Fes

Heading to Fes

Today we wake up early since we want to beat the Casablanca traffic enroute to Fes. We quickly have some breakfast at our hotel before loading up our van and head out of the city. We spend some time watching as the city turns into the countryside. After a few hours of driving we arrive at our first stop. The remains of the roman city of Volubilis.

Volubilis

Volubilis is the site of an old Roman settlement. The site is quite extensive and to be honest, I didn’t expect to see Roman ruins this far from Italy. The size of the town is also very impressive given how far from “Rome” it is. We spend a little over an hour exploring the different areas of the town. In some ways it reminds me of my visit to Pompeii, though the circumstances of the towns demise are very different.

Mhaya Village Lunch

For lunch, we stop at a small home in Mhaya Village. This is a home that is supported by our tour company which provides an opportunity for women in the region to work and earn a living. Meanwhile visitors like us are able to “experience” a home cooked Moroccan meal. So in a sense its win win. So we settle in to some Moroccan salads and an amazing lentil soup to start. The main course is this lemon chicken that is delicious! I can safely say that by the time the mal is over there is nothing left.!

Fes Dinner and Show

After lunch we drive for a little more and arrive in Fes. We check into our hotel and get a few hours to settle in and rest. In the evening, our guide takes us into the medina for dinner and a “show”. When we arrive, we are treated to an amazingly decorated dining hall. At the front of the hall is a place where a band playing traditional music sits. We are seated and soon after, the food starts arriving.

The Food

The “salads” show up first and there are a lot of them! Around the table we are all saying that even if it were just the salads we would be happy with the meal. But this is just a standard appetizer course! After the salads the main course arrives. Instead of the normal tagine that many of the other tables get, our guide arranges for us to get something different. We get a Pastilla which is kind of like a Moroccan version of a chicken pie. It’s baked in a filo crust and is full of meaty goodness but with a sprinkling of sugar and cinnamon for a sweet and savory taste. Dessert is literally a plate of whole fruit. It’s kind of unique as this isn’t something I’m used to at home, but I’m also all for it!

The Show?

Along with dinner, throughout the evening, the band plays music. Once the dinner service gets going, we are also treated to things like belly dancing, fire breathing and even a mock wedding ceremony. In many cases they would go and pull members of the audience up to participate with them. I’m going to spare your eyes some of our group’s moves. But I did think watching a wedding where they pick the bride up in a bucket and spin her around to be unique!

After we are done with the festivities, we head back to our hotel to turn in. While I’m under no illusion that the entire evening is very much meant for tourist. I did enjoy the food, and enjoyed the fun time with my fellow tour mates. So in my book, while not very immersive, it was just a good time.Tomorrow we will be exploring Fes and its Medina.

Royal Palace of Fes

The next morning we head out and make a few stops. The first is at the Royal Palace of Fes. This is one of multiple palaces throughout the country that are meant for the King. Unfortunately because the king “could” be inside we only get the see the entrance to it. Nonetheless the doors are very nicely decorated and clearly a draw for many tourist photos! We eventually leave the doors and circle around the walls of the medina before hopping in our van to get a higher vantage point of Fes.

Pottery

One of the items on our itinerary today is a pottery shop visit. I suspect that much of this visit is for us as tourists to purchase different pieces. However, watching some of these people create very elaborate stone designs is pretty fascinating in its own right, so still worth a mention.

Fes Medina

After visiting the pottery store, we make our way into Fes’ Medina. The medina is considered one of the largest in the world. Once inside there are so many small windy roads its actually very easy and realistic to get lost inside. In fact at one point another group’s guide had to ask our guide directions because they were lost! We spend a few hours exploring with our guide and we learn that there are different areas within. There’s an area for food, fabrics, metal work leather etc. So even though it looks a bit random there is some order to it.

Chicken Man

While exploring in the metal working area, we come across a chicken merchant. Our guide explains that this man is from out of town and he raises free range chicken. Instead of selling to visitors of the medina he goes around to different store owners and sells them high quality chickens to take home. Apparently he wanders around the medina until he sells all his chickens. I’m not sure why but I was fascinated watching him carry his chickens around and negotiating with different merchants to sell the chickens!

Chouara Tannery

One of the big things on our list to visit is the Chouara Tannery. It tends to show up in social media posts every now and then so visiting it to see the hype is apt. The “scene” is actually quite colourful and pretty. However, what they don’t really prepare you for is the smell. Ultimately this is a place where they take leather and dye it different colours. On top of that they tend to use the ammonia found in pigeon droppings in order to clense the skins before dying. So the aroma in and around this area is actually very foul. When we get to the main store they give each of us a branch of mint leaf that we can hold to our noses while we visit. To see it and see the unique and colourful ways they handle leather is cool. But I think seeing and smelling it once is enough for me!

Al-Attarine Madrasa

After visiting the tannery we make our way to Al-Attarine Madrasa. This is a place where they teach Islam and religion to people back in the day. There were places for people to sleep, stay and study. The inner courtyard is very intricately decorated and along the walls you can see writings of the Quran. It’s a very beautiful school and we spend some time exploring it to take it in.

Dar Alamia

Eventually it becomes time for lunch, and so we end up at Dar Alamia for mor tasty Moroccan food! At first follow our guide through a very narrow and dark alleyway, but it eventually opens up into this lovely multi story restaurant. We end up getting served the Moroccan salads again (which are tasty as ever) and we also get to choose our mains. Instead of a tagine or pastilla, I order a Kafta dish with egg. It’s kind of like a sausage stew and after a long day of exploring the Medina it really hits the spot! It also presents an opportunity for our group to further build on our new friendships so its is a pretty memorable lunch!

Chillin in Fes

By the time we finish our late lunch its already mid afternoon. We spend a little more time in the Medina before we head back to our hotel. There were a few optional activities which Gimpy and I didn’t really participate in.  However we did end up meeting our friends afterwards for a somewhat unusual dinner. Our guide offers to take us to what feels like a dessert shop called Salade de fruits. We all order this Avocado milk item with nuts, fresh fruit and syrup. I’m not usually a dessert person, but along with the avocado milk, this dish actually becomes quite filling and not overly sweet. I highly recommend checking it out if you ever get a chance!

And with that our two days in Fes comes to an end. We head back to our hotel as we have a very early start tomorrow. We will be doing a long day of driving heading deep into Morocco as we get to the edge of the Sahara Desert.