From our guide to Morocco
After exploring Africa, your charming, intelligent hosts found their haven here on the edge of the medina, a venerable frame for their great show of contemporary Moroccan artists - though they still have the travel bug...
An unusual, highly-tuned, much-travelled woman of Greco-Armenian extraction, Claudia, who speaks seven languages, has at last come to rest in Marrakech, "thanks to her guardian angels"...
Be prepared for contrast of all sorts, look forward to the unexpected and learn to trust those hooded figures - not sinister, just well protected against the contrasted and unpredictable elements. And decide from the start to take time. Morocco cannot be rushed. The country and the people are open to those who adapt to their rhythms and don't dash headlong from sightseeing to bracelet-buying to eating 'fast Moroccan'. Take the time to stand aside and watch. Look for patterns, gestures and expressions that reveal how things work, how people interact; you will relax, your senses of humour and humanity will take you inside the picture. Then you may fall for ever under the enchantment.
All Special Places from our Morocco selection »