Fez Morocco

Fez 29/2-2/3

Breakfast in hostel - wonderful, homely buffet of cake, bread, jam, cheese, yoghurt, fruit, coffee, hot chocolate, mint tea & the signature of magnificent pithy squeezed OJ - ate the poor woman out of her small kitchen!

Bus local experience - "sold" cheaper tickets for bus leaving sooner & front seats- well, no charge for luggage - only to find mid bus seat, charge for small back pack 4 X what CTM charged, Jen threatening police action before they gave us $ back, Kel crying & we went with "what we know" to quote wise traveler Wil - CTM . 4hrs - few roadside stops, squat loos, smoking, local colour ++ kids great. Chatting with Ozzies Claire & Hugh & pom, Charles.

  Lots of green open cultivated farmland - pretty. 

Fez - Altercation with cabbie (ALWAYS charge us double - tiring). To Pension Campini - followed from bus station by faux guide on motorcycle who leapt out at hostel & welcomed us in smooth English to his hotel!

  Room 500 Dm/n (about $55) , overlooking edge of medina - quiet & roomy but ever present smell of urine,sweat & poo.

  Walk into medina to LP recomm restaurant (OK Tagines - food over- rated) whoa! Dirt, noise, squalour, next to countless, most ornate, enormously attractive "babs" (grand city gates ) 352 mosques for medina population of about 1 million - constant calling to Allah. Washing and carpets amidst satellite dishes on flat topped roofs, down thru alleys and out other side and up to lookout at sunset.

castle ruins overlooking Fez Medina

Changing idea of 4 days to 2 - should get a guide to find what's beautiful....

1/3/12 breakfast on roof of hostal

Usual bread, pancakes, cheese, jam, fresh juice, coffee etc

0900 guided walk with "certified" Rashid, who promised to "blow our minds" - & he did!

  First to Art Naji.  Large factory where table tops, pottery, full sets of Moroccan crockery & fountains from small to massive, sinks etc are hand made with intricate "zellij"/ mosaics made from clay in surrounding mountains with natural dyes. Each & every piece is crafted there, shaped, designed, laid out in original designs & fired to the final breath - taking product. Such an enormously appealing, utterly divine craft.  We could easily commission a number of works from here - probably will!

spectacular rug shop

another amazing door - 1/4 of it

metal workers hard at it

Tannery

another gate

Rock the Casbah!

Fez roofline - dishes galore!

Baghdadi Sq entertainment

Then back to the medina with Rashid to explore Merdersa el - Attarine, an annexe to the grand mosque that has pain-stakingly restored Merenid artisanship with zellij, old inscriptions & cedar ceilings (all UNESCO funded like so many medina sites in Morocco); henna, carpentry & metalworker's souqs before exploring fresh produce markets. Stuff here is interesting - hanging camel's heads mark the butcher where chooks are tied up by their feet for you to choose & then they are killed to meet Islam halal criteria. Cats direct you to the fish & your nose heralds the mounds of spices, nuts & olives. Scattered unknowns include all sorts of breads, pies & cakey things, sizzling meat mixes & soups, towers of bananas & oranges freshen the air periodically. With tired feet, we are led to another carpet co- op in an extra - ordinary old palace - Omar talks to us about Islam out of respect to us not wanting to be sold another carpet. Finally, Rashid leads us to the Tannery....mm. Mint spring in hand, we are led through one of many, vast leather goods shops to a terraced view of the hand worked stinky tannery. Here men, stomp, wash, mix with lime, pigeon poo & dye skins only to lay them out amongst the graves on the adjacent cluttered hillside to dry before fashioning into poofs, slippers, bags, jackets.....the sell is on again!"  La shukran" - we're pretty good at "no thanks". Rashid takes us to a fancy, empty, no doubt mate's restaurant for 'dinch' - we make lame excuse that it's too early to eat & uproot to LP recomm Cafe Clock for a wee piece of airy, roof top, English - speaking heaven. Several hours later we've unwound, enjoyed ENORMOUS FRUIT  smoothies, falafel, camel & lamb burgers, salads and amazing coffee. Home via Baghdadi Sq where lots of open air hanging about and entertainment, to bed for long read & early night.

Fez Gare at 6:30am