Posts Tagged Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde — the Second Coming. Page 1
Posted by mirandainnes in Dan the Cartoonist on January 30, 2011
Riad Maizie — the Cast
Posted by mirandainnes in Marrakech on January 24, 2011
Dan and I bought Riad Maizie, in the very oldest part of the Medina of Marrakech just 100 yards away from the original mosque, ten years ago. We fell in love with it immediately, and then proceeded to slither headlong into one drama after another, until two years ago, when we realised that it had to be run Mafia-style, within the family. The story of our bumpy ride can be read in my book, ‘Cinnamon City’. Riad Maizie is now a family business — you can see the serious info on riadmaizie.eu — but I thought I’d introduce you to the people who give it warmth and character.
Maizie.
Maizie was a mere dot when we bought the pretty, abandoned courtyard house in October 2001. We named it after her to celebrate its completion and her arrival on the planet. Her first visit was somewhat marred by the fact that she had chicken pox, and spent the time exploring the accoustics. Despite everyone tiptoeing, she would wake at the twitter of a solitary bird, creak of a single hinge, a perambulating lizard’s quiet cough, and she would scream and scream. She has greatly improved since then.
Dan
Dan loves Marrakech — the Kingdom of Boys. It takes me forever to get to Djemaa el Fna these days because every other bloke wants to know how he is, where he is and when he’s coming back to Marrakech. The answer is that he spent a year managing the riad, quite brilliantly, and now lurks here in Italy in his frowsty lair doing his Oscar cartoon, and nothing short of an earthquake will budge him.
Leo
Leo and Saki are Maizie and Chilali’s parents. Leo is a Website Meister, and really got us going when he did such a brilliant job on riadmaizie.eu — of course he always complains that it needs updating. He website is called zimzamzimmy.com for reasons best known to himself.
Spigs
When Dan came back to Italy, Spigs took over. He combines eccentric, efficient and convivial management with learning Arabic, provocative painting, superlative cooking (he worked as a chef for a couple of years in Spain) and SKATEBOARD FANATICISM.
He has a masterplan to set up a skateboard park for the bored youf of Marrakech — who otherwise turn to less salubrious pastimes — and to somehow to provide them with affordable skateboards. It’s a great idea — his name is Will, and I can’t help but think, where there’s a Will, there’s a way.
Amal and her Family
Amal holds the place together. With a sweet, secretive smile, she makes Riad Maizie into a home. She has a major repertoire of fab Moroccan cuisine, for which she shops fresh every day — even down to the spices with which she makes her own distinctive ras el hanout.
The trio work peacefully together and for them the riad represents stability, cash, and amusement. They observe us, our friends and the guests with discreet interest, and earn accolades for their quiet attention to comfort and pleasure, without a trace of judgement for riotous or eccentric behaviour . Nezha buffs the brass basins until they shine like gold, she and Amal cook together, and Hicham is guard, handyman, organiser and generally Mr. Fixit.
Our Mates, Yussef and Jamal
Jamal used to play and sell musical instruments, but decided it was irreligious and now sells teapots.
Miranda
So, there you have it — you now know everyone. Next I’m going to introduce you to the riad, the city and the shopping. Baci, M