Barcelona

Leaving the hotel now for the airport, taking advantage of the free "wee-fee" (wifi) here. Barcelona is nice but full of tourists this time of year. We had dinner last night with a friend of friend, Ulisses, who lives in Barcelona. He took us to a Catalan restaurant where we sampled cod fish with creme, roasted red peppers with garlic, a mixed salad which means lots of olives in Spain, and a nice assortment of Catalan cheeses. Wine: Ribera. I haven't had a bad glass of wine yet in Spain.

Visited the beach in Barcelona and also the produce market "La Boqueria". We also had several failed attempts to visit the contemporary art museum (closed Tues) and the Picasso museum (didn't make it on time). "La Boqueria" is great if you happen to be visiting Barcelona anytime soon.

Under the Desert Sky

Yesterday we set off at 7am for a tourist trek to the Sahara, led by the Berbers. First you must take a very long ride throught the Atlas Mountains and the Draa Valley to reach the desert. This involves riding in the dreaded and perilous MINI-BUS. Hairpin curves, donkeys with large loads of straw, and the ever-present potholes make these mini-bus journeys even more interesting. Once a critic, I have now become a fan of Dramamine. We scored some at an airport farmacia in Spain called 'Biodramimine'. Not sure what makes it 'bio' but we made it through the mini-bus adventure without throwing up so it must be the right stuff.

At Zagora near the Algerian border, we said our tearful goodbyes to the mini-bus and also our non-English speaking guide (no French speakers in our group). Some of us knew a tiny bit of French but things got a little tense when we tried to tell him that we need to use the bathroom by shouting "toilette s'il vous plait" from the back and he yelled back, "No" and didn't stop for another 30 minutes.

Then we mounted our camels. The landscape was beautiful from the camels and the sun was just beginning to set in the clear desert sky. Little children ran alongside our loping camels shouting at us for 'bon-bons'. In exchange they made little camels out of palms and would toss them up on to our (live) camels.

We ate dinner in the Berber's tents and then sat and slid down the sand dunes while the Berber guides sang us traditional songs and played their drums. Among us were Welsh, English, Colombian, Polish, Canadian and Mexican--a 'mixed salad' as the Berbers called us.

Dawn came quickly at 5am and it was time to again mount the camels although some of us felt like we would rather eat sand than re-mount the beasts with our soreness. I rode for maybe 30 minutes and then dismounted and enjoyed a nice walk alongside the camel for the remainder of the walk out of the desert.

Marrakech

we started our day here by walking into the djemaa el-fna. ahmet immediately had a monkey and a snake shoved into his arms by a vendor, looking to make some cash on exotic animal portraits for tourists. food has been good although they cook the hell out of the veggies (baked in a tagine). we are going on a sahara trek tomorrow with an overnight stay in the desert in tents. Maggie note: there are tons of donkeys and kittycats here but some of them are really skinny. The medina is a labyrinth as they say--we found our way out after a couple of hours but it was the good kind of vacation-lost. Tonight: Royal Palace and Saadian Tombs. But first, I'm off to the hammam (traditional bathhouse) for a good black scrub and henna treatment.

Arrival

We had a four-hour layover in Philadelphia which we spent lounging in the rocking chairs and surfing the web. One would think four hours would be enough time to get to your gate, but at 5:42pm we realized our flight had already boarded and would be leaving for Spain shortly at 6pm. After racing across the airport pell-mell, we arrived at the gate panting and sweating and they let us board the flight despite our tardiness.

Madrid: Arrived at 8am and NO ONE was awake in the city. The streets were empty. At 10am, things still seemed a little slow. Later we went to the Prado for a dose of El Greco, Goya, Tintoretto and all the Old Masters. Today: Reina Sofia and flamenco?

Philadelphia

Cate sent me this letter written by her friend Jessica who is with the Peace Corps in Morocco now. The letter is addressed to a class of second-graders in the States and has some nice photos of Morocco. I like the lizards best.

http://www.artuntravel.com/morocco.pdf

Four hour layover in Philadelphia now after a slightly choppy flight from Chicago. Bernadette graduates tomorrow! Congratulations.

I've tried to learn a little Arabic but haven't achieved the overnight fluency I was hoping for yet. Here's what I can do in Arabic: "Excuse me waiter. My name is Mary and I'd like 5 pizzas".

Tapas and Tagine

A and I are leaving Saturday morning for our WARMER PLACES trip, Chicagoans desperate for sun and citrus. We will arrive early Sunday morning in Madrid.

Sunday ambitions include visiting the Prado (free until 2pm!), lunch in La Latina, and people-watching/staring at El Retiro Park. We'll see if these plans materialize with jet lag. We will be meeting Madrid residents Sean and Paloma that evening and following them around for the next few days. Tuesday, off to Morocco for camel riding and getting lost in labyrinthine medinas until Friday.

Saturday-Wednesday is the Barcelona portion of the trip.