Days 8 and 9 - Dar Ahlam, Marrakech and Barcelona

All,

My last post left off after the camel ride.  I can assure you I am still alive.  Once we got back to Dar Ahlam, there were some guests that arrived during our absence from Brazil.  They were a group of friends traveling together, so we sat and chatted and looked at each other's pictures until dinner was ready. 

Dinner on Thursday was another spectacular display of Chef Mohammed's talents.   I must once again emphasize his spectacular talents.  Lunch on Thursday consisted of a tomato salad with vinaigrette with pistachio nuts.  The pistachio added a totally different flavor to the tomatoes.  At dinner, the appetizer was a gazpacho with a citrus flavor.  The main course was chicken breast in this fantastic sauce which tasted slightly of dates.  The chicken was served on a bed of golden raisins.  I don't know where these carrots that they serve grow, but once again he outdid himself.  We relaxed for the rest of the evening and went to bed at a reasonable time since we had an early pick up the next morning.

We had a light continental breakfast before we left and the General Manager woke up early so he could wish us a fond farewell.  He works for Maison des Reves and they are building 3 smaller Kasbahs in Southern Morocco and give the guests the experience of all the elements that are found in the south of the country.  In Skoura, the people are for the most part "Berber" and their culture is different from the Arabic one.  It should take a couple of years to finish and they will structure a 7 day experience among the various properties to give the visitor a taste of everything that is representative of the culture in southern Morocco.

Mustafa was on time to pick us up and off we went on our journey back to Marrakech.  The drive was uneventful, other than the fact that we stopped to get some Argan oil.  Argan oil supposedly cures all ills just like white rum in Jamaica.  You get the drift.  Mustafa drove much more quickly this time and we got to the airport with plenty of time to spare before our flight.  The airport was not very busy and we walked around and got some souvenirs and proceeded to the gate until our flight was called.

In spite of my one nightmare night, Morocco is a beautiful country.  What would travel be without some hiccups?  Every inconvenience was worth it to experience Dar Ahlam.  The only thing I am sorry we did not get to experience were the bomb making schools.  Got yah!!!  I am kidding.  The people in southern Morocco love Americans but since we identified ourselves as Jamaicans everywhere we went, I cannot tell you how deep that love may in fact be (lol).  Everybody knows Bob Marley.  I mean everyone.  In fact in one place that we went, we were trying to bargain the price down and told the man that we were from Jamaica, not America, as he initially guessed, he said with a cheeky laugh, "yes, you poor coming from Jamaica."  What bloody cheek?  However, we got the things for a much reduced price so I was not going to let his impression insult me. 

With heavy hearts, we boarded the flight to Barcelona and just like that, that particular dream ended.  However, I am hopeful for all the dreams not yet fulfilled and even more interesting will be the dreams that are fulfilled that I did not even know that I had.  Those are sometimes the best kind.

When we arrived in Barcelona, things ran smoothly and we picked up our luggage from the hotel we stayed at last week and proceeded to our hotel for two nights in the center of the city.  When we arrived, I was so excited because of the premiere location, which is right of Passeig de Gracia and one block from Las Ramblas.

Last night we were tired so we had dinner in the hotel, only to find out later on when we went to get some money from the ATM, that our favorite tapas place was at the end of the block.  Ay Yay Yay!!!  The meal was uninspiring but I guess anything would have been, when compared to Mohammed's cooking.

We took our showers, in fact I had a bath, and we went to bed after midnight. 

This morning, I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed as today was a "Gaudi" day.  We spent the morning walking around Park Guell, which is a beautiful park created by Gaudi in the hills of Barcelona and which has a wonderful view of the city.  It was originally conceived as a "perfect community" but only a small handful of structures were completed.  It is absolutely beautiful and definitely worth the time.

I have to get away from Marcia as she keeps making me buy things that I don't need.  I casually mentioned  that a bright colored wind chime, hanging in one of the shops, was in the colors of my home and the next thing I knew, I was buying a set of wind chimes for my backyard.  I hate wind chimes but this shows you the power of suggestion. 

We stayed for a couple of hours and then took the bus back to the hotel because we wanted Marcia to experience the fantastic tapas at Cuitat Contal.  If you are ever in Barcelona, this has to be on your list of tapas restaurants.  We had a wonderful lunch which included potato bravas which are fried potatoes with a garlic aioli and a red spicy sauce.  Absolutely delicious.  After our delightful meal it was on to the Sagrada Familia.

We had booked a "Skip the Line" tour to see this structure.  This was Gaudi's most ambitious project and he spent 40 years of his life designing and overseeing the building of this structure.  It is reminiscent of a massive sand castle and it is awesome to see up close.  You know I hate the word WOW, but honestly, that was my first reaction.  Unfortunately, Gaudi  died after only completing one façade and two spires.  The Basilica has been under construction since 1882 and it is expected to be completed around 2030.  Yeah, right!!!  These Spanish people are trifling.  This is a national treasure for heaven's sake and should have been finished eons ago.  Our guy said that the Spanish Civil War interrupted its progress.  Come on, the war lasted for three years, over 70 years ago.  Let's get this show on the road and get this structure finished.

As overwhelmed as I was by the outside, the interior was very underwhelming.  There were some great architectural elements, but I could not believe my eyes when I saw folding chairs fill almost the whole seated section.  I was just not ready for that emotionally and it totally threw me off guard.  I felt like I was back at Meadowbrook Preparatory School in Kingston, Jamaica.  However, the afternoon sun shining against the stained glass windows cast a beautiful glow on the interior.  I felt a little let down.  You finally get the date with this hot guy and then you go on the date with great promise and he is an airhead.  Beautiful façade, but lacking depth.  Anyway, that was crossed off my bucket list.  I know for sure that it will not be finished prior to my demise (lol).

After leaving the Basilica, we proceeded to some shops right next door run by East Indians who were selling all kinds of souvenirs.  There was some wicked reggae music playing like Sean Paul and other current artists.  Another scene reminiscent of Jamaica, as the Indians control all the duty free shops.   They were friendly, especially when they heard we were from Jamaica so we spent some time there bartering and bargaining and picked up a couple of souvenirs.

After a full day of sightseeing we took a cab back to the hotel, where I am currently writing this to you.  We are off to explore Las Ramblas shortly and see if we can find some dinner and walk around and enjoy the sights and smells of the city.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.  Will write again tomorrow.  I think we are going to do one more Gaudi structure, Casa Mila aka La Pedrera.  The man was a genius but also a raving lunatic to have all these designs running around in his head.  

 

Besos,

 

Liz