Our first stop on the Marrakesh city tour was the Koutoubia Minaret. I feigned extreme sensitivity to the scents in order to be excused from the argan, spices, and fragrances sales pitch the group was taken to. While Elahe and the others purchased quality products, I explored the local shops, visited with some locals, and then enjoyed espresso with guides. I was more interested in the photo opportunities provided by the architecture of the Bahia Palace. In Arabic, the palace's name means "brilliance", and the palace was intended to capture the essence of Islamic and Moroccan style. The palace is famous for its decoration, with stucco walls carved with Arabic inscriptions, geometric patterns, arabesques, and muqarnas. Its floors are paved with marble and zellij tiles. Perhaps the most renowned element is the cedar-wood ceilings painted with colourful floral patterns, along with the carved and painted wooden canopies of major doorways. The tour ended in the city's largest and most famous square. By the time we made it to the pool, the sun had long passed its zenith and the hotel towers were blocking its warmth from the unheated water so my 'swim' was very quick. At dinner, we discovered that several other tour members also intended to walk to Jemaa el-Fnaa Square to experience its nighttime transformation, so we walked there as a group. We had few plans for our final "free" day in Marrakesh, so we happily accepted fellow traveler Chris's invitation to join him on a walk to a park. Along the way, we managed to stumble into a private tour of the opera house despite it being closed for major reconstruction and renovation. We enjoyed the company along the way, but after a hot walk in the sunshine, the "gardens" were a disappointment. We were happy to take a cab back to the hotel for a relaxing poolside afternoon with coffee, treats, and quick dips. Our last night in Morocco was perfect. We went for a stroll and found many kids playing with soccer balls in an upscale mall square. I was able to consolidate them into one big game that included me, and to allow more girls and younger boys to also be included. I played for 90 minutes and was rewarded by seeing the extreme joy on the youngest boy's face when I set him up to score two goals. Each time he sprinted into the cafe to report his success to his mother. We watched the sun rise through the bus windows during our transfer from our Marrakesh hotel to the Casablanca airport for our flight to Frankfurt. After Air Canada cancelled our return flight to Vancouver, we were left with a 16 our layover, so Exoticca provided us with a voucher for a nice hotel near the airport where we relished the welcome treats upon check-in and the quality breakfast buffet complete with mimosas.
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