A Visit to the Bahia Palace and Shopping in the Souks

Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Today was no joke, so pull up a mint tea, cappuccino or your favorite adult beverage as we have a lot to cover in this post.

Every day of an adventure begins with a good breakfast.

Our hotel & spa did not fail us!

It was all DELICIOUS and definitely from the local taste palate.

Just outside of our room's door

Our funky room key

Around the corner from our

hotel & spa

A new door can really spruce up

your home's entryway

Jewish Synagogue this way

Cats everywhere we looked today

Let the assault on all of

our senses begin

Our first stop of the day

The 19th-century Bahia Palace, literally meaning "The Palace of the Beautiful," was constructed by two grand viziers, Si Moussa, vizier of Sultan Sidi Mohammed ben Abderrahman, and his son Ba Ahmed, vizier of Moulay Abdelaziz.

The palace covers 20 acres and has 150 rooms but only a small portion are open to the public.

Proper palace lighting

is a MUST!

Ornate is a good adjective

Intricate carvings

Beautiful painted ceilings abounded

She still lights up a room

I am just enthralled by

Moorish architecture

Another painted ceiling . . .

. . . and another

No need to light up this

fireplace today, it was warm

Lovely

Colorful mosaics and . . .

. . . yet another ceiling . . .

. . . followed by another one

A fine entry hall

We found two rooms filled with the

work of contemporary weavers

Every arch a masterpiece

The Courtyard of Honor

A doorway facing the Courtyard of Honor

It was a beautiful day in Marrakech

A palace can never have enough fountains

WOW!

Laurie in the pottery hall

I liked the orange one

"Little Miss Hardware" Laurie

liked this locking bolt

An ornate tajine vessel perhaps

More painted ceilings . . .

. . . more decorated walls . . .

. . . more and more . . .

. . . painted ceilings and . . .

. . . two happy tourists getting

ready to move on after a good visit

Next up, the slow walk through the Souks area that would afford us ample opportunities to shop, dine and see wonderful things.

The doorway to a restaurant

that we would visit in the evening

Laurie on the hunt for a jar of

mysterious Argan Oil

Apparently, it is a good cosmetic additive for both for the health of one's skin and hair.

Spices can be found all throughout

the Souks which, as it turns out,

is MUCH bigger than anticipated

This friendly artisan was making

beautiful necklaces

While I inspected the ceramics . . .

. . . Laurie and the artisan connected

So much for the kids inheritance fund. 

I was still into the ceramics when

the new necklace story broke on CNN

Herbalist concoction at work

Tajine vessels make nice souvenirs

Just a random building

Nice doorways can be

found in the Souks

I began to feel weary

His name is Ali, he sells shoes,

her name is Laurie, she buys shoes

My name is George, I buy shoes for Laurie.

Ali was happy to sell us each

a pair of Moroccan leather slippers

Ali was quite the salesman.

"For a special friend of Rick's, we have a special price."

Herbalists thrive in the Souks

 

Close quarters in the Souks

are often shared with motorcycles

WALK ON THE RIGHT!

Just a cool dude

This Moroccan pastry shop was closed

DAMN!

Talk about a colorfully dressed merchant!

One can find so many incredible

items for sale in the Souks

Mini-mirrors

We arrived at the Jemma el Fna

We came from the South of this square where we dined last night to find it completely changed.

Instead of seemingly hundreds of vendors hawking their delicious food choices, today we found acrobats, porters, musicians, fortune tellers, henna artists and even a snake charmer.

Fortunately on this warm day, all of the juice vendors from last night were still at work. A large juice of your choice sold for only 20 Moroccan dirhams, about $2 USD.

He was my Go-To Guy for an OJ

That's the snake charmer!

Take a listen

"Home of Ali baba and the 40 Baskets"

Porters were all over the square

Taxis drop off visitors in the square looking for their accommodations as the Souks' streets are way too narrow for cars.

Then porters from the various hotels in the Souks load up the tourist's luggage in a cart like this one with the hotel's name clearly marked in both Arabic on one side and more familiar to us script on the other.

