Day 22

Our only full day in Marrakesh started with me waking about 3:30 am with a headache. It wasn't bad, and I was very thirsty so I assumed if I drank some water, I'd be OK. After laying awake for a long time, I finally got up and took a shower and got dressed and went downstairs to see about using the Internet. I got the information with the username and password and signed on and was able to get to gmail and a couple of other things, but couldn't get to my blog or picasaweb. I was able to upload pictures, but I had wasted so much time trying to get connected to the other web sites that my laptop was running out of power, and it was getting close to time to start the excursion. And my headache was getting much worse. After uploading several sets of pictures, I went upstairs and took three Advil. I grabbed my backpack and Jan and I went downstairs to catch the bus for the city tour of Marrakesh. The tour would have been really interesting but my headache was not getting much better and my nausea was getting worse. The first place we went was to an old market area with raw meat hanging up and being butchered right there, cars and motor scooters going by putting out exhaust, and people doing metal working, banging on their little anvils. It was sensory overload, and just about the worst place you could be with a budding migraine. Even with that, though, seeing the craftsmen making shoes, belts, the metal lamps and other items was fascinating. The butchers I could have done without. We went through a Marruseh, which is a Muslim university, and is different from a Medrasseh which is a primary school. We also went inside a bakery. These are very primitive looking facilities, with a large wood-fired oven. The local women bring their dough and have it baked, which seems odd to me, but I guess you get to have bread made by your own recipe. It certainly smelled good. Some of the other groups got to try it, but no one offered any to us. I wasn't up to eating anything at the time anyway. After looking around at a few other places, we headed back to the bus to return to the hotel. Cathy gave me some real medicine. Excedrin Migraine. I took them and laid down. I missed lunch, but by the time I got up to go to the Souk to go shopping, I was feeling almost completely well. That was good stuff.

Our first stop was a government run store selling traditional craft items. The prices were supposed to be set, but it turned out some people managed to negotiate better prices. I think everything is negotiable in Marrakesh. I immediately started looking at the daggers. I picked out a camel bone one, and had the salesman set it aside while Jan continued to shop. She was looking at jewelry and Sam and I were looking at some daggers in a case. I wasn't even sure they were for sale, and the man told us they were museum pieces, very nice. I asked how much and found out that a museum piece of real silver can be had for a few hundred dollars, so I bought it. I guess I can start my own museum now. Jan made her choices and we paid and got out before he sold us something else. The salesmen in Marrakesh are not as pushy as other places, but they can be very persistent. They are very good natured about haggling, though. Some places don't like to haggle, but these guys do.

The next stop was the souk. The souk (a traditional marketplace) was quite a sight. Where we first entered, there were stalls selling more modern things like baby clothes (there was a set that was actually called "Baby Iman"), cell phones and other modern items. As we got further in, though, we got to the more interesting shops. There were shops selling carved wooden items. The boxes were beautiful, but as Jan pointed out, what would be do with it when we got it home? Other stores sold cloth items. Some had daggers (in fact, it seemed like everyone sold daggers, no matter what the main stock of the store was), some had carpets, some had clothes, some had jewelry. The first order of business was helping my father's friend Admah find some necklaces for the ladies in his family. We stopped at a couple of place, and finally found a man with some nice looking things that was willing to dicker. He started at a hundred dollars for each necklace, but finally came down to fifty-one. He still seemed happy when we left, so I'm not worried that he took a loss on the deal. Next stop was a place that had lots of odds and ends. Sam was looking for a dagger, and they had some (as did just about every place, as I said). He picked the one he liked and struck his bargain. The next order of business was getting Jan a carpet. Someone asked what we were looking for, and we said carpets, and he directed us toward a carpet shop. An old man waved us on into the shop, and I think he was going to ask for a cut for getting us in there, but we were heading there anyway. The man laid out a couple of rugs, which Jan didn't like, and said she wanted something thicker. Then he unrolled one she liked but said it was too big. So he got out a smaller one, but she liked the colors on the larger one. He pulled out several more, but every time she said she really liked the colors and design of the bigger one, so I just asked the price of the big one. We worked it down to an acceptable figure and walked out with our rug. I should say I walked out with our new rug, and my daggers. And Sam's dagger. I am, in fact, the family pack mule. It was getting close to time to meet back at the rallying point to head to the main square so we started back that way. Sam was eying some local clothing, so we stopped in a shop that had some very nice caftans and he started looking at them. They were pretty expensive, but Sam talked them down somewhat and he walked out wearing a hooded caftan they call a jalapa, and looked like one of the natives. He should have gotten the cap or a fez to go with it, but we were pressed for time. When we rejoined the group, we headed to the main square of the souk and saw the snake charmers, and the monkey trainers. People were having their pictures made with the monkeys so Margaret had to get in on that. Jan wanted to stay and shop, and I wanted to get back to the hotel with the carpet because it was getting heavy. So Sam and I headed for the bus and Jan went with Lonnie's family and kept shopping.

Tonight is our last official night of the tour, and we're having a special dinner to celebrate. We went to an old residence that's been converted into a restaurant. We had to ride in cabs because buses can't get down the street to reach the entrance to the riad where the restaurant is. The traditional architecture is called "hidden architecture" because it's supposed to look unassuming from the outside so that it doesn't inspire envy in other people. Inside, it can be very beautiful and ornate. This one was. It had a very small courtyard, but it had a little pool and was very pretty. We climbed the stairs to have a look at the view from the roof. It was a beautiful clear night and the stars were out, glistening on the satellite dishes that were on the roof of almost every house in sight.

Dinner started with fried dumplings. They had chicken and lamb. They also had a large variety of other items. Sautéed green peppers, sweet tomatoes, olives, carrots, and many other things. Everything I tried was delicious (I didn't try the olives). Next up was chicken. The chicken was baked until it was almost falling apart. It was served in a large dish in the middle of the table, with the chickens still whole. I was wondering how we were going to serve it and my sister was reaching for the utensils when the waiter returned and pulled off the leg and thigh, and pulled the breast bone out with no trouble at all. Serving it was easy then. We thought that dessert was next, but then they brought a large joint of lamb baked in the same style, and the waiter pulled most of the bones out we dug into that. I thought it was delicious, but several people passed on it. Dessert was next. It was a large wafer with some sweet creamy sauce. Again, it was delicious. That wasn't the end, though. They took that away and brought a tray of cookies. I hadn't planned on having any, but when the others started making yummy sounds, I couldn't resist. Time enough to diet when I get home, I suppose. Dinner ended with no fanfare. We just got into taxis and went back to the hotel. We have one more buffet dinner in London, but this was the big send off. We did get to eat with Lynn Garrison, our tour leader. It was nice to get to talk to her about something other than dumb tourist questions. We had to get our big bags out for collection by ten pm, and it was getting close to that when we got back so we got our dress clothes off and packed and put out bags out with minutes to spare.