We are home; that is how special Riad Misria is for a family traveling with kids. As we walked down the alley a shriek went up and the neighborhood boys cried out for J. He tossed them the soccer ball and a great war whoop rang out, we haven't seen J since, we've only heard the cries of glee echoing up the alley walls.
Sammy and Miriam were here as we walked in and we compared stories from Ourika Valley. The lovely Miriam was cooking a great vat of couscous while simultaneously helping us get our filthy clothes into a real washing machine AND making plans for us to get a henna design from her sister. We love Miriam so much we can't wait to meet her family. Staying at the Riad is so much like being in a great family lodge, plenty of room and comfort with great company around every corner. Rick and Baby-O are already in the pool.
The Berber Market was truly an experience, now that we have power here are more photos:
Here's a village up above where the market took place:
Villages along the way.
We stopped along the river for a tagine.
The beauty of the valley is impossible to relay in words. It's an oasis of a different kind.
Sammy and Miriam were here as we walked in and we compared stories from Ourika Valley. The lovely Miriam was cooking a great vat of couscous while simultaneously helping us get our filthy clothes into a real washing machine AND making plans for us to get a henna design from her sister. We love Miriam so much we can't wait to meet her family. Staying at the Riad is so much like being in a great family lodge, plenty of room and comfort with great company around every corner. Rick and Baby-O are already in the pool.
The Berber Market was truly an experience, now that we have power here are more photos:
Here's a village up above where the market took place:
This river originates out of the Atlas Mountain snow- it's an oasis for donkeys but deadly during flood years. A handful of years ago it wiped out whole villages and killed hundreds.
A Berber man selling wool.
A donkey loaded down with tagines, the classic Moroccan cooking/serving vessel- these ones are for real, not for tourists.
I got stuck behind the donkey much Gigi's bemusement- a traffic jam of sorts!
This is a 'modern' butter churn. It takes an hour of shaking to make butter, it was made out of recycled cans. Gigi said it was light as a rose.
An earthen oven for cooking lamb. It takes 2 hours to roast the meat.
People didn't pay much attention to us because this market happens only once a week and it was clear business was the subject at hand.
Blacksmiths at work.
This was a 'banquet room' Berber-style in one of the 'restaurants'.
We continued up the road and passed women herding sheep.
The Atlas loomed large in the distance.
The kids were ecstatic to see these.
Villages along the way.
We stopped along the river for a tagine.
These musicians came out of nowhere to the delight of Baby-O.
They disappeared as quickly as they'd emerged, walking up the riverbed.
The beauty of the valley is impossible to relay in words. It's an oasis of a different kind.
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