Day 7 Fez

Today we toured the Fez medina all day. We started the day with a nice breakfast in our hotel and then left with our driver and our Fez guide, Hassan, a graduate student from the local university. Fez medina is the largest in Morocco with about 200,000 people living within its walls and about 950 (unmarked and narrow) streets. It’s a maze and if you get lost, there is no way you can find your way out. First stop was the royal palace, from the outside only. Next was a long tour of the Jewish quarter and an old synagogue. Then we walked in the narrow alleys with different specialties – produce, metalworks, etc. One tiny door opened into an old large house which has been converted into a museum. Many splendid pieces from antiquity. We visited several working places. A leather tannery where they were processing hides from sheep, cattle, goats, and camels. We saw them acid washing to remove the fur then dying in at lest 4 different colors (using natural dyes or so they said). They had thousands of leather goods for sale. We visited a tile place and were astonished at the labor intensive process of creating mosaics. We also visited 2 rug cooperatives and had hundreds of rugs rolled out for us. In both we had to partake in the obligatory good will-inducing mint tea. It was interesting to learn about different styles of rugs from different parts of Morocco. Some were really gorgeous, but the prices were very high. We visited a metal shop and saw the production of decorative trays. Everywhere we went, people were trying to sell us stuff. So far we’ve resisted the temptation as it was only our first real experience with Moroccan crafts. More to come for sure.