FIVE STAR (PLUS)
WOW. Just got back from a week in Morocco and now I’m pining for some Hot Moroccan Mint Tea and a pure cloudless blue sky! What a holiday that was. Early February and the average temperature was 26c. But it was the PEOPLE we met who made it so breath-taking. I’ve never seen so many natural smiles nor such warm natured personalities. It would seem that the natural Moroccan way is to make people ENJOY being in their country and accepting their amazing hospitality. And they really went the extra mile. We stayed in The Kenzi Club: Agdal Medina, a beautiful resort just a few miles from the city centre. It was peaceful, calm, fabulously well-appointed, with five pools, tennis courts, golf area, multiple bars, restaurants and club facilities too numerous to write down. But once again, filled with natural, warm-hearted staff who (I hope) will remain friends ’til my dying day. And it would have been so easy to just kick back in that beautiful resort and get spoilt on a daily basis. But we wanted the full deal. The markets, the culture, the waterfalls and horse taxis, snake charmers, dancers and monkeys. And oh boy, did we get it… First thing we did was make friends with the staff. They were truly amazing. I think we had Mahmoud spoiling us every morning and Ayoub spoiling us every night. You could actually see their faces light up when they saw us. But then, those smiles and those personalities were infectious. And their language skills were second to none. Five star service in a four star resort. They REALLY made our stay magnificent. But we weren’t just spoilt by two people (they’re sadly just the only names I can remember right now) although my favourite was a terrifically talented entertainer named Pichu (short in stature but HUGE in personality) and with a massive perma-smile to boot, who seemed to be on duty twenty four hours a day. They ALL did… Never once did we ever feel uncomfortable, regardless of the rumours we read in the British Media before we flew out (sometimes I think the British media have an agenda against anything that’s not ‘British’). So we took the Tour Guide’s advice and immersed ourselves in the local culture. We ate the lamb terrine (yes, it’s delicious) we ventured into the local markets (take it slowly and don’t touch their wares if you want a quiet life). Dined in the restaurants with the musicians, snake charmers, belly dancers and singers. Took all the day trips we could fit in and accepted the Tour Guide’s advice (they’re there to help, not to hinder). And later this year, we’ll go back again (to see all the places we missed out on) because with the current exchange rate it was incredible value for money.
We met tourists from all over the planet, made friends with so many different people (from so many varied cultures) who opened our eyes to the natural warmth of other races, creeds, nationalities and religions. Laughed so much our sides ached, and danced like no one was watching It was fun in the extreme.
Go visit.
Find out for yourselves. And I’ll leave you with one final brief anecdote. On the day that we left, there was a terrific young dancer named Sarah who’d just finished her morning dance show. But we’d turned up late, and pretty much missed the whole of her class. And instead of taking her break (like many others might have done) she volunteered to stay on and do it again for us. Never missed a beat. Never let that amazingly beautiful natural smile drop. Because THAT is the Moroccan nature I was telling you about. She WANTED everyone to smile. Enjoy themselves. get active and have fun. And she just LOVED her job. So I filmed the whole thing (see below) as she taught two young (very shy) Chileans how to dance (and didn’t she teach them beautifully?) I’ll post pictures and other stuff later. But for me, this was the moment of the week. A happy faced Moroccan girl (with a ready smile and a big BIG heart) showing the rest of the world her way to deal with stress and forget the daily drudge of life. We could all learn a thing or two about dealing with stress like this on a daily basis…
ENJOY
21 februari 2019
Omdöme utan inbjudan