Our tour guide today was a woman named Hakim. She is well known, and seemingly well loved in Fez. Apparently there are very few female guides here. She has a good sense of humor and is very knowledgeable. She and I had a good conversation at one point and she asked me if I was a famous person in Canada. I didn't dare ask her why she thought that!
First stop was the Royal Palace: 14th century, 82 hectares with huge rooms, shops, swimming pools and golf course. The entrance has 7 doors, seven floors, seven skies all with some significance to the seven days of the week.
The city of Fez was built in the 8th century and the medina is the largest imperial city in Morocco. It has the oldest university in the world. The medina is a veritable maze of streets, all interwoven and absolutely no pattern to the layout. It would be impossible to go into it without getting lost if you didn't have a proper guide! Inside, we visited a metalwork shop, a food market, Koramic school - no longer in use, a blacksmith, textile factory where they weave scarves and tablecloths, and a mosque. Later on we went to a ceramic factory and saw the entire process of how tiles are produced - from the clay to the wheels to the painting with dyes made from all natural ingredients: aloe Vera, saffron, indigo, henna, poppy flower, mint; to the kiln and finally, the finished products. It is all done by hand and the people who work there apprentice for 5-7 years before they become master craftsmen.
We drove up to the military site where there is a spectacular lookout point over the entire Medina. The entrance to the medina is a magnificent tiled archway, the outside in all blues signifying the national colour of Fez, and the inside in green, the colour of peace. We learned that 98% of the population is Muslim, almost all practicing.
We then visited a carpet factory inside the medina which was situated in one of the older homes in the city. Upstairs we saw one of the carpet weavers who painstakingly weave the carpets by hand. There are 1500+ members of the cooperative and the bigger ones take 8-10 months to complete. They are made from wool, cotton and silk. I learned that silk also comes from the aloe vera plant!
Lastly, we visited a tannery where they cure the skins of camel, goat, sheep, and cow to make clothing, purses, bags etc. I cannot begin to describe the smell of this place!
We had lunch at a restaurant in the Medina and it was one of the best ones yet! I can't get over the incredible flavours of the Moroccan cuisine. One of the specialties of Fez is pastille, which is meat pie. Very tasty.
Tomorrow we head for the Atlas Mountains. The weather has been quite cool and will get even cooler in the mountains. I hope I will be warm enough.
