We start out around 9:00am, after breakfast and go to Hassan II Mosque. This is the second largest Mosque in the World. Second only to Mecca. It is absolutely stunning. The workmanship on the carvings and mosaics are breath taking. As we are walking down the stairs that lead to the mosque, my left ankle decides to give out. As I was stepping down, the foot stayed on the step and the ankle went to the step below. Can you say Hyper-extension? I saw stars. I couldn’t move for a solid minute and then it was very gingerly. Afterwards, Chris and Ryan say it was great because it slowed me down to their pace. And it leads us to the name of this trip. From here out, at every uneven surface, Ahmed would say, “Watch your step Madam” I’m not a klutz. I just have bad ankles. Ok, maybe I’m a little bit of a klutz but that wasn’t the issue here.
So off we drive, heading to Marrakech. A quick pit stop for a snack and to grab a cold soda to hold against my ankle and hit the road again. We do a quick overview of Marrakesh to get an overview of the city and then we head to our Riad. Riads are the Moroccan equivalent of a B&B. To be a true riad it is supposed to have a fountain in the center courtyard; A little oasis to escape the busy day. We drive through tiny streets and eventually stop at a spot that definitely does not look like anywhere you’d want to stay. After unloading the van we start walking down a little alley way to a big wooden door. It’s opened by a young woman named Miriam who shows us to a very pretty courtyard where we are led to an alcove filled with pillows. As we fill in the registration, we are brought mint tea. Very hot, very sweet and very good. Ahmed arranges with Miriam for a typical Moroccan dinner to be served at 8pm that night. We are staying her for four nights so we unpack a little and takes a nap before Ahmed returns at 5pm to take us on a horse drawn carriage tour of the Medina. Medina means old town and it is usually protected by a large wall. We go around the city seeing the highlights and where we will see in more detail in the coming days. We slowly clop out of the densely populated area to a large garden area where there are … Camels. We get a chance to ride around the gardens for 30 minutes. And here is the value of wearing a long skirt, not a short one. Up on the camels we go and while its not as smooth as riding a horse it really wasn’t too bad. We head back to our riad and dinner is ready on the roof top patio. Besides the typical Moroccan salad; small dishes of Sugar Beets, Olives, Eggplant and Tomatoes, we get a delicious beef or lamb tagine. We were never really sure which it was but it was yummy! By the time dinner is finished, it’s around 10pm and we’re beat. Off to sleep so we can hit the ground running , or in my case hobbling.