To Marrakesh

So, we've made it down to Marrakesh. We are staying in a gorgeous little riad in the medina called the Jnane Mogador; for the price we've been paying for hostels, we have our own room and bathroom plus a television (on which Steve has "Lord of The Rings" with Arabic subtitles).

The ferry ride over from Tarifa was easy. The ferry is huge and puts the Cape May-Lewes ferry to shame. As advertised, it takes only about 35 minutes to get over to Tangier and that is where the real fun started. We needed to get to the train station for our overnight journey to Marrakesh. A fellow passenger on the ferry with us told us that when we get off at the port, just keep walking - and that's what we did. If there was not a stream of other passengers we would still be walking round the port of Tangier.

We turned down the many offers for taxis because we were just a little overwhelmed and not exactly sure where we were going - Lonely Planet didn't exactly make it clear where to go once you get into Tangier and we kind of had the "we'll figure it out when we get there attitude." Only we were naively thinking that more people would speak English or at least Spanish but we learned very quickly that everyone basically speaks only French and Arabic.

Eventually, we made it to the train station and had our first meal in Africa - at a McDonald's (complete with a McArabia burger). It was the only "restaurant" in close distance to the station. We also had our first cup of mint tea at the train station - Kelly's new favorite. We splurged on the 1st Class couchettes on the train which were actually really comfortable and woke up in the morning in Marrakesh.



Marrakesh is definitely an experience. The medina is filled with ongoing mazes of old, winding streets crammed with merchants selling everything from spices to incense to cow tongue to bejeweled shoes and on and on. Outside in the main square Djemaa el-Fna, there are also merchants selling a wide range of food and goods but this is also where the entertainment is. During the day, there were snake charmers, moneys on chains, henna tattoo artists, and musicians but at night it really explodes with activity.

The center of the square fills up with food stalls selling not only tangine and couscous but snails and calf brain. There are also tons of impossible carnival games even Steve refused to play. Think of the St. Anthony's festival in Wilmington times at least 100 and you will start to get a little idea of the square at night - and it is like this everyday. It is definitely an adventure and we will post back with more soon.