Day Four
Date: 1 May 2913
Place: Fes
Weather: Sunny and
warm.
Accommodation: Hotel
Fes
Today summed up for me the title of the blog! Exotic Morocco…..and it was found in
Fes! The sights, sound and smells of
this complex ancient city can be found inside the Medina and it doesn’t
disappoint. Fes can claim to be the
longest living intact city commenced in 808AD by Idris II. It contains three elements: the modern;
the Jewish and the old part (the Medina). It has been the capital of Morocco four times
and sees itself as the spiritual, religious, gastronomy and handicrafts
capital.
Initially, our guide took us to the Royal Palace which was
built in the 14th century and is the biggest and oldest in Morocco. Unless you receive an invitation no one is
allowed inside to see the many gardens, palace, mosque and harem which covers
220 acres and a quarter of the city.
The largest door is called the Friday door and made of engraved brass. Unfortunately, my invitation was lost in the mail!
We were then off in the bus to the Jewish Quarter for a
stroll through this very busy area. This
quarter abuts the palace.
Very busy Fes!
A short drive to a nearby hill gave panoramic views over Fes
and showed the defined areas from above.
The green of the palace grounds was quite distinctive among the white of
Fes.
An interesting visit to a pottery apprenticeship centre was
one of the highlights of the day and we were guided through the process from
clay to finished products. Of course,
the final area was the shop and we succumbed to a very good price (?) and
bought a lovely plate.
From here our day became even more interesting as our guide
took us through the residential part of the Medina. There are so many narrow alleys and dead ends
that it would be impossible to find your way around without a guide! Boy, this was an education. Homes sit behind
high mud coloured walls, large wooden doors and narrow barred windows. Rubbish sat outside the doors as it was a
holy day and in places it had been scattered from their plastic bags and strewn
down the lanes. The lanes could be busy
affairs as we sidled to pass people, the majority in traditional wear of long
robes and covered heads. Our guide let us
choose alleys to find our way out and he knew the area like the back of his
hand – making us guess if we were in a blind alley or a new route.
This is a spy hole above the main door to the home! Ingenious!
Through the residential area of the Medina.
Stuffing mattresses....merino wool!
Holy day so we walked around the rubbish through the tiny alleys.
From the residential area we crossed a road and visited one
of the nine Madrassas which Fes is famous for.
A Madrassa is like a high school and they were built in the 14th
century to prepare mostly poor boys for university. They consisted of two floors, a mosque and a
fountain for ablutions.
Interesting times for us!
Camel heads outside the butchers!
Donkeys are used as a means of moving goods throughout the Medina.
Wow...too much to choose from in the brass shop.
To give you a picture of our time in the Medina it is hard
to pass by without mentioning the decapitated heads of camels outside the
butcher shop; the cacophony of sound
from the men beating the huge pots used for weddings; a donkey casually tied to an owner’s
shop; men stuffing mattresses with wool
and sewing the seams with large needles;
a myriad of brassware shops;
goats cheese shops showing their product wrapped in leaves; lantern and
leather shops……..the picture is endless.
Beating the large pots.....what a noise and I'm sure no-one hasn't suffered some sort of hearing loss!
It was time for lunch and it was hard to conceive that we
would find anywhere in Medina to eat but of course, once again, you never know
what is behind a closed door! It was
great to sit down and enjoy the lovely meal and entrees of Le Patio Blue. It obviously catered for tourists as there
were many other groups there including our shadow Peregrine group!
A picture says a thousand words...yum!
It was time for rug buying….for some of us anyway! Following our guide we wended our way through
the alleys, behind dirty time-worn walls and walked into an Aladdin’s cave of
rugs. You know you will be getting the
hard-sell when you are offered mint tea (this occurred at the pottery factory
as well). After an informative
introduction the show began……and rug after rug after rug was rolled out to
excite our buying needs. “You like this
one?; tell me the design you like!; bigger or smaller?” etc…….
I make you very good price......
A new prized possession!
Desley and Cameron chose a lovely rug after much
deliberation – and it’s a difficult choice and with so many to choose from you do
become a little desensitised!
It was time for leather buying and we knew we were getting
closer to the tanneries as the smell became more pungent. Once again, behind an inauspicious door and
up fourteen tiled mosaic steps we walked our way through to the balcony to
overlook the tannery vats. As we walked
through the tiny rooms we were given a sprig of mint to hold under our
noses….whew, but it wasn’t as bad as described in the summer months of over 40
degrees heat. The white vats contain
salt, pigeon poo and lime to remove the fur from the sheep and goat skins. The other vats contained the natural colours
and quite a few men were standing in them jostling around the mixture and
spreading the skins.
Notice the little cat...obviously has no sense of smell!
The white vats in the background are used for removing the fur.
Now, I wasn’t offered a mint tea however I did fall for the
hard sell and bought a leather jacket.
We bargained and somehow we ended up paying more than anyone else but I
will be happy if it turns up at my hotel as it is being personally made for my
smaller shoulders and short arms. I’ll
wait and see!
We were a tired bunch after our big day but our next stop
was also very interesting…the real Morocco!
We visited a supermarket and saw families out shopping for food, clothes
etc. One of our group has not had her
suitcase recovered from the airline and she has been in the same clothes for a
week! As she is a larger lady we found
some items in the men’s wear department – as you can imagine she was very
relieved.
We were only six for dinner at the restaurant….the others were
too tired! We all reflected and
marvelled on our amazing day – something to remember for a very long time!
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