photos MARRAKECH
Miss Chief in Marrakech
Madrid, Mumbai, now Marrakech...travel by alliteration it seems.
A trip to Morocco dovetails quite nicely after India. After having honed my pedestrian and bargaining skills between rickshaws and stalls in India, I slipped into the pace of life in the medina with relative ease.
Sun-soaked days filled with smoke, smells of simmering spices and swirling dust...there may be no finer place on earth to lose one's self than the medina in Marrakech.
Literally.
You will get lost. I promise.
Miss Chief's top three medina tips:
1 CARRY CHANGE
Once you get dirhams, change a few so that you have a pocket brimming with 1 dirham coins. Trust me, these will come in veeery handy whenever you need to pull out a map and are immediately swarmed by 12 children dying to show you the way. Change is also helpful in larger quantities for convincing vendors to allow you to take photos if you're not planning on buying anything from them.
2 LEARN FRENCH
Hone your bartering skills in French. English will only get you as low as an 80% markup, I'm quite convinced.
3 TAKE TURNS
As sketchy as it may seem, definitely take that turn. Yes, down that narrow passageway. Yes, past those men whose eyes are hungry for your tourist dollars. More likely than not you'll stumble into an entirely new market or square...but at the very least you'll come across a lovely lost little corner ripe for photos.
Jemaa al Fnaa
Upon arrival we dropped everything and followed our Riad host's map to the Jemaa al Fnaa, the major square in the medina. Very quickly we came to understand that his straight line was actually rather conceptual in nature as it turned out to include several sharp turns, leaving us only slightly convinced that we were on the right path. We ducked through darkened passageways with people closing up shop for the night, peered into dimly lit rooms teeming with ceramics and antiques and food, and slowly began to wrap our head around our new labyrinthine surroundings.
The Jemaa al Fnaa really is a fantastic place to start. Surrounded by stalls selling fresh orange juice and snail stew, men peddling holistic medicines and aphrodisiacs, and women pleading to give you a henna tattoo, the center is a massive scene to take in at once. Line after line of brightly lit dining establishments with open kitchens billowing smoke and strong wafts of fish, kebabs and lamb form a nerve center of activity. Off to the north is a square of barely visible but very animated performers, acrobats and storytellers, each surrounded by hundreds of rapt spectators.
Snake charmers, trained monkeys, fortune tellers, and mopeds zigzagging through self-prescribed routes bombarded whatever was left of my sensory intake as I wandered around, constantly refocusing my perspective from the larger spectacle to small rituals and exchanges, then pulling back and taking it all in again.
Needless to say, I slept quite well that evening.
Read more »
A trip to Morocco dovetails quite nicely after India. After having honed my pedestrian and bargaining skills between rickshaws and stalls in India, I slipped into the pace of life in the medina with relative ease.
Sun-soaked days filled with smoke, smells of simmering spices and swirling dust...there may be no finer place on earth to lose one's self than the medina in Marrakech.
Literally.
You will get lost. I promise.
Miss Chief's top three medina tips:
1 CARRY CHANGE
Once you get dirhams, change a few so that you have a pocket brimming with 1 dirham coins. Trust me, these will come in veeery handy whenever you need to pull out a map and are immediately swarmed by 12 children dying to show you the way. Change is also helpful in larger quantities for convincing vendors to allow you to take photos if you're not planning on buying anything from them.
2 LEARN FRENCH
Hone your bartering skills in French. English will only get you as low as an 80% markup, I'm quite convinced.
3 TAKE TURNS
As sketchy as it may seem, definitely take that turn. Yes, down that narrow passageway. Yes, past those men whose eyes are hungry for your tourist dollars. More likely than not you'll stumble into an entirely new market or square...but at the very least you'll come across a lovely lost little corner ripe for photos.
Jemaa al Fnaa
Upon arrival we dropped everything and followed our Riad host's map to the Jemaa al Fnaa, the major square in the medina. Very quickly we came to understand that his straight line was actually rather conceptual in nature as it turned out to include several sharp turns, leaving us only slightly convinced that we were on the right path. We ducked through darkened passageways with people closing up shop for the night, peered into dimly lit rooms teeming with ceramics and antiques and food, and slowly began to wrap our head around our new labyrinthine surroundings.
The Jemaa al Fnaa really is a fantastic place to start. Surrounded by stalls selling fresh orange juice and snail stew, men peddling holistic medicines and aphrodisiacs, and women pleading to give you a henna tattoo, the center is a massive scene to take in at once. Line after line of brightly lit dining establishments with open kitchens billowing smoke and strong wafts of fish, kebabs and lamb form a nerve center of activity. Off to the north is a square of barely visible but very animated performers, acrobats and storytellers, each surrounded by hundreds of rapt spectators.
