I interrupt your normally scheduled opening and shutting of this all but
dormant Blog to fill you in on our latest excursion. Contrary to the
popular myth, we have been working diligently since January so we were
looking forward to our first trip of 2008.

Our trip started off with a long domestic flight - we first stopped in
Gibraltar which as the history scholars among you will know is the critical
English stronghold adjacent to Spain which controls the Mediterranean Sea.

When they say the rock of Gibraltar, I'm not sure what you picture but
essentially all of Gibraltar is built on the rock. That's it. Just a few
square feet really. The rock is gi-normous.

And it managed to stop clouds for the entire 24 hours we were there. The
rain came down, but the many apartment complexes built on the rock held
firm.

Except our hotel, which accumulated a good four inches of water in the open
air lobby.

We had the benefit of local guides - friends of ours from our rock climbing
experience on the back of the cruise ship in September 2006. As locals they even got us in to all the sights for free.

The best part: undoubtedly the apes. They were simply amazing. They could
peel a banana with greater dexterity than any person I’ve ever met. Though
technically wild, they are quite comfortable with human interaction. We
also went through the massive caves in the rock, which serve dual purpose as concert hall, even hosting the Miss Gibraltar contests, which our hostess took part in a “few” years ago.

We had a bit of a scare when we learned that the ferry from Gibraltar (that was to be our vehicle to Northern Africa) was cancelled but our local friends bailed us out by driving us to Spain to catch an alternate ferry.

The ferry ride was uneventful and by the time we reached Tanjers the sun
was out. We hired a local guide for the extortionate price of 150 dm (about 13 Euros, 10 GBP, or 21 USD). We later figured out that he probably made more from kickbacks than from the price of the tour.

He knew everyone roaming the narrow streets in the Medina, from the many spinners and
knitters in their small shops to the kids playing soccer. The ultimate
destination was the carpet sale room. We, of course, we're coaxed into a
lengthy negotiation for a runner. The real items were in the thousands of
dollars.

Dinner was a disappointing tourist trap and then we hopped aboard the
overnight train to Marrakesh. Our hotel was everything that the first one
was not and we enjoyed our first good shower of the trip.

We again practiced negotiation in the shops in the souqs, and walked through the main square oogling at snake charmers and other street performers. We took a camel ride
through a largely desolate park. We tried the celebrated tangine chicken
which lived up to expectations.

The most important lesson we learned in Morocco is that negotiation is required frequently. Everytime I opened a cab door I asked combien. ‘50.’ Then I would shake my head no, counter offer ‘30’ to which the driver would usually shake his head. I would then calmly shut the door and slowly walk away. Slowly being the key word. He would then motion me back and agree to the reduced price. Sometimes I would cave and take 40, still a decent deal. It takes a lot of energy when prices are not transparent.

Sunday

When we planned the trip, I don't think it occurred to us that we would be
in a Muslim country for Easter.

We have travelled the last several years on Easter but always managed to find
an English speaking church. No such luck this time, though we were informed
by the concierge that there are churches of several denominations.

We relaxed a bit and after one last fruitless trip to the souqs we ventured
to a traditional Hammam (re: an African spa). The guys found it a bit unsettling but in the end very positive. The girls claimed it was torture. I’ll leave the details to a
live conversation.

And that was that. We got back and had a few last nights with our friends K and J before they moved back to the states. Great trip to end our times with the K and J!