One Thousand & One Night - Deeply Sensual Dining in Marrakech

The reason I think I am in love with Marrakech, is not only the mysterious location and it's 'east meets west' atmosphere, but also it's because of the romantic night outs...

Here, you really feel like a princess.Just wear one of the traditional Kaftan's and head to the 2 restaurants I will be introducing you to.
I will be featuring Dar Yacout today, and Le Comptoir tomorrow.

Here are some of the Kaftans you could wear to your special night out!

Dar Yacout

Dar Yacout is not a restaurant but a legend..an experience you have to live if you are visiting Marrakech.

Your journey begins through a dark narrow street in Medina to a giant nondescript door off an alley, which opens by Ibrahim…When you enter that door the world around you totally changes. Once inside, you are guided to the rooftop terrace with a great view of Medina, (or in a fireplace-warmed lounge when the weather’s chilly) to have your aperitifs..

The building has renovated 20 years ago by American architect Bill Willis who turned a cluster of mansions into a labyrinth of secret salons and patios, most sporting carved cedar ceilings, mosaic floors and fountains, exotic columns, and countless lanterns. Even the bathrooms have sculpted fireplaces. Guests are seated on two levels around a courtyard with a beautiful pool and entertained by Ghana musicians playing a trance-inducing Moroccan form of blues. The food just keeps on coming, course after course after course: pickled and spiced vegetable salads, lemon and almond chicken tajine, tender shoulder of lamb, vegetable couscous, and ultimately pastries, tiered trays of cookies, and mint tea. All of this and with a traditional moroccan musicians playing live in the back ground.
This place is all about the architectural, and has a definate 1001 Arabian Nights atmosphere..Ideal place to go whilst you are on a honeymoon, or romantic nightout.

Dar Yacout is only a mile stone away from this exotic street market of Medina...

You climb up these rather dark, mysterious narrow stairs to get to the impressive ravishing rooms.

Everywhere in this riad, there were petals and fountains. They keep electricity to the minimum for the atmosphere,it's mostly candels...You can imagine the music, the lavishing clothes, beautiful men and women all being entertained and enjoying their deep sensual evening...

Jennifer Jeffrey commented on the architecture of Marrakesh, writing that the “Moroccan architecture echoes the nature of its people; Moroccans reveal themselves slowly, unwilling to divulge their secrets at once.”

....I agree, you need to slowly soak into the atmophere to feel the beauty..it's all hidden, but it's deep and sensual, like velvet...

If you are interested in Dar Yacout, whilst you are staying in Marrakech :
79 rue Sidi Ahmed Soussi, Arset Ihiri
Phone: +212-524-380-29-29

Best wishes from Marrakech,

Happy Friday Blog Hops !

Happy friday everyone!
Let's start the day with some networking ☆

Sex in the City 2 Morocco Scenes...

IHave you seen the SITC 2 film yet?

The exotic locations you see in the film Sex and the City 2  were all shot in Morocco. The story finds the four friends, Carrie (Sarah Jessica-Parker), Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) on an all expenses paid vacation in Abu Dhabi. None of the Emirate countries gave the film crew permission to shoot, but Morocco was happy to accommodate, and they spent 8 weeks filming there in the fall of 2009. Personally, I think it would have made sense to change the location in the script to Morocco, but who am I to question the inner workings of Hollywood.

The amazing desert scenes you see in the movie, were all filmed in Erg Chebbi, an area of enormous sand dunes close to the town of Merzouga, in the Western Sahara. It takes about a day to get to the Sahara with a 4x4, but it's all worth the trip!
If you request, you could actually set up a bedouin tent here, and could spend the night underneath the Sahara stars and have a romantic evening. Ideal for an exotic honeymoon! Ofcouse, there are lots of travel agencies, who will take you there, and set up all the tents for you, so you wouldn't have to worry about anything...

Here are the other pictures froms the movie scenes.

I hope these photos of Marrakech inspires you the bohemian look!
Let me know if you are interested in knowing more about the hotels and restaurants in Marrakech!
 
Love from Marrakech,
 
Reina Cherquaoui signature

My new wiget !!

