FES

We were up and at ‘em early for a full-day tour of Fes, the first Imperial city of Morocco. Our first stop was the ceramics quarter where craftsmen made all kinds of decorative or household ceramics. I was most impressed with the men making the mosaic table tops. What a completely time-consuming job that is! The co-operative store that we visited afterwards had an overwhelming selection of ceramics for sale.

Most of the ladies on the tour wanted to buy tajines, so they were occupied with tajine shopping at one end of the store. I wasn’t planning to buy anything – I always buy pottery and always have a bitch of a time getting it home – so I just wandered about. Then, a bowl caught my eye. Then I saw a couple of matching little bowls. Six bowls later I excused myself from the shop for fear of going on a complete pottery bender.

After our pottery was safely stored in the tour bus, our guide took us on a walking tour through the Fes medina. I thought I’d seen some pretty amazing souks and medinas in Tunisia, so nothing prepared me for the complete onslaught of smells, noise, people, and animals in the Fes medina. You had to have eyes in the back of your head to avoid being trampled by the hurrying locals or the galloping donkeys laden with goods. Thankfully we had a “local guide”, Abdul, to bring up the rear and make sure everyone made it through the medina safely. Abdul was a local who had lived in the medina all of his life and was basically hired to keep us safe from pickpockets and aggressive vendors.

Initially we wandered through the dyer’s quarter, the leatherworker’s quarter, and then some general quarters where vendors sold a range of things. We stopped at one mosque that we were able to enter. I think it was the El-Attarine Medersa. Most mosques are closed to non-Muslims, which I totally agree with, and our guide told us that Fes was particularly strict about the non-Muslim rule because of abuses by the French in the past. We got a glimpse or two inside the Karaouiyine Mosque, one of the oldest mosques in North Africa. It also functions as a university.

We had the obligatory stop at a rug store where we were tempted to buy rugs, but the cost drove us out without any purchases. There was a particularly handsome kilim that I loved but I just couldn’t bring myself to shell out $800 for it.

We made one final stop before lunch – the tanneries. These are great earthen pots dug into the ground where raw hides are soaked in dyes and then dried in the sun. We were given sprigs of fresh mint before entering the tanneries to help with the smell, but it inevitably seeped around the mint and assaulted your nose and sensibilities. It was fascinating to watch the men labor in the tanneries, though, and the co-operative leather shop did have some lovely things for sale. I found the salesmen to be a bit too aggressive for my liking, though, and left the shop as soon as I could.

After lunch in the medina we walked a little further. Our guide, Ibrahim, took us to a cloth co-operative where we all went crazy over the silk blankets they had for sale for less than $40. He had to pry us out of there so we could continue our tour. We also visited a dress shop where some of the women dressed up in proper jellabas and caftans.

On our way out of the medina we stopped at the Najarin Fountain and the Musee Nejjarine, which was just next door. The building had previously been used as a caravanserai, which is a place where traders could stop and find shelter and food for themselves and their animals. The museum contained an impressive collection of household items and tools collected from the times of the caravanserai.

Our final stops for the day were the Merenid Tombs and the Royal Palace. No one goes to the Merenid Tombs to see the tombs – instead, they go for the view of the Fes medina, which is quite impressive. The Royal Palace was pretty boring. You can only look at it from the outside. So, yes, there were some pretty doors and arches but it really wasn’t worth the time and effort to go see it.