Our second full day in Marrakech — this morning painting from the roof terrace of a restaurant in the Place des Épices (spice market).

Ev gave the troops a pep talk en route:

And then we settled into our painting spots on the terrace, overlooking the market — not just spices as you can see.

After a surprisingly good snack lunch, we split into two groups — the shoppers and the historians.  The latter group walked much further (about 4 km) while the former boosted the Marrakech economy.

Our historian group were given a lot of information about the medina and its origins and customs.  Apparently the labyrinth of winding streets was created on purpose and not from expansion of the medina.  It helps with keeping things cool in the summer and warmer in winter.

We also saw the wood souk, the lantern souk (above), the metal work souk, the leather souk, and the wool dying souk where the colours were just so vibrant I had to snap a pic or two.

Tonight dinner is at the Le Comptoir du Pacha, a short walk from our riad.  Then Essaouira tomorrow afternoon, the second last stop on our Evocative Morocco journey.