Still Crazy--After All These Years: Weekend in Morocco--Part I, Fez

The plan for our weekend in Morocco

Travel by train from Rabat to Fez on Friday afternoon
Tour Fez on Saturday
Taxi to the Volubilis Hotel (near the ancient Roman ruins of Volubilis) on Saturday afternoon
Tour the ruins on Sunday morning
Taxi to Meknes (lunch)
Travel by train from Meknes to Rabat on Sunday afternoon home in time for dinner

Our plan changed only slightly when the train to Fez was late by an hour. We bought first class tickets but there still was a scramble for seats--some multiple tickets were issued for the same spot.

We were met at the station by the manager of the riad where we were staying. The riad was just inside the Fez Medina and the entrance was on a dark narrow alley. We entered through the door into a lovely courtyard where we were given Moroccan mint tea while we filled in our registration cards.
We were the only guests so we were allowed to roam and look into unoccupied--beautiful scroll work, metal work around the windows, cushions for comfort, and an interior garden open to the sky. We were provided with a traditional tagine dinner of meatballs in tomato sauce and fried eggs, bread and selected fruits for dessert. (You know that there are some fruits here that have no English translation.) A breakfast of Moroccan breads, soft cheese coffee and jam started our morning.

The riad arranged a guide for our tour of Fez and he took his job seriously. Twice he took us to high spots outside the city to look down on the streets below. We were able to walk around the Merinid Tombs and check out the view from the outside of the armament museum, Musee des Armes. (I read that they have 16 rooms of different types of weapons. We did not go in.)
The Fez Medina is famous for its age, size, and complex layout. Our guide trotted us through to Bou Inania Medersa (a student residence and school combined). He also told us that the first University in the world was founded in Fez, by a woman.

The Fez Medina is believed to have over 9,000 passages. There are no motorized vehicles in the media-donkeys transport heavy loads so you have to watch your step. Light is from the sky or from bare light bulbs…and there are some neon signs. Even during the day it can be dark in there.

Look around there are stalls of fruits, vegetables, spices, fresh and live meat, leather goods, silk clothes, traditional robes, classic Moroccan slippers and silver platform shoes.

Our guide took us through the a ceramic studio and we watched pottery being made from clay to the finished product. (Fez is famous for their blue pottery.) And we saw artisans making mosaic table tops and fountains. The last stop was the pottery store.

We visited a small cramped shop that makes brocade (the old way). The pattern is guided by a bundle of string that our guide called the first computer.

We visited the tannery (impressive) and were invited to try on some jackets or try bag or two. (Beautiful work). We walked through the metal worker market and a family owned arpet coop. It was hard, but I walked away without a Moroccan wool carpet.

I’ve been told that the guide gets a cut of whatever amount his tour group spends. Our guide was surely disappointed because we bought almost nothing. However he eventually we agreed to let him drive us in his van to Volubilis—there were seven of us in our group so a van was convenient.

I would end this blog with a description of lunch at the restaurant our guide took us to, but I think I’ve been blogging about food too much—so I will end here.