Hold On . . . Did ALL the Signs Just Change to Arabic?

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The land of the labyrinthine medina continues in Morocco’s “grandest imperial city.” Fés has a very different feel from Marrakesh; while the latter is alive with a vibrant (yet slightly contrived) energy and the colors of a desert sunset, Fés is more subdued. The city’s medieval medina is also its greatest attraction, so the hassle is definitely still evident. By the time I had spent 2 days in Marrakesh I was getting more annoyed with (and thus more sensitive to) the constant bombardment of shopkeepers begging for business. I think my impression of Fés may have suffered from this reality . . . had I had a break (say for a camel ride across the Sahara), I think I would have been more ready to tackle another medina.

There was one thing about the Fés medina that was absolutely ingenious . . . the city had created paths based on theme (such as crafts and monuments. . . ) and placed color coded signs throughout the medina. Thus we were able to wander through, and be assured that we would make it out without relying on Emily’s handy dandy GPS. From our first impressions of Fés, we had been a little worried about this - not about the getting lost part, but about the getting unlost part. The city, which claims to be the “real Morocco;” decided Arabic alone was sufficient for the street signs . . . this was the first time in my life I could actually say I understood the French better and was sad to see it go. Needless to say, we had a few difficulties reading the map, and were a little worried about our ability to survive in the winding streets of the medina. But we managed swimmingly . . . thanks to the signage.

The two things about Fés that really marked its distinctiveness as a city were the tanneries and the blue and white pottery. Even though the tanneries were ridiculously deep in the medina, we managed (thanks to the turquoise signs) to find our way. Although, I’m pretty sure that we could have just followed our noses. It was really interesting to see how they dyed all the leather, but the stench was strong enough that we didn’t really want to stay for too long.

The blue and white pottery is Fés’ signature pattern, so it was all over the place. I kept wandering into shops, debating whether or not to get some (since I was living out of a suitcase and had to carry everything around on my back for another week). But I eventually went into a store that had some top quality pottery; the souq owner actually stood on one of the plates to show it wouldn’t break. He also explained why some of the pottery we had already seen had imperfections: apparently when they fire the plates in a kiln, they stack them on top of each other with a triangle of wood in between. This leaves three small marks where the wood rubs off the glaze. Most artisans will just paint over this, but the spots will show up when you wash the pottery because it’s not fired on. Emily and I had seen this on some of the pottery in other stores, but this shopkeeper only had plates that were fired individually. Because the stuff in this shop seemed pretty top notch, I went ahead and tried my luck with bargaining. I found a plate for my parents (I’m ruining the surprise for them), and managed to get the price down enough to get called a “Berber woman.” I even got a dinner offer thrown in because I told him I had to have enough money to eat . . . I didn’t take him up on it though. Maybe I should have . . . I could have used the free couscous.

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Photos

Bab Bou Jeloud Gate
The main entrance to the medina

Sheep De-Furring
Yeah . . . I have no idea what the technical term is

The Entrance to the Jewish Quarter
At this point Fés doesn't have much of a separate Jewish Quarter . . . there is a cemetary that we stopped by, but most of it has just blended in with the surrounding area. But the entrance is quite picturesque.