Marrakeshing

Bahia Palace

Marjorelle Gardens

Marjorelle Gardens

Cafe Arabe

El Baddi Palace

El Baddi Palace

Ben Youssef Madrasa

Marjorelle Gardens

Marjorelle Gardens

Ben Youssef Madrasa

Bahia Palace

Vegetable Tagine, at Le Foundouk

Coffee at Le Foundouk

Carts near the Jemma El Fnaa

Dar Si Said, secret concubine courtyard

Dar Rocmarra

Bahia Palace

So we spent our honeymoon (or mini-moon if things go to plan in 2013...) in Marrakesh.  I think there is a well worn track in Marrakesh, but it was our first time and we enjoyed exploring. We mainly stayed in and around the medina mooching about during the day and eating fabulous food and drink at night. Here is our top ten in no particular order. 

The guide books tended to down play El Badi Palace but we loved it. It's a vast terracotta 16th century palace. Four sunken gardens, with orange and fig trees and you could imagine how opulent it would have been. It reminded me a bit of the Alhambra and I read later that it had been built in the same style and was influenced by the same Andalusian architecture. There are also around 50 storks that sit on huge nests in the old battlements. You can get really elegant views of them flying past from the roof terrace at Kosybar.

Al Fassia A women's collective that serves the best quality food we had in Marrakesh in fact some of the best food we've had anywhere. Chicken with olives and preserved lemons was caramelised savoury and delicious. Pancakes with butter and honey for dessert were generous and hearty. People were being turned away when we were there so worth booking.

Islamic Architecture and Art.  You can be wandering around a street and see an intricately carved archway or door handle. More specifically you can visit Ben Youssef Madrassa with cedar and marble inscriptions and geometric inscriptions, the Bahia Palace inlaid gilded ceilings and stucco carving or the Katoubia Minbar at the El Badia Palace.             

Dar Si Said is an arts museum with historic and some contemporary Moroccan art full of intricate Byzantine designs and colours.  The building itself is stunning with the kind of decoration you hope to see in Marrakesh.  Best of all the attendant took us through to a closed of bit of the museum to see the exquisite courtyard that was kept for the concubines! 

Pepe Nero Delicious, beautifully presented Italian and Moroccan food served in a pretty romantic garden.  Kind, attentive service and they spoilt us because we were on honeymoon, with a delicious chocolate and hazelnut cake.

The Photography Museum - is as much a museum about the social history of Morocco as a gallery of photographic styles.  The riad itself is beautiful and calm with a very simple cafe on the roof with fantastic views of the city.  Well worth switching to hibiscus tea from mint tea.

Majorelle Gardens. As a young girl obsessed with Elle Decoration I can remember reading about the Majorelle Gardens established by french artist Jacque Majorelle in the 1920s and the bought and restored by Yves St Laurent in the 1980's who's ashes were scattered here after his death.  The garden is landscaped and largely full of cactus and succulents with fountains and little pools of water with turtles and species of brightly coloured birds.   Stunning blocks of blue, yellow, green and terracotta.  The Husband's favourite place in Marrakesh.

Medallion wine.  Surprisingly good and they sell by the mini bottle which is good as booze isn't that cheap in Marrakesh.

Getting Lost. Streets aren't well sign posted in the old town and they are a bit "blocky" and higgldey piggldey, and to the unfamiliar eye look quite similar - more so than other places I've travelled to.  However getting lost is part of the fun and you'll find things you never expected that way.  If worse comes to work you give someone 5 dirhams they'll put you back on the right track. We also ended up with a friendly taxi driver based around Dar el Bacha who was happy to pick us where ever we were in the city if we called and did not over charge us - very lucky as we inadvertently hustled him on price the first time we met!

Dar Rocmarra is in the nicest part of the Medina a 10 minute walk from Jemaa El Fnaa but not in the middle of the bustle and chaos.  Jamila the manageress is always on hand, friendly but without ever being intrusive.  Nothing is ever too much trouble and her cooking is sensational.  We stayed in the suite and it was so pretty, welcoming and romantic. Highly recommended (and far far nicer than another riad we stayed in on the same road which has a better Tripadvisor rating but unquestionably a much worse everything else).

Oh lets make it 11. The colour Majorelle Blue. I love Majorelle Blue.

Midcentury Modern and 2 London Stations

After many years and a long standing obsession with Elle Decoration I think I know my aesthetic quite well. It is quite classic and pretty and ethnic. A bit Toast Catalogue, a bit Bodie and Fou.  The Boyfriend's taste on the other hand is much more easily defined as mid century modern. Although our tastes are on a spectrum they converge more than we would guess.  

We're only just bringing our tastes together in the new flat but think this is all to the good.  Not too greige or pretty; not to clinical or hipster.

We need (ahem, if "need" is an acceptable synonym for "want") a nice cabinet to store lovely ceramic things in our dining room. We've had a look in some of our favourite shops but not had much luck so far.  From left field we both really liked a vivid blue 1940's Indian cabinet in this shop on Cross Street in Islington. 

The Boyfriend spotted it from the bus and we ended up turning around  and going back on a whim. We were both taken back by how  much we loved the cabinet, however it had already sold.   We also found some very nice things at the Peanut Vendor and  2 Columbia Road but nothing that was just right.  By the way it was raining the day we went to Columbia road, which is my top tip for avoiding being over run by the crowds.    

