Travelogue a la Flinn;

We all wanted to see more of Djemma El Fna. We only saw it last night in the dark and wanted to see what it's like in the day. I wanted to buy a pair of orange babouches with the pocket money Grandma and Grandad gave me. I tried loads of different pairs on but all the orange ones were too small. The red ones were too big and I didn't like the yellow ones. I only want orange ones ... or maybe pink ones with beads on! Mama said she'll take me to the souk that specialises in selling babouches; the babouche kissaria.

We wandered around Djemma El Fna for a while, then went exploring the souks leading off the square. We sat in a cafe and had a drink while mama had a really good look at one of her guide books and maps. Afterwards we went off to find the tanneries.

The closer we got to the tanneries, the smellier it got - pooh!! Finally we found them. The man there gave us all a big bunch of mint each to hold under our nose, to hide the smell. It didn't work, cos it was very stinky!

I stepped on the cats tea - a fish head lying on the floor. I didn't mean to - sorry little cat.

The man told us it is stinky at the tanneries cos they bring all the animals here to get all the hair off their bodies. I think they must shave them!

They put big animals in big pots for 4 weeks and small animals in small pots for 2 weeks, then they cover them in "pish and sheet" the man told us. I asked mama what pish and sheet is. She told me it's wee and pooh. Errghh -thats disgusting! The poor animals! I think they are a bit dead though, so maybe they don't mind very much!

After they have been in their pots, they come out all smooth - the men make the leather out of the rudey, nudey, baldy, naked animals. And they're dead too.

After a while mama said "well I've had about enough of this stench and don't really want to see any more 'pish or sheet' either. Shall we go?" Hooray, I left so quickly I slipped on the cats tea on the way out! Sorry little cat!

As we left the man said he'd made mint tea for us and to please follow him. Mama said to Imogen "Here we go. What did I tell you? One carpet shop coming up....." and she was right!

We went inside the leather and carpet shop and a guy gave us mint tea. It was good. I liked all the sugar in it. I sat on a pouffe, but it wasn't stuffed and I fell on the floor like a clown. While we drank our tea, the man kept dragging out carpet after carpet for mama to look at. She kept saying no thankyou. The man asked why not and mama said because she didn't want one and didn't have room in her bag to carry one anyway, so then he dragged loads of bags out.

Mama kept saying "No", "Non-merci", "La shokrun", "Niet" and finally, "No, I don't want a bloody bag or carpet - unless it's a magic one and will whisk me away from here!" Imogen and I laughed at mama. She was funny.

Then she got hold of mine and Imogens hands and said "Right, thats it, we are leaving - now." We got to the door and the man blocked us from leaving and dragged out another carpet. Mama got a bit annoyed, took a deep breath and crouched down in front of me. She said "Flinn, I give you permission, just this once, to run around, climb everything and generally be a pest." So I did!

The man couldn't get rid of us quick enough after that. Mama said she had a new secret weapon in the war against annoying hustlers - ME!! (I charge £10 an hour and am well worth the price! I guarantee a rapid escape from any and all hustlers, beggers and botherers!)

When we escaped from the carpet place, we wandered back through the souks. I saw lots of little donkeys and irritated mama by singing 'Little Donkey' every time I saw one. Mama said "Flinn, I will scream if I hear you sing that one more time" and she said it was a good job Grandma wasn't here, cos I'd drive her up the wall with it too. I didn't know Grandma's could drive up walls!

We stopped at a cart where a little wrinkly old man was selling cactus pears. He peeled them for us and we ate a whole load. I like the taste of cactus pears but am not keen on the chewy pips. I'd eat lots more of them though.

We stopped at a place for lunch. Mama had harira soup, I had bread with dips and a tomato and onion salad. Imogen had omelette avec olives et frites (omelette with olives and chips). It was good, then we went to an OJ stand in the square and had an ice-cream at a patisserie before heading back to the Riad cos we were all knackered and wanted a nap!

On the way back through the medina, we spotted a Berber Caravanserai - a Berber hotel. We stuck our heads through the low, tiny wooden door and had a quick peek around. We saw some Berbers inside with their animals. They come down from the villages around, to sell animals and vegetables on market day. They stay in the caavanserai over night. It has a little central courtyard with animal pens all around the outside. The Berbers sleep in the animal pens with their animals. We saw Berber ladies with black eyes and black tattoos. Mama said the black around the eyes was called Kohl, and that it and the tattoos were to ward off evil spirits. I said "Mama, will it ward off the evil blue eye, like in Turkey? Your blue eyes are beautiful not evil."

We wandered back through the butchers souk which was a bit smelly and disgusting. We saw live chickens dangling upside down by their feet, tied up with bits of string, goats, pigeons in wooden cages, strings of animal ears, trotters and snouts, bowls of gross guts, and dead sheep heads stuck on top of jars, all stood in a row. We even went round one corner and mama nearly fell over a row of cow legs chopped off at the knees, tied together in pairs and stood up in rows on their trotters - yuk!! Mama told us to watch where we were stepping, and told me "Flinn, look with your eyes, not with your hands" and said to us both "You may want to take a deep breath right about now!"

After our nap, we went back out for something to eat and to wander around the square. We listened to lots of music and drumming. We saw the snake charmers, monkey men and men and boys doing funky dances. I saw lots of men holding hands. We peaked inside a mosque and looked at tortoises, squirrels and lizards in cages. I wanted to touch everything - at least twice!

The square was noisy and heaving and had lots of stalls and outdoor grills set up for meals. We chose one to have our supper at and sat at a long table between two Berber families. One family was really nice and kept talking to me and giving me tissues because I was really, really mucky. I didn't understand what they were saying to us, but we all smiled at each other lots.

Imogen and I had harira soup and bread with dips. The dips were spicy but good and the soup came with a huge wooden spoon that looked like a ladle. I couldn't fit it in my mouth and had to slurp - s-l-u-r-p!! Mmmmm! Imogen fitted it in her mouth, cos her mouth is bigger than mine!!

Mama had vegetable tagine and said it was lovely. Afterwards we went for an OJ and another ice-cream. I was upset, cos I wanted to see the snakes again and mama said no. I had a tantrum - and then got more upset because mama laughed at me and said "you look very silly shouting and screeching. You'll scare off all the snakes AND monkeys with that behaviour." Then we went home to bed cos we were all knackered again and it's really, really hot.

Imogen says;

"yeah, well all I've got to say today is that the tanneries honked, the carpet/bag shop guy was a complete pain in the bum and if we hadn't escaped when we did, I was all ready to hold him down and stuff one of his 'cheap, very cheap, good quality' bags in his mouth. The butchers souk was truly disgusting, especially the bowls of animal guts - I thought I was going to puke, but it was funny when mam nearly stumbled over the animal legs stood there all nicely in a row!