We had a leisurely start at 9 am this morning. We began our tour by visiting the outside of the royal palace and the mellah. The mellah is unusual because it has windows and balconies that face the street unlike typical houses in the old town that have blank walls facing the street and inner courtyards for light. We visited a synagogue that is now just a historical monument. The Torah is written on gazelle skin. Apparently many Jews left Morocco for Israel after World War II. Interestingly, since the Vichy French regime was in Morocco during the war, when Hitler asked for the Jews to be sent to Germany the king said all his people were Moroccan and he refused to send them. I have been very impressed at how integrated the religions are here in terms of tolerance. If only the world could be the same …
We stood outside the palace’s beautiful 7 gates and turned to see the view down a wide avenue. Then we hopped back on our bus to be taken into the Medina.
The Fes Medina inhabited since the 9th century, is the largest car free area in the world. Well the streets are so narrow that cars would never fit anyway. It is said that there are 9000 alleys. We made sure we stayed close so as not to get lost. Our guide grew up here so he claimed to know all the streets. It is a place filled with shops of every kind, a university and a madrasa. Saturday is a big shopping day. The Medina is alive with people. In addition to shoppers there were the usual people following us to sell their wares and occasional beggars.
We viewed the university which is said to be the oldest one in the world. I haven’t fact checked that. We saw meats, olives, cloth dyeing, handmade phyllo being cooked, dresses, fabrics, spices, and just about anything you can want to buy as we wandered through the streets. Some streets that were only for inhabitants not shops were just barely wide enough for 2 people to pass each other.
We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that served a typical meal starting with many small plates of cooked vegetables followed by a tagine of lemon chicken with olives and then fruit, cookies and mint tea for dessert.
We walked back into the shopping area where we stopped to visit the wood carvers. Then we visited a tannery. We were given mint sprigs to hold under our noses when we climbed to the roof to look down on the tannery vats. They first use pigeon poop to treat the leather. Urine was originally used but apparently it was considered dangerous. The treated skins are rinsed and dried then dyed with natural dyes including saffron, mint, kohl, henna. We were then set free to shop in their store. Of course many of us bought beautiful things.
Our last stop was a weaving shop that is now in its fourth generation of owner/weavers. After a demonstration of the process on a big hand and foot operated loom, the weaver showed us some products. Many are made from silk from the agave plant, not silkworms. The fabric is beautifully colored and scarves are very useful since we will be in the desert where there can be blowing sand. We learned how to tie an Arab scarf to use for head and face covering. Then many of us bought the scarves.
We walked out of the Medina to our bus in time to relax on the rooftop of our hotel and enjoy the sun. The Medina was quite cold so that it was really nice to warm up.
Dinner was in our Riad. The highlight was a dish that was called pastilla which is phyllo dough filled with bits of chicken and ground nuts and spices. It was delicious.
We leave early tomorrow morning for the Atlas Mountains. It will be about a 9 hour drive including stops. Abdou said it is the highlight of our travels because of the changing scenery. I have my djellaba ready to wear for cold weather.
The Adventures of Anne 