Snake charmers, trained monkeys, fortune tellers, and mopeds zigzagging through self-prescribed routes bombarded whatever was left of my sensory intake as I wandered around, constantly refocusing my perspective from the larger spectacle to small rituals and exchanges, then pulling back and taking it all in again.
Needless to say, I slept quite well that evening.
Miss Chief in India
I think everyone has some preconceived notions of what it is to visit India.
For me, some were confirmed, others were unfounded, and yet there was still plenty of room for surprise. Just like I like it!
Despite spending the majority of my time in air conditioned cars, hotels, offices and on construction sites, the trip really whet my appetite for a full blown return and in depth exploration of what I think may well be the most colorful and most textured place on earth.
Mumbai
Mumbai is a tremendous city that tugs, no...positively yanks at your senses. Within 24 hours there I absolutely fell in love with India. I am admittedly ashamed that due to the stigma I
had against traveling there (it would be difficult, dangerous, I’ll get sick, etc) I hadn’t made it much of a priority to visit until now.
With that now rectified, I must say, as many others probably have, that Mumbai is like no other place I’ve ever seen.
Miss Chief's Top 3 Mumbai surprises:
1 VISUAL
*Colorful handpainted graphics on every motorcycle rickshaw, taxi, and truck in sight (horn OK please!!)
*Vivid and rich colors at every turn between the kaleidoscopic and beautiful saris, flowers hanging in every doorway, and bright and vibrant jewelry
*The fantastic elegance of written and typed hindi and urdu
2 TRAFFIC
*The astounding talent of drivers and the feeling of being part of a choreographed dance when riding in the back of a car...deftly and gracefully weaving in and out between rickshaws, trucks, animals and pedestrians and coming within centimeters of everything
*Major roads with no lane demarkations and nothing more than a pile of rocks dividing opposing directions of traffic
*The ceaseless honking - never really out of anger and not as much to warn of danger, it's more like car sonar to know exactly how close everyone is to you. I thought Turks honked a lot but the Indians now hold the world record for honking.
3 POVERTY
*Slums and makeshift home-cum-businesses lining 80% of the streets, many of them backed directly against high end business, retail and residential areas. While the large discrepancy between rich and poor did not come as a surprise, the scale of it is still incomprehensible
*People sleeping in the streets but still talking on cellular phones, makeshift homes adorned with advertisements and logos for technology companies
The visual most burned into my memory was on a drive north to a meeting near Lake Powai. We drove through a one way, one and a half car dirt road flanked on both sides with slums…everyone had opened for business and brought their wares to the street…makeshift coffee shops and barbers, people eating breakfast and getting a shave, all within an arm’s reach of the car. A unique morning commute, to say the least.
Business in India aka "Leapfrogging"
The business side was equally as astounding. I visited amazing construction sites and recently built projects and met with people with extremely exciting visions for the future of India.
I believe that the next ten years will see development quite like China…obviously quite different given that India has a tendency to ‘leapfrog’ in its development. Saying that the infrastructure leaves something to be desired or can’t sustain real development is the understatement of the century.
To get a taste for the emphasis on development there, take a look at this commercial from the insane campaign, nothing short of a full blown 24-hour inundation via TV, billboard and print advertising, for the Emaar MGR IPO this month. All focused on the 'new Indian' demographic.
We met many recent MBA's, educated abroad, who have returned to India and are pushing for rapid development and the of importation of concepts they enjoy abroad. This generation of movers and shakers recognizes that there is an audience ready for concepts from boutique hotels to spas and hi tech residences to luxury experiences though any execution thus far, while not lacking in aspiration, is truly missing content.
One positive I found is that there remains a strong sense of Indian and local pride, and the incorporation of Indian customs, visuals, rituals and experiences is a must in my mind for the success of new ideas, something one does not see as much of in places like Dubai or China.
The haves, the have nots and the have have HAVES
The craziest project I visited was the residence for Mukesh Ambani, indisputably the richest man/family in India. Currently under construction is his private residence of 20+ stories. We went to the construction site and in the construction lift with all the workers and visited the impeccable temporary offices where they have NINETY architects working on this project, not to mention airconditioning and plumbing in the middle of what is essentially only concrete slabs.
A rendering of the project:
Delhi
Delhi was a completely different experience. The lack of Mumbai's density and grit, the big, leafy avenues, and a subway system made it feel a far cry from my first impressions of India.
After the shock of Mumbai, Delhi almost felt like Istanbul 15 years ago. Run down, but with European nuances. Traffic was still bad but a better highway system and marked and well paved roads created (at least the illusion of) a more organized infrastructure.
