The Athens of Africa - Fes

Today was all about Fes (or Fez in English).

Fes is in the north east of Morroco and is often referred to as the Cultural Capital of the country. It has a walled Medina - Fes El Bali - which is absolutely fascinating.

We were on a bus for the first part of the day…as we were staying in. New Fez, we had a quick drive through the part of the city that was development by the French after 1912. It has a contemporary feel, but as it was Sunday, appeared quite empty - it would be nice to see it on a Weekday to get a better feel. We drove to the Royal Palace - one of the places that is housing for the King and his family ad entourage…from what I understand there are several of these in various city it’s, however our guide said the one in Fes is the main one where. Foreign signatories are hosted. You cant see much except for tree tops over the top of a 10 metre wall and some very ornate gates that have wonderful till work and brass doors. We took the opportunity to have a few pics, individually and as a group here.

The Jewish area - as it is known- is just around the corner from the palace and features unique buildings that have cedar balconies, making it a very distinct avenue of houses. Today there are only a few Jewish families remaining and they live in the New city - all those in this part known as the Jewish area are Arabic or Berber.

We then went by bus to a fort on a hill to look back over the city - which is quite deceiving as it is spread for some miles north and south with large open tracts in between…the river running through both parts. It also gave us a great view of the Medina - which is significantly larger than the one we saw in ChefChaouen.

We entered the Medina through gates into rather ordinary alleys and then turned left into the narrowest of alleyways - room for one person in single file …I’m sure it was just for effect but perhaps it was a shortcut. Over the next few hours we were guided through different parts of the Medina…past metalworkers who were handcrafting brass and copper works; through fabric areas where there were weavers and shops with bolts of different fabrics and dressmakers who catered for speciality celebration outfits. In other parts were were passing fresh food shops showing meats, fish, spices, fruits, pasta, preserved goods and then around a corner we found textiles being hand dyed - alpaca wool and Agarve silk using natural dies. Our guide took us to shops - one a textile shop where I bought a silk agarve table cloth (1000 Dirham) and to another that tanned leather where floor upon floor of leather goods from jackets to overcoats, leather puffer vests and handbags, wallets and belts - anything you could imagine made of leather, natural and died existed in this shop and could be made to measure. A leather jacket had my name on it!!!! And was tailored to measure and delivered to the hotel by 8 pm that night! I’m sure I paid a little too much but it was still cheaper than one in Sydney!

We returned to our hotel around 4 pm….exhausted and feeling a little lighter in the wallet department - although we did not spend as much as some :-)

The pics probably tell more of the story than I can put into words adequately!

The crew in front of the Royal Palace Gate

 

Royal Palace Gates

The Champs Élysées of Fes

Jewish Area - shops at bottom, apartments on top

Stork Nests on the Palace Tower

Workers Gate to the Palace

Looking over the Medina

Some of real life near the Medina

Ceramic Tile work shown at the Ceramic Tile Cooperative 

The alley we walked through to get to the souk

Mumma cat feeding her kittens - cats everywhere

Down an alley…lattice roof work

Herbs, spices and dried goods

Fresh Food…prawns on offer

Just everyday woodwork!!

Colours and patterns galore!

Metal work

Tanning dye and treatment vats

A peak into the mosque

More food - slabs of nougat!

Weaving and textile shop - agave silk!

Lunch

And onwards to Fes

 We had a rough night as Fi had a bit of water belly after drinking some tea made by the hotel that was only luke warm…we don’t think the water had been boiled!  So we were up for a walk before our four hour bus ride to Fes.

One of the crew had done the sunset walk to the Spanish Mosque which gave a look back over Chefchaouen and told us it was not as far as had been said.  So we decided to take a walk before leaving to get in a bit of exercise.   

We retraced our steps from the walk the previous day and then left the Medina to walk the hillside to a mosque that was built by the Spanish and then disregarded when the regime changed (although they appear to be using it again).  The walk allowed some wonderful vistas back over Chaouen (as the locals call it). We saw lots of fig trees with fruit, and even tried one or two!  

After our walk - which left us lathered in sweat - our bags were collected by porters and we walked the 20 minutes to the bus that was to take us to our next stop - Fes.

