On the eve of the 50th anniversary (yikes!) of the moon landing, I thought I’d write a little more about that summer trip to Morocco (see earlier post Madrid-Tangier).  After that craziness on the flight to Tangier (July 16), we knew that our astronauts were on their way to the moon.

We spent a few days sightseeing around Tangier (drinking hot mint tea to cool down!) and ate in a restaurant that featured belly dancing as the entertainment.  Surprisingly, the girls were quite plump, and had a lot of belly to wiggle!  They were great, but I never did find out if this was originally how they were supposed to look.

Eventually, we took a bus down to Marrakesh.   It is important to keep in mind that the Marrakesh of 1969 is totally different from the Marrakesh of today.  My niece went there a couple of years ago, and wow!  her description was nothing like what I remembered.  I know there are now big chain hotels there.  When we were there, there was one big fancy hotel (the Mamounia) which we could not afford.  (We did go for afternoon tea.)  We stayed in an un-air-conditioned room, a second floor walk up with a balcony.  (which some idiot guy tried to climb up onto!  our loud yells got him on his way!)

Getting used to the heat was impossible.  We discovered that men wore wool (!) long undershirts under their robes so that when their sweat made the fabric wet, it kept them cool during the day!  At first I thought that was disgusting, but after a day or so, I totally got it.  My 17 year old self in a mini skirt was dying of the heat.  One thing I can say – if you need to lose weight – go to Marrakesh.  I had no appetite and lived on Cokes and cactus balls.  Vendors sold the cactus everywhere and it is delicious and juicy, like melon.

Walking through the souks was a fascinating way to meet people and see the town.  The central square, Djemma el-Fna, did actually have snake charmers (cobras!), the Tuareg, an ancient Berber tribe, also called the Blue Men of the Sahara (so called because their blue robes stain their skin), dancers, food vendors, and more.  It was incredible. 

On July 21st, large screens were set up in the main square and we sat at a roof top bar to watch the moon walk!  A memorable day.  Everyone was mesmerized by the images, visitors and residents alike.

The next day we left on a bus trip over the Atlas Mountains to Ouarzazate in the Sahara.  A total nightmare that I will recount in the next post.