Around the Neighborhood

Life in Gueliz.

I know that Gueliz is not the most exciting neighborhood in Marrakech, but last year it was where Mike and I called home. Despite having a few parents express sympathy that the school housed teachers in Gueliz, I actually grew to like the place. Gueliz is the modern French built area of the city so it lacks the unique character of the medina. However, I think it still retains it’s own charm.

We were in easy walking distance to two grocery stores, the bank, good restaurants, several cheap cafes, and my yoga class. The train station and fruit/veg market were only a 20 minute walk away (although in opposite directions), and like I’ve said before, Marjorelle Garden was just down the street. Oh, and a good ice cream place was just a block away as well. Walking down the street you were just as likely to see horse drawn carriages and donkey carts as you were to see beat up taxis or brand new Mercedes.

Clearly, I took this picture right after garbage day. Throughout the week garbage piles up and spills over the dumpsters on a regular basis. It smells terrible but keeps the stray cats happy.

For me, I preferred living in the wide streets and open spaces of Gueliz over the cramped and labyrinthine medina. Whenever I felt overwhelmed on medina excursions, returning to Gueliz was a relief. (I know that there are amazingly peaceful riads within the medina, but let’s be honest, those places are not realistic choices for private school housing.)

One of our favorite neighborhood places was a cafe called Mike’s Cafe. Ok, just kidding. It’s Frescobaldi but Mike was there so often that it earned a little nickname amongst our friends. The food is nice, though not amazing, but the real appeal is in the laid back atmosphere, people watching, and familiar waiters. (When one of the waiters got a new job, he made sure to say goodbye to Mike. So sweet.) We often spent long weekend breakfasts there sipping mint tea and grazing on olives and French bread.

Our last Frescobaldi breakfast.

It’s funny how a place can start out feeling so foreign and different and then transform into a home, especially in the course of one year.

xo, jill