Morocco - A step back in time

So we arrived out our Moroccan Palace at about 1 am this morning. The trip from Barcelona was okay we had a bit of a layover in Casablanca which was like any other layover, with the exception of the background music. Just so the western world knows somebody has decided to cover the Beatles songs using middle eastern instruments and musical scales - it was odd and disconcerting to say the least. We got up this morning and got our first real glimpse of our Moroccan Palace - here is the view from our room looking down to the living room. It is so beautiful everything is tiled and open. Our host (thorough Airbnb) prepared us a traditional Moroccan breakfast with eggs, jams pastries and coffee which we had on the rooftop garden with Thomas and Grace - a couple who are also staying here (in the wing opposite us). 

Thomas and Grace had been here for a couple of days already and were a little more familiar with the geography and graciously let us tag along with them for the day. Once we had finished breakfast we headed out to the Medina. The Medina is a World Heritage site which feels like going back in time to somewhere completely untouched by the Western World. It is a labyrinth of buildings, shops and stalls in the heart of the oldest part of Fez, which dates back to the 9th Century. We had a amazing time exploring the ceramics, mosques (well from the outside at least), leather shops, tanneries, cafes and restaurants. The place is crazy, you can literally get run over by a donkey if you aren't paying attention and the roads are way to narrow to accommodate cars so they are the main form of shipping for heavy goods. 

A donkey - one of many we saw

Its a vibrant and overwhelming place which could easily get to be too much especially with some of the more... primal smells. You have to be careful when you pull out your map or if you start discussing where you would like to head next, if one of the locals hears you he will only be too happy to guide you free of charge - only its not free they expect a fairly good tip and delight in taking you in and out of side streets to make you feel like they have taken you a long way - when the truth is they have merely taken you around the corner from where you were. Fortunately, Thomas and Grace were quite savvy about how to deal with them, as they can get quite aggressive.

One of the many ceramic shops

One of the more interesting smelling places we visit today (and there were a few) was the old tannery. Much of the local leather is still made there - using bird shit as a source of ammonia for removing the skin and guts off the hide (nice huh). People literally dress in huge gumboots and gloves and get in the pools with the leather to manually work the process. It smelt terrible but it was really interesting to see, they make camel, cow, goat and sheep leather here.

The oldest tannery in Fez - still used to make much of the local leather

After we enjoyed a late lunch of grilled eggplant, tomato and zuchinni we left the Medina and headed to one the nearby parks to enjoy the shade. The park was stunning and a complete contrast to the medina. Where the Medina was excitingly dirty, smelling and bustling with people the park was clean and quiet. In fact the only noise came from the water features and the occasional guard blowing whistle at someone who threatened to disturb either the cleanliness or the peace. It was a nice break although the weather in the park was much hotter we had experienced earlier in the day.

The Medina is right in the Center of the Town and stood between the park and our palace, so rather than heading home the way we had come we decided to walk around it to take in some of the city sites. It was incredible I really don't even know how to start describing it. We even ran into a rouge herd of goats that appeared out of an archway in the city walls and ran up the road - the three laned main road I might add. It was pretty fun and somewhat reinforced stereotypes about this part of the world. A little bit like New Zealand and its sheep.

Rogue goats

The old city walls, where the goats appeared from

After our walk back to the Palace we relaxed for half an hour or so before heading back into the Medina to find some dinner. We had a traditional meal with various salads and vegetables as a starter and a meat dish from a tarjine (see - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajine). It was delicious and a great way to finish the day with Thomas and Grace.