Fez

Fez

So a supposedly 8 hour long bus trip from Marrakech to Fez. Unfortunately the bus broke down along the way and we had too many long regular stops so we eventually arrived in Fez only four hours longer than we expected. I didn’t get off at any of the stops so my legs hurt a little as I began to walk after not moving for 12 hours!
We met an English speaking guide at the bus station who then organised his brother to take us to our riad. We then agreed for him to take us on a tour the next day but unfortunately that ended up falling through.
When we found ourselves down a dark alley we weren’t as cautious as we now knew riads were often found in strange places. We knocked on the door and were astounded by the place we were in. the whole place except the ceiling was tiles, we could see the rooms on the next floor up, and there was a fountain in the middle of the room surrounded by four tables. The fountain had plastic lilies floating in it. We were taken upstairs to our room. There were 3 rooms; two separated by a curtain- the lounge room and the bedroom, and then the large bathroom. I was to sleep on one of the couches while mum and dad shared the curtained four poster bed.
We had to leave quickly; the hostesses were going out and we needed to eat as we hadn’t eaten all day. To eat at their restaurant you must book, so we hurriedly went to the toilet as to not hold them up and they took us to a restaurant. The restaurant wasn’t very nice but I enjoyed the food. I had chicken couscous and mum had vegetarian couscous. Dad had a vegetarian tagine. It was followed up by oranges and strawberries for desert which I happily gave to dad.
Unfortunately mum became ill with a 24 hour bug that night so the next day was a rest day inside. None of us left the riad until dinner time when dad and I became hungry. Breakfast was provided at the riad which was delicious. Dad and I had crepes Morrocain (Moroccan pancakes which are really thick and heavy yet sooo yummy) and pain de chocolat (chocolate croissants but unfortunately there was only a tiny bit of chocolate in it but none the less divine!). There was also freshly squeezed jus d’orange, café or thé, hard boiled œufs, fromage, miel, beurre, confiture and pain de Français. Fantastic!!!
So all day was maths and reading, a bit of cards but a bludge day all round.
When dad and I went for dinner we found a nice little place with funny covered chairs that sat out on the veranda of the restaurant and watched the locals and tourists walk past. I ordered some chicken couscous which was better than the previous night’s one, and dad had some Moroccan soup.
The next day was a slow beginning but at 1pm we were to meet up with a guide to take us around Fez medina. The Fez medina is huge and for any tourist or newcomer it would only take 10 minutes of walking to become seriously lost. So the guide took us around to lots of different shops and places where if we bought anything he would then get a bit too for bringing us there. So first he took us to a Thuja wood place filled with boxes, shelves, tables and all sorts of other things all made out of wood. In Essaouira we had already bought 2 boxes of Thuja wood so we decided not to buy anything here. I think we looked at the nuts and dried fruit shop after that. We bought some almonds and also some pistachios for our guide.
We looked through the souks and tried some of the colourful nougat and then found ourselves at a carpet Dar. A Dar is a tiled building with two stories. On the first floor there are three rooms and a fountain, one on each wall. Then four rooms, one on each wall of the second floor. So we found out our riad wasn’t a riad at all but a Dar.
So anyway this carpet Dar was huge. There enormous carpets hanging all over the place. I have never seen so many carpets and they didn’t have any on the floor either. We spent a long time here and eventually ended up buying 2 carpets; one because mum liked it, and the other to replace one we already have in our lounge room.
We then went to this museum place where there were huge lamps hanging from the roof along with a gigantic teapot made from camel bone! We found it very strange and couldn’t understand why anyone would want an enormous teapot but never the less it was brilliantly decorated I guess…
Dad then asked our guide if we could go and see the tanneries. Mum still wasn’t feeling 100% at this time and a little bit nauseas. So the smell really got to her and was making me gag too. It was very interesting but I couldn’t really concentrate on the man talking as the smell was, honestly, the worst thing I have ever smelt in my life and probably will ever smell in my life!!! We then went downstairs and the man wanted us to buy some Arabic slippers but I swear he was putting the right shoe on the left foot.
Next was a fabric shop with woven silks and woollen material bed sheets and shawls. We bought a couple of small scarfs for some of the family but the bed sheets were much too expensive plus they were too big to carry with us.
All through the day we did see a couple of mosques and Choranic schools but I cant actually remember where they fit in in the day so I thought I’d put it at the end of the tour :P
Mum felt like she could eat today so all three of us went to the same restaurant that dad and I went to the night before.
We weren’t planning on spending another day in Fez but we decided to as we didn’t do anything the first day. But we didn’t do much this day either. I spent the morning playing flute and composing some stuff until we went out to the internet café on our way to a concert we had found out about. So we all dressed up and went to Hotel Palais Jamais. This palace was originally built along time ago but it is now been done up into a VERY fancy hotel. We had got there early so we had a drink which was way too expensive but we figured we should have expected it here, but the concert was free which was great.
The concert was a trio of Loot, percussion and electric bass guitar. It was brilliant and went for about an hour in the gardens on the palace.
For dinner tonight we decided to go to the same restaurant as the two previous nights as we knew we liked the food, the place and the people were very friendly.
Tomorrow to Chefchaouen…