Vacation 2011 Day 17 last morning in Marrakesh

Sunrise from the roof of Hotel Ali on our last morning in Marrakesh.

We had a few hours to wait for the van that was going to take us to Essouira on the coast so I tagged along with friends who went shopping.

We didnt go to the souks, rather to the upmarket tourist shops that offered a shopping experience more comfortable to those who didnt like haggling. The prices were corespondingly higher.

I personally take no pleasure in shopping so I just wandered around snapping photos....

The red color of Marrakesh dominates everywhere..... and the bright sun created strong shadows..... kind of hard not to take good pictures.....

Vacation 2011 Day 5 Jardin Marjorelle

In the afternoon the weather brightened up a bit and we went to the Majorelle Gardens.

Jacques Majorelle was a French painter who moved to Marrakesh in 1919 and it was he who designed and created the garden.

Following his death the garden and house was bought by Yves Saint-laurent, and when he died he had his ashes scattered in the garden.

The shade of Cobalt blue used is named after Majorelle.

I'm a sucker for cactii, and there are lots of them in the garden..

Vacation 2011 Day 5 Marrakesh

Up with the dawn on the roof of Hotel Ali to watch Marrakesh wake up. The restaurant with arched windows in the left of the photo was blown up by a bomb a week after we left Marrakesh.

Headed off to explore. In the old town you cannot go far without seeing storks and their nests on the high points of the city wall. Must be mating season.

And then to the ruins of the El Badi Palace. Built in the sixteenth Century it was reportedly magnificent with masses of marble and gold. Most of the palace was "recycled" by a later ruler to build his palace in Meknes.

Then we headed off to find the Saadian Tombs.... down the maze of alleys that is Marrakesh

The alleys got narrower....

Marrakesh grows out of the desert, and the color of the desert permeates everything.

The Saadian Tombs were built in the seventeenth century to entomb members of the Saadi family. The entrances to the tombs were sealed off and not discovered until 1917. Thanks to the remarkable decoration, in cedar, stucco, and marble, the tombs are a major attraction for tourists....