Jemaa El Fna, the main square in the Medina is usually seething and heaving with crowds. I had a chance to be here during the week, wandering, before those crowds had woken up. There was still a lot of activity as the stall holders opened up and received deliveries and slowly faced another day and another tourist dirham.
This amazing retired Moroccan engineer is a Pinterest aficionado. He weaves fabrics inspired by patterns he sees online. He learnt his weaving skills from his father in order to keep the tradition alive but has created a business with this unusual 21st century twist. He swears by Pinterest and takes orders for bespoke patterns and designs in your choice of colours. I had a fun morning standing behind the loom with him, participating in a weaving workshop. It is an incredibly laborious, labour intensive artisan craft not for those short on patience plus it’s not an easy skill to master ! This man is a saint putting up with all sorts of clumsy efforts and broken threads, all the time smiling. I had a wonderful morning and learnt so much, including a new and serious appreciation for the term ‘hand woven’.
Lovely artisan handmade fabric and items I saw today....there was a small array that could be purchased after the weaving workshop but there is no pressure at all to buy...truly none. There is no shop as such, online orders are the mainstay of this business.
Sprawling Marrakech from the air ....for a city of just over a million people, to me it looks much , much bigger....and when I am in the streets, it feels like all the entire population is on the road on their motos , hooting their horns at the donkeys !
Air Bnb love....when you wake up and you see your neighbours !
This North Italian city is just gorgeous ! For those out of the loop, it hosted the Winter Olympics in 2006. No sign of winter today except for very scant and distant snow on the Alps....it was 26 glorious degrees. I walked 15 kms all over this town where the Italian Job was made, fuelled by Italian delicacies and aperol spritzes.
I went on a boat trip today to an island....it was a five minute trip to a tiny island . The island sits in the middle of Lake Orta and is 275 meters long and 140 meters wide....all of it very old and very beautiful with a wonderful, old Basilica and monastery taking pride of place.
April in Italy is glorious....truly spring could not be a better time to be in Italy. The gardens are full of blossoms and not once...as yet...have I felt overwhelmed by hordes of tourists.
Recent Comments