We drove through some amazing countryside - very agriculturally based.  There appears to have been huge growth due to the man made dams that allow irrigation - lots of olive, apricot, lemon, orange, avocado, watermelon as well as animal farming.  It is full on harvest time and the paddocks are being cut and baled and the straw bales are stacked in amazing building like shapes - I was quite mesmerised to see how they did it…about 5 bales wide, and high and probably 10 long.  At the top they angle the bales to make it like a pitched roof, and then cover with plastic.  I would hate to see what happens if there is a fire as it looks tinder dry.

There were some extremely fertile areas which contrasted greatly with those not so fertile.  The barren rocky lands with little soil coverage were sad and desperate.  While those that seems to have access to water and good topsoil saw acres upon acres of plantings. 

We saw donkeys in use in the fields, on the side of the road carrying bales and lots hobbled and eating wat remnants of vegetation in very rough ground at times.   The little villages we passed through seemed very poor….roadside vendors, cafes trying to make money any way they could…thing Vietnam with the food shacks.  In the poorer areas you also noticed the rubbish…lots of plastic bags blowing in the drains and untendered ground.

Arriving in Fes, a city of approximately 1 million, it is a stark contrast to the countryside we travelled through around the city.  From where we are staying….buildings about 5 stories high line the roads, full on city style…yet a few kms away, rough rural shanty style buildings.   

Looking back to Chefchaouen 

 

Zoom in….some famous faces 

Long pouring of the

Welcome mint tea and snacks at the Fes Hotel

Chefchouen….sleeping, walking and eating

The Kasbah

 We slept in our room and woke for a light breakfast and then a three hour walk around the old down.  Climbing steps, taking narrow alleys and lanes while passing the doors of homes, shops and storage spaces.   We exited the Medina and climbed the steps beside a small creek of mountain spring water - seeing where they wash their fruit and veg, wash their clothes and what was once the common meeting place of women…the laundry tubs with scrubbing boards.  

There were all sorts of little titbits that our walking guide Mohammed gave us - there are different hats that women wear - brightly coloured for young unmarried women to ‘be noticed’ and straw decorated with black balls and ropes (tied) to indicate a woman is tied and therefor married.  

Another little gem was that on the doors there is often metal decorative nails - each one for each child boarn in the house.   One doorway had had generations in the one house, and the fore must have had at least 150 nails. 

He took us around and up and down and up again - there are over 1200 alleys in the Medina, so one must know your way around.   We’ll be sticking to the main thoroughfares.  People owning houses must paint them at least twice a year.  They are painted blue - some say the colour was brought with the Spanisha nod Portuguese Muslim Refuges, others say it is to mirror the colour of the sky as a happy colour and yet others say that the blue is to confuse the mosquitoes!  The paint on some is acrylic but on most it is a colour lime wash - for two reasons - one to keep insects away, and the other to sanitize.  Whatever - the blue is stunning!  THe alleys painted in different shades seem to reflect the light differently and almost give them a magical quality.  

We passed an olive tree that is guessed to be somewhere between 500 and 600 years old…just sitting there at an intersection and still bearing fruit!

There were lots of cats - they are kept and fed by households to keep the rats and mice away that live in the open sewerage system that runs down the middle of many alleys…in some there are carpets and bags over the openings, in others the stench is quite overwhelming in the heat.  I also noticed that many food shops keep cats - probably for the same reasons - one had a large bag of dried cat food that cats were just climbing in and out of.   

Generally the cats do not look healthy…I’ve had to control Fi’s urge to pat them as some look quite unwell - skinny and with fur problems.  They all seem very young and I dont imagine they have a very long life as there appears to be little in the way of desexing!  

Eventually we wound our way back down to the main square where the mosque is, and just around the corner from our room - a short break then a plate of olives, bread, cheese, eggplant dip and some sort of brown lentil dip washed down with a cold non-alcoholic beer.  

This afternoon the girls from the tour went on a little shopping expedition.  A few bought things - I didn’t as all I can think of is trying to fit it in my luggage!  There are certain items on high repeat - versions on kaftans, fridge magnets, key rings, straw hats, rugs/wraps.  There were a few more unique things - some lovely leather and some jewellery shops.  

After a rooftop drink with the crew we ventured to dinner at the same restaurant we enjoyed the first night.  A beautiful Chicken shawarmer  which was absolutely delicious.  Fi had a goat Tagine - which others had recommended however hers was full of bone with very little meat.  

Blue lime wash walls and footpaths

It’s a cat’s life!

Mountain springs water running down the hill