So the hunt goes on and today we searched at the Midcentury Modern event at Dulwich College.  Still haven't found what we're looking for but here are some of my favourite things we saw today:

Enamel jug, Jens Quistgaard, Dansk

Trinidad dining chairs, Nanna Ditzel, Fredericia Stolefabrik

(Um!) Georgeous suede sofa

Brazilian asymetric desk Jeorge Zalszupin

We were mainly browsing but came away with the plates at the beginning of the post from a new designer called Helen Stevens. Apart from the ceramics being beautiful, Helen came across really well and apparently she's being considered for a concession at Liberty at the moment.

I should also say that Dulwich College had the **actual** James Caird on display much to the Boyfriend's excitement.

We came home via Brixton station and I saw these Bronze figures for the first time. According to the authoratiative Urban 75 blog the bronzes have been there since 1986 and they were based on locals who used the station regularly at the time.  I love the way the figures like people frozen in time, it really appears like they are staring at you its almost slightly sinister and provocative. Culturally its significant as a cast of "real people" and "real black people" too. 

We also had to collect some tickets at Kings Cross and checked out the new concourse at the same time.  It is beautiful, if you can say that about a station concourse? The structure is designed around a kind of trunk which branches off in lots of directions in a glass lattice structure to avoid placing weight on the ticket office underneath. Kings Cross has really regenerated in the last 10 years or so and I think the latest addition is great.  It is going to become iconic.

Open House Part 2: Green Lanes (and not so green lanes, streets and buildings)

For the second day of open house we went to a disused Edwardian butchers in Holloway. This is its original tiled floor and a frieze of cows and sheep on Hampstead Heath from one of the counters.

 The butchers is very well preserved with a mahogany serving kiosk and even some of the original machinery and meat hooks. It is clearly a labour of love for the owner who lives in the basement below which used to be the butchers ice-cellar. He said he is planning to turn the butchers into a coffee shop in a few years time. 


I love these art deco tiles.

Next we met the lovely ladies of the Hornsey historical society who were extremely knowledgeable about local history. We then wenton to a contemporary conversion on the other side of Harringay Station. 

The flat we're hoping to buy is quite modern so we're always looking for style ideas.  The flat was more The Boyfriend's taste than mine but I liked the concertina doors to the garden and the glass paneling everywhere which kept it light and bright even on a cloudy day like today. I also liked the bright pops of colour which made it seem homely.

The last stop off of the day was the Green Lanes festival for some fantastic Turkish food, swing dancing to jazz bands in the rain and a few drinks in the beautiful and friendly Salisbury Hotel. A good day.

Open House Part 1: You Spin me Right Round Baby

Open House weekend has been fantastic this year.  It didn't start well.  The Boyfriend and I were tired and bickering so grumpily rode the lift up the BT Tower. The lights in the lift flashed and it was announced that we were travelling at 1400 feet per second as our ears popped.

As the doors opened the view was instantly amazing.  There are 360 degree views of London through huge floor to ceiling windows. You can just about feel a slight pulse as the whole space slowly rotates. Occasionally the pulse becomes a jerk that would make you fall over it you walked in the opposite direction.
One of the guides said that when the top of the BT Tower was a restaurant the waiters and waitresses would find it difficult to give customers the right meals as they would be in a different part of the restaurant when the meal was served from where they placed their order!

From the tower you can see every iconic building in London.  The Gherkin, The Lloyd's Building, and the big beasts of Canary Wharf. Parliament. Big Ben. The London Eye. Tate Modern. Tower Bridge. The Phillishave. Alexandra Palace. The Olympic Stadium. Kings Cross St Pancreas Station. Senate House. The dome of the British Museum. Central St Giles. The Crucible. The Shard. Battersea Power Station. University College London.  Crystal Palace transmitter. Regents Park, Green Park, Hyde Park.


Even without the architecture the BT Tower is fabulous for watching the world go by. There are secret roof gardens,  London buses, workman on building sites.  I watched Tower Bridge open to let through a boat and then slowly collapse again as if nothing had happened.

The Boyfriend and I are, of course, long made up with each other. But we both regret not experiencing the such amazing views together properly. We will definitely put our names down for next years ballot. By then we may even be married...

"Let Thy Feet, Millenniums Hence, be Set In Midst of Knowledge"

Day 6 and the penultimate day of our holiday. The Boyfriend and I wandered over to the British Museum. I'd never been before, although I've lived in London for years.

In case you've not been either, you instantly walk into a white marble courtyard hall filled with light from the delicate glass domed roof. The central core of the courtyard is a huge wide canister which used to house the British Library reading room*.  It's just the most amazing space. 

As you enter the museum The Tennyson quote is carved into the floor.  I didn't know the poem so looked it up and it's called The Two Voices about Tennyson's internal dialogue after the death of a friend.

After walking around the main room we spent most time in the Egyptology rooms which span over 11'000 years of ancient Egyptian history. Predictably the rooms I liked most were the rooms about mummys, myths and the afterlife. Really easy to feel drawn in, genuinely fascinating and even (weirdly) a bit spooky.

Anyway we were the last but 3 people to be turfed out when the museum closed and so I'll definitely go back.  But there are nearly a hundred rooms. Any advice on where to start?

See you soon. 


* By the way, The Boyfriend is the most knowledgeable enthusiastic geek on the planet and he informs me that Karl Marx wrote the majority of Das Kapital in the reading room.