Today, I flew to Marrakech for my short stay in the Moroccan city.
Travel to Marrakech.
My friend Lisa, with whom I went to Marrakech, arranged a lift to Corvera airport for us both, with her friend Archie. We met at the Buena Vista restaurant on the beach in Los Alcazares for a drink before we went. I walked to the restaurant and met Lisa and Archie at about 1 pm. We had a few drinks and then drove to Corvera airport, where Archie dropped off Lisa and me outside the departure hall.
We went through it and saw that the check-in desk wasn't open when we arrived. While we discussed getting a drink before the desk opened, we realised it didn't matter as we had already checked in online and only had carry-on baggage. We took the escalator up to the security desk and were quickly through security as we were the only people there. Once through, we sat at a table, got a coffee and shared a Subway sandwich. We sat there until the departure area opened and went through immigration to our gate.
We only had a short wait and were soon boarding the Ryanair flight to Marrakech and getting settled in our seats. I had upgraded my seat and was in the first seat through the door with plenty of legroom. We were soon in the air, and I began to read a story on my Kindle. The plane was soon leaving Spanish airspace, crossing over the Gibraltar Straits, leaving Europe and entering Morrocan airspace as we crossed North Africa. I glanced out of the plane window a few times as we flew towards Morocco to see the rugged scenery below us, and around 1 ½ hours after we took off, we were landing in Morocco.
Arrival in Marrakech.
When I got off the plane, I waited on the tarmac for Lisa, and we joined a packed bus to go to the arrivals hall at Marrakesh Menara Airport. A few planes landed at similar times, so it was pretty busy. Luckily for us, we were able to use the slightly shorter disabled queue, and after a short wait, we were soon seen at immigration, had our passports checked and were on our way through the airport to try to find our pre-booked ride to our Riad in Marrakech.
After visiting the restrooms, we went outside and quickly found our meeting spot, where a lady checked our details and called a driver to take us to a minibus. Once in the minibus, we left the airport and were driven into the Medina in Marrakech, where we were dropped off close to our Riad.
Riad El Filali.
The taxi driver made a call, and we were met by someone who showed us the way through a short alleyway to the Riad El Filali. It would have been a bit difficult to find on our own, and on the first look from the outside, it didn't look terrific, and both of us wondered where we had booked into for the next four nights.
We needn't have worried as the people who worked there showed us to a pretty courtyard next to a small splash pool to sign in. We completed the paperwork, had some tea and Moroccan biscuits, and were then shown our room, which was basic but had everything we needed. It was very nice. We settled into our room and then decided to look around.
On our way out, our hosts pointed us toward the local cafes and advised us about the area and what to expect. We walked up the alleyway the short distance past the Kissariat Mjadliato souk and the Islamic Zawiya of Sidi Bel Abbes religious complex. The complex is centred around the mausoleum of Abu al-Abbas as-Sabti (or Sidi Bel Abbes), a Sufi teacher who died in 1204. He is the most revered of the Seven Saints of Marrakesh, generally considered the city's patron saint. The zawiya's architecture dates partly to the late Saadian period in the early 17th century but has been modified and restored multiple times.
Once we left the religious complex, we walked past a few different cafes with many people shopping, talking, or just hanging around talking. After looking around for a short time, we went to the Marrakech Explorer Food Cafe. Unfortunately, as it was pretty late, some of the menu was unavailable, so we both decided to have some mint tea before returning to the Riad.
After drinking our tea, we retraced our steps back to our Riad and were soon back in our room. After a long day, I was asleep almost as soon as I got in bed.