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everytime i go to a store or a flea market or even a farmer's market i always wish that they had a section that is called "things abby likes".  we can get into the narcissistic psychology of that sentiment later, but for now i'm here to tell you that i found that place and it's called morocco.  every single turn in every single souq in every single medina led me somewhere amazing and introduced me to things i'd been pining for and to things i didn't even know i needed.  massive tribal jewelry, NEED IT!  hand tooled leather bags and belts, yes please!  the world's tiniest tajine for my poached eggs, how have i lived this long without it?!  to steal a cliche from every guidebook ever written, morocco truly is a feast for the senses.  and yes i know if i was on that new girl show i'd have to put money in the douchebag jar.  but honestly everything in morocco is scintillating, there are no mundane experiences.  we witnessed some of the most heated arguments over the most trivial of things but they always ended in a handshake and a glass of sugary mint tea.  and by the way morocco, i'm a little worried about your sugar intake.  we learned real fast that you have to order your mint tea sans sucre if you're not a fan of drinking syrup.  but that's just morocco i guess, once you figure it out you love it.  ugh, douchebag jar i know.  morocco was such an adventure, absolutely delicious, and a total treasure trove.  as a lover of jewelry, bright colors, and lentils morocco was pretty much heaven for me.
we started our adventure in marrakech where we wandered around the jamaa el fna for hours trying to find the side street that would lead us to the hotel that had been recommended to us.  we ended up on an accidental trek through the medina prolonged by the fact i insisted on stopping in the souqs to ogle the beautiful things.  gotta say, shopping while wearing your luggage really makes you think about the impact of your next purchase.  but fret not, my caution was to go to the wind the next day and shop i did!  shopping in morocco is an adventure in itself.  moroccan shopkeepers are magical.  they're charming and know exactly what you want to see and hear and they are very persuasive and extremely persistent.  i swear there's some kind of voodoo going on in those shops because you walk in and you're surrounded by these beautiful things and time kind of stops and they say all the right things and you walk out feeling ever so satisfied with yourself and it's not until hours later that you realize you've been ripped off.  i decided not to care but i very foolishly decided to not go too crazy in marrakech because i wanted to wait and see what the rest of morocco would have to offer.  i (erroneously) figured that marrakech was just the tip of the iceberg and that the best was yet to come.  totally wrong on that one, marrakech is zenith indeed and i majorly regret not going full crazy at the souqs there instead of the reined in half crazy i allowed myself.  but i guess it's a pretty good excuse to go back!

roof with a view in the old medina in marrakech.

more tables should look like this.  just go ahead and wrap all of that up for me.

necklaces, colorful plates, and spices.  one stop shopping marrakech style.

stripey purses and harem pants so that no one will doubt you went to morocco.

spotted in marrakech, the only fan of satc 2.

  after marrakech it was on to casablanca, which we had heard mixed reviews about but it was actually a really great city.  and if nothing else it's super photogenic.  like i'm the world's worst photographer and my shots from casablanca read artsy.  i also found the most amazing sandals which i bought because they reminded me of the chanel jumpsuit that kate moss wore to her 34th birthday party.  so yes not even the knock off for me but the moroccan shoe "homage", such is my life.

the cinema rialto in casablanca.  are you getting that artsy vibe i mentioned?

after casablanca it was on to meknes, which had a wonderful medina.  it was big enough to have tons to explore but it was small enough to be manageable.  or maybe i just remember it fondly because the world's cutest kitten lives there.  at any rate i definitely loaded up on damascene jewelry and more evil eyes (safety first y'all!).

made friends with this little guy in meknes!

          

really wish i had made friends with this guy in meknes. 

then it was time for fes or the mother of all medinas.  you don't know what lost is until you've set foot in the fes medina.  douchebag jar, i'm aware.  ryan and i did a practice run of the place the afternoon we got there and couldn't find anything and gave up and left and then got even more lost on our way out and didn't make it back to our hotel for hours.  it was more of the same the next day.  we went in through the wrong entrance, we wound around in circles, we got ripped off at lunch and in the tanneries and in the souqs.  it was one of the most intense market excursions of my life and it ended with me weeping by the side of some road we didn't mean to be on in the sweltering heat when the hundredth full taxi passed us by.  i've said it before, i'll say it again: the things i do for these jewels man.

not having it in fes.

but we finally made our way out and it was all uphill from there, quite literally, as we made our way up to chefchaouen, a lovely little mountain town with a much more manageable medina.  it ended up being a real highlight and where i did a lot of my shopping.  everyone was really friendly and helpful and it was just the perfect antidote to our fes fiasco.  i got the most amazing leather purse and suitcase and some beautiful hand painted treasures.  i'm wondering if far and wild accessories needs to happen.  just trying to build an empire, no big deal.

beautiful things from chefchaouen or a photo of my happy place. 

far and wild jewelry even looks good on giraffes.  scratch that, especially looks good on giraffes.

now that you've read about my adventure in morocco, i highly suggest that you keep that moroccan mania going strong and also read kelly framel aka the glamourai's travel diary from morocco over on her site (day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5).  her pictures, her outfits, and well her life really put mine to shame, but we've both got that brooklyn takes morocco thing going on!  next stop portugal!