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.