We had a long drive in front of us through the beautiful if slow Atlas Mountains. The last time we drove this road they were filming Mission Impossible 4 which brought traffic to a crawl. This time we were more fortunate and just had the normal traffic to deal with.
We were staying at the Angsana Riad which was actually several riads lining a couple of connected streets near the main square. We had a late lunch in the hotel at which time we presented 20 of our images to one of our leaders for a one on one editing critique. One of the more difficult things on a trip like this is finding our best photos to present in class. We needed good light, good composition and a moment to get an ata boy from Ira.
We headed out to the Djemma el Fna Square which like a State Fair midway on steroids. You could engage in games of chance, have a monkey placed on your head and a snake wrapped around your shoulders. Henna tattoos were applied by veiled women and food of all kinds was for sale. The vendors were very pushy asking for money at every turn. The side streets were home to retail stalls much like an outdoor mall but in much smaller quarters. After wondering around for a few minutes most of us gathered at a rooftop bar (no alcohol actually) to watch the sunset. This was a popular spot and we had to corner a piece of railing to host our group.
As the sun set, more people gathered in the square and was probably busier since it was a Friday night. This is not just for tourist as many locals also visited for the entertainment and goods. Smoke rose into the sky as the food vendors prepared their offerings for dinner. We went back into the square for one last wander through the booths before retiring to our hotel for a late dinner. While many people were enjoying the food offerings we felt it was safer to dine in a place were knew. Many people on our trip had already experienced Moroccan Belly and didn’t want to have a second flare up if possible.
We retired to a shower and bed preparing for our final full day of the trip.
Tomorrow: The Zen of a garden
We were staying at the Angsana Riad which was actually several riads lining a couple of connected streets near the main square. We had a late lunch in the hotel at which time we presented 20 of our images to one of our leaders for a one on one editing critique. One of the more difficult things on a trip like this is finding our best photos to present in class. We needed good light, good composition and a moment to get an ata boy from Ira.
We headed out to the Djemma el Fna Square which like a State Fair midway on steroids. You could engage in games of chance, have a monkey placed on your head and a snake wrapped around your shoulders. Henna tattoos were applied by veiled women and food of all kinds was for sale. The vendors were very pushy asking for money at every turn. The side streets were home to retail stalls much like an outdoor mall but in much smaller quarters. After wondering around for a few minutes most of us gathered at a rooftop bar (no alcohol actually) to watch the sunset. This was a popular spot and we had to corner a piece of railing to host our group.
As the sun set, more people gathered in the square and was probably busier since it was a Friday night. This is not just for tourist as many locals also visited for the entertainment and goods. Smoke rose into the sky as the food vendors prepared their offerings for dinner. We went back into the square for one last wander through the booths before retiring to our hotel for a late dinner. While many people were enjoying the food offerings we felt it was safer to dine in a place were knew. Many people on our trip had already experienced Moroccan Belly and didn’t want to have a second flare up if possible.
We retired to a shower and bed preparing for our final full day of the trip.
Tomorrow: The Zen of a garden
No comments:
Post a Comment