Sunday, April 17, 2011

More Marrakech

Here are a couple more films from my week in Marrakech. We work hard, we play hard. And we are beautiful, in every single way!

A Celebration

So, the conference began on Wednesday afternoon, and on Wednesday evening there was a celebration of FAWCO's 80th anniversary. The gala was held in the So Restaurant in the Sofitel Hotel, and for most of the evening I was the acting photographer. Here are some great pics of my many FAWCO friends. The video is put to a song called "Close to Home" which was written for and performed for FAWCO by Robin Meloy Goldsby.

More in Marrakech







On Wednesday morning we had another scheduled tour, this time to the Ben Youssef Medersa, an Islamic school attached to the Ben Youssef Mosque and home to some beautiful art and architecture.


We also visited the Marrakech Museum, housed in Dar Menebhi Palace. The house represents classical Andalusian architecture, with fountains in the central courtyard, a hammam and intricate, beautiful tilework and carvings throughout.





Our tour took us through another Souk and through Djemaa El Fna Square and included a visit to a local spice shop where many of the uses for the herbs and spices were explained and demonstrated and we had a chance to purchase local remedies and spices.



That afternoon the conference began with meetings throughout the afternoon and the celebration of FAWCO's 80th Anniversary. The song in this film was written and performed by a FAWCO Member, Robin Meloy Goldsby, to celebrate this important milestone.



"All aboard that train..."




In March I attended this year's FAWCO conference in Marrakech, Morocco (and although I didn't take the Marrakesh Express, my friends Ann and Hein did, in fact, take the train from Fez to Marrakech). This was quite the adventure for me, having never been on the continent of Africa (although close in Lanzarote) and never in an Arabic or Muslim country. The sights, sounds and smells were nothing like I'd experienced before. Monkeys, snake charmers, spices, prayer calls, bargaining, mint tea, cous cous and more - it was simply a delight.


I arrived two days prior to the conference so that I could do a bit of the tourist thing before we began our intense meetings. It was so great to see so many of my FAWCO friends that I see only during such conferences.


On the first day a few of us took a walk into town from the hotel into the main square and the Souk (the local market filled with merchants selling everything from spices, leatherwork, silver, copper goods and jewelry) where I learned about the art of bargaining from my friend Johanna who, having lived in Saudi Arabia, is very skilled at the process. We also stopped at a restaurant in the square for some tradition mint tea and some lunch before heading back to the hotel to be ready for an afternoon tour that had been organized to Bahia Place and Majorelle Garden.

I'm still finishing my films but hope to get the remainder posted quickly.





Museum van Loon















In February a group of us took the tram into the Dam to visit the Museum van Loon. The located in a canalside house alongside the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam. The museum is named after the family van Loon that lived in the house from the 19th century. This magnificent private residence was built in 1672 by the architect Adriaen Dortsman. The first resident was painter Ferdinand Bol, a pupil of Rembrandt. The interior of the house has remained largely intact during the last centuries and still evokes the splendor of the Golden Age. In the rooms, a large collection of paintings, fine furniture, precious silvery and porcelain from different centuries is on display. Behind the house is a beautiful garden, an oasis of quiet in the modern inner city. I won't post too many photos as it was difficult to get good shots of many items behind glass or in rooms with tough angles, but here are a few.



After visiting the museum, we wandered around looking for a place to eat and ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe. Yes, this seems very touristy - although the Hard Rock is *the* place to get a good old fashioned American cheeseburger - which we all miss living in Holland as the beef here is very different from home. Ben, our waiter, a student from California, was also the best - providing us all with the kind of attention and incredible customer service that simply isn't a strength in the Netherlands (sorely lacking!) And you can see from the pics that another member of the staff was quite taken by my hat :)