INDEX travel
and turning wood by hand in cramped workshops. The traders are seasoned salesmen, calling and beckoning, “it’s free, it’s free, yes, looking is free”. Expect to be pounced upon for merely glancing. At the sight of us they called out, “fish and chips” and, “have a shufty at
this”, dashing our hopes of appearing as anything other than the pale Brits we were. Our guide, Haffid, advised us to expect to haggle starting prices down by a third, and of course we practised walking away in anticipation of being called back to seal a deal. We walked through the Place Djemaa el Fna, the busiest square in Africa, which by night becomes a circus of snake charmers, storytellers, water sellers, teeth pullers and musicians. It’s not to everyone’s taste (Djemaa is the location of Café Argana, whose recent bombing was dismissed by our guide as having been, “a mistake”), but the square is visited as much by Moroccans as tourists – families congregate for dinner at the many food stalls, barbecue smoke billowing out
over the milling crowds. It’s a good option for an inexpensive meal and some interesting entertainment – expect to pay to take photos. We had cous cous as it was Friday, the day on which most Moroccans eat this national dish. At the other end of the
eatery scale, Marrakesh has many über-cool restaurants to offer; the theme: a canopy of rooftop terraces overlooking a low-rise skyline punctuated by mosque minarets, the Atlas mountains in the distance. Add to this contemporary Moroccan
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decor, ambient jazz, terracotta walls and whispering bamboo. We lunched at Terrasse des Épices (www.terrassedes
epices.com), with humidifying water mists spraying into each booth. Marinated chicken and sautéed veg, plus rustic bread dipped into olive tapenade, were delicious. Dinner at La Foundouk (
www.foundouk. com), after freshening our hands with orange flower water, was a sumptuous selection of seven (cooked) salads followed by pastilla, a traditional ceremonial dish of filo pastry
21
The INDEX magazine october 2011
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