Dec 28-Fez

Fez: Fez dates from the 9^th century and was the first city developed by the descendants of Muhammad who came to Morocco to convert the Berbers.  It is a Royal city with the king’s palace, a spiritual capital and a seat of learning with the first university of the country.  The melena (the Jewish quarter) is situated next to the Royal palace both for protection and so they could serve as advisors. Note the balconies that come from the Spanish style.  Then there is the medina (the old city) dating from the 9^th century and the new city (dating from the 15^th century).  There is a beautiful blue arched entrance to the medina.  We spent hours wandering through the narrow streets and visiting the various shops: caftan shop (the stylish woman’s dresses that can cost up to $50,000); embroidery shops (handmade tablecloths and linens); and silversmiths (see Karen helping the artisan who is working on our teapot).  There were tons of the best looking foods you could imagine-shops with 20 different types of dates, fruit shops with many types of oranges, apples, and kiwi fruit; bakeries with the middle eastern sweets made of honey and flower, butcher shops with the butchers cutting the meat from a freshly hung carcass and fresh chickens in pens with their heads ready to be lopped off by the buyer. One can even rent a wedding chair in the souq-pure white and elaborate for the bride and groom to be carried through the streets on their wedding day.  We shared the alleys with mules carrying supplies.  In another area there was a tannery which I took a picture of-they give you mint leaves to smell as you walk through it to mask the smell.  Pigeons are kept in cages so their droppings can be used to help cure the leather-camel, goat, cow, sheep. 

Mosques: You may wonder why I do not have pictures of the inside of mosques.  That is because non-believers are excluded from mosques in Morocco.  However, there are a few one can peek into and I took a picture of one.  Our hotel is near one and we are awakened at 5:30am with the call to prayer.

Karen:  Two nights ago we were in a desert encampment. The tent accommodations were very nice but it was so cold I slept under four blankets, two of my sweaters, two of Mark’s sweaters, and my winter coat. The camels we rode seemed very different from those we rode in India. It was much easier getting on and off. In India, when the camel bent down I felt like I was going to fall on my head. That wasn’t the case here. We learned that camels are similar to dogs as they follow commands etc. Apparently they also have a large capacity for remembering. If you are mean to a camel he will remember it and years later try to bite you. Today most camels are raised for their meat. We haven’t tried any yet.  It is very lean with no cholesterol.

Our guide has told us about his family. He saw his future wife by chance and determined he wanted to marry her. He asked her father who said he had three daughters and would give him a choice between the three.  

Fez had many modern areas besides the souks that we went to. The souks were like labyrinths, without both our guide and another man whom are guide hired we would never be able to know where we were. It was quite pleasant but I can imagine the aromatic smells when it is hot would be overwhelming.