It's 10:30 p.m. in Marrakesh, and Joann and I are just back from the Medina, the old walled city. We went with a couple of women that we met here, so we felt relatively safe. This is the night before the sabath so the square--forgot the name--was packed. A man on a bicycle began to ride along beside us at some point and directed us--supposedly to help us. I knew that he had an angle, and sure enough he did. He took us down a narrow street to a spice store where they sell all kinds of spices and argan oil. For those of you who have seen the "Goats in the Trees" video, that's the product that is dirived from the seeds after the goats eat them and eliminate them, making them soft enough so that the native women can crack them and drain the oil from them. It's supposed to have some very special qualities. I bought three bottles and Joann bought three jars of cream.

At some point, we came to a very busy crowd with lots of loud music coming from the middle. We were told that that's where the snake charmers are, but we decided to put that off until daylight--too many people. I think I even saw a woman wearing a burka.

And finally, I have discovered how to insert photos, as you can see below. I couldn't resist taking a photo of Joann with the contents of her suitcase spread out on her bed.

More tomorrow.......

We were told when we left the hotel that the square was a 20 minute walk. I think it was farther, but we had a great time, and we hired a kind of taxi, which was a little covered vehicle pulled by a moped--50 dirhams for the four of us back to the hotel. The dirham is worth about 10 cents on the dollar, so divided four ways that was a pretty cheap way back to the hotel.