Random Cell Phone Pics...

Happy Easter!  So I stole some pics from Randy's camera and Susie sent me a few also...

Sheesh, you'd think I just woke up or something! 

Randy got bored listening about carpets so he went upstairs to take a look

yawn!  This is the part where I was getting really sleepy

Marrakech...spooky name for a spa huh?

Randy and I rode the tuktuk to the Jewish section where they sell all the spices.  I couldn't resist...

From the bottom right, going clockwise, whole coriander, whole nutmeg, spicy paprika, 35 spice Moroccan blend (used for tajine), cumin and coffee beans.   All super cheap.  100g for about $2.  I wish I bought more of the 35 spice blend.  I made chicken with it when I got home and loved it.  I looked it up online and for 4oz it was $15!!! 100g is a little under 4oz.  

Note:  if you buy coffee and spices, DO NOT PACK THEM TOGETHER...randy got home, made him a cup and it tasted like cumin!!  ahahahahaaaa!!

I think Randy paid two bucks to this guy to take his picture.  Pretty cool though!

I love these two pics!

The older guy in the front is Khalid.  We just loved him!! 

This is the women's restroom at Lisbon airport.  cute yah!

These chips taste nothing like mint or chili pepper but they were yummy!

We stayed one last day in New York while Susie and Evam went back home.  Made a couple "had to" stops along the way

Gray's Papaya

Russ and Daughters...their pastrami cured salmon is to die for!

A friend mentioned to me that I should try Levain Bakery.  She told me their cookies were out of this world!  Holy crap. She wasn't kidding.  According to Randy "this ain't no damn cookie!"

We weren't really sure what to do on our last day so we chanced looking for a matinee that we could catch.  Lucky for us we found two tickets to "Burn This,"  a play that starred Adam Driver and Kerri Russell.  This is a limited engagement so we were stoked to get tickets!  It was a great show too!

Decent seats too!  Sorry, I just noticed that it's crooked, but i'm too lazy to fix it :-)

Overall this was a great trip!!  We enjoyed much more than we thought we would!  Thanks for the invite Susie and Evam!

Essaouria

March 28, 2019

For our last full day we took a trip down to Essaouria, a beach town west of Marrakech.  I think it was about a three hour drive down there, I slept almost the entire time.  The only reason why I really wanted to go here was for this...

Yup, you saw that right, GOATS IN TREES!!!  These goats climb the argan trees to eat the fruit.  Normally they climb up during the summer but since it's a tourist trap they send um up there all year long.  I didn't care, as long as they weren't strapped in the trees like I've read about.  Aren't these guys the cutest??  They just happen to be on the same route down to the beach

I wanted to get a good pic for a Christmas card but none of them came out how i'd liked.  Our faces looked funny in all of them for one reason or another and also people like this just decided to walk into our photo...

The beach down there was really pretty.  There was also a medina that we walked around in, it was much mellower and nicer than Marrakech.  Marrakech is like Waikiki on steroids!

When we were walking around the medina I saw this....who da hell would want to become fatter?  I was gonna buy some for Randy.  hehe

When we got back to Marrakech I was hungry so I decided to try this...it's a mixed sandwich with a whole bunch of stuff you really don't wanna know what's inside.  We tasted this from a different stand the day before and I wanted to see if it was just as good.  It was! I forgot to take a picture of it though...I think it was about $1.50

We Got A Puppy!!!

Sunday, March 14, 2019

Sorry, taking a break from Morocco for a sec....meet Mia!!!  She's a 5 month old pit bull mix that we got from the Humane Society on Sunday.  Isn't she the cutest???  She's so sweet and very smart!  Her and Mattie get along great so far.  I think she'll be a perfect addition to our family :)

Marrakech Day 4

March 27, 2019
Cooking Day!

Our riad offered a cooking class for about 40 bucks, you go with someone to the market to buy your ingredients and then you come back for a cooking class!  This is so up my alley...Susie and I were so excited.  We actually thought all four of us would be cooking but the kitchen was as big as my closet so there was no way in hell all of us could fit in there.

Off to the souks!   I'm glad we got to go with Kalil because he went waaaay farther in than we ever wandered off to.  

This isn't what the instructions say to do on your box of couscous!!  We were amazed at the process she went through to make this!  

Well this really didn't end up being a cooking class.  There was a huge language barrier, although Kalil was there to translate...and we didn't do much except chop and peel vegetables and add spices whenever she told us to.  After we put it all together they told us to come back at 7 for dinner.  I guess it had to simmer for a few hours. We didn't get to help her assemble everything at the end but we had fun anyways!  I'm so bummed I couldn't understand her name, and I was too embarrassed to ask a third time.  She was so sweet, and she gives the best hugs!!

Our menu for the evening, chicken and beef tajine with couscous (the couscous is on the bottom so you can't see it).  Once again there was way too much food but our bellies were very happy!

Our dessert was some kind of pear thing.  I hate to say it but it was kind of nasty.  Just think of spraying a can of Pledge into your mouth.  That's exactly what it tasted like.  Well I think that's what Plegde would taste like if i did.  blech.