The Good Life in Morocco

The Andalucian garden was beautiful, i felt like i was in Granada, strangely. This is what i love about Morocco it always offers you a different experience wherever you go and so varied. I noticed a number of beautiful doors. The museum has beautiful treasures from times gone by. The colours were very different from those in Marrakech and the gardens seemed more lush. This was the last of our sites before heading off down the coast to Azzemour . I loved Rabat and will definitely be back for longer with my husband who has never been, it was truly a wonderful city. I don't think many people realise what it has to offer. Historical sites, the coast, shopping and fabulous restaurants. It is a very noble city.

The wonderfully eclectic Villa Mandarin in Rabat. The bedrooms were comfortable and full of modern comforts including slippers. The most amazing thing was the wonderfully well established gardens. The service was impeccable and most of all friendly. The restaurant was also superb although a little pricey. After a longish day driving to Rabat, with stops. (Although this journey could be done in about 3 hours without stopping for a gastronomic sea food lunch) A hot shower, glass of wine and dinner was perfect in this lovely boutique hotel. The hotel is a crazy mix of Moroccan art, old pieces of furniture and vibrant colours. A floor tile design in the main bedroom area. Granny enjoying dinner in the cosy restaurant. The larger salon. The hotel was easy to get lost in at first as it's full of nooks and crannies, which is also part of it's charm. Each section of the hotel is very different to the next.

My parents have come to stay with us to get some sunshine. My father would only agree to come for a decent amount of time if i organised some trips. The morning after they arrived we set off to do a partial tour of the coast. We left Marrakech and took the new excellent motorway to Casablanca. At Casablanca we took the ring road and followed the coast road, which was very pretty to Rabat. En route we stopped at a restaurant and had a lovely fish lunch, after we walked for a bit and collected shells on the vast expanse of beach. I loved Rabat, i have not visited for 10 years and even then it was a drive through visit. It had a very different feel to Marrakech and felt very regal. It felt much more Andalusian which of course it is, but surprisingly so. The lovely river and hilly countryside added to the magic of the place. Below you can see a photo of the Chellah wall, one of the major historic sights. The Chellah is on top of the hill and freshwater springs flow out of the hill.

The first finishes have started at last. It seemed as if we were never going to get past the first stage of changing shapes, electrics, plumbing all of which seem to go on and on. There's so much stopping and starting because of religious festivals. The first marble has gone in! It has gone into the down stairs suite. We are only buying Moroccan Marble not imported. We are trying to support the local industries as much as possible. We have two bathrooms with baths and this is one of them. It has two little marble seats in it so that one can relax in the essence of Jasmin, sipping a glass of wine after a hard days shopping in the souk. I'm rather pleased with the outcome as you never know if you are going to be happy with the work done. Marcus is now watching everything like a hawk so that it's done correctly, i think this is the only way to try and get your finishes to an acceptable standard, which believe me is incredibly hard. Luckily Marcus is a perfectionist so i kn

The family went to help Ahmed with his olive harvest. Ahmed has become a great friend and has helped us enormously with organising the riad work and helping us to find materials. I loved the olive harvest there was a real sense of community and it reminded me of something we so often forget. Just helping each other out. You can get so caught up in the daily grind of life and getting things done. I had a real moment when i stood up and looking around at the beautiful ancient olive trees, I thought this is the lifestyle change i was after and this is the sort of integration with the Moroccan country folk that is so important. It's so easy to swan in here buy a lovely villa eat at lovely restaurants and actually have little to do with the Moroccan culture and way of life. I recommend olive harvest to everyone who needs to re-generate their energy, feel a sense of harmony and occomplishment and to bond once more with the earth. Enough of the hippy lecture! We also collected

Well everyone has been working their socks off, but still progress is slow. A new plaster man has started and is starting to finish off the shapes in the riad ready for tadelakt, so it is just starting to look a bit neater. Below are some of the great Moroccan architectural styles. These photos are of ceiling shapes, mainly in the bathrooms. The photo on the far right is the ceiling in the master suite bathroom. The gorgeous little arch is the entrance to the grand domed shower. You can see far right the beginning of a plaster dome. Everything is done by hand with very few tools available. A tape measure is a rare commodity!

