The last two stops were a Berber carpet/craft cooperative and a traditional Moroccan restaurant. At the former, the salsmen unrolled carpet after carpet, describing the different styles (Moroccan—similar to Persian—Berber, nomadic, and Jewish), techniques (knots, weaving, Kilim embroidery), dyes (saffron, indigo, mint, absinthe, poppy, etc.), and materials (wool, cactus fiber, cotton, silk, camel hair). As they took each one off the stack, they asked if anyone was interested. Then, for each person who had a pile, a salesman came over to haggle, in a private corner.

We had several items on our pile, and came away with a small woolen prayer rug and two pillowcase-sized Jewish-style embroideries.

The best thing about the restaurant was the decor, which was elegant and traditional. The food was decent, actually our best meal in Morocco—but I've had better in Moroccan restaurants elsewhere. Still, it was absolutely gorgeous.

From then, Tangier. First a scenic tour of some of the wealthier neighborhoods, with excellent views of the Mediterranean—including the street where the king of Saudi Arabia, a Kuwaiti oil baron, and Tangier's mayor all have estates. (The king's has a private mosque on the grounds.)

Then a stop at the lighthouse and cafe where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic (very scenic, and great coffee), and a silly stop to take pictures on camels (we declined).

Finally, a short walk through the medina, and half an hour of free time, which was just enough to walk to the beach, cross the deliciously cool sand, stick our feet in the water, then return.

4/26

Today is our 30th anniversary as a couple, a good day to explore the beautiful city of Chefchouen, deep in the Rif Mountains.

If I understood Abdul-Salem, our Chefchouen guide, correctly, the inhabitants paint the outsides of their houses and stores six times a year! Usually, they're blue, but for certain festivals, they paint everything white temporarily.

Fortunately, today was a blue day. And what a magical palate of blue! Every hue from turquoise to lavender, with emphasis on a vibrant, shimmering set of indigos. It rained much of the day, which made walking challenging but the colors more intense.

Other things I learned about Chefchouen:

Like Tetuan (which once had 20 synagogues in the medina and has one remaining), Chefchouen once had a thriving Jewish community, starting after the Spanish expulsion in 1492—but currently, there is just one Jew left, and the Muslims consider him a holy man

Following the tour, we had free time before lunch. Rafael was interested in one of the small, jacket-style jalabas and had failed to come to terms with a rather pushy merchant in the store our guide had brought us to, so we stopped outside a store that had a few on display. Here, we got the low-pressure royal treatment, complete with little glasses of mint tea (very much like our experience years ago buying a rug from an Arab merchant in the Old City of Jerusalem, except that then, it had been Arabic coffee).

His name was Idris, and he started unrolling rugs for us. After he'd shown a few, we told him that we were actually more interested in the jackets. His response: "after the tea, I'll show you the jackets." And then he showed us more carpets!

The tea was a long time coming; I think he may have actually sent the small boy in the shop elsewhere to get it; I saw some coins passed). And true to his word, after we'd been sipping for a while, he gave Raf several jackets to try on.

In three bargaining sessions in two different cities on successive days, the pattern was similar:

Once we got "into the zone," rather than lower the overall price, they prefer to make the package larger. So yesterday, we ended up with three pieces, today, two: the jacket and a gorgeous scarf that we'll give to Alana.

In both consummated deals, he accepted our lower price if we added something extra outside the negotiated price, directly into his pocket.

We enjoyed dealing with Idris in his small shop more than with Salim in his large showroom; it was much more low-key. The merchandise was beautiful in both cases.

A Few Culture Observations

Although the population is almost entirely Muslim, the country is a constitutional monarchy with a guarantee of religious freedom. Women walk the streets freely in all three cities we visited—mostly alone or in pairs and groups, occasionally with husbands and/or children. Most wear hijab (head scarf)—often quite elegant. A significant minority, maybe eight or ten percent, are bareheaded, a tiny handful more covered than that: face masks or very occasional, the full chador that's common in pictures from post-revolutionary Iran.

There was even a female attendant who squirted soap on my hands in a restaurant bathroom, and then wanted a tip.

Women do run some of the market stalls, especially food vendors—but not, as far as we could tell, any of the craft shops. But the absence of women in teahouses, restaurants, and other public socializing venues is quite noticeable; I think the only exception we encountered was a modern Moroccan tourist who sat smoking in a Chefchouen hotel lobby with her European husband and two daughters; both wearing similar jalabas ; we promised to send a picture of the three kids. Dina said she'd never before felt so much like a second-class citizen.

Crafts are beautiful, particularly the textiles.

Local cheeses sold at the market looked wonderful—my guess is something resembling a goat brie. Unfortunately, the only market where we had free time was in Chefchouen, and we didn't see it being sold there, so we never got to try it. We did try a similar looking cheese in Spain, which was delicious.

Shel Horowitz is the Editor fo Global Travel Review and author of The Penny-Pinching Hedonist: How to Live Like Royalty With a Peasant's Pocketbook.