Morocco Part 3: Can you tell me where I am?

One of my favorite things to do is people watch.  While we were waiting for our friend (little) Dave to mail a tagine back to the States, Emily, Dave, and I sat on the steps of the big post office on the Djemma and people watched.  In Morocco, all of the classes mix:  middle class with upper class with the very poor.  We saw a lot of different people - girls in Western clothing, women wearing burkas, and, my favorite, guys on bikes with trees.  

We spent the day exploring the souks following a walking tour from Lonely Planet.  We had tea at a "15th century Saadian showplace" called Dar Cherifa.  Again, the stonework and mosaics were amazing.  We also walked through the Dyer's Souk - where they make and dye yarn.  

Yarn drying in the sun 

 Eric finally showed up that night after a long delay.  He flew into Casablanca and was supposed to take the train to Marrakech.  Unfortunately, he stayed on the train too long and ended up somewhere else.  So, he had to backtrack and take another train to Marrakech.  We had no idea this was all happening until Eric (finally) turned on his cell phone.  Dave finally got hold of Eric and here's how the conversations went.

D: Eric where are you?
E:  I think I'm on the train to Marrakech.
D:  You think?!
E:  I'm not sure, and no one speaks English
(I get on the phone)
K:  OK find someone who will talk to you and our friend will speak to them in Darija (Moroccan Arabic).
E:  I'll try to find someone who speaks English first.
E:  (to someone sitting near him) Hi do you speak English?
Guy:  Yes
E:  Can you tell me where I am?

Stop for Tobaggans

Luckily, the guy Eric asks happens to be a Saudi Arabian dentist from London who is on holiday in Morocco.  They also fed him and told him where to get off, so Eric is quite lucky.  Unfortunately Eric's arrival time was at 12:30 a.m.  So, our awesome friend Mounir says he can drive us to the train station, gives us a tour of the new medina, takes us to his favorite cafe, hangs out with us for 3 hours until Eric's train arrives, and drives us back to the old medina to our riad.  Like I said, Mounir basically saved our friend Eric as there is no way that Eric could have found his way through the winding streets to our riad.  

The new medina is completely different than the old.  The new medina looks very new and basically could be in Las Vegas.  Mounir showed us the best hotel in Marrakech where the movie stars stay.  It costs about $2,000 a night!  The buildings and casinos were all huge with beautiful fountains in the front.  The old medina hasn't changed in hundreds of years so the contrast was very different.  

The Marrakech train station in the new medina

Eric finally arrived and we took him to the Djemma to drink fresh OJ and eat snails - two things his mom told him definitely not to do, so I really hope she doesn't read this!