My arrival in Morocco foretold a little of the flavor of things to come. There as a little bit of fishtailing on the runway, despite the lack of wind, and everyone clapped when the plane came to a stop. I wondered why we fishtailed, as we had just a bit of turbulence. The Royal Air Maroc pilots appeared to be quite competent pilots, especially considering that the cabin lights kept randomly turning on and off. Oh, and the video system was broken, but I did not have a great view of the overhead isle TV screen anyway.
First task, get some Moroccan moolah. Then, hit the Medina (old city).
The Kotoubia mosque, the most famous building in the city. The French Protectorate declared that no other building would be built higher than this mosque.
The Kotoubia is hundreds of years old, but there are the remains of an even older mosque adjacent to it.
Door with the Moroccan star.
Me at the Almoravid Koubba. It is the oldest building in the city, exhibiting the founding principles of Marrakechi architecture. The rest of the structure was torn down by the next conquering dynasty. They might have left it standing because of the religious significance of washing before prayers.
Ceiling of the Abulation station. I wonder if part of the reason that they did not tear the station down was that they knew it would become an informal public urinal (not now, of course, it is part of the museum campus- but you might be surprised to see the magnificent views of historic structures from some of those in use today.
Ben Youssef Medressa (religious school).
You may not be able to tell, but I am standing under the doorway- gives you a sense of scale.
A room set up with historic objects.
One of the walls of the courtyard.
Detail of a courtyard wall.
Closeup of the tile work around a door.
A keyhole arch inside.
A nearby mansion has been transformed into a museum, here is the elaborate ceiling of one of the rooms.
Tile work is a prominent feature of Moroccan architecture.
Voltaire was not such a big man, he was considerably shorter than his girlfriend Emilie du Chatelet.
Painted door, right next to the plaque seen above.