Fascinating Fez

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Geo: 34.0331, -5.00028

We left Tangier at 8am heading to Fez. We had not seen much of Tangier but we have been promised a city tour when we return on Sunday. We headed out on the road through very arable land and through some small villages. While we had found the city very clean the countryside had much more litter.

Our first stop was at the Roman archaeological site, Volubolis. This was once a Roman settlement and has now been partly excavated. Our local guide took over from Khareem and guided us through the ruins. The most striking thing here are the number of beautiful mosaics which have been uncovered. The first house had several of these and some archaeologists were painstakingly drawing them on a grid to ensure they have been recorded carefully. There has been some partial reconstruction but most of the site is still scattered low walls and rocks. The Forum , however, has some towering Corinthian columns and on top of one was a huge stork's nest with a mother stork in residence. We saw several large houses and the row of shops which would have lined the main avenue. We came to the archway through which the main road which transversed the town would have passed. We explored the site for about an hour and then continued on our way. Nearby Volubolis was the site of the tomb of the first king, Idriess 1 a small town on the hill overlooking the Roman town. Not too much further was Meknes.

Meknes is one of the royal cities and was the first to be a capital city. It is a large town and the New city is very modern and beautifully kept. Khareem gave us an option of going to a Moroccan restaurant for lunch. Everyone agreed. This place called, Palais Tambas was a beautifully decorated Moorish house where several tour groups had arrived for lunch. The walls were tiled in mosaics and the moulded walls were intricate in their design. We were given a choice of main courses. Fletcher had opted for the Chicken and olives tangine while I decided on the beef and vegetable one. We all had "salad" for starters which was a large plate of a variety of cooked vegetables to share.Most of these were very spicy and quite filling. When our main courses came I found my beef very bland but the chicken was great and spicy. We shared our food and both agreed that the beef lacked the spices we expected. We were able to get beers to accompany the meal which we appreciated. Dessert was a huge platter of oranges and bananas which we could peel for ourselves and the oranges were very juicy. Overall not bad but not a gourmet's delight either.

We headed then for the city of Fez. This was another couple of hours drive. The countryside was very agricultural and looked prosperous.

We arrived at our hotel, the Barcelo Fez Medina. This was in the New Town and situated on a very wide boulevard. In the middle of this street was a wide linear park where families were enjoying the late afternoon sunshine. Our rooms were modern and comfortable and we had an hour or two to rest before dinner. We went down to the bar for a drink before dinner and then went in for a buffet dinner at 7-30pm. The food did not live up to the rest of the decor and was adequate but not exciting. However, the company was fine and we found a good Moroccan white wine which helped.

The next morning we left the hotel at 8am to explore the city. We first drove to the fort on the Hill, Barj Sud for a great view out over the city and especially the old town or the Medina. A great view. We then went to a ceramics workshop. Here they showed us how the tagines were made by a potter and then the shaping of the mosaics. The artisans were very skillful. Of course, this was all preliminary for us to buy some of their products but it was very interesting anyway.
We were then dropped off at one of the gates of the Medina and Khareem steered us through the labyrinth of small lanes and sections of this market place and residential area.We began at the fruit and vegetable markets and the array of food was quite surprising. Mint was especially prevalent as the national drink here seems to be mint tea. We then were in the meat and chicken section. There was a camel head outside one store which sold , unsurprisingly, camel meat. One of the sellers placed a live chicken on the scales to calculate the cost and the poor hen just sat there unaware of its fate. Each section of the Medina concentrated on a different activity or product.

We came to the leather section and here we were taken to see a traditional Tannery. This was fascinating. We were given a handful of mint to sniff so that the smells of the tannery wouldn't offend us. We went into a leather shop and then emerged out on to a balcony to overllok what could easily be a Medieval scene. Before us was a wide area filled with vats of unmentionable liquids where the hides were soaked and cured and stripped of the animal's hair. In these vats were men up to their waists stamping on the hides and washing them in the liquids. They are first steeped in "bird poo" as one of the guides told us and then in different vats with various colours. The yellow leather was being treated on a nearby house top with dyes made from saffron, very expensive.The other colours come from poppies and other natural products. We then of course, were invited to buy the products made from this leather. I opted for a pair of leather flat court shoes in a beautiful deep purple colour. These were only 200 dhirams or 20 Euros, a steal for leather shoes. Some of the others had jackets made for them to be delivered to the hotel in three hours!
Our next stop was at the oldest University in Morocco. This was first established in the 9th century and now has theology students still studying there. Near there was an old fountain, beautifully decorated with mosaics and inscriptions. Each section of the Souk we entered had different products. We went past wrapped sweets buzzing with bees, clothing stores with kaftans for men and women, Palanquin and furniture for weddings and souvenir shops. Lunchtime and we went to a restaurant situated in one of the Riads in the centre of the Medina. RIad simply means house with garden and this was a beautifully decorated house. Again we were not alone and the standard menu was activated, cooked salad, Chicken and olives tagine and fruit. The chicken was again very tasty but the choices are becoming monotonous. Again we could at least have some wine with the meal.We had a nice Moroccan rose, Gauronne is the winery which accompanied the food well. The toilets were the attraction here, males and females in the same room with beautifully painted cubicle doors.

Our final stop after lunch was in a weaving shop where the demonstration of how they weave fabric was accompanied by a sales pitch. The pashminas and scarves were fabulous but I have plenty. We then went back to the bus. I was very tired after all that walking. We drove up to the hill where the King's palace in Fez is situated. I stayed on the bus while most of the others walked to see the gates of the palace,(which I could see from the bus) and then they walked through the Jewish Quarter which again I saw as the bus drove down to pick them up. We went back to the hotel and rested for a couple of hours. We were free to find our own dinner so about 7pm we ventured out and walked along the main avenue in front of the hotel. We watched the families strolling along and the small children enjoying the electric cars, All the cafes were full of men, drinking coffee and watching the football on the TVs. We finally found a small Moroccan cafe called Cafe Florence. Fay was already there so I asked her what the food was like. She said fine so we stopped. There was no alcohol but we had water and ordered two seafood plates. These proved to be fantastic. Each contained four small fish, prawns and calamari with a tail of some kind of lobster on the top. Served with chips this was fantastic. Even better it only cost 7 Euros each. A great and inexpensive meal.

We went back to the hotel and finished the night by having a nice red before retiring,

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