Tea with the Queen

No, not really. But we did go to the Palace today. La Bahia aka The Beautiful - was built and decorated between 1860 and 1900 by Abu Ahmed who was once a slave. The palace housed Abu, his four wives and 24 concubines in 150 rooms! It is now unfurnished but the detail remains impeccable. Long, elegant passages leading to open squares with water fountains, mirrors and tall marble pillars. Each door way and ceiling is ornately carved and mosaic floors are still in tact. It was incredibly peaceful and cool compared to the blistering heat in the souqs.

The centre of the Palace

One of the lovely doorways in the Palace

A little pair of legs cooling down on the cold tiles

We had a wander around the souqs in the morning but were once again put off by the constant pestering of the merchants. The souqs are a rabbits warren of colourful silk, shining silver work and beaded jewellery. There is plenty we could buy but if you so much as blink in their direction, they pull you in you are theirs.

Colourful silk shoes hanging on one of the stalls

Bright silk scarves

Bright leather slippers

The weather was not as hot as yesterday but I have still managed to burn a bit again on my shoulders. We enjoyed an ice cream in the square, I had one scoop of mint choc and Paul had the mother of all ice creams - two scoops of bounty flavour, one scoop meringue flavour, chocolate sauce and whipped cream in a cone the size of his face! They were good though and I'm thinking that now i'm 27, I can probably eat all the ice cream I want so I'll be back tomorrow for a great big dollop of something delicious!