European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 23, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                At right visitors roam through the Medina the old Quarter of the moroccan City of Fez. Where the past lives on Story and photographs by Gary Miller Naples Bureau Rick s cafe should have been in Marrakesh. In Marrakesh s gathering place of the extinct Monkey men Snake charmers water Sellers pickpockets and other assorted characters mingle with the crowds Marrakesh in other words is very much like the City that was Home to Rick s cafe in the famous Humphrey Bogart movie Casablanca the real Casablanca on the other hand is a Standard Dimo a dozen port City. If most of the inhabitants of Baltimore decided to Wear their bed sheets instead of their regular clothes Baltimore would look a lot like the real Casablanca that was one of Many discoveries my family and i made during our we Klong package tour of the Northern african nation of Morocco. A Spanish travel Agency charged me and my wife Sofia $350 each. We paid half fare for our 4-year-old daughter and our 20-month-old son went along for free. The tour began in Algeciras Spain near Gibraltar. Getting there from Rota Spain where our military flight from Italy arrived proved to be the trip s first Challenge. The fact that Sofia Speaks fluent Spanish made things much easier. But we still had to take a bus to Cadiz wait there for several hours for another bus and spend a night in an Over priced hotel in Algeciras to be there in time for the tour. The tour which was of Morocco s Imperial cities took us through vast areas of the country s Northern and Central territories. It was the marketplaces that most amazed us and none More than the one at Jemaa Elfna Square in Marrakesh. As we got off our bus on the Edge of the swarm i could smell chit kens and livestock. I also detected other doors that i discovered through close encounters were those of camels and monkeys. Some of the women in the crowd wore Western dresses. Others wore Black from head o toe and covered All of their faces but their eyes with veils. Jemaa Elfna or the gathering place of the extinct received its name centuries ago from a ruler who held Public executions in the Square. The name is equally appropriate today because a Way of life that would otherwise be extinct continues there thanks to tourism. The water Sellers Are Good examples. They wander through the crowd decked out in their brightly decorated sombreros and Long red Coats with dozens of shiny Metal cups Strung across their chests. I doubt that they even had any water to sell but Point a camera in their direction and they la be on you faster than Indiana Jones can crack his Bullwhip. Water Sellers May have been important once. Now they re anachronisms who flourish because tourists enjoy being photographed with them. The same was True for the other assorted mercenary oddballs in the multitude. I carried our son and a camera through the Square and took More abuse than 1 cared for. People demanded payment whether i had photographed them or not. Others tried to sell me trinkets for my son. I was happier when we watched the Square from the grand Balcony there for the Price of a mint Tea the National drink or a Coke you can observe the madness safely from above. Sofia s reaction to the Square was the opposite of mine. Quot this is what i came to Morocco for Quot she said anti her glazed shop til you drop stare told me that no matter what was scheduled for our continued on Figo 12 water Sellers in the gathering place of the extinct pose for photographers a for a Price. Is a i Quot h-i"1 a