Old town Fez

Today was a definite highlight. Apart from the fact it was nudging 40 degrees we saw some really interesting stuff.

First up we went to the Palace. As with most palaces in Morocco you can’t get inside but the gates are huge and very ornate. This was followed by a walk through the old Jewish section of Fez. The Jews came to Morocco when they were chased out of Spain and a lot left after WW2 and moved to Israel.

After the palace and the Jewish area we went up to a lookout to get a view across the city. Very impressive.

There is a lot of mosaic tiles around Morocco and we went to one of the places where the tiles as well as dishes and other kitchen stuff is made. Great but not a lot cheaper than buying in Sydney.

We then headed to the Medina. Amazing. Of course it is all hundreds of years old and it really felt like it. The passageways were narrow with some places you had to turn sideways. The Medina is part shopping mall and part residential area. Usually there was a shop below and the house above. Lucky we had a guide because there were so many twists and turns it would be very easy to get lost.

The Medina is sort of carved up into sections with vegies in one area, meat in another, material and fabric in its own area, men’s clothes, women’s clothes, etc etc etc.

Fez is famous for its leather and we visited a very old, very famous tannery located in the Medina. Yes the smell on a 40 degree day just added to the atmosphere! They give you a sprig of mint to hold under your nose and take you up a few floors to look out over the tannery.

They explained the tanning process of washing the hides, then soaking in pigeon poo, then washing and scrubbing, soaking in vinegar, then dying and drying. People bring in and sell bags of pigeon poo and this is the source of the smell. Poo is used because it contains ammonia which softens the leather.

They tan hides from camels, cattle, sheep, and goats with camel hide being the lightest and strongest.

There were some high pressure selling trying to get you to buy something but we resisted. Prices were not that much cheaper than in Australia.

We then wandered around a bit more, had lunch in a restaurant in the Medina (well away from the tannery) before heading back to the hotel to cool down.

Dinner was a quiet one followed by a couple of beers. Interestingly a pro-Palestine protest marched past our hotel at about 10pm. Tomorrow we are off to Chefchaouen, the blue city.Leer más