Leaving Delhi on a 325am flight was probably the most memorable experience there. There were at least 300 people in the immigration/security line, and with no real space for the line, so it snaked between check in desks, went outside, came back in again…babies, families, hippies, tourists and business people from around the world all lumped together in the most disorganized line in the history of lines at 1am. Quite a spectacle.
It seems that despite what the rest of us would consider third world conditions, India manages to sustain life, growth, and a vibrancy unmatched elsewhere. When I saw this tree growing on the second story of a long abandoned and hollowed out factory in the middle of Delhi, it made me think.
Perhaps, just as with this tree, it is India's strong roots that allow life to maintain its strength and to continue to defy conventions of how and when growth and progress occur.
Read more »
For me, some were confirmed, others were unfounded, and yet there was still plenty of room for surprise. Just like I like it!
Despite spending the majority of my time in air conditioned cars, hotels, offices and on construction sites, the trip really whet my appetite for a full blown return and in depth exploration of what I think may well be the most colorful and most textured place on earth.
Mumbai is a tremendous city that tugs, no...positively yanks at your senses. Within 24 hours there I absolutely fell in love with India. I am admittedly ashamed that due to the stigma I
had against traveling there (it would be difficult, dangerous, I’ll get sick, etc) I hadn’t made it much of a priority to visit until now.
With that now rectified, I must say, as many others probably have, that Mumbai is like no other place I’ve ever seen.
Miss Chief's Top 3 Mumbai surprises:
1 VISUAL
*Colorful handpainted graphics on every motorcycle rickshaw, taxi, and truck in sight (horn OK please!!)
*Vivid and rich colors at every turn between the kaleidoscopic and beautiful saris, flowers hanging in every doorway, and bright and vibrant jewelry
*The fantastic elegance of written and typed hindi and urdu
2 TRAFFIC
*The astounding talent of drivers and the feeling of being part of a choreographed dance when riding in the back of a car...deftly and gracefully weaving in and out between rickshaws, trucks, animals and pedestrians and coming within centimeters of everything
*Major roads with no lane demarkations and nothing more than a pile of rocks dividing opposing directions of traffic
*The ceaseless honking - never really out of anger and not as much to warn of danger, it's more like car sonar to know exactly how close everyone is to you. I thought Turks honked a lot but the Indians now hold the world record for honking.
3 POVERTY
*Slums and makeshift home-cum-businesses lining 80% of the streets, many of them backed directly against high end business, retail and residential areas. While the large discrepancy between rich and poor did not come as a surprise, the scale of it is still incomprehensible
*People sleeping in the streets but still talking on cellular phones, makeshift homes adorned with advertisements and logos for technology companies
The visual most burned into my memory was on a drive north to a meeting near Lake Powai. We drove through a one way, one and a half car dirt road flanked on both sides with slums…everyone had opened for business and brought their wares to the street…makeshift coffee shops and barbers, people eating breakfast and getting a shave, all within an arm’s reach of the car. A unique morning commute, to say the least.
Business in India aka "Leapfrogging"
The business side was equally as astounding. I visited amazing construction sites and recently built projects and met with people with extremely exciting visions for the future of India.
I believe that the next ten years will see development quite like China…obviously quite different given that India has a tendency to ‘leapfrog’ in its development. Saying that the infrastructure leaves something to be desired or can’t sustain real development is the understatement of the century.
To get a taste for the emphasis on development there, take a look at this commercial from the insane campaign, nothing short of a full blown 24-hour inundation via TV, billboard and print advertising, for the Emaar MGR IPO this month. All focused on the 'new Indian' demographic.
We met many recent MBA's, educated abroad, who have returned to India and are pushing for rapid development and the of importation of concepts they enjoy abroad. This generation of movers and shakers recognizes that there is an audience ready for concepts from boutique hotels to spas and hi tech residences to luxury experiences though any execution thus far, while not lacking in aspiration, is truly missing content.
One positive I found is that there remains a strong sense of Indian and local pride, and the incorporation of Indian customs, visuals, rituals and experiences is a must in my mind for the success of new ideas, something one does not see as much of in places like Dubai or China.
The haves, the have nots and the have have HAVES
The craziest project I visited was the residence for Mukesh Ambani, indisputably the richest man/family in India. Currently under construction is his private residence of 20+ stories. We went to the construction site and in the construction lift with all the workers and visited the impeccable temporary offices where they have NINETY architects working on this project, not to mention airconditioning and plumbing in the middle of what is essentially only concrete slabs.
