straight from the airport to the countryside

Sunday 6th of November

After an ultra short night due to a very early flight, i was picked up at the airport in Marrakech by my friend Ank (& Billie), to drive straight to the countryside.

Heading to Berberlodge to escape the madhouse in Marrakech and slowly start our week together. Staying in a shady oasis on the city's outskirts was a perfect start.

We had a super delicious lunch in the garden, green in the broadest sense of the word and then enjoyed our after lunch dip in the swimming pool surrounded by old olive trees.

We stayed until sunset, because the Berberlodge you just don't want to leave.

Already after a while we can see the lights of the city twinkling in the distance and a little later the city walls of the medina emerge and we are driving in the middle of the traffic chaos.

With the help of our friendly baggage porter Hicham, right through the hustle and bustle across the Djemaa el Fna square, into the souk to Chambres Demi (Ank's riad around the corner of Chambres d'Amis).

We end the day with a harira soup at Cafe des Epices, where we are the only ones left close to closing time.

It's good to be back in Morocco.

rural retreat at berberlodge

The Berberlodge is a love story between the owner Romain and the village of Oumnass and it’s inhabitants.

A perfect rural retreat for the day off in the middle of our Marvelous Marrakech week.

Together with Ank and her dog Billie we drove with the old baby blue Renault 4 to the countryside for a lazy day in the garden, some swimming and a beautiful and delicous late lunch.

After two years it felt so good to be back in the green paradise that Romain has created.

At the end of a lovely day we made a sunset drive to Marrakech. Incredibly beautiful light!

marvelous marrakech - berberlife

On the second last day of the Marvelous Marrakech workshop program, we visited a Berber village in the countryside.

Immediately after arrival we were welcomed by a group of Berber crafters with tea and freshly baked bread and pancakes. We had tea together on their homemade berber carpets, among the olive trees and goats.

Artist Hamid invited us, to have a glimpse into the lives of the Berber women and assisted with the translation of our conversations.

The Berber women learned the craftsmanship and technique from their mothers, as well as patterns, colors and symbolism. Who learned it from their mothers, and so on. They don't make a design before they start weaving, instead they seem to work from a kind of ‘Berber Instinct' which they simply translate into actual carpets.

After our visit to the Berber village, we drove on to Berberlodge, even though it may sound almost the same, this is something completely different.

We had a delicious lunch in the shade of the olive trees and the rest of the afternoon we chilled at the pool, in the hammock and the amazing garden.

And naturally we stayed at Berberlodge until sunset (incredibly beautiful light!) and drove back to Marrakech in the twilight.

Upon returning home at Chambres d'Amis, Aziz was pouring mojitos and we had our moroccan farewell dinner on the roof terrace.

What a beautiful 'berberlife' day! ... and a perfect way to celebrate this marvelous week full of adventures with a wonderful group of women!

SHOUKRAN Ank, Abdessalem, Aziz, Fatiha, Andel, Rachida, Hasna, Malika, Mohamed, Hamid, Mohammed, Hicham, Aisha, Tamara, Karin, Christelle, Anette, Ina, Aly, Monica, Wendy and all the lovely folks we met this week!