Visiting next week

Yeah!  Coming out to Marrakesh next week for a visit.  Very much looking forward to seeing how our villa is coming along.  My expectations are not so high.  I have always found it is better to underestimate and then be impressed rather than have high expectations and be disappointed.

We will be moving out permanently in March so this really is a final recce.   We need to see if all our furniture is going to fit in the various rooms.  Buy a car.  Check that all our documents are in order at the local consul and a million other things.  Lots to fit into 5 days, especially with a 5 year old and a baby in tow.  

The weather forecast is looking good.  Low 20's and sunny.  It is always bloody sunny in Marrakesh - what is wrong with it??  I really wish it would be cold and rainy sometimes....

Not much hope of taking many pictures this time as too much to do but not to worry, will have plenty of time soon.  

I have been doing so much research into Morocco the last few weeks.  Apologies for not posting too much.  Just have not had the time.  It is all book marked though and will get put on here in good time.

For the time being though, here are a couple more pics from my last visit.  

See you soon....inshallah!

old chap on the Jemma El Fna

The process of buying a villa

Initially we were going to Marrakech to open and run our own hotel.  Having successfully done that in the UK we had great aspirations for doing something fantastical in Marrakech. However with the current credit crisis and the huge number of riads that have already opened in Marrakech over the last couple of years we have decided to just get out there and then decide what to do.  With the current climate there is absolutely no point in our rushing into anything. However we do need somewhere to live.  

We have looked at so much property.  Everything from riads in the Medina to derelict farmhouses in the foothills of the Atlas.

above pictures show a similar villa to one we have bought

The funny thing was that each property we visited we loved.  There is very little to dislike. Everything seems to ooze potential.  It was always things like access, distance to school, noise and so on that made places a no no.  In the end we opted for a new villa designed by architect Charles Boccara.  It is not like us at all to go for something new.  Normally we would much prefer to buy something a little run down and do it up.  With a new born baby though a new place is so much easier.  We have therefore bought a villa on Domaine de L'Akhdar on the Route de Ouarzazate which is very near the school that our daughter will go to.