A rendering of the project:
Delhi
Delhi was a completely different experience. The lack of Mumbai's density and grit, the big, leafy avenues, and a subway system made it feel a far cry from my first impressions of India.
After the shock of Mumbai, Delhi almost felt like Istanbul 15 years ago. Run down, but with European nuances. Traffic was still bad but a better highway system and marked and well paved roads created (at least the illusion of) a more organized infrastructure.
Leaving Delhi on a 325am flight was probably the most memorable experience there. There were at least 300 people in the immigration/security line, and with no real space for the line, so it snaked between check in desks, went outside, came back in again…babies, families, hippies, tourists and business people from around the world all lumped together in the most disorganized line in the history of lines at 1am. Quite a spectacle.
It seems that despite what the rest of us would consider third world conditions, India manages to sustain life, growth, and a vibrancy unmatched elsewhere. When I saw this tree growing on the second story of a long abandoned and hollowed out factory in the middle of Delhi, it made me think.
Perhaps, just as with this tree, it is India's strong roots that allow life to maintain its strength and to continue to defy conventions of how and when growth and progress occur.
Miss Chief in Mumbai / preface
Two business class tickets, Madrid to Mumbai...€6000
Book, snack and tissues during layover...£10
Facing your boss for an 8hr flight to India...
...priceless
Book, snack and tissues during layover...£10
Facing your boss for an 8hr flight to India...
...priceless
A Turkish Delight
Istanbul, inspiring as always.
I can still smell the bazaar if I concentrate hard enough.
After some (albeit very little) arm twisting, I managed to convince my friend Shirley to come along for the ride. She joined me from Tel Aviv for 4 days and MY did we fill our time...
It was fantastic to be with family and friends for the first time in three months! Highlights included meeting Karel's new man, the most loveable Max, spending time with Shirley girl, and of course seeing my family - everyone from grandparents to cousins to their babies - and immensely enjoying their company and of course, the food.
Outside of people time, and with much thanks to Karel and Muriel for seeing to it, I did get around to seeing some new and exciting things Istanbul had to offer up...in the spirit of warming myself up for a blog on style, trends, and the new and exciting, I have reviewed them here.
Galata Moda
A temporary retail event showcasing Istanbul's best and brightest fashion designers. While I think the actual fashions available left a bit to be desired, the attendees were certainly fabulous. I found myself wanting to ask everyone where they got their clothes.
The event is set up around the old Galata Tower (built in 1300s) which is situated near the hip and happening Beyoğlu and Tünel districts in what was once a very Jewish neighborhood. My grandfather, in fact, spent much of his childhood nearby.
Several booths showcasing clothes, jewelry and other items were brightly lit and heavily visited...in the middle they set up a cafe and a radio station was broadcasting live. A very lively event that I think really showcased the young, fashionable set in an extremely favorable way.
Santral Istanbul
Afterwards, we hopped a taksi (no 'X' in Turkish, kids!) to a pretty abandoned area of town where they recently renovated an old electricity factory into an exhibition space. The furnaces, control room and large mechanical equipment have all been left in tact and are completely accessible to the public.
I went completely beserk in the control room. Aesthetically such an antique, yet modern and scientific space. As it was night, I didn't get great photographs, but Karel did do a little fashion shoot with me.
Much of the exhibition downstairs was oriented towards teaching children science, but that did not stop us from spending an hour playing with magnets, video cameras and listening to the 'rain' simulated by ball bearings.
It's a fantastic place, and I look forward to seeing it develop as a cultural center and public gathering space. Between the factory itself, the exhibits, the expansive surrounding outdoor space, the new Otto restaurant, and the adjacent university, the space has a lot of potential to shape future thoughts about what an art space should be.
Istinye Park
Generally speaking, this is another mega-mall, bringing a new home what few brands had not yet broken into Istanbul market yet (and of course all the regulars as well). Two distinct pieces that are unique to Istanbul shopping centers round it out nicely, however.
The first is the area on one far end that is dedicated to the high luxury brands. Above ground, these stores have an intimate cul-de-sac and street-level entrance, giving it a very Rodeo Drive feel. Each store also has a lower level, which coincides with the upper level of the mall, making them accessible in both environments.
On the other far end is the 'Istinye Bazaar' - an indoor marketplace styled after an oudoor market with stalls for fruits and vegetables, fish, a charcuterie, a butcher, a wine shop, etc. The environment is bustling as any outdoor market would be in Istanbul. One unique characteristic is the inclusion of a café/restaurant dedicated to each retailer. Patrons select their cut of meat or their fish, it is prepared on the spot, and they enjoy it literally within feet of the shop. A relatively new concept, it is refreshing to see the Turks taking to it so well...there was not an empty table in sight.
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