Blogs from Fès-Boulemane, Morocco, Africa - page 8

It all began well.... We took a taxi to the beautiful train station in Marrakech, and the taxi was less expensive than we'd been told...we met up with Harrie and Ans, a Dutch couple staying in our Riad and who happened to be traveling to Fes on the same train. We got window seats on the train, and pleasant traveling companions....We chatted, watching the scenery go by and having our questions answered by our friendly Moroccan fellow passengers. Then, during our stop in Casablanca, we began our descent into train travel hell.... 1. We were told to leave the train and go to track 4. (two flights down and two up) 2. We told to leave track 4 and go to track 7 and get on the train. (two flights down and two up) 3. We ... read more

Today was our full day to explore the city of Fez. It is said that Fez is the most complete medieval city in the Arab world and is considered to be the spiritual heart of Morocco. After breakfast, our guide for the day, Hakima, arrived and would be showing us around Fez. Our first stop of the day was the Royal Palace. It's golden doors were impressive as well as it's beautiful mosaic work. Unfortunately, visitors are not allowed to enter so this was basically just a photo stop. From here we walked along Rue Bou Khessissat in the Jewish Quarter known as the Mellah. This street was lined with homes of wood and wrought iron above a wide variety of shops. We simply walked around while Hakima explained a few things but nobody was really ... read more

From Moulay Idriss, we all took taxis to the nearby Roman ruins at Volubilis. Set in a fertile plain, Volubilis is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is considered to be a well preservered example of a Roman colonial town on the fringes of the Roman Empire. Abdul orgainzed for us to have a guided tour of the ruins. However, I usually tune out guides on guided tours and this tour was no exception. I was content with just walking around and checking things out at my own leisure and making up my own stories in my mind of what the various ruins were. My favorite part of the ruins were of course the brothel but also the many beautifully designed mosaics weathered from exposure to the elements for almost 2,000 years. After spending the morning ... read more

" Se perdre à Fès est le début du plaisir " 9 mars Toujours à Meknès Une tourterelle en chaleur roucoule derrière la fenêtre grillagée vis-à-vis ma tête de lit. Le soleil n'est pas encore levé que l'oiseau cherche à se faire aimer dans l'oranger. Dites-moi, ça se mange de la tourterelle en tajine? Je quitte Meknès en train pour rejoindre Fès, une autre importante Cité Impériale. Ce n'est qu'un 45 minutes pour m'y rendre. Le soleil est maintenant sorti et fait évaporer les accumulations d'eau sur les routes. L'humidité colle aux vêtements. La chaleur reprend le dessus sur les derniers jours de pluie, mais personne ici n'enlève de couches. Manteaux de cuir, cotton ouatté et chandails de laine pour les hommes, grands voiles pour les femmes, et jeans et pull pour la jeunesse. Quelques voyageurs ... read more

2/27/13 Some things are just priceless because they are so foreign to one’s own life experiences. That sentence should and probably will stand as our mantra during our Peace Corps service. To help you better understand what we mean by this saying, let us start with our little brother Hamza and his obsession with birds. Some of you may or may not have seen some of the photos of his pigeons and the pigeon coop on the roof of our house in our prior blogs but believe us when we say that Hamza really has a HUGE interest in his brods. So there we were last night, just sitting in the living room eat dinner with “mom” and Khadija when, just like pizza delivery in the US, a beautiful white dove was delivered to the front ... read more