Audrey

This is the second set of photos from Morocco. You can start with Part 1 and also check out Jardin Marjorelle. 7. Rural Morocco Travel in Morocco is slow. The roads vary in quality and pass through every town along the way. One some days, we spent six hours bumping along in our tour van. Yet it was eye-opening to see how people live. For examples, donkeys are really used (and quite useful in narrow souks). Olive trees are abundant. Half-completed construction is everywhere. We often saw school childen coming or going. Although one could fly or take a train between cities, seeing life outside the cities added to our experience, as did stopping for rest breaks at rural cafes (often in gas stations). ...

Our trip to Morocco was even better than we imagined. We looked forward to a very different culture, opportunities to shop for crafts, and an adventure. We found everything, but also encountered unanticipated surprises and delights. Make yourself a sweet mint tea, grab a comfy cushion and cozy up to a photo recap of our top twelve experiences, in roughly chronological order. The first six experiences are in this blog, and six more are in the next one. Also see the separate blog for the very colorful Jardin Majorelle. ...

When we arrived in Marrakesh, our first stop was the wonderful garden created by Jacques Majorelle and later restored by fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergé. Upon entering the garden, we found a cool refuge from the hot Marrakesh air. Tall bamboo shaded extensive red terracotta walkways. The garden has winding paths that lead through different sections, for example, a water lily pond and a cactus garden. Also, inside we loved the Berber Museum which offered a compact, high quality collection of all sorts of arts and crafts from Berber life. Outside the garden, a mini fashion district has taken hold, with many nice shops and cafes. It was a great side trip just a short taxi ride from the Medina. ...

Juneau Our cruising vacation with 20 family members and friends started in Juneau. The weather on our first day was sunny with the purest blue sky. This is rare in rainy, misty Junenau. And on the boat, we were very lucky to have zero rain for all six days. The Mendenhall Glacier is just outside Juneau, and we enjoyed a great hike to a waterfall. The Alaska state museum was also a good stop. And there’s plenty of shopping for trinkets in downtown Juneau (but don’t blink or you’ll miss it). ...

Menlo Park got the blues on Thursday night, as the magnificent Christone “Kingfish” Ingram led his band through a 1.5 hour set. Kingfish brought three guitars and worked them for every possible nuance of tone and expression, from quiet-clean to screaming-shredding. He also has a fine voice and is a strong composer. Tunes ranged from blues to funk to soul. In the middle of the show, he made his way to the pit at the front of the stage and played for about 15 minutes in the middle of the crowd, bringing the blues amidst the tech bros of Silicon Valley. We were entranced. ...