The Riad we are staying is is again highly decorated but on a lot less grander scale than last nights.
Our guide was a very knowledgeable and modern local woman who showed us the main sights of the city. Doorways are a feature and will also be a feature in my next book.
Fortified walls and gateways into the medina.
Orson Wells Square, Othello was filmed here.
The Port where the daily catch of huge amounts of sardines are brought for sale to marketstall vendors. The fishermen keep some for themselves and give some to the needy before heading home. Women accepting charity keep their faces covered to hide their identity.
Well fed, massive seagulls fly overhead.
Boat building and repair work is also done at the port.
The fort at the edge of the port protects the city from invasion and provides great views back across town. The inner circle where the cannons were fired from is built over a hollow cavern. This creates an echoing cave which serves to amplify the sound of the cannons and thus scare off the enemy.
Small rocky outcrops in the sea are the sites of a former prison and a quarantine station used during the plague. And that's why there are so many cats in town.
Wandering through the maze of alleyways in the medina. Lots of shops with tempting items to buy: leatherwork, textiles, jewellery, the pottery etc.
And the regular local market area for foods, spices, olives, meats, fruits and fish. Many displayed in tagine shapes.
The tour ended at the silverware cooperative where us girls had a bit of a spending spree. Then it was free time to explore the city on our own. Uta and Diamond got henna tattoos, the crusty top bits come off after 30 minutes.
Kim and I took some time out of the medina in a gorgeous upmarket riad with speccy views across the city from the terrace.
We finished the day by meeting up with most of our group for sunset drinks on the rooftop of the bar before heading our own ways for dinner.
Jaimie, Catherine, Leiza, Kim, Jonathan, Mike and Meredith.
Morrocan sweets, very sugary.
Essoaura is a very relaxed place as we were promised. I expected to be hassled by stall keepers to come in and buy goods, but this hardly happened at all and a firm no thanks was all that was needed to shake the pestering ones off. There are a few ruses to get you into their shop; one that was tried on me was to help a local 'write a letter to his friend in London' which we had been pre warned about. Lots of try hard 'rastas' in town attempting to entertain with poor juggling, music and art skills. Sophie in our group recognised one if these guys from her school days in Sydney. Tomorrow we have some more time to explore before heading back to Marrakech on the local bus.
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