yves St. Laurent garden which was actually quite exceptional. In addition to the garden, we ate a lot. Well, it was extremely hot so we made many stops for freshly squeezed orange juice which is available at most stalls and restaurants. Whenever we stopped to quench our thirst, we couldn't resist the urge to get some more of the delicious Moroccan food. Also, many of the restaus treat tourists very well and we ended up being led to special dining rooms on more than one occasion.

On Saturday night, we planned to go to a mid-range restaurant that is recommended by our Lonely Planet guide books. We got there and it was an incredibly swanky place with a heavy fire vs. water theme. I think that getting a good review in Lonely Planet got to the owner's head because the prices were sky high. We planned and perfectly executed a sneaky escape before they could put bread on the table. Although it was slightly embarrassing, it was better than having to pay an absurd amount for decent looking Moroccan-Thai fusion.
The rest of our meals were filled with good times, black-market wine and low prices.

On Friday night we stayed at a beautiful and cheap hotel in the middle of the medina's hotel quarter which is just an alley with a dozen or so tourist havens. It was very cheap but had an insanely comfortable bed.
The next night, we splurged a little bit and opted for a nicer Riad around the corner. The three boys on the trip slept in a room in which everything was purple and glittery. As bad as that sounds, I found it to be quite tasteful. Also, that hotel had the best complimentary breakfast that I have ever had. There were abundant fried eggs, perfectly textured pain a chocolate, and fresh freshly squeezed orange juice. In addition, it was served on the roof which had a good view of the Atlas Mountains way off in the distance.

Now, I am back at home and ready for the work week. In addition to Lyall and Ronan we got a new roommate. He is a Belgian man who is significantly older than all of us. He definitely adds a change of pace to the house but it will be interesting to see how it works out. He has a grandchild the age of the baby in our house.

In other news, come on Mark Clayton!