Just wanted to show you my first 'Maison Marrakech' widget!
Hope you like it. Let me know if you like the design ...

Welcome Wednesday 21/7

Welcome Wednesday 7/21

Welcome to the "Welcome Wednesday" blog hop, hosted by Take It From Me! Welcome Wednesday is a great way to meet new people and learn new things as well as increase your blog followers! So let's have some fun!!






If you want to be a part of Welcome Wednesday, just follow these 5 simple steps:

1. Follow the Welcome Wednesday Host (Take It From Me) as well as the 2 Spotlighted Blogs of the Week. (These will make up the top three slots on the Linky)

2. Link up your blog name and URL with our Linky. (You only need to add your info once for it to be seen on all the blog hops)

3. Grab our Welcome Wednesday button and include it in a post about the event on your blog.

4. Go to as many blogs on the MckLinky as you want and Follow them. Be sure to tell them you are from Welcome Wednesday!

5. Be sure to Follow back any followers you have gained from our Welcome Wednesday event!

Let's start the Follow Me Back Tuesday (from next week..)

I've just discovered a nice way of following and connecting your blog to other blogs.
It's called the Follow Me Back Tuesday. Unfortunately I've missed this week's one, but for future reference, I'll post this today.
Let's all start from next Tuesday and get more contacts to other blogs!
Here it is....


Follow Me Back Tuesday- 7/20
 Follow Me Back Tuesday is another day of the week that you can gain more followers and find other great blogs to follow on a weekly basis. Follow Me Back Tuesday is hosted by Survey Junkie, Little Yaya's, Review Retreat and Boobies, Babies & A Blog.


Each week we will choose a random number every week from the blogs linked and add the random blog to the #5 spot to link to the following week ...

This weeks guest host for the #5 spot is Sanity is Overrated.







How it Works

1.Follow the 5 hosts, #1 – 5, ( leave us a comment & we will follow you back- only leave a comment if you follow please ).

2.Create a blog post about FMBT (you may copy this post if you wish).

3.Follow as many blogs as you would like ( Leave a comment so they can follow you back).

4.When you receive a comment from a new follower return the favor & follow them back.

***Please link directly to your Follow Me Back Tuesday Post. Links that lead directly to your personal blog hop will not be accepted and will be deleted.***

The code will be available every Tuesday at 12:00 a.m (EST) on all 4 hostesses blogs

The mysterious Medina, Marrakech- Jama Efna

We were back in Marrakech last week for a short return.

While I'm in Marrakech, I always keep it a habit to visit the Medina.

This is where I get all my inspirations.
It's such a mysterious place, where the new meets the old, and blends in perfectly.
The medina  has it's own world, not like anywhere else in the world...I just love being there!!

Image by Alexbip via Flickr

This is Jma Efna, the above picture, I've taken it myself. Jma Efna is at the entrance of the medina. There are hundreds of people there all day long, either entertaining, selling food, or have outdoor restaurant booths.
I love the orange juice shop. For 10p, you can have freshly squeezed orange juice. Absolutely refreshing!
The sellers are normally really friendly and they seem to know some words in almost all languages.
They certainly surprised me, when they spoke some words in Japanese, like 'It's fresh (shinsen desu),
or "it's cheap (yasui desuyo)".

Medina is like a maze, a labyrinth, where the streets are narrow and curved and could get lost any time...in fact I always need to go with my partner, who's much better with directions !

The medina means the 'old town', and therefore it is as big as a town.  Within the medina, there are various sections. Ladies clothings, accessories, furniture, babouches, leather bags, medicine, textiles, fresh fruits,  spice shops, beads shops, you name it, they've got every store you could think of, and more!!
So, when you need something specific, you need to know where you are going, otherwise, you could spend a day, and never get there...

I wanted to go to the fringe/tassel shop. So we ended up here (as above photo). They have so many selections,  it's amazing. For a designer, this is heaven!!

All products made in medina are all hand made, the secret is given from the master to his pupils. I love the way they keep the tradition...and what a beautiful tradition, and what beautiful arts pieces they create..

We were quite thirsty and exhausted shopping in the heat of 38 degrees, and decided to have a rest at this very very touristic restaurant

.

