Friday, January 20, 2012

Moroccan Road Trips

I miss travelling. I miss the feeling of hitting the open road in Morocco.



I miss the way the sun feels in summer time. I miss the red walls of Marrakesh and the frenzy of the medina coupled with the calm of the hotel. I miss swimming in gorgeous pools with exotic looking palm trees sprouting out from them. Travelling through Morocco is always such a wonderful experience. I ask myself why. I answer myself with "because it's beautiful - of course it has dug way down deep in your heart and periodically spits up images at you".



When I first came to Morocco, before I (knew I) was pregnant with the twins, we took a trip to Marrakesh on a train. When my mother saw the pictures of me looking out the window at the countryside, she said "I can't tell if you are crying or just really happy".




I told her I was crying because I was so happy. It was in that stairway of a beat up old train, with a door open, speeding by rolling green hills of country side that I realized that I felt really safe with my husband. I was not afraid to sit by the open door because I knew that if I fell, if I slipped and my body flung towards the open air, that he would catch me, he would do what it takes to make me safe.



What a glorious trip that was. When our pride was about our newly re-found love. Our pictures were about us being so proud and feeling so strong and confident to be back together again. it was pure magic. The snails in djemaa el fna, the dinner at chez ali, all of it.



Whenever I start yearning for Marrakesh, it's actually that, that I have in mind.

Of course we have been back sense then with the girls. We had a gorgeous poolside room



and as soon as we got into the hotel the girls fell busy pulling themselves up on the furniture and we set up the cribs and then we found Mae had crawled inside of the cabinet. this past summer I found a picture of myself at that age doing exactly that.

We took a carriage ride at sunset around the medina.



We walked past the koutoubia, we had dinner in the square and took pictures by the pool and the girls pigged out at the breakfast buffet. 

We visited a gorgeous guesthouse in the valley, we ate a posh lunch overlooking a beautiful lake.



We drove through Berber villages and decided that if we ever did have a wedding, we would do it there. Then we abandoned the girls in djemaa el fna!



I miss vacation in Morocco. I want to hit the road but it's not going to happen anytime soon. We have other priorities right now so the goal is on making it through this winter for a spring retreat.

2 comments:

Alberto said...


My sweet friend, I translated your blog, very nice and interesting you site.
When you want to take refuge in good ballads of yesterday, today and forever in all languages and genres I invite you to visit my blog and listen me.
From this Saturday January 21th I pay tribute to Arab culture , Middle East songs,in Arabic lenguage. Ababsa Fella (Algeria), Vivian Bishara (Palestine), Malouma (Mauritania), Ahlam (UAE), Bahaa El Kafi (Tunisia), Myriam Fares (Lebanon), Arwa (Yemen), Samira Said (Morocco), Dana Halabi (Kuwait), Shirine Abdelwahab (Egypt)
I am a broadcaster of Argentina.
Best regards from Rosario-Argentina
Albert.

A Brilliant Life said...

Alberto,
Muchas gracias! Your blog looks like a huge tribute to music that you love!