Day 4 - Fes

SENSORY OVERLOAD!!! SIGHTS! SOUNDS! SMELLS! TASTES! Not sure how else to describe the Fes medina, the medina of all medina, or the other medina's we had seen on steroids.

We spent the entire day in Fes. We went to a ceramic school to learn about how they made ceramics, had a demonstration on weaving, went to an overlook location to see the city, etc. However, we but mostly spent the day going through various areas of the medina with a local guide.  The city and buildings in this area date from the late 8th century.

Royal Palace Gates

Soap - brown for body (made of olives), green for dishes, white for other household use.

View of the medina.

At the ceramic school we learned about how they make ceramics, both items like pots as well as mosaics which are everywhere in Morocco.  Here are photos of some of the steps - preparing the clay, making a pot, painting, cutting tile, putting mosaic together, final product.

Fes has the largest and oldest medina in Morocco. The medina has different areas focused on different types of products or trades. Some shops just sell products, while others are making items as well. For example, a dress maker may have ready made dresses for sale, but a whole wall of bolts of fabric for a customer to choose what they want made. The shops range from tiny to small. A 3'x6' cart, a 6'x12' stall, ... every inch of space is used. You could probably find anything you want there - clothing, food, household goods, etc. Most is traditional local items (bulk foods, hand crafted items, etc.) but we did see some areas selling factory made imported items.  I also think today we found out where the camel burgers we had yesterday came from.  😮

A highlight of the medina was the tannery, there they prepare and dye leather to make into clothing, shoes, purses, bags, ... We went to the Chouara Tannery which It has been operating continuously in this location since the 11th century.   Think about that for a moment, it has been operating continuously using the same methods for 1,000 years.   That means it had been operating for about five hundred years before Columbus "discovered" America.   That is just a blip in geological time, but makes "old" buildings and businesses in the United States seem like newborns.

We also observed a weaving demonstration and observed how they makes some of their beautiful textiles.

The level if activity in the medina was amazing. "Crowded" does not begin to describe it. People and customers bartering. Men weaving their way through the crowds to deliver carts full of goods. Donkeys weaving their way through crowds to deliver goods. It was amazing to think that we went through just a tiny part of the thousands of alleyways in the medina.  An incredible experience that everyone should experience at least once.

At the end of the day we returned to our hotel exhausted, overwhelmed, but much richer for the experience.   Tomorrow we head off to the blue city of Chefchaouen.