Marrakech

Our impromptu trip to Morocco started in Marrakech, and Marrakech is everything you imagine Morocco to be. It is noisy, colourful and chaotic. The aroma of spices fills the air and you are jostled by people, motorbikes and donkeys as you wind your way through the medina. The main square in town is a swarming mass of people. It is only as you immerse yourself into the swarm that you realise there are groups surrounding storytellers, snake charmers and performers of all types. We returned to the square a number of times, enthralled by the sight of Muslim belly dancers covered head to toe in black, with the traditional brightly coloured, jangly belly dancing costume over the top. The acrobats were also phenomenal to see and I'm sure if we spoke Arabic we would have happily listened to the stories being told. We were not quite so enamoured of the monkeys kept on chains, or the snakes which we assume must have been defanged.

From the chaotic streets we would enter a door and be transported to another place entirely. Many of the buildings are built around a central courtyard or garden, allowing you to be outside in completely peaceful surrounds. We visited a number of buildings, palaces from another era or schools no longer in use, and marvelled at the intricate plasterwork and mosaics. Interestingly the most beautiful parts of the buildings were often the ceilings and we now have permanent cricks in our necks.