Fes

This is the second of three posts on my Spring break!


Day 5: On the Road/Fes, April 17th
In the morning in Marrakech we were picked up in the morning outside of our hotel by a driver from the tour company.We bought some almond cookies (which weren't that good) and stolen dried fruit from the breakfast buffet to help us get through the long ride to Fes, which lasted about 7 hours or so.  Even though the ride was advertised to be about 5 hours, it wasn't.  I was surprised because the crazy driver we had (who made mom very nervous) would use every opportunity he could to pass cars in front of us.  I've never been in a car that has made so much use of the passing lane before and been so close to directly facing oncoming cars!  Luckily, we made it to Fes in one piece although we did see a bad car/bicycle accident on the side of the road.  About his 'magnificent' driving, the driver said, "Driving safe is like art.  You know?  Like painting?"  Also, he said that his daughter, who is still a kid, will become a doctor, study in Paris, and then return to Morocco.  And his son, who is only 5, will join the military because it provides great benefits.  Here are some photos of a lookout point we stopped at and a rest stop along the way:

We finally arrived late in the afternoon.  Our hotel wasn't taxi-accessible, so we were dropped off a few blocks away and had someone show us to the hotel.  At this point we were very frazzled by our long and treacherous car ride and then incredibly confused and lost following a 'friend' of the driver through narrow, windy streets to get to the riad/hotel.  Finally we got there with a bad first impression of Fes.  But the riad seemed really nice and we were greeted again with mint tea.

There was a restaurant nearby that our riad recommended and we were so scared to go back out on the streets that someone from the riad came to get us and escort us to the restaurant... only 3 mini-blocks away.  The restaurant was a lovely rooftop view of the city at night.  However the menu was only 3-course-meal style, so we decided to split it, as usual.

First course was an assortment of Moroccan salads with bread.

Second, chicken pastilla.  Apparently pigeon pastilla is traditional, but we decided to opt for chicken instead.  It was a strange dish anyway, though, kinda a cross between chicken pot pie and a pastry...

Then lamb and prune tagine.

And the 'dessert', strawberries and almond pastries.

And then we asked for some mint tea (yum!) which came with cookies.  Cookies were good until I bit into one with a hair inside...

We got back to the riad safe and sound (without an escort!) and fell asleep to the sound of many men singing very late into the night.  (Luckily there wasn't singing every night).


Day 6: Fes, April 18th
No wandering around the city by ourselves for us!  We got a guide for the day before we stepped another foot outside the riad.  Our guide showed up in a brown suit, leather shoes, and a mustache.  He looked like a businessman and refused to wear sunglasses because he insists it's bad manners in the tourism business.  Our tour started in the artisans market part of the city.  Instead of watching out for mopeds trying to run us down, we had to look out for donkeys and people pushing carts of fresh bread.  Here are some fava beans, fish, and other foods:

The dyers street, and some very colorful thread newly dyed.

Donkey on a bridge!

Metalsmiths?  Making tools?  Not sure...

Making leather shoes:

Coppersmith:

Making combs:

Chickens on the go:

Next stop: the tanneries!  Our guide took us up through the back of an apartment building (which was really just a big leather-goods store) to a rooftop view of the tanneries, the place where they dye all the leather.  Ew!  On the way up, they handed us a sprig of mint leaves to help with the smell.  Although it honestly didn't smell that bad.  Our guide told us that it smells worse in the heat of summer.  And even though the temperature was probably in the 90's, it was not, in fact, the heat of summer.
First, the skins are bleached in the tubs on the left, then they are dyed for days in the different colored tubs on the right.  All the dyes are natural, the red comes from poppies and yellow, the most expensive, from saffron.

The yellow saffron-dyed pelts are the most expensive and are dried within the tanneries themselves to prevent theft:

After seeing how everything is done, we got to browse the shops with rows upon rows upon rows of leather goods.

45 minutes and 3 yellow bags later we were off exploring the streets of Fes again.  Here's a loom weaver (not exactly sure what he's making... tablecloths or scarves?)

And the bread-smith!  The bread looked quite good fresh and hot out of the oven.  Although every time we tried bread in a restaurant or cafe, it was pretty bland.  It's also quite comforting knowing that bread goes right on the floor directly after coming out of the oven.

Next we went to a tourist architecture place.  I really don't remember what it was called or what it was used for.  I guess I was too tired at this point in the trip to take care to write it down or remember.  As we were talking with our guide inside, guess who walked in?? A girl from my program in Barcelona and her parents!  We both knew beforehand that we were going to Morocco at the same time, but the chances that we were going to run into each other were quite small!  Alright, not that small, because we were touring basically the same places... but still it was funny to see someone I knew!