Technorati Profile

Wow a new vaulted ceiling in the hall! Halid is a clever man thank god we managed to find him. The hall now has three vaulted sections each which will have a beautiful hanging Moroccan light. It's gradually taking shape, thank god for Marcus and his clever design.

What a fabulous spot for sunday lunch, the Relais du Lac at the Barrage. Only 30 minutes from Marrakech , on a balmy November day this really is the place to eat. A set menu consisting of a delicious salad, warm bread cooked on site in a kiln clay oven followed by vegetable tagine and barbequed meat. The crowning glory has to be the heavy berber cake pudding with a glass of mint tea, just what you need to send you straight into siesta mode! The lake is at the edge of the atlas, during winter giving stunning views of the huge mountains covered in snow. The water was incredibly low, but you always get this at the end of the summer, before it fills up again from the mountain snow. We had very little rain this year too.

Choosing moroccan tiles for the riad , not an easy task as there is soooooooo much inspiration. The problem being that there is so much to choose from regarding textiles, tiles, lanterns etc. You have to be careful as if you have it all no one thing looks very special, mind you i'm all for the eclectic look. The Bejmat are the clay fired tiles they come in all shapes. I like the square ones the best. The pictures above show the glazed bejmat tiles, which are nice in that they always look shiny. The clay tiles however look for authentic. Dear oh dear my heads spinning from looking at them all, what i love in isolation may not be what i love in contrast!

What fun we all had at the Halloween Birthday party, still warm in Marrakech . Lots of princesses , ghouls and witches. The games were fantastic and we all joined in. Marcus in a deep building discussion with Aisha. She's from New Zealand and is about to start building a yoga centre. Wrapping the mummy game with toilet paper. The pumpkin full of sweets gets a whack as they all take it in turns trying to split it open. At last the birthday boy splits open the pumpkin, the sweets spray out and there's a mad dash to get as many as you can. Hoolahoop pumpkins - not as easy as it seems. The pumpkin's a bit shocked that we managed to get a hoop over. Bobbing for apples!

I love the Palmeraie in Marrakech , it's so pretty with its date palms and no matter how many villas they seem to build they are well hidden in the palm grove. When you drive through on the little windy road you always get a feeling that you really are in an exotic land. I adore camels, they are superior, full of attitude and soooo pretty with their long eye lashes to keep the sand out. There is nothing more snugly than wrapping your bare feet around a camel's warm, soft, downy tummy in the cold morning waiting for the sun to come up.

Well I have just returned from a trip to Casablanca, very short i'm afraid, it would have been nice to go shopping , but i was there to go to the British Embassy. I liked Casablanca what i saw of it and will definitely be going back to shop for the riad . The new motor way from Marrakech was amazing, mainly because it was nearly empty and new. It took only 2 hours to cover alot of kilometers. I went with Sana which was very helpful as she used to live there and could direct me around the big city. She kept saying to me 'have you seen the big mosque? its the biggest in Africa you know' to be honest i didn't take much notice, i was thinking i've seen mosques what's the big deal. As we turned the corner i could not believe my eyes, it was the most amazing thing i've seen as amazing at the Vatican in Rome. I was totally blown away and will definitely be back to have a look round. The photos don't really do it justice, it was gob smackingly big.

This special device is found in most Moroccan homes. As your guests enter your house, you hand them the soap. You then pour water over their hands over the bowl at the bottom and then hand them a towel . This is customary in Morocco.

Elaine our neighbour has just drawn and painted my daughter three Dora pictures for her princess bedroom, because she knew how hard it is to get children's art and posters out here. Aren't they nice. Thank you Elaine!

Above you can see an example of a Tkchita , this is a special dress for special occasions , weddings etc, usually very ornate and worn with a thick tight belt round the middle. All Moroccans have a Tkchita . Sana wanted to show you examples of Moroccan dress. The photo above is a Djeleba worn by women and men over their clothes. They come in all sorts of beautiful colours and the embroidery and thread work on them is stunning. The women's hoods often have a tassel whereas the men's Djelebas are more simple but still stunning, especially in winter when they all look very smart in gorgeous colours.