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The Majorelle Blue

Pierre Bergé Museum for Berber Arts Long before my trip to Marrakech, I had decided that one of the top places I would visit in the city would be the Jardin Majorelle. And I nearly missed it. I took too long to make the online reservation that the only available spot left was the day before my flight back home. I got caught in sightseeing around the city and taking a day trip to Essaouira. Lesson learned but it exacted a toll! I missed both the Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts and the YSL Museum because the timed visit to the garden was at 2 p.m. and the museum closes at 6:30 p.m. If you’re planning to visit all three places, plan well ahead and get a time slot in the morning so you have enough time to enjoy the garden and museums. You can pay for entrance fees to all three or pay for just one or two of the three. Since I was starting at 2 p.m., I got just the ticket for the garden. I hope I’ll be able to visit Marrakech again so I can see the extensive collections of the museums....
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The Secret Garden

The Pavilion Water. Our gardens need water so our plants and flowers can bloom and grow. In an arid land, water is a blessing.   During the second half of the 11th century, the Marrakchi found a way to collect and store water from the Atlas Mountains in a ground drainage tunnel called khettara , which then distributed water to the mosques, hammams, fountains and the homes of the rich and powerful. The Saadian rulers in Marrakech were recipients of this precious commodity at their palace inside the Medina. This water source still flows to this day and irrigates the Secret Garden which is on the grounds of the former Saadian palace that fell into disprepair in the 17th century. Ownership of the property changed hands several times over centuries. It was only in 2016 that the garden was opened to the public after years of extensive restoration and research. Learning about the architecture of Le Jardin Secret gives away the reason for its name. The garden is surrounded by two dist...
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The Frescoes of the Church of the Nativity in Arbanasi

Church of the Nativity, Arbanasi I thought Rila Monastery near Sofia, Bulgaria was amazing! Until I saw the Christian Orthodox Church of the Nativity  in Arbanasi, three hours by car north of Sofia. Nothing about this stone church hints at the treasure within. Walls with vaulted ceilings are covered in frescoes of biblical scenes which date back to the 16th and 17th centuries. (By contrast, the frescoes at Rila Monastery are from the mid 19th century.) The Nativity Church frescoes were cleaned of soot during its restoration in the 1970s. I saw some taped sections of the murals where the walls are cracked. Overall, these frescoes are well preserved after centuries of existence. The original church was constructed and completed in 1597. It had one main section that is the naos which was designated as the men’s gallery. When the church was expanded in the 1620s, they added the narthex which became the women’s gallery and a chapel dedicated to St. John the Forerunner. The chapel is lin...
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The Faces of Marrakech through the palette of Elalaoui

Marchand de Tapis, oil on canvas “A visit to Marrakech was a great shock to me. This city taught me color.” Yves Saint Laurent It was inspiring to see the paintings of Abdallah Alaoui in March at the Secret Garden in Marrakech. It gave me this idea to show the daily life and people of Marrakech through the rich color palette of its resident artist. The painter who signs his canvases as Elalaoui, is a professor of industrial drawing. His early foray into art started with pencil and ink drawings before moving on to line art and sketching. Elalaoui added color to his works in 1986 and in 1988, he discovered oil painting. Much later, he learned the pastel technique. The paintings I have posted here are part of his figurative realism portfolio. They are vibrant representations of everyday scenes in Marrakech.  Vendeuse des citrons, 2016, oil on canvas Life seems intense when you are navigating the Medina and bright colors jump at you from the stalls selling carpets, pottery, leather goo...
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Transnistria - the country that isn’t

Nuvo Restaurant and Club We arrived early on a grey morning in Tiraspol after a short ride from Chișinău. It was the first week of March and quite chilly. We were lucky to have found a parking spot in front of Catherine’s Park, an easy walk to the Memorial to Glory where quite a few people were gathered in celebration. We excitedly walked over to observe the festivities and stood on the sidewalk where other people were standing as well. Just then we were approached by uniformed men who asked us to move. We walked towards Catherine's Park where we continued to watch the celebration. Again, we were asked to move away. I felt they didn't want us there at all so I decided to leave and go to the Nuvo at the park to warm up with a cup of tea. We could still watch the festivities from the comfort of the café without stressing out about being asked to go away. Nuvo Restaurant and Club The Nuvo is a beautiful restaurant and that early in the morning, it was nearly empty. We sat and enjo...
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