10/2 -- Relaxing in Marrakech at the End of Our Trip

We decided not to go on the optional museum hop today in favor of relaxation in preparation for the flights to the US tomorrow. We started off by walking to the silver jewelry shop we had been in yesterday and were able to have the necklace I had liked shortened to be better suited to me. The 1.7 mile walk round trip took just 33 minutes, but even in 70+ early temperatures, we felt the heat.

Later we sat by the pool and actually went in and I discovered what a wimpy swimmer I have become. We packed for our return, and then got ready for the Farewell Dinner, normally a fancier dining choice than most during the trip. We went to a French Restaurant called the Red House -- it had been built by a Frenchman in 1900, and then bought in the 1930s by a rich Moroccan. Today it is a fancy restaurant and also a boutique hotel with four rooms and four suites.

We started with an aparitif in a salon before moving to our tables in a dining room off to the side. An oud player was at work in the main dining room, close enough to hear easily. Wine was served (and refilled -- unusual for OAT) along with a number of small, delicious appetizers. The main course was lamb and a vegetable tagine, both elegantly prepared and presented. The lamb fell off the bone -- no knife required. Dessert was sweet pastillas, but very different from our first dessert pastilla which reminded me of cornflakes with milk and sugar. This was a stack of 3 fine sheets of pastry with a sweet layer on each consisting of 3 itsy bitsy dollops of something brown, white, and pink -- probably chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry merringes. 

Finally coffee (Turkish) came and I was ready to be done, when suddenly the music changed from the sweet oud sounds to something much louder and brasher. And the next thing we knew, in danced a belly dancer with a long scarf. She picked on Mike for a while (he was closest to her), then got him up to dance, and each of us got our chance to dance with her separately or in small groups. It made for a lot of hilarity and an unexpected end to a delightful dinner.