Goodbye Marrakech!
Our last full day we didn't exactly have anything planned so after yet another delicious breakfast and several failed attempts of recreating Beyonce's 7-11 video in our room, terrace and rooftop of the Ryad, we decided to visit the Jardin de Majorelle ( AKA where YSL was buried )
We found these tasty treats in one of the alleys during our walk to the garden. They were very inexpensive so we purchased several each and ate them as we walked.
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We walked through the alleys then this marketplace and finally ended up outside the walls in New Marrakech. Took us about 20 minutes to walk there.
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We enjoyed our visit but the garden is nothing spectacular. Honestly we only went because it is affiliated with YSL.
We took a taxi to the local spice market to buy some authentic Moroccan spices. Our taxi driver dropped us off at the guy's shop and swore up and down he is the best herbalist in town. We took his word for it since we bought everything. Lol He liked Kofo and said that she looked like a berber woman that he wants to marry. Lol
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After our impromptu shopping, we walked to Jemaa El fna from the spice shop. Of course it was packed already. We even stopped at one of the restaurants there in an attempt to sample their tagine but we were greatly disappointed. It could not compare to Ryad Amiran. Even their bread could not compare. We immediately called the Ryad while still at the restaurant to place an order for dinner. We wanted it to be ready by the time we got to the there.
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I think Ryad Amiran has the best food in the whole old Marrakech. Lol
We had an early night that day. After all, my flight was the next morning. Kofo and Chloe were leaving later in the day.
I woke up early the next morning and went down to eat breakfast by myself because the other two rascals didn't wanna come down with me. Then I got ready for the airport. This time around I took a taxi from the medina because it was cheaper than taking the private car from the ryad.
Check-in was a breeze but I had to go through Moroccan immigration again and had to fill out another useless paperwork sort of like the arrival immigration form.
My flight home was kind of tricky. I flew Air Maroc from Marrakech to Madrid then switched to Iberia airlines to Brussels. My layover in Brussels was 12 hours. Initially when I booked the tickets I had planned to get a hotel in Brussels so that I could at least explore the city by myself and then head to the airport the next morning however after our unpleasant experience at Brussels airport a few days before, I didn't wanna go into the city. First of all, I didn't get to Brussels airport until around 10pm, after eating dinner it was 11pm. Already at that time everything at the airport was shut down. Taxis were rarely around and I certainly did not want to spend $100 euros just for a taxi into the city and then pay for a hotel. The nearest hotel was in the airport and it was the most expensive over $200 for the night. I damn sure wasn't paying that just for a few hours. The cheaper hotels were in the city but getting there was the problem. I contemplated for a few minutes and then decided I was going to back inside the airport because I had exited to find food. The immigration officer was perplexed that I wanted to go back in when my flight wasn't until the next morning. I explained to him my situation but he just seemed annoyed and told me everything was shut down. I begged him and I told him I had no where else to go and didn't feel safe out here. He called someone on the phone and said something in Dutch and then let me in. (Thank God). It is now past midnight. When I got in there I only saw a couple of people standing in front of the security checkpoint. They looked like they were in the same predicament. I walked past them to the corner were I found a couple of benches. It was in front of a store that was closed. I quickly made myself comfortable and got on Skype with my boo. Wifi ran out soon after lol it was only free for 30 minutes. I attempted to sleep but I couldn't because those people on the other side were so loud and I also still felt uneasy thinking that i could be robbed or murdered. Lol I dozed off here and there but I became wide awake at 5am when everyone started arriving and stores started opening. What a night! I was so tired but my flight wasn't until 10am. I didn't wanna go through security too early but It suddenly became too loud so I just got up, went through security and went to sit at my gate. It was so early that my flight information was not even on the monitor yet. All I was thinking in my head was that I am never ever ever going to book such a layover like this again. I think it would have been different had it been a city that I was not familiar with because then I would be willing to pay just to explore but since we had already seen Brussels it was not worth it for me. Chloe and Kofo had their layovers in Amsterdam. I believe Kofo's layover was 8 hours but Chloé's was 16 hours and she apparently went through the same situation. I think I would have lost it if I had to sit at Brussels airport for 16 hours. At least Amsterdam airport is bigger and doesn't completely shut down like Brussels airport. I flew back home on American Airlines. It was a very old aircraft as it had the big monitors at the front of the aisle for everyone to watch. The flight attendants had to manually put in DVDs to play movies for us. She kept replaying the same movie after it ended.
Thankfully, the movie was the last thing I was interested in so since the plane was empty I had the entire row to myself and slept like I hadn't slept all week. I couldn't wait to see my bed and sleep better.
Overal, It was a very fun and interesting tour. Lisbon was my favorite part of it all. Marrakech was my second favorite.
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