We awoke to a gloriously sunny morning – a bit heartbreaking as we had no time for further explorations as we were hopping an early morning bus from Chefchouen to Fes.
Sun, glorious sun! Too bad we’re leaving…
After a 5 hour bus ride (which Jess had promised was only 3), we arrived at the bus station in Fes, which is in the new city. As we were once again staying in the Medina, or old part of town, we were picked up by Mohammad, the doorman of our riad, and followed him through the twisting and winding streets to our hotel. Our riad while in Fes is called Dar Finn Riad (which means “house where?”) and we joked that without Mohammad, we’d never have found it!
During check in, we found out that we were magically upgraded to the beautiful room Jess was eying online, but couldn’t justify the cost of — in no uncertain terms, she was (is!) overjoyed!! The room is covered in gorgeous plaster work, has a traditional cedar dome ceiling and filigree lamp chandelier. It also has a bunch of stained glass windows, its own patio, and enough space to sleep a small army. It is, with out a doubt, the coolest room we’ve ever stayed in. Some might say the universe was looking after us!
However, we had no time to ogle as we had a tour scheduled and our guide, Abdoul, was waiting downstairs! After brief introductions, we were off for a several hour sightseeing (…and shopping) tour of Fes where we learned several things:
- The people of Fes are called the Fesi, unless you’re Italian, because it means “stupid” in Italian (a naughty word Jess hadn’t learned before!)
- There are five components of every section of the medina (324 sections in the city): mosque, fountain, public oven, hammam, and school.
- There are three types of streets: named streets, unnamed streets, and shortcuts between sections.
- Donkeys are the old way of moving goods; the new technology is wheeled carts and the Medina couldn’t survive without either as its streets are too narrow for other forms of transportation
- Moroccans eat camel, but it’s for individuals who have high cholesterol (apparently camel is the Cheerios of Morocco!)
- There are kittens, everywhere!
- Everyone thinks we are Spanish (“¡Hola amigo!”)
- You should always eat lunch, especially before a walking tour…
We also saw bustling markets, beautiful mosques, the famous Tanneries of Fes, a traditional weaver’s workshop, and the blue gates of the Medina.
Abdoul was a perfect guide – funny (always reminding us his was not only “the best” but also “the most modest”), knowledgeable, and exited to share his wisdom with us. If you’re ever in Fes, we definitely know a guy!
After the tour, we were staving and it was fairly late so our riad pointed us in the direction of a restaurant that was good and open late – Clock Café. The downside was it was a bit of a ways away and required several turns through the winding streets. We wandered for a bit, stopped for directions twice, but finally managed to find it. It was worth the hunt, as the atmostphere was right up our alley and the food was excellent: Jess had another tasty tagine, and Grant had… a camel burger (their signature dish!)
Very much looking forward to getting lost in the tangled streets of Fes tomorrow!
-G & J