Cafes in Jma Efna are fulled with tourist people!! It's lovely to rest and chat with your friends in the shade on a hot day like this. For people who would prefer not walking in the hot weather, we also have "couches" to ride on...Hope you can visit one day the mystical red city, Marrakech too. If you have, I'd love to share stories with you.

The lovely couche!! C'est tres comfortable...

Stylish Moroccan Tea

Morrocan mint tea isn't just an ordinary tea.

It's a sign of hosipitality, friendship and tradition.

As this tea is very popular, it's served after every meal and at every occassion.

They take a lot of pride in making the best tea, they will even talk among them selves

who makes the best mint tea. And for some Moroccan ladies, this is something they could

boost about!

I would like to share with you an easy Moroccan Mint Tea, which was taught to me by a
Moroccan friend.

Moroccan Tea

Ingredients

10 spings of Fresh Mint (plus extra for garnish)

3 tablespoons of green tea

3 tablespoons sugar

4 cups water

(1) Boil the water and pour a small amount in the teapot (Moroccan tea pots are very pretty and are nice to have! Check some of the photos from below.)

(2) Add the mint, green tea and sugan together in the teapot, then fill it with the rest of the hot water

(3) Let the tea brew for 3 minutes

(4) Set out glasses for the tea. (again, see below the lovely little tea glasses they have...in the future, I would like to design some too..)

(5) Fill only one glass with th tea and pour it back in the pot

(6) Repeat (5) again. This helps to dissove and to mix the sugar

(7) Pour the tea
     (pouring the tea is also unique in Morocco. You pour them at a high distance into your glass, and you fill in only half of the cup. Never serve a full glass, as they don't think it's esthetically beautiful. Moroccans pour in the tea from a great distance to create a foam on the surface of the tea.


(8) Finally, garnish with the remaining leaves of mint.

Enjoy!!!

Moroccan tea glasses could be not only used as drinking tea, but it very much could be a part of your interior...use your imagination, and it could be used as a candle holder, flower vase etc...the ideas are yours!

 

I have found these babouche stories in the web, and wanted to share this with you .

I've made some changes and have made it my own style.

It’s location is in Mafraoute, the capital of slippers…

Story of two slippers

These were two small slippers. Slippers for two pretty little feet....
Slippers, but slippers of Tafraoute the capital of slippers.
In Tafraoute, a small town in the south of Morocco, in the rocky Mountains, where the trees of almond bloom their white flowers like snow,
in the middle of a city that goes red during sunset, There lived a babouche maker named Ahmed.

Ahmed has always lived in Tafraoute, his father, his grandfather now, and perhaps even his great-grandfather and his great-great grandfather also....
His father manufactured slippers, his grandfather manufactured slippers, his great-grandfather produced slippers and even his great-great grandfather.....
His son Mohamed, also manufactured slippers, together with his son Ahmed created the most beautiful babouches in Tafraoute.

The city’s name “Tafraoute” means in Arabic, “never get hungry”, as with the most beautiful babouches they have sold, and were famous of, they never became hungry.
Ahmed had made a pair of the most beautiful golden pair of babouches with diamonds sewed on
Ahmed has put his soul and heart in creating this precious golden bacouches. And so he has put long hours in the creation of his masterpiece slippers.
What he did not know, Ahmed, is that these two were no ordinary slippers!
These slippers had feelings and were able to talk.

-Promise me, said the right slipper, never to leave me.

-How would I ever leave you, we are a pair bound to be together. Alone we are no use. Replied the left slipper.

-Of course, but promise to always follow me! Asked the little right slippers, who was in tears, as she did not want to be left behind.

-Always follow you? That, I cannot , as we are to move back and forth of each other whilst walking.
-Then, I shall want to have a dancer, dance in our slippers, so that we will be side to side together and you shall never be ahead of me.

-Yes, replied the left slipper. That would not be convenient for walking on the rocky mountains of Tafraoute.

-But, I don’t want to be an ordinary slipper. I am the slipper from Tafraoute! Besides, walking on the rocky roads will ruin us.

-Ah, agreed the left slipper. What shall we do then?

I would need to continue this another day...