We had a free day in Marrakech. We slept late and had breakfast downstairs. It included a thin omelette and the same croissants and jams from the day before. We then returned to the room to rest some more before heading out to the Palais Bahia. We got lost for a little bit but we were finally able to find our way to the square, where we stopped to buy a pair of sunglasses to replace the ones that were damaged by the punk kid. Kevin successfully haggled the price down to 110 dirhams (about $11) for 2 pairs of knockoff Ray Bans.
We continued on to the palace and made it there without incident. The entrance was lined with orange trees filled with oranges. The palace had similar architecture to the Mesera as Najat had mentioned. Afterwards we looked for Cafe Clock, which Mohammed had mentioned was good and nearby the palace. Unfortunately nobody around was familiar with it, so we went to another nearby cafe. I had the creme de legumes (basically a bean puree soup) and Kevin had a chicken olive lemon tagine. It was quite flavorful, but we decided it was not made with as much love as the one from the first night.
After lunch we went to the Saadian Tombs. It seemed to be undergoing some renovations but there were some impressive pieces of architecture, especially the intricate plaster work. We then returned to the riad, somehow successfully navigating the medina without incident for the first time.
I went to the hammam (bath house) for a manicure, pedicure, scrub, and massage. The manicure was fine, but the pedicure was torture. Due to language barriers, the aesthetician popped my newly formed blister and began cutting away at the skin around it. After silently crying inside, I endured the pain of alcohol being rubbed on the wound and headed to the scrub.
The scrub was odd to say the least. I was told to strip down and then was guided into a tiny room where I sat on a bench and the aesthetician began pouring cups of hot water over me. Then she put on scrubby gloves and gently began scrubbing me, very much like how one bathes a baby. More cups of water were then poured over me, and the aesthetician dried me with towels.
The massage was more enjoyable. Warm jasmine oil was used, and I was left feeling more relaxed.
Kevin stayed in the room and played freecell on his phone.
When I returned, Youssef called for a car to take us to Al Fassia, a trendy restaurant in La Ville Nouvelle (the modern city outside the medina) where Mohammed had made a reservation for us. The restaurant was filled with stylish Europeans, mostly speaking French. The servers as well mostly spoke French with limited English, but we were able to communicate with a bit of Frenglish on both sides. Both of us ordered a prix fixe vegetarian menu--I opted for the vegetable tagine (though I meant to get the lentil stew) and Kevin got the pastilla, a pastry that was a bit like a large samosa. The starter was hoummus, eggplant, and taboulah. For dessert we had Moroccan crepes and pastries. I did not like the pastries much. We finished the meal with mint tea.
While waiting for our driver, Badr, to pick us up, I went to a convenience store to get some bandaids for my ailing toe. The cashier didn't understand English, but I was able to make herself understood with some weird hand gestures.
Back at the riad, we packed and got ready for our voyage the next day.