Fez
We got into Fez around 4pm so we didn't get settled into our riad till 6:00. A riad is basically a Moroccan house that includes a garden and a fountain. The courtyards are usually enclosed to keep out the outside world. Except there's no roof to the courtyard. Many of the riads now days are being used as B&Bs. We stayed at Riad Le Califfe and it was BEAUTIFUL. All of the furnishings and decorations gave it a nice Moroccan feel without making it seem cheesy. The owners Alex and Yasmine were super friendly and the staff there were wonderful. I'm bummed we didn't get a picture with them, I wonder if Susie got one...
Since we got in so late we didn't do anything except settle in and eat dinner. Dinner was delicious but it was so dark in there that all of our pictures turned out like crap. Which is a bummer since I think our first meal was the best one. This was our room when we checked in...
These cute little fez hats had dates in them! I never knew until Susie told me. Yikes, can't let those dates go to waste!
None of us slept through the night and Evam texted me early to hurry up and get to the lanai up top because there was a nice big setting moon...I didn't realize it but it was the super moon. By the time I got up there I missed it but it was really pretty.
This was breakfast. It was yummy. That sticky looking thing kinda tasted like the honey twist that you buy at the crack seed store. The dates next to that were super yummy. I've never had a date until now. The black ones are olives. Blech. Ptooi. Yuck.
2-3 types of bread come with every meal. I ate so much bread on this trip I gained six pounds!! We all knew eating that much bread is bad for you but it was so good! We didn't want to waste it.
Just a plain ol omlette. There was yogurt too but I ate it before I took the picture
After breakfast we went back to the lanai since it was such a pretty morning
For our first day we scheduled a walking tour around the medina. A medina is kind of like a marketplace for the locals, which also contain mosques, a bathhouse (hammam), a bread kitchen and a water fountain. Inside the medinas are souks where the marketplace is. This crazy maze of a place is divided into separate crafts and trades. There's a leather tannery, carpet sellers, spices, embroidery, metals, and so much more. This place is HUGE. Supposedly it's the largest medina in Morocco, which also has the first includes the first university in the world...University of Karueein, founded in 859 AD .This is Khalim, our guide for the day. And I'm apologizing in advance, this is what sucks about blogging when you get home. I can't remember sh*t, so you might see a lot more pictures than words. I'm googling stuff already.
This is the women's co-op where they actually make these carpets by hand. I almost bought a $1500 rug. Yikes!
I almost bought the colorful one in the middle. I believe it was 5' x 8'
This is where they make all their copper and brass stuff
This was the Chouara leather tannery, the largest and oldest leather tannery in Morocco. It's about a thousand years old! It was very interesting but VERY STINK. At first it was ok when there was a breeze, but once the breeze stopped it was pretty nasty. This is what one website says...I couldn't word it any better...
"At the Chouara Tannery, hides are first soaked in a mixture of cow urine, quicklime, water, and salt. This caustic mixture helps to break down the tough leather, loosen excess fat, flesh, and hair that remain on them. The hides are soaked for two to three days after which tanners scrap away excess hair fibers and fat in order to prepare the hides for dyeing. The hides are then soaked in another set of vats containing a mixture of water and pigeon poop. Pigeon poop contains ammonia that acts as softening agents that allows the hides to become malleable so they can absorb the dye. The tanner uses his bare feet to knead the hides for up to three hours to achieve the desired softness."
Let's just say I didn't purchase any leather goods that day.
This is pretty neat though. They use only natural dyes to tan the leather. So yellow is from saffron, blue is from indigo, red is from pomegrates, and I forget the rest
This is the couscous test. If you can't fit through these alleyways NO COUSCOUS FOR YOU!
Sheesh I was worried I'd had to walk through sideways!
The architecture in this place was amazing!
This is the Qaraouiyine mosque, which is the second largest mosque in Morocco. This is also where the University is located. It's very beautiful from what I could see, we weren't allowed in because we aren't Muslim.
By the time we got to this place I was beat. He was talking about something and I thought I was gonna fall asleep standing up. Sorry, I can't tell you anything about this place. We were in there for about a half an hour too!
We then broke for lunch. It doesn't look like much but it was plenty for all four of us. A lot of the meals come with a "salad" course which is what you see here. Everything was so tasty!
We then had I think was pumpkin soup, a chicken tajine and a beef pastilla, which was delicious
The rest of the tour he took us shopping. Susie went crazy. First was this embroidery thread place. These threads are made from the agave cactus. They come in many different colors and they only cost about 50 cents a spool.
And then we spent the rest of the day (and the trip!) looking for lamps for their house. She already has a couple but she wanted a few more to accent her living room. There are stores like this all over the place and I swear we went to every one of them!
Ok i'm tired. That's all for today....hopefully I'll have enough energy to blog again tomorrow!
