We woke up at a decent time to begin our day in Fez. Our guide, Mohammed met us at our riad. I usually like getting a guide on our first day in a city to help get our bearings, an boy was I glad that we did in Fez!
With 9500 alley ways, it’s super easy to get lost. Our guide was born (literally showed us the building he was born in – just next door to our riad) and raised in Fez so knew all the ins and outs.
We explored the old Medina (old city), trying to take in all the sites – including a traditional hamman, the oldest university, various souks, the silver making area, the tannery, the silk making shop etc.
Of course, with each place, the expectation is for you to buy… we tried to buy only what we would need and use (or was super cool…) I’m glad I walked away from the silver tea pot, because, let’s face it, we really don’t drink that much mint tea at home, lol.
The tannery was super cool – although had quite the smell! I ended up buying s gorgeous bag there.
Everything was stunning:
The souks were incredible – the colours, the smells – explosion of the senses!
The local bakery (every neighborhood has to have 5 things: a mosque, a school, a Hammam, a fountain and a bakery. Families bring their bread to be baked and each family has their own “marking” made in the bread.) It was so good right out if the oven!
We did manage to purchase head scarves for the desert, as that kind of seemed mandatory.
Our guide tried to take us to a very touristy location for lunch (he was great, but I guess kick backs are kick backs). We refused to pay the $120 US the tourist trap would cost us (despite how pretty the place was) and paid $10 instead for these awesome sandwiches from a little meat stall.
After getting a good feel for the Medina, we headed out to the new city to get a panoramic view and to check out the Royal Palace.
The famous gates by which you enter and leave the medina:
The view of Fez:
When we returned, we decided to brave the alley ways for ourselves and did a bit more casual shopping. As we were walking along in the various alleys, I turned a corner, and found this:
I laughed so hard, took a picture and then tried to help him get away! lol Donkeys were everywhere in the city:
After exploring, we headed up to the roof top patio of our riad (it was a great little patio), had a coupe of drinks before Rob and I went for the hamman (scrub and massage). It was different. Fun, interesting and different. We enjoyed it though!
We went back to get the kids and found a little local place where we squeezed in for dinner! It was pretty yummy!
