Fez

5/19/2012 – Fez
The Moroccon city of Fez dates back to the seventh century A.D. And is the oldest of Morocco’s major cities.

It has the largest medina we have seen, literally covering the whole center of the vast city. If you recall from past posts, the medina is the old, walled, city center with very narrow, twisting streets. We spent today exploring, including getting completely lost in the jammed, roucas, shop-filled alleyways full of goods for sale at every turn. Though we found the medinas of Meknes and Chefchaouen delightful, the madina in Fez was overwhelming and clausterphobic at best. This is a personal observation, but it was the very first time I have ever experienced any clausterphobia. It is impossible to see more than the twisted windy street ahead of you and walls go up high so that relocating yourself is all but impossible. One might think that the various shops would ring a bell, but the booths come in only about 10 varieties, chief among these being shoes, leather goods, turkish delight, olive stands, nut stands, spice stands, and wedding wear. Once you have seen the full gamut, they all begin to look the same. After turning down no less than two dozen offers to show us the tannery (a must-see sight in Fez) but still failing to weave our way to the right place, we allowed a shopkeeper to lead us up several flights of stairs to a view of the tannery below. The sheep and goat skins are soaked in lyme and then the wool is scraped off and the skins go in vats of dye to be colored. It was quite interesting and colorful, if a bit dirty and smelly. After the tannery we booked it out of the medina and spent some time walking around the city walls. Unfortunately, we walked the wrong direction and ended up on the complete opposite side of the city. With difficulty, Steve convinced me that the best way to go was back through the medina. By this point the medina was adding to my Dehli Belly malaise and I was anxious to make it back to the hotel. With some difficulty and backtracking, we managed to make it back to the riad, which blissfully is another beautiful haven, our room is complete with a curtained bed and two divans, a fantastic place to have a snack and get away from the craziness of the medina on Sunday. I was able to spend some time fighting with WordPress before retreating to the beautiful rooftop deck which has a mineret overlooking the entire city. Looks like it is time for a little vino with a view (thankfully, we were able to go to the Marjane superstore yesterday so we picked up a couple of bottles of wine which cost less than $25 a piece) and are looking forward to a Moroccon meal cooked in-house in a couple of hours.

Oh yeah, our Riad in Fez was another fantastic place to stay. the manager was, again, delighful and the cook was fantastic as well as cheery as can be…you could here her happy giggles around the riad any time of the day or night….also, it had the most fabulous roof terrace, with a parapet that afforded 360 degree views of the city. Definately reccomended…..
Riad Ahlem

Fez is definately something to see, but I am happy to be headed to the more sparsely populated Sahara tomorrow!