Unlike the last couple of days today we finally could sleep in for a bit which was pretty amazing to say the least. I was so darn tired yesterday and I really needed a good night's' rest, I guess the heat had finally caught up with me.
As soon as we all had breakfast, we were going to spend a full day in our third Imperial city and I was really looking forward to it.
We were picked up by Mohamed at 9 AM and our first stop of the day was the "mellah" or the historic Jewish quarter of the city. It is quite interesting how this word was created, so in the words of the Lonely Planet:
In 1438 Sultan Ar Rashid created Morocco's first official Jewish district, just east of the royal palace. At its peak, some 250,000 Jews lived in the area south of Bab Semmarine. Today, the remaining handful have moved to the Ville Nouvelle, but it's still interesting to see traces of the community in the buildings. The name derives from a salt marsh or the Oued Mellah (Salt River) in the area; now every Jewish quarter in Morocco is called a mellah.
We walked through a few streets and I really felt a bit sorry we couldn't visit the Jewish cemetery, I guess so that we could obtain the image that is Morocco but still, it would have been nice.
As we walked away from the "mellah", we arrived at a beautiful little square just next to the Royal Palace where our guide told us more about daily life and once we arrived at the palace you couldn't but ignore those gigantic doors. You can only see the inside of the palace grounds when you have a special invitation and since that's never going to happen, I settle for the outside just the same.
From there we went onwards to the bus and got out at Borj Nord or Burj al-Shamal, where we had a better view of the Medina of Fez. This was more of a quick photo stop coz although it is a former fort turned into a military museum, at the early hour we were there, it was closed anyway.
Not that we were too much interested coz the views were amazing and I just wonder how someone finds his/her way in this maze of streets where cars are prohibited.
Fez is not only the seconds biggest city of the nation, it is also very much known for its leather, so once we were dropped of at the edge of the medina, we first walked towards the Chouara Tannery, one of the 3 tanneries in the city and also one of the oldest. I was so curious how this was going to be, since I saw a lot of amazing pictures of this place but once again, the "instagrammable" pictures were photoshopped (as usual) and don't be too much disappointed when arriving coz the colors are not even close to what you see on the pictures.
This aside, I was more interested in the process and my respect goes out to the workers.
Although it wasn't that late, the smell was ever present. We got a piece of mint to hold under our nose, but for me it wasn't that bad unlike others, who had difficulties. We got a quick explanation about the process and a whole lot of time to go to the different stores, nothing unusual there as well, but I was glad to be out of there after almost an entire hour.
Once outside again, we had a walk through the medina itself which was very interesting, but with a big group and a guide you have to follow, it is difficult to have a look in the more than many streets. I guess I was not the only one thinking the same because about 15 minutes into the walk, part of our group got lost and needed to call Soufian to get them out. Yep, those medina's are mazes and its not going to change soon!
From all that walking in warm temperatures, we were glad to have a rest in a beautiful riad where we had lunch. We were served a typical dish of Fez called "pastilla" and really, this is the best thing I ate so far here in the country!!! It is a pastry filled with chicken, potatoes and other vegetables and an outer coating of cinnamon and sugar.
With our tummies filled we went deeper into the maze walking in the vicinity of the Bab Boujloud gate, visited a 600 year old Koran school and ended at a weaving mill where we had the chance of buying some scarfs ... of course!
Last stop of the day was a quick stop at a local ceramics shop where one person of our group got a taste in making a pot and the rest of us got the full explanation about this particular art form. After having a look at the workers while performing their art, we were guided into the shop to buy some pottery. They were really beautiful, but I wasn't in the mood for buying anything today.
With quite a full day behind us, we arrived in the hotel again after sunset. Like the day before, the food was good, but this time around I was in the mood however to go for a late evening walk. Some members of our group wanted to do a bit of souvenir shopping. I was a bit flabbergasted since we had been doing this almost the entire day, but hey, if they were in the mood for it!? I just went with the flow and it all lead to the blue gate, so I wasn't complaining after all.
One nightcap later I called it quits and to be honest, the mojito I drank was so strong, I was urgently in need for my bed anyway!
This featured blog entry was written by Ils1976 from the blog Morocco.
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