9 September, 2014
Fes, the oldest of the
imperial cities, is described as the cultural and cuisine capital of
Morocco. Not sure about the food bit as I enjoyed Moroccan food
wherever I went. The day in Fes was a mix of driving through
different quarters with Hami, and on foot with a local guide. As in
many countries, general guides such as Hami are not permitted to act
as guides in main cities. You are required by regulation to have a
local authorised guide … or DIY with no guide at all. I certainly
saw lots but have to admit that the Fes guide was not a patch on the
one I had in Marrakech.
First stop was at yet more
magnificent gates: the royal palace. There are royal palaces all over
the country, all kept in a state of readiness just in case the king
happens by.
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| Royal Palace, Fes |
Next, a drive to Borj Nord,
the northern tower of a 16thC fortress on top of a hill overlooking
Fes – 360 deg. views including over the medina where new same-same apartment blocks are creeping (or is that galloping?!) up the hill.
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| Hill-top fortress |
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| New apartments spreading up the hill |
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| Note more arched gates in the centre of the photo |
Down the hill again and on
to the Art Naji pottery and mosaic factory. Fascinating to see the
starting product – mud! – and the variety of finished objects it
can be turned into. There is a lot of hand-decorating, a lot of it
done by women (pity I didn’t get a photo).
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| The raw material - mud! |
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| Kiln - more sophisticated than Tamgroute |
The ornate mosaics that
beautify a plain tap can be seen throughout Morocco.
The in situ example here is
in Place Njjarine in the medina.
And this man’s output
reminded me of Edmund De Waal, an example of whose work I stumbled
upon in Vienna.
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| Pots! |
Another short drive and then my local guide and I were off on foot, into the Medina, via the Blue Gate, Bab Bou Jeloud, which is blue on one side … and green on the other!
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| Bab Bou Jeloud, Fes - the Blue gate |
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| The other side of which is ... green! |
I love the souks. Having
much more time to wander would have been great. But alas …. not
enough time to see and do everything. Food abounds, as do artisans of
all sorts.
I didn’t buy a carpet,
gosh I love those!, but I did buy a handbag, the softest leather. Saw
one I liked. Decided how much I’d be prepared to pay at home,
converted it to local currency and that was my bargaining strategy.
When the salesman started at
top dirham, I just kept repeating my figure, half the original stated
price, until he worked his way down to it. If I was being too cheap,
I was prepared to walk away from it. When he reached my price he put
on a great performance of being hard done by, he’d have to ask the
boss, etc etc. But he was already wrapping the bag as we made our way
to the ‘boss’ who, without looking or saying a word, took my
money. Transaction done! I was happy and assume they were too. I
always wonder just how low sellers will go under this system.
Scenes from the souk - fresh produce, craftsmen at work, all sorts of things for sale ....
One disappointment was not
seeing those multi-coloured dye vats that are so frequently used in
tourist publicity. I only saw the rather bland – neutral tonings! –
tanning vats. I had no idea the set-up was so ramshackle. But I did
see a little bit of colour – purple dye running down the street.
To say the souks are crowed
is a waste of breath because the only possible response is, “Of
course!” The buildings are cheek by jowl and the streets are from
the pre-car era, suitable for pedestrians and donkeys only.
But in the midst of the
squish – suddenly … open spaces, small but beautiful, sometimes
with small workshops opening onto them.
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| Coppersmiths at Place Seffarine |
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| Place Njjarine |
The open spaces near gates in the walls are not so picturesque. Temporary stalls abound and are nothing like as inviting as the shops and stalls within the souks.
It was upstairs again for lunch - the places only locals know. A good place from which to look down, and across the sky line.
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| Looking down on Place Seffarine |
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| Crowded rooftops with the fortress, BorJ Nord, on the horizon |
A couple of buildings of
note …
Madersa Bouanania – still
in use today as a religious establishment so much of it is closed to
tourists. But it is enough to walk through the entrance to the most
beautifully decorated courtyard: marble, tiles, carved cedar, stucco
work.
There is no access at all to
the Kairaouine mosque and university. You can but gape through the
entrance and wonder at what glories might be inside. As with the
granaries in Meknes, you can view into the distance through the
arches, both straight ahead and at an angle.
It was time to meet up with
Hami again. Time to stop walking (briefly!) and drive around the
outskirts of the wall, a walk down an alley or two, and it was back
at my lovely riad for dinner.
Afterwards, it was still
light so I made my way back through the alleys to a small plaza –
only a few minutes away. One side of the plaza was bordered by a busy
road with a traffic island that was basically a large fountain.
The plaza was filled with
families, lots of children, a magnet for an ice-cream truck, Mr Whippy
style. I sat down and people watched for a while. Again, as in
Ifrane, a couple of people sat down and chatted with me. A lovely end
to a fascinating day.