Once the visitor and the correct cart make connection, the porter will guide Marrakech's newest guests to their hotel as he pushes his cart through the tiny Souks alleyways.

A good system for everyone involved.

We needed a coffee break with a view.

The Café de France on

Jemma el Fna got the nod

A good call all the way around

that included . . .

. . . acrobats . . .

. . . and views of the locals . . .

. . . in their traditional . . .

. . . and colorful clothes

A Henna artist hard at work

Did I mention that they sell

ceramics in Marrakech?

More tea sets for us to admire

Ceramics, fried fruits and nuts are

the Trifecta in the Kasbah

 

The Souks never ends

More ceramics with . . .

. . . a more modern look

Just hanging out by the local

shoe store

HERE WE GO AGAIN!

Competition is a good thing

You know that the shoes in the

Souks tend to be colorful, right?

She just never tires

Of course, I never tire of

looking at Moroccan pastries

SOLD!

I wonder if the Mariners need

any new footballs

Common knowledge dictates that you

have to look good to sell rugs in

the Souks

Again with the ceramics

A curved dagger could

be a good investment

The powders below will become

soaps at some point

Another Herbalist's shop

Nice shop sign

A fancy rug shop entrance

What else, ceramics

Which one has a genie?

We stumbled upon a square . . .

. . . selling I don't know what?

These I liked

Relentless

He sells cigarettes only by the

pack or by a single cigarette

GEAT head scarves!

Shoes everywhere we looked

Stop . . .

. . . the . . .

. . . Souks . . .

. . . madness, PLEASE!

Too quiet for our tastes . . .

. . . this busier alleyway was more

to our liking

Ornate saddles for a horse

or perhaps a camel

Food was a good idea but we

both wanted a place to sit and eat

Of course we can still shop

before finding a spot for a late lunch

Tassels are a big commodity in Marrakech

Now THAT'S one fancy outfit!

A creative shoe display

Back on Jemma el Fna, the daytime

stalls had cleared out

We found a ringside table at the 7 Saints Café for that late lunch we wanted.

It even came with . . .

. . . the acrobats we saw earlier today

This trio of acrobats put on

a good show again

We both ordered a Sprite but . . .

. . . mine said this in Arabic

It said Sprite on the other side.

A beef tajine for Laurie and

a chicken tajine for me -- DELICIOUS!

About to climb onto one of her . . .

. . . family's two Moroccan vans

The Night Market workers starting

to haul their stalls back into place

A Marrakech City Government Office

You just don't see animal

pelts like these in the USA

Motorcycle mayhem in the Souks

Henna art is big in the Kasbah

What a door!

Moroccan soccer enthusiasts graffiti

Restaurant doorman

You need to look up in the Souks too

Well displayed textiles

Another awe inspiring door

Now, this was different

This was indeed a sugar cane

inspired juice infused with ginger

and lemon

Cats and herbs go together

Laurie finally found

the Argan Oil she desired

Great looking herb bins

The horse drawn carriages

were tempting but no

Interesting, olive paste I think

A jewelry store that Laurie

somehow missed

Drinks here tonight

Nice optician's sign

Laurie at our hotel & spa door

After a busy day, we opted to rest up for a couple of hours before heading out again.

Not hungry, we decided to just stop in at a restaurant for some drinks that we had seen next to the Bahia Palace where we started our day.

A fountain in the entryway

was de rigueur

Our view of the restaurant

The restaurant's view of us

Casablanca beer is tasty

A Berber rifle used by local tribesmen

Our watering hole's fine decor

Here came the floor show

A traditional rendition of this

Moroccan Top 40 hit song

Outside of our restaurant's hallway

laid incredible adventure or . . .

. . . an ice cream

Our choice didn't surprise you, did it?

Our waiter told us that they had all three ice cream flavors, i.e., strawberry, chocolate and vanilla.

We readily decided to share a three scoop combo with one scoop of each flavor.

FANTASTIC!

A solid day of shopping made

for a good step count

The Adventure will continue on Wednesday.

Stay tuned . . .