We took the overnight train from Tangiers to Marrakesh - isn't there a song about that?

Wouldn't you know we're riding on the Marrakesh Express
Wouldn't you know we're riding on the Marrakesh Express
They're taking me to Marrakesh
All on board the train, all on board the train
All on board

the Crosby, Stills Nash and Young song kept going through our heads as we boarded the sleeper train to Marrakesh with Katherine from our truck tour .. It was a four berth carriage but the woman in the other bed strangely thwarted all our attempts at conversation.  
 
We found a gorgeous Riad to stay in with a central courtyard.
 
The next 2 days were spent out and about loving the spectacle which is Marrakesh and managing to get lost again and again in the twisting laneways and souks..

As the sun sets the real fun begins in the main square, the Djemaa el-Fna. Food stalls are set up everywhere and pretend chefs woo you with promises of good food. Some of the things on offer are sheep/goats heads and snails but most of the fare is delicious stews cooked in a special pot called a Tagine. 

On the fringes of the food stalls there is so much to see. Acrobats, musicians, fortune tellers, snake charmers,and the list goes on. During the day stalls sell freshly squeezed juice for 30 cents a glass. 

But our time now is getting short so a night train took us back to Tangiers and then a ferry to Algeciras on the Spanish mainland . On the way however we again saw the Rock of Gibraltar in the distance and decided we shouldn't be that close and not see it should we? Change of plan - take a little detour to the rock as our next adventure.

Footnote: Medina of Marrakesh is UNESCO World Heritage listed.