Have you ever build your own home like a flat or a house…? I haven’t. My husband and I are building a house in the most wonderful city (well at least we think so) Barcelona and we are doing everything from a scratch. Yes from a scratch. All we have is a piece of land with beautiful views. We have a design to start with which we have submitted to the authorities in Spain called The Town Hall. They approve or disapprove whomever wanting to build anything. While our design is being viewed we gone on our honeymoon in search of inspiration in Marrakech. And what a magical trip that was….
It was my very first time in Marrakech and we were greeted by the sun and palm trees and a long queue at the boarder. However, the hour and a bit went quick as the anticipation of the magical city was about to be revealed to us.
We got to our hotel called Al Fassia http://www.alfassia.com/. My husband chose this place based on an incredible amount of amazing reviews about this ryad. And we certainly weren’t disappointed. We were met by a rather loud and obnoxious manager, who’s voice was louder than your favourite song on a radio and you weren’t sure if you liked it or couldn’t wait for it to stop. We were upgraded to a suite and the room was beautiful indeed. If you have been to Marrakech or a hot country you’ll know that the houses are build so they could stand the heat. We did need a heating but only for a short period of time. We got changed and went downstairs to completely fall in love with one of the most amazing fish tanginess we have ever tasted. Moroccan food, to my surprise, was one of the best food that I have eaten while travelling. It’s purely because the food is cooked and organic rather than fried. There’s so many things to talk about when in Marrakech but this particular post is for how we found the doors for our house in Barcelona.
My wonderful husband loves researching before we go on any trip and this was no different. He found a market called Souk el Khemis that we would go and a Lebanese lady who shows tourist around Marrakech. Her story is incredible but that’s another story. She took us around the Souk el Khemis market in Marrakech. We had hoped that she knew the locals who are selling the items but that wasn’t case. This market is really for the locals and you wouldn’t find many if any tourist there. The sellers are really chilled and wouldn’t bother you with selling you an item unless, of course, you are interested in it. What I mean to say it’s not like the famous souk “the square” where people “beg” you to buy anything for a price you’ll manage to haggle.
So the first time we went to this market it was really to have a look around and find out what if anything we would be interested in. We did find a door that looked interesting indeed. We went a second time around to have a look again and ask for a price. We got the price but we weren’t convinced yet this was the door although it was playing in both of our minds that this door might be it. So the third time we went there with a decision to buy the door. By this time we had actually discovered a way for us to get a better price. I wore a headscarf. And it worked we did get a better price but not for the door we thought we were going to buy. After inspecting the door and trying to haggle for a better price we said we are going to think and have a look around. Wondering around the market and thinking about the door we came across tiny alley way with lots of wood and men having tea sitting outside their rather simple, basic and humble shops filled with all kinds of wood, carpets, jewellery, doors, windows, chairs and things I don’t even know the names for. Their shops are not the shops as we know it in the west. It's a really humble and simple place. You could find pretty much anything in there. You are spoiled for choice just have to look closely to find jewel pieces. Amongst massive pile of wood and things we spotted some doors.
A kid about 15 or 16 years old took out the doors for us to have a look at. We both liked it. He pulls out a second door that looks good too.
I then wondered off to the kid’s shop next door and then we found a third door which I think it was a magical piece. It was a large like 290cm height and beautiful dark wood with an internal door as an arch - absolutely beautiful. At this point we want to know the price.
This kid asked his uncle to come in and talk the price. It was surprising to me that the shops are all in the family. We prepared ourselves for a serious haggle session but to our surprise he gave us a good price (I was wearing a headscarf after all!!!) and we agreed to pick up the door later that afternoon. We did, however, thought we might have some trouble in shipping the doors over to Barcelona so my husband investigated and after speaking and checking out a few referrals we went to dhl and the service was impeccable and the price is competitive indeed. When we got to a DHL office they were under construction and this was their temporary office. The people managing the whole business was these three guys. Since I was "playing the game" wearing the headscarf (to get a good price) I had plenty of time to observe these guys and take a sneaky photo. I call them three chickens because they'd sit together and discuss everything before doing anything and one couldn't be sure to laugh or be serious.
First, we needed to get the doors from the market. DHL gave us a tricycle man who came with us and helped to pack the doors up and deliver to it to DHL services.
The tricycle man (wearing the DHL jumper) was so efficient. He was a freelancer for a DHL when people like us is are in a hurry and doesn’t have time to wait for DHL to create boxes for the doors that we bought. So we get a freelancer to do it for us but equally efficient and cheaper. This guy wasn’t wasting any time like a lion wouldn’t waste any time eating his pray. He got there measured all the doors immediately called his friends and the job will be done by tomorrow morning. Magic. Efficiency of the Moroccans!
So we successfully managed to find the doors, haggle a good price and get an amazing delivery service. Now we cannot wait to get working on them. We do need to sand them and whatever else that needs doing we need to do. We are waiting for DHL to deliver the doors to us to Barcelona. What an amazing trip and amazing purchase.
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