As mentioned earlier, we toured Morocco in 2014. It was a comprehensive tour that started in Casablanca and took us as far north as Tangier, then back to Marrakech and south to the Sahara Desert, with lightning visits to many cities in between. Including Fes, a city we really would have liked to have spent more time in.
So here we were in the arrivals hall at Fes airport late in the evening after a long day in Paris. Linda had booked us into a Riad for the week recommended by a friend that had been there recently. They had organised a car for us so we were greeted by a man holding a board with our names on it. Our riad was within the walled Medina, which meant our driver had to drop us off at the edge of the old town where we were met by a ‘hired hand’ to guide us through the maze like alleys to our accommodation. A Riad is a traditional large Moroccan house with a central courtyard and many rooms over different levels facing the courtyard. Riads were the stately city homes of the wealthiest citizens such as merchants and courtiers. Many of them these days are converted to accommodate tourists but are quite often still owned by the families that have had them for generations. Sometimes managed by ‘hired help’ but often run and staffed by family members themselves. Our guide rattled the large cast iron knocker on the front door softly as it was after midnight by the time we got there. An old lady answered the door and she either didn’t speak English or just didn’t want to speak at all as it appeared that she had been woken up. We were shown to our room on the third floor via a narrow solid stone spiraling stairway. We had no trouble at all getting to sleep that night.
Blue Gate 
Cat comfort 
This way!
The weather in Fes for February is nice and sunny during the day with temperatures in the mid to high twenties but the evenings get very low. Unlike the buildings in Iceland, the riads are not heated that well and can get bloody cold, especially in the mornings when our breakfast is served in the courtyard: Semolina pancakes, fresh bread, a selection of olives and a pot of coffee is the typical feast.
With a good feed and coffee in our bellies we set off to explore the maze-like alleyways and take in all that this buzzing Moroccan city had to offer. It’s ‘eyes wide open’ everywhere you walk. People in traditional dress, donkeys towing carts and traders peddling all sorts of stuff. If it wasn’t for the tourists it would have seemed you had gone back in time by hundreds of years. And good for them for maintaining their tradition while accommodating the tourists without making the whole experience seem fake. We have enjoyed some incredible experiences in this country and feel completely safe and comfortable amongst the Moroccans who are most welcoming. It bothers us that some people still have the misconception that Morocco is an unsafe place to be. Yes, there was a nasty incident last year that attracted world headlines but that was very much an isolated attack and there are many, much more heinous atrocities in so called ‘first world countries’.
Medina 
TV repairs 
Music shop
On a brighter note, we withdrew a wad of Dirham from the ATM and chose a restaurant that offered outdoor dining, and watched people go about their daily lives while spotting tourists and guessing where they were from. We have become quite good at it and entertain ourselves with the silly game wherever we go. Fes was perfect because it attracts people from all corners of the globe.
Medina hall 
Any for us? 
Night market
The following day our riad host had organised a tour guide to take us into the depths of the Medina. I’m generally not keen on doing the guided tour thing but it is highly recommended in Fes as it is very easy to become disoriented and lost in the sprawling network of alleyways. There is a story going around about a Canadian woman who tried to go it alone in the old town and went missing about ten years ago. The myth has it that she now has six children and is well settled in the Medina!
Our tour guide for the morning was Ahmad. A large middle aged man that spoke good English in a bellowing voice and was obviously well known in the city as many passing people acknowledged him, some wanting to stop for a chat. That became a little annoying after awhile but not as much as being dragged into carpet, leather, jewellry, Argan oil and other retail stores that were very good friends of his and promised to ‘make us very good price’! We were not in the slightest bit interested in buying any of the above- We bought a rug on our last visit and had to lug it around Europe before posting it home. I had one carpet salesman give up on me as I turned the conversation around and tried to sell him our rug. “I can post it to you, no problem,” I said.
Shopping cart 
Leather dyeing
Apart from the liberty he took to expose us to his trading ‘friends’ he was an informative guide and took us to some areas, particularly the fresh food markets, that we may not have otherwise found. I am sure we paid more than the normal for his services because he certainly didn’t earn any ‘kickbacks’ that morning. We parted company with Ahmad at lunchtime and proceeded to find our own restaurant. Not one that Ahmad, or any of the up and coming tour guides, offered to guide us to as the ‘best’ restaurant in town.
Medina Mosque 
Inside Mosque
After lunch Linda set about finding an Argan oil store that she bought some oil from in 2014. ‘You have got to be kidding’, I thought. It would be no easier than finding a needle in a haystack in the myriad of alleyways that all looked the same. Even google maps can’t navigate itself around this place. But like a hound she took the lead and turned left, turned right a dozen times in no particular order and bugger me, there it was, just as we left it five years ago! I had a photo of her outside the shop from our last visit and that became photographic proof that it was in fact the same shop.
2014 
2019
A visit to Morocco would not be complete without treating yourself to a massage at one of the many Hammam in town. Once again we went with the advice of our riad host and they even provided an old guy to guide us there and he waited until we were done to guide us back. Sort of like a taxi service without a car!
Another day was spent in the newer part of town where I had organised a dental appointment to repair a damaged filling. The taxi had got us there without drama and even though the dentist was supposed to speak English, it was limited. His French was very good but that didn’t help me! I was successfully given two fillings and charged a grand total of 530 Dirham, about AUD$80! Can’t complain about that!
2:30! 
Medina street 
Our street
We enjoyed our time in Fes. It was a relaxing visit after a busy tour of Iceland. We had return tickets to Paris but opted to forfeit them and bought tickets to Porto in Portugal, as we still had a little time before starting our house sit in Curzon France. Our flight was via Seville in Spain so we took a gamble on the flight being on time as it was a tight turnaround and Ryanair don’t guarantee to make connections- even though it is with the same airline! ‘Fly or cry’ they call it. Fortunately, it ran like clockwork. We even had time for some tapas in Seville before arriving in Porto about mid evening as planned.
Join us in Portugal next week. We are sure you will enjoy it.
People ask us about how we get our house sits. This is the main website we use. https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/refer/RAF147238/
If you use the link above you will also get a discount on membership.
If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask.
Enjoy.