As we were walking to our next destination, we saw a man selling rabbit in the street.  The rabbits were still alive with their feet still together!  How awful!

Next we went to the top of an apartment building used as a rug store to see a view of the city.  There was a mother cat nursing her kittens on the roof!  (Quite the contrast image to the one with the rabbit above).  All the green rooftops you see in the skyline photos are mosques.

Next we stopped at a lunch place.  It seemed to be the place to go for groups of tourists who were being guided around the city.  Again, mom and I split one of the 3-course meals, because that was the only option.  First, Moroccan salads.  Fava beans were super yummy (the farthest dish).

Second, vegetables on top of couscous in a tagine with some sort of chicken broth to pour over it.

And fruit for dessert.

Our last stop was the Jewish quarter.  Here are the gates leaving the old city.

And the walls of the old city.

And on to the Jewish quarter!  Our guide failed to tell us that jews don't actually live in the Jewish quarter, they've all moved to the new city.  And we were wondering why we didn't see any matzah on the street (it was the first day of passover!)  So it really wasn't that impressive.  The only thing we learned was that the Jews liked balconies because they could watch what was going on in the streets.  That sounds about right.


He also told us, unrelated to the Jewish quarter, about the daily calls for prayer.  In both Marrakech and Fes, we heard a loud voice get on a megaphone that projected throughout the city yelling for about 5 minutes a few times each day.  In Fes, one person would start the call, then more and more people around the city on speaker phones would join in so that it sounded like a pack of strange-sounding wolves was nearby.  Apparently this odd yelling on the speaker phone happens five times daily and is a call for prayer.  Mom guessed it right!


Bunch of photos from the Jewish quarter:

Inside a synagogue:

Our last stop on the tour was the gates of the king's palace.  Yay for fancy-looking doors!

And then we caught a taxi cab back to our hotel on the other side of the city.  We walked far!  On the way back, the taxi cab stopped and bought something from a street vendor on the way.  Turns out they were warm almonds!  And he offered us some!  They were quite good and it was such a nice moment!  Here are some photos of our riad taken after we got back from the exhausting day:

Oh! And we met a family from the US who was also staying at the riad.  And guess where all 6 of them went to school?? Cornell!


Day 7: Fes, April 19th
Late start!  Love sleeping in!  We discovered that our riad had a terrace with a lovely view overlooking the city.

Mom got a call that morning from the receptionist's cell phone from Danielle Mamane, a Jewish cookbook author who lives in Morocco who mom was put in touch with.  The cookbook is called The Scent of Orange Blossoms co-authored with Kitty Morse.  Apparently the receptionist and Danielle's daughter had been friends growing up!  Anyway, she had invited us over for dinner but then cancelled realizing that it was passover (she was hosting 18 people that night).  But her call was to invite us over for a passover lunch!  So we hopped in a taxi to go to her home in the new city.  We met one of her daughters (Helene), her husband, and her grandson and granddaughter.  Even though their home was modest, we were treated to an extravagant lunch!


First we tried sautéed and dried (roasted) fava beans.  Amazing!  I need to eat fava beans more often.  Then we sat down at the table for the meal.  First egg soufflé with with a mix of dips and salads: eggplant dip, tomatoes with lemon, and cucumber and carrots with lettuce.  Next we had pieces of matzah all the way from Holland.  For the next course, one inch thick liver and beef meatballs were brought out along with peas.  Then we had traditional Moroccan tea, but with a surprise ingredient: orange blossom!  A whole bowl of fruit was brought out.  And we learned about a new orange-like fruit called medlar.  For dessert we had candied oranges and passover matzo meal cake.  So much food!!  Here's a photo of mom with Danielle (left) and her daughter Helene (right).

Next we took a taxi around the corner to a hotel called Palais Jamai.  Mom got a massage while I attempted to do the Daily Herald crossword puzzle.  Here are some photos of the hotel, the view, and a fancy elevator!

And finally another taxi back to our riad!  Here's what the front of the riad looks like. Every time we wanted to go in, we had to ring the bell and wait for someone to let us in!

We stayed in the hotel for the rest of the night and I took a bunch of pictures of reflections of stained glass windows, pictures through stained glass windows, and the sunset.  We had to switch rooms this night because they were booked.

And that's it for Fes!  The next morning was a very early wake-up at 6am to be up and out by 7am to catch a flight to Casablanca and then to Malaga!  Next post will be the last leg of our trip in southern Spain.