the riad kniza

so we walked from the closest gate in the wall of the Medina down a busy street with spice vendors and fruit and produce carts and eventually turned down an small lane and around a corner to an almost unmarked door... the Riad Kniza will be our home for the next two nights-

it is a stunning old courtyard home converted into a lovely small luxury hotel -

the bed in my room - LOL - quite Hollywood-like- LOL

the key - the hand of Hamsa or if you are muslim - the hand of Fatima...

in the evening a lute player serenaded the courtyard and the diners arriving from outside the hotel- the restaurant had every table filled for the set menu of typical Moroccan fare-

each place setting was like mine (shown below)

a wonderful soup starter-

the chicken b'stilla dish with the strange (to us) combo of meat/savory and powdered sugar and cinnamon...

the Moroccan salad course- even more elaborate than others we had along the way-

the chicken tagine-

and a lovely pastry dessert- with dates and oranges

it was a truly lovely meal which I had only a small taste of due to some 24 hour bug I had come down with starting this morning - it was literally over exactly 24 hours later but meanwhile I missed most of this meal but the photographs show it well and also show why I was sorry not to be able to enjoy it... I took a couple of pieces of bread with me in case I got hungry overnight but as I said by the time I got up the next morning (having sent GA on her way with Aziz in the early morning to the Bahia Palace) I was fine... alas when traveling, you deal with what comes up and move on... so I did.  and so next post will be our day in Marrakech in the souks!

come on back to see many colorful photos.... of various craftsmen at work and their wares for sale... fun day!

we move to the palace

so we had a great lunch in Rabat along the River - a fish place where we both enjoyed our meal... then it was on to Fes...

we arrived late afternoon to our new hotel- the Palais Faraj and yes it is a palace! we both have "junior suites" which are lovely... the whole place is astounding - all Moroccan architecture and detailed tile work- really amazingly beautiful!

we make ourselves at home because we are here for the next three nights!

Georgia's bedroom-

mine-  and the remainder of the suite I occupy:

the full bath-

the half bath-

my living area-

the public spaces-

this will be our longest stay at any of the hotels so a chance for laundry and unpacking and reorganizing... tomorrow we head into the Medina and back in time - no cars, no scooters or motorcycles... donkeys ferry goods and people use their feet to get around.  But before we head there we stop at the Mellah (Jewish Quarter) to visit a Jewish Cemetery and Synagogue as well as the commercial area... lots to see and tons of photos so I think the Medina will be a multi post visit--- come on back -