Uncomfortably comfortable

Arrived in Marrakech safe and sound thanks to Ryanair (my first experience with this airline which in all fairness was satisfactory). Marrakech is a culture shock even though it is only few hours away from London.
Got picked up by a private shuttle. The driver was quite funny and we connected well with him. I even found out about his second love after football which was Bollywood (weird I thought but rolled with it).
We got dropped off the side entrance of the Kings Palace. Our Riad was located down the end of this long winding alley which was next to the Palace. A young boy called Youseff carried our bags in a wheel barrow. Walking down the alley was overwhelming and very intimidating as we did not know what or who we will encounter. Although very soon we realized lots of families lived down the alley and being next to the Palace meant it was a safe area.

Our Riad was located at the very end of the alley. Looking at the exterior of the building we were preparing for a rough nights sleep. At the entrance of the Riad we were greeted by this gentleman called Hamza. He invited us in and wow...our jaws dropped at how stunning the Riad was. With Moroccan tea on offer, we quickly filled out the paperwork and got taken to our rooms.

Hamza then accompanied us towards the markets. We had a traditional Moroccan meal at a roof terrace restaurant (I had shish lamb with a tomato soup). After the meal we walked around the square getting pulled by several stall holders with their catchy one liners such as "1-1-7: will take you to heaven", "2 year diarrhea free guarantee" and "what's up homie, what's lickin-my chicken" and other ridiculously funny combinations. It was definitely entertaining. Enjoyed how everyone was having a good time at the square though. We managed to find our own way back to the Riad only to find that Hamza was waiting with a shisha. Went to the roof terrace and had berry flavored shisha with morrocan tea to end the night. Hamza went above and beyond our expectations to make us feel very welcomed and comfortable in Marrakech.