We’re currently in Fes, Morocco. It’s our last day here until we head down to Marrakesh (8 hours by train YUCK).
We arrived in Tangier late Wednesday night after a long time of flying and hanging around in airports, luckily we got to our hotel, Hotel Continental, easily.
Hotel Continental is an awesome building - it looks like a palace with the dining rooms completely in mosaic and wood carvings. The queen even stayed here when it opened 150 years ago - although it is a bit more dilapidated these days. Anyway I had the best sleep of my life and we woke up at about 11 to begin exploring Tangier.
We were already staying in the heart of the Medina so we just had to step outside our hotel to immerse ourselves in the history - and the touts! I’d have to say it was quite aggravating and not a very nice experience at first as every corner you turned young men would come up to you and declare you
their friend who would like to show you a beautiful shop/hotel/restaurant or be your guide in the medina. Add to that the little kids that knew just one phrase in English - “Give Me Money” and the confusing, twisting, unmarked streets makes it pretty frustrating. We picked up a few key phrases, like No
Thank you (la shukran) and Go Away! (seer fhalek!) and the amazing effect of large sunglasses and staring off into the distance and soon we were able to rid ourselves of most of the men. Once our skin had thickened a bit, we were able to have a better look around the medina and wander to our hearts content. We saw the Kasbah and entered the palace to view Morroccan art and wander around their garden, and then had a great Tagine around the corner in a tiny little restaurant.
We were up early the next day (Thad’s birthday!) and bounded down to the train station, boarding a train to our next stop - Fes. After arriving in Fes, and throwing our bags on top of a Petit Taxi we hooned up to the medina - a huge, sprawling sandstone fortress filled with thousands of tiny streets and alleyways. Our accommodation here is not as grand as in Tangier - a tiny pension on one of the main streets of the medina - but at 4 pounds a night we’re not complaining!
Fes is amazing - the tiny alleys are full to the brim with shops selling evreything from books to kaftans to morroccan sweets and of course souvenirs and little patisseries, cafes, men serving soup from big steaming cauldrens, butchers with brains, tripe and hooves out the front, live chickens, and so much more. Along with all the markets there are 350 mosques, mosaic fountains, islamic schools and other monuments that you stumble across in your wanderings. Thad and I spent 8 hours walking around yesterday, poking our heads into museums, mosques, schools, huddling with locals at soup stalls, taking a peek at the colourful but stinky tanning pits where all the leather is prepared and finally seeking respite at the huge palace turned
hotel at the top of the medina, where some refreshing mint tea awaited us. We finished off the day by having dinner in a beautifully restored room of a palace, decked out with moroccan rugs, mosaic, grand arches, etc. We sat down and the waitress just brought out plate after plate of food - soup with sweets, olives, half a dozen different salads, bread, tagine, cous cous, fruit and more sweets - all washed down with some tasty moroccan wine. Mmmmm.
Today has been a bit more relaxed We slept in til 10, had petit dejenour at a local cafe before checking out a privately owned museum - also set in a palace. We’re going to head back to the medersa (islamic school) soon, as we went yesterday and it was beautiful, but tere were too many people around to take great photos.
So tomorrow we head to Marrakesh, and then the day after we are picked up at 8 am by Omar, who is driving us through the mountains to the Sahara. After a night at a B & B, we head out on camels to a Berber village and stay in the traditional tents for a night, before trekking back, then driving back to Marrakesh. Then it’s just 2 days in Marrakesh before it’s back to London. Sigh. Oh well. Our first foray into Africa has certainly whet